Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars are moist pumpkin bars with swirls of cream cheese frosting throughout. This dessert will be on your fall treat recipe list every year.
PUMPKIN CREAM CHEESE BARS
If you follow me on Instagram you know that we had our annual Halloween Bunko and of course I needed a costume for the night. I wasn’t very committed to going all out on a costume this year.
Sometimes I’m in the mood to get dressed up and sometimes I’m happy to put on some black ears and call myself a cat. This was a cat kind of year.
I strolled into Party City with two kids trying to get in and out as fast as I could. I glanced at all of the costumes on the wall and saw that most of them barely covered more than my swimsuit would.
The worker by the costumes asked if she could help me so I asked her if they had any costumes that actually covered your body. She thought for a couple of seconds and said, “Um…yeah, we have two. The pirate and the devil. Oh wait, and the nun.”
“Give me the devil,” I said. (I already own the pirate and the nun)
So I was a $12 devil for Halloween Bunko. Not exactly creative, but covered all my naughty parts.
Even though I’ve had a lot of pumpkin recipe fails this year, I haven’t given up on pumpkin recipes yet. This recipe is a sister recipe to the Pumpkin Cake that is also on this blog.
It tastes like a pumpkin bread generously swirled with a sweet cream cheese mixture. I had this in the oven in under ten minutes.
It’s one of those traditional recipes that you’ll want to make every year.You can add nuts if you like. It definitely adds a nice crunch if nuts are your thing.
OTHER PUMPKIN RECIPES:
- Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
- Pumpkin Bread
- Pumpkin Earthquake Cake
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Pumpkin Pancakes
- Pumpkin Cake
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars
Ingredients
Filling:
- 1 (8 ounce package) cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Batter:
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, (see Note for substitution)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- optional 1/2 cup chopped pecan pieces
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Spray a 9x13" baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
- For the filling: With a hand mixer blend together softened cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Set aside.
- For the batter: Combine the pumpkin, sugar, egg and oil in medium mixing bowl and mix until well combined.
- Stir in flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well to combine.
- Pour batter into prepared baking dish, and spread to cover bottom of pan.
- Add dollops of the cream cheese mixture over the batter. Cut through the batter with a knife to make a marbled effect w/ the cream cheese mixture in an up and down pattern. Repeat going the other way. When marbling make sure you don't go all the way to the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with the chopped pecans if desired.
- Bake for 25 - 28 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool an cut into squares. Store in the refrigerator.
Loved how simple and” easy to follow “ If only I could taste right now!!! 😩 I will let my pup Rico do a taste test to confirm whether they are a 10 out of 10 . He’s always BRUTALLY honest! 😂 Tha is for the recipe ..
Do you think this recipe would work for the individual serving brownie pans (2×2)?
Yes!
Which kind of sugar should I be using for the filling and for the batter? I would assume icing sugar for the filling and regular sugar for the batter?
It’s just regular granulated sugar for both. If powdered sugar or brown sugar are needed I will specify in the recipe.
can you substitute butter for the vegetable oil in the batter? This seems delicious!
Sure
graham cracker crust? I don’t see it mentioned, but see it in the pictures
there’s not graham cracker crust. I think you’re just seeing the batter.
I added mini chocolate chips and chopped pecans into the batter! It was delicious.
I somehow missed the one cup of pumpkin and used the whole can. It tastes delicious to me but wonder what only one cup tastes like. I guess I will just have to make them again.. lol.
Maybe we need to try your version!
This turned out really lovely! The texture is as described– bread-like layer topped with sweet cream cheese.
I’m gluten free, so instead of flour, I used ground oat flour. Bake time took an additional 7 minutes.
Can these be made with bananas instead of pumpkin?
I haven’t tried it but Sounds great!
Delicious so easy to make going to try the cream cheese topping with chocolate brownies
It is great!
Recipe says one egg. Directions have an egg in filling and in batter. Something isn’t right.
There’s an egg in both the filling and the batter.
This is awesome! I added 2 tsps of pumpkin pie spice even though it calls for 1 1/2. It was perfect! Be careful with the cream cheese filling. Take your time with it. This was my first time marbling a cake like this. Its not to bad
Thanks Olivia!
Can you freeze pumpkin cheese cake bars?
It was good but mine turned out more like a pumpkin cake and wasn’t as pumpkiny and as sweet as I would have liked.
Sorry you didn’t love it.
What size can of “1 cup canned pumpkin puree”???
Nevermind!!!
Our bars came out thin and more like pumpkin pie and less like a pumpkin bar. Any suggestions appreciated. We cooked for 26 minutes.
What size pan did you use?
I forgot the egg in the filling. Will it be a disaster
No. How did it turn out?