Valentina Ablaev
Fall is the time for a delicious homemade dessert, and these pumpkin cheesecake bars have become a quick fall favorite! A graham cracker crust with a pumpkin cream cheese filling is one of the most incredible combinations for pumpkin season.
If you’ve enjoyed our mini cheesecake bites, these will become a favorite. The combination of pumpkin and cheesecake is out of this world and these bars are inspired by our cream cheese pumpkin bread recipe!
Is anyone else excited for fall because of pumpkin recipes? Yes, that’s me raising my hand high. I love all things pumpkin. I also have a thing for cheesecake, so I’ve been wanting to bring the two worlds together, and we finally have that.
Don’t love pumpkin? No worries! You can still make our apple cheesecake bars for the perfect fall dessert.
In just a few layers, these bars have a buttery cracker base with a swirl of classic cheesecake and pumpkin cheesecake fillings.
Absolute perfection!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
If you are skeptical whether you should try the recipe, here are a few other reasons why you should give the cheesecake bars a try:
- Perfect gift. These bars work great as a holiday gift to teachers, friends, and family!
- Kid-friendly baking. This is the perfect dessert to get your kiddos involved.
- Fall classic. Seasonal baking can be so fun, and these pumpkin bars are absolutely incredible and a fall favorite.
Ingredients for Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
Crust –
- Graham crackers crumbs – the perfect base for these cheesecake bars.
- Granulated sugar – sweetens the base just a little.
- Butter – binds the crust and adds so much flavor.
Filling –
- Cream cheese – full-fat cream cheese at room temperature.
- Sugar – sweetens the filling just the perfect amount without being overwhelmingly sweet.
- Sour cream – gives this filling a light flavor.
- Eggs – large eggs at room temperature.
- Pumpkin – canned pumpkin puree is perfect for this recipe; you don’t want to use pure pumpkin.
- Spices – a combination of pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon for those earthy fall flavors.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions and Variations
- Add nuts: Make these bars your own by adding your favorite nuts! Walnuts, pecans, and pistachios would all be delicious additions!
- Add chocolate: You can add white or chocolate chip morsels if you love chocolate.
How to Make Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars:
- Make crust. Crush the graham crackers in a plastic bag and put them into a bowl of sugar and melted butter. Spread across a baking pan and press down firmly. You can also use a food processor for this step.
2. Make cheesecake batter. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in the vanilla, sour cream, and salt. Divide the batter into two medium bowls.
3. Pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin pie filling. To one bowl, stir in the pumpkin puree, pumpkin spice, and ground cinnamon; this will be the pumpkin batter.
4. Assemble. Pour the cheesecake mixture over the graham cracker crust. Drop spoonfuls of the pumpkin puree mixture onto the cheesecake layer
5. Design. Use a toothpick to create swirl designs.
6. Bake. Add to the oven at 350°F for 35-45 minutes or until the center is jiggly. Let the bars cool before slicing.
Expert Tips:
- Make your bars beautiful. Use a toothpick to swirl pretty patterns into the cheesecake.
- Make these in advance. These bars are so easy to make ahead of time and serve as a beautiful treat.
Recipe FAQs
Our filling uses raw eggs to make a light and fluffy bar, so we need to bake them, unlike our no-bake key lime pie jars that use the same crust.
These bars can be served at room temperature once cooled or may be refrigerated.
Let the bars cool completely before slicing into them; otherwise, they may fall off.
You can make your own pumpkin puree or use canned for this recipe.
Store & Reheat
- Storage. Keep leftovers stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Freeze. Store these bars for longer by placing them in the fridge and freeze them for up to 3 months. Thaw: Thaw the bars in the refrigerator.
More Dessert Recipes
If you enjoyed this chicken recipe, be sure to try our other popular cookie and bar recipes; here are some of our favorites:
If you tried this pumpkin cheesecake bar or any other recipe on my website, please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below – we appreciate it!
Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars Recipe
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 ½ cups graham crackers crumbs about 16 crackers
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 8 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
Filling:
- 24 oz cream cheese room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup sour cream
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 9×13 baking pan with parchment paper.
Prepare crust:
- Add graham crackers to a Ziploc bag and crush with a rolling pin until fine. Add the crushed graham crackers with sugar, and butter and stir until combined.
- Spread across the baking pan and press down into an even layer. Set aside.
Prepare filling:
- In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add vanilla, sour cream, and salt, and beat until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add eggs, one at a time and beat on low speed, scraping down the side of the bowl.
- Measure 1 cup of the cream cheese mixture and add it to a separate bowl. To it, add the pumpkin puree, pie spice and cinnamon.
- Add the cheesecake mixture and gently spread it over the graham cracker base.
- Then, take the pumpkin puree mixture and drop dollops all over the mixture. Swirl the pumpkin mixture into the cheesecake mixture.
- Bake in the center of the oven for 35-45 minutes, until the center still has a very slight jiggle but the edges set.
- Place on a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
Notes
- Storage. Keep leftovers stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Freeze. Store these bars for longer by placing them in the fridge and freeze them for up to 3 months. Thaw: Thaw the bars in the refrigerator.
- Make your bars beautiful. Use a toothpick to swirl pretty patterns into the cheesecake.
- Make these in advance. These bars are so easy to make ahead of time and serve as a beautiful treat.
