This creamy Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake bars recipe is the ultimate fall dessert. It's a wonderful, easy treat that combines simple ingredients of pumpkin purée, warm spices, and creamy cheesecake filling and makes a perfect Thanksgiving dessert or for any other special occasion.
Line an 8 inch square baking dish with parchment paper and set aside.
Make the crust
In a small microwave safe bowl, add the butter and heat for 30 seconds then stir and heat for another 30 seconds until melted.
½ cup butter
In a medium bowl, add the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, 2 tablespoons white sugar and 2 tablespoons brown sugar and mix until combined thoroughly and resembles wet sand.
1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
Add the mixture to the prepared baking dish and press down in an even layer.
In a large mixing bowl, add the softened cream cheese and the remaining white and brown sugar and blend with an electric hand mixer on medium high speed until combined.
¾ cup white sugar, 24 ounces cream cheese, ¼ cup brown sugar
Add the sour cream and vanilla extract and blend.
½ cup sour cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Add in the eggs, one at a time, blending them in between each on is added.
3 large eggs
Remove 1 ½ cups of the cheesecake mixture and add to a medium bowl. (set the remaining mix aside)
Add the pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice to this removed mixture and combine well.
1 cup pumpkin puree, 1 ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Alternate spooning the different cheesecake flavors over the crust in a checkerboard pattern.
Then use a toothpick or fork to swirl the cheesecake sections together.
Place in the preheated oven and bake 45-50 minutes.
Allow the cheesecake to cool completely and then chill in the refrigerator for at least 5 hours.
Notes
Instead of a graham cracker crust swap with gingersnap cookies for a gingersnap crust, Golden Oreo crust, or even an Oreo cookie crust.
Mix in white chocolate chips, semisweet chocolate chips, etc.
Create a crunchy pecan streusel to sprinkle on top. You can mix pecans with some brown sugar, a little melted butter cinnamon, or even pumpkin spice.
Swirl in some Nutella with a butter knife.
Once the bars are cooled you can drizzle with some caramel sauce.
If you want a gluten-free dessert, use gluten-free graham crackers to make the crust gluten-free.
Use vegan cream cheese, flax eggs, and vegan butter for a vegan option. The texture of the dessert will vary a bit with the switching of ingredients.
Make mini cheesecakes using a muffin pan, and cupcake liners, and bake for less time. Just press the mixture of crust in and then add batter and bake the pumpkin pie cheesecake bites for around 20-30 minutes.