These swirled Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars feature the flavors of pumpkin pie and creamy cheesecake on a graham cracker crust. This is a delicious and crowd-pleasing holiday dessert that is way easier than making traditional cheesecake.
There are Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars in my fridge and I can’t think straight because I want to be nibbling on them constantly. How many cheesecake bars is it acceptable for an adult woman to consume in one day? Asking for a friend.
I fell in love with cream cheese-pumpkin combo when I made my Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake. This recipe has a similar flavor profile, but it tastes more like a traditional cheesecake. These bars have been met with rave reviews and I can’t wait for you to make and share them this holiday season.
Prefer traditional cheesecake bars (no pumpkin)? That recipe is here: Cheesecake Bars.
Recipe overview:
- Graham cracker crust: A mixture of graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. This delicious crust is sweet, buttery, and incredibly easy.
- Filling: A combination of vanilla cheesecake batter and pumpkin cheesecake batter are swirled together to create a creamy and flavorful filling.
- Baking: This recipe bakes in a 9×13 pan, for a total of about 50 minutes.
- Cooling: These cheesecake bars will need to cool completely before cutting and serving. Cool them to room temp, then transfer to the refrigerator to chill completely.
Why you’ll love this recipe
Flavor: A combination of buttery crust, sweet and tangy cheesecake, pumpkin, warm spices, and a touch of vanilla.
Ease: A simple press-in graham cracker crust crust and a filling that comes together in minutes.
Quantity: This recipe makes a 9×13 pan of bars – perfect for feeding a crowd.
Recipe tips
- Use full-fat cream cheese and sour cream for ths recipe. Low-fat alternatives can have stabilizers in them that might affect the texture.
- Make sure you buy pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling (which is already sweetened).
- Don’t overbeat the cheesecake batter. If you add too much air it can crack when it is baking.
- You need to allow at least 8 hours for this cheesecake to cool. It should first cool to room temp, then chill completely in the refrigerator.
- Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or the freezer for up to 1 month.
- Out of sour cream? Try one of these Sour Cream Substitutes.
More pumpkin recipes
Pumpkin Bars – Soft cake-like bars topped with brown butter frosting.
Pumpkin Muffins – Moist pumpkin muffins topped with a brown sugar crumble and cinnamon icing.
Pumpkin Pie Bars – Creamy pumpkin pie filling on top of a shortbread crust.
Pumpkin Pudding Cake – Pumpkin cake that bakes with a brown sugar caramel sauce.
Pumpkin Carrot Cake – A delicious layer cake with cream cheese frosting.
Pumpkin Ice Cream – Super creamy no-churn ice cream that tastes likes pumpkin pie with whipped cream.
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Recipe
Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
Crust:
- 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (230g) graham cracker crumbs, from 15 whole rectangular graham crackers
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 8 tablespoons (113g) unsalted butter, melted
Filling:
- 1¼ cups (280g) canned pumpkin puree
- 1½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
- Three 8-oz packages full fat cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1⅔ cups (334g) granulated sugar
- 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup (118g) full fat sour cream
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9×13 baking pan with foil or parchment paper and lightly grease it. You can skip this and just grease the pan, but I like the foil for easy removal and cleanup. Note: I prefer a metal pan for this recipe, a glass pan will work but bake time might be a few minutes longer.
Crust:
- Combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter and stir until combined. Press the crust into the bottom of the prepared pan and press it into an even layer (I use the back of a measuring cup).
- Bake the crust for 10-15 minutes until it is just beginning to turn golden brown and fragrant. Place the crust on a wire rack to cool slightly while you make the filling.
Filling:
- In a large bowl, whisk pumpkin puree, spices, and flour. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add vanilla, sour cream, and salt, and beat until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed, and turning off the mixer as soon as the last egg is fully incorporated.
- Measure out 1½ cups (about 300g) of the cream cheese mixture and add it to the reserved pumpkin mixture, stirring until combined.
- Alternate scoops of cream cheese filling and the pumpkin filling all over the top of the crust.
- Use a sharp knife to drag/swirl the two mixtures together (I do figure eights). Be careful not to drag the knife all the way down into the crust.
- Bake in the center of the oven for 35-45 minutes, until the center still has a very slight jiggle but the edges are set. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool completely, then transfer to the refrigerator to chill (this will take several hours).
Video
Notes
- Use full-fat cream cheese and sour cream for ths recipe. Low-fat alternatives can have stabilizers in them that might affect the texture.
- Make sure you buy pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling (which is already sweetened).
- Don’t overbeat the cheesecake batter. If you add too much air it can crack when it is baking.
- You need to allow at least 8 hours for this cheesecake to cool. It should first cool to room temp, then chill completely in the refrigerator.
- Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or the freezer for up to 1 month.
Nutrition
Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!
Hilary says
I just made this, as a sous chef of 30 years, ive never made this(normally pastry takes care of it). I think the flavor is very nice(i put an extra pinch of all spices in), but when I taste the cheesecake aspect, its got a slight rubbery texture, and i put in about 3T. of heavy whipping cream, but next time, ill put in an extra T of the cream. other than that, this was pretty good! rich and creamy, great crust(let it go in the oven for 12 minutes), and all around beautiful presentation. and no, I didn’t overmix, and actually under cooked it by a couple of minutes. Thank you for this recipe(and yes, I used real pureed pumpkin, better flavor, and no can taste).😇❤️☦️🎃
Allison Mattina says
Thanks for sharing your experience. 🙂
Gwyn Benzie says
Hillary, do you think if I added one of the three eggs to the pumpkin mixture and only two to the cream cheese mixture that would work to solve the “rubbery” problem? I don’t want to attempt it if the cheesecake part is rubbery. Or what if I just pour all the pumpkin mixture in first and then dollop the cream cheese mixture and then swirl it around?
MICHELLE LAMBERT says
Was the texture rubbery before you added heavy cream (not in recipe)?
Shena says
Have you tried using premade graham cracker pie crusts? I’m assuming if ok I would need two.
Allison Mattina says
I’d assume that you could bake the filling in a graham cracker pie crust. I’d agree that you’d likely need two. Bake time might need to be increased based on how much filling is in each one.
Karen says
I made this for a baby shower and it was a big hit! I decided to make it for our family’s Thanksgiving meal (none of them were at the shower) and my family loved it! My husband said it was in his top 5 favorites of things I have ever made and I agree. So creamy, and wonderful flavor. Pretty sure this will be on repeat, and not just for Thanksgiving! By the way it freezes very well, if you happen to have any left.
Allison Mattina says
That’s great to hear. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience. 🙂
Sarah Stitcher says
Delicious. My husband doesn’t even like pumpkin and this has become his favorite dessert. Thanks for the recipe.
Allison Mattina says
I’m so glad! Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
Shelene says
This was such a big hit, brought it to my family’s thanksgiving. They all want it again for Christmas! Any idea how to sub out the pumpkin for something else to make it more christmassy?
Allison Mattina says
Hi! I’m glad you enjoyed it. I’m thinking maybe cranberry? Or you could do a mashup of these two recipes (you’d have to play around with it): white chocolate raspberry cheesecake bars OR white chocolate cranberry cheesecake.
Barbara says
What a fabulous idea. Will definitely have to give that a try!!
Jess says
For the first time in my adult life I was entrusted to make a dessert for my family’s Thanksgiving. I made this and it was a HUGE hit. I didn’t even have leftovers! Thank you so much 😊
Allison Mattina says
You’re welcome! Well done. 🙂
Barbara says
When it came time to put the cheesecake and pumpkin mixture on top of the graham cracker crust, I ended up pouring all of the cheesecake in and spreading it out and then putting the pumpkin on top. There was too much pumpkin for dollops and going through with the swirling so it ended up layered. This change was not intentional, but ultimately it came out delicious. Because otherwise, there is not a thing about this recipe that I would change. Family and guests raved that these were the best PC bars they ever had. Definitely a keeper!
Allison Mattina says
Thanks for sharing your experience. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Christine says
Do you know if you can use lactose free, sour cream and or lactose free cream cheese to make this dairy free? I’ve substituted both in many recipes but not in baking. Thank you.
Allison Mattina says
Hi! I have not tried this recipe with dairy free substitutes. There’s also butter in the crust which would need to be swapped out if you’re looking to make it dairy free. Good luck playing around with it!
Sierra Gipp says
Hi, I am planning to make this for Canadian thanksgiving, wondering if you know how many grams or cups the crackers are? I want to try swapping biscoff in but don’t know how many I should use, thanks!
Allison Mattina says
Hi, Sierra! It’s just over 2-cups of graham cracker crumbs. Enjoy!
Stacy says
Im using gluten free grahams for the crust and would like to know if I can just skip the flour in filling or replace with something else to stay GF?
Allison Mattina says
Hi! I have only made the recipe as written, but I’d guess you could swap the flour for 1/2 tablespoon of cornstarch.
Dina Francia says
I am using real pumpkin. Do I need to make any adjustments?
Allison Mattina says
Hi! If the puree is similar in consistency to canned puree you shouldn’t need to make any changes. If it is thinner/more wet you can blot it dry and/or add an additional tablespoon of flour.