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These Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars are the perfect easy way to enjoy pumpkin cheesecake without all the work! They are creamy, full of spice, and topped with cream cheese whipped cream!
If you need more pumpkin-inspired desserts, be sure to try this pecan streusel pumpkin cheesecake, my no bake pumpkin cheesecake, and this pumpkin pie cheesecake.
Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
I’ve shared quite a bit of pumpkin with you so far this fall, from soft pumpkin cookies to easy pumpkin cupcakes, and today I’m sharing my final pumpkin treat. Today’s recipe is one of the simpler pumpkin options, which is great for such a busy time of year. It’s similar to my full-sized pumpkin cheesecake, but scaled down for these bars.
This scaled down version is great because there’s no need for a water bath, the bars bake more quickly than a full sized cheesecake and they’re easy to transport and serve. If you are planning on sharing these, they are great for that.
Recipe Ingredients
- Graham cracker crumbs – For the crust. You can grind up your own graham crackers or buy the already made crumbs.
- Butter
- Cream cheese – Be sure it’s room temperature so that you don’t end up with lumps in your filling or your whipped cream.
- Sugar – This recipe uses both white and light brown sugar for optimal flavor.
- All-purpose flour
- Pumpkin puree – Just canned pumpkin is all you need.
- Sour cream
- Spices – This pumpkin cheesecake uses the same warm spices you’ll find in classic pumpkin pie. Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger all add great flavor to these bars.
- Vanilla extract
- Eggs
- Heavy whipping cream
- Powdered sugar
How to make Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
There are a few steps to these cheesecake bars, but they are pretty straight forward.
Step 1: Make the crust
This is a fairly straight forward graham cracker crust with a touch of cinnamon in it. You’ll combine all your ingredients together and press them into the bottom of your pan. Pre-bake it so that it holds together a little better and set it aside while you make the filling.
Step 2: Make the filling and bake
The first thing you’ll do is combine your cream cheese, sugar, brown sugar and flour. Be sure your cream cheese is room temperature so that you don’t end up with lumps.
Add the pumpkin puree, sour cream, spices and vanilla extract and mix everything together. You always want to be sure to use a low speed when mixing cheesecake filling, so that you don’t add too much air into the filling, which can cause cracks on the surface.
Finally, add your eggs one at a time and mix until well incorporated.
As always, scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to make sure that things are being incorporated well and no random lumps remain.
Pour your filling into the crust and bake it.
Step 3: Decorate and serve
After your bars have baked and cooled, you can remove them from the pan and cut them into bars.
To make your whipped cream cheese frosting, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Then add your cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract and whip on high speed until stiff peaks form.
Pipe the whipped cream onto the bars, sprinkle with a little cinnamon and they’re ready to go!
The final bars are a delightful little pumpkin treat. They’re easy to make and even easier to eat and are sure to be a hit!
More Great Pumpkin Recipes
- Cheesecake Swirl Pumpkin Bread
- Pumpkin Cheesecake Swirl Cupcakes
- Copycat Chunkin’ Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Pumpkin Cake Roll
- Classic Pumpkin Pie
- Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cheesecake
Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
- Yield: 16 bars
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars are the perfect easy way to enjoy pumpkin cheesecake without all the work! They are creamy, full of spice and topped with a cream cheese whipped cream!
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 1/4 cups (168g) graham cracker crumbs
- 3 tbsp (39g) sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
Pumpkin Cheesecake Filling
- 16 oz (452g) cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/4 cup (52g) sugar
- 1/4 cup (56g) packed light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp (16g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (250g) canned pumpkin puree
- 2 tbsp sour cream
- 1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- Pinch of ground ginger
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
Cream Cheese Whipped Cream
- 4 oz (113g) cream cheese, room temperature
- 3/4 cup (ml) heavy whipping cream, cold
- 6 tbsp (43g) powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Ground cinnamon
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and prepare a 9×9 inch pan with parchment paper that sticks up above the sides of the pan, so that you can remove the bars later for easy cutting.
2. To make the crust, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Add the melted butter and stir until the crumbs are well coated.
3. Press crust evenly into the bottom of the pan and bake for 6-7 minutes. When the crust is done baking, remove it from the oven and turn the temperature down to 300 degrees F.
4. To make the filling, beat the cream cheese, sugars and flour in a large mixer bowl on low speed until well combined and smooth. Be sure to use low speed to reduce the amount of air added to the batter. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
5. Add the pumpkin puree, sour cream, spices and vanilla extract and mix on low speed until well combined.
6. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing on low speed to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to make sure everything is well combined.
7. Pour the batter into the pan with the crust and spread evenly.
8. Bake the bars for 35 minutes or until the center is mostly set.
9. Turn the oven off and leave the oven door closed. Leave the bars in the hot oven for another 10-15 minutes.
10. Remove the bars from the oven and allow to cool on the counter for about 30 minutes, then refrigerate until cold and firm.
11. Use the parchment paper to remove the bars from the pan and cut into bars.
12. To make the cream cheese whipped cream, add the cream cheese to a large mixer bowl and beat until smooth. Add the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract and whip on high speed until stiff peaks form.
13. Pipe the whipped cream onto the bars and dust with cinnamon, if desired.
14. Serve cold. Bars are best when stored well covered in the fridge and eaten within 4-5 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Bar
- Calories: 259
- Sugar: 14 g
- Sodium: 142.5 mg
- Fat: 19.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 18.1 g
- Protein: 3.7 g
- Cholesterol: 77.4 mg
Thank you very much!!! By the way, love your site and have a whole folder of your recipes on my computer. I will be retiring soon and I know I’ll not be looking for things to keep me busy–lots of recipes to try out!
My precious sister has celiac disease (gluten intolerance) and I would love to try to make this recipe for Thanksgiving dinner. I can substitute the graham crackers with their gluten-free counterpart, but what do you suggest I use as a substitute for the all-purpose flour in the filling? I know I could ask her, but would like to surprise her with a new dessert she can eat along with the rest of the family.
I think people often use cornstarch, but I’d check the label of the one you use. Usually you’ll use about half the amount, so 1 tablespoon of cornstarch.
It’s so yummy. I’m tried it. Thanks for your recipes
Is ok to double this and put in a 9×13 inch pan? Suggestions for baking time? Thank you. This looks amazing!!!
Doubling it may be a little much. I’d check out this recipe. https://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/pecan-streusel-pumpkin-cheesecake/
1000 THANK YOU’s!!!