Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
Baking with pumpkin seems to be mandatory this time of year. Try googling pumpkin recipes and you will be blown away with all the different options. Seasonal cooking has a way of making us nostalgic and sentimental and who says there’s anything wrong with that? I certainly don’t. There’s something very right and proper about bubbly, comforting casseroles in the cold winter months, asparagus and snap peas in the early spring, fresh garden tomatoes during the summer and of course, pumpkin is all the rage in the autumn. It’s the iconic Thanksgiving dessert.
Every time I find myself in possession of this orange treasure, my mind quickly turns to cheesecakes. That’s probably because cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts ever, so naturally pumpkin cheesecake would also be high on my list. I’ve realized that dessert bars are really my thing too, so this year, I’ve converted my favorite Deluxe Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe into these amazing Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars. I am now officially converted and will make these bars as long as there’s pumpkin available. The addition of sour cream to the cheesecake batter makes them even more tender, which is exactly how I like it.
Ingredients:
Crust:
1 cup crushed graham crackers (8-10 graham crackers)
1/3 cup pecans, oprtional
1 Tablespoon sugar
4 Tablespoons butter, melted
Cheesecake:
4 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 – 1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs, room temperature
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a rimmed baking pan (13×9 inches) with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Brush the bottom and sides with 1 Tablespoon of melted butter.
Pulse the graham crackers, 1 Tablespoon sugar and the pecans in a food processor until finely ground. 
Add the remaining 3 Tablespoons melted butter and mix until evenly moistened. 
Press the crumbs into the prepared baking dish. 
Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes.
Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese, sugar, sour cream and vanilla in a standing mixer with the paddle attachment or using a hand mixer until evenly combined. 
Add the eggs, one at a time. 
Pour a little bit more than half of the cheesecake mixture into the baking pan over the graham cracker crust. 
Add the canned pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg to the remaining cheesecake mixture. 
Mix to combine. 
Pour the pumpkin mixture over the cheesecake mixture. 
Bake the cheesecake in the preheated oven for about 40 minutes, until the edges are set and the center just barely jiggles.
Cool the bars completely before cutting them into bars. They cut the best if you chill them in the refrigerator first. This is the perfect dessert to be made ahead of time, so take advantage of that characteristic during the holidays.
Serve the bars with a drizzle of caramel and whipped cream. 
- 1 cup crushed graham crackers (8-10 graham crackers)
- ⅓ cup pecans, oprtional
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 4 Tablespoons butter, melted
- 4 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
- 1 - 1½ cups sugar
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a rimmed baking pan (13x9 inches) with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Brush the bottom and sides with 1 Tablespoon of melted butter.
- Pulse the graham crackers, 1 Tablespoon sugar and the pecans in a food processor until finely ground. Add the remaining 3 Tablespoons melted butter and mix until evenly moistened.
- Press the crumbs into the prepared baking dish. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese, sugar, sour cream and vanilla in a standing mixer with the paddle attachment or using a hand mixer until evenly combined.
- Add the eggs, one at a time.
- Pour a little bit more than half of the cheesecake mixture into the baking pan over the graham cracker crust.
- Add the canned pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg to the remaining cheesecake mixture. Mix to combine.
- Pour the pumpkin mixture over the cheesecake mixture.
- Bake the cheesecake in the preheated oven for about 40 minutes, until the edges are set and the center just barely jiggles.
- Cool the bars completely before cutting them into bars. They cut the best if you chill them in the refrigerator first. This is the perfect dessert to be made ahead of time, so take advantage of that characteristic during the holidays.
- Serve the bars with a drizzle of caramel and whipped cream.
18 Comments
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Valya @ Valya' s Taste of Home
This cheese cake bars look absolutely delicious! That’s funny how we are both in a bar baking mood. I’m working on my cream cheese and cranberry bars right now to post this week. How is your pregnancy going? I hope your feeling better. 🙂
olgak7
Bars are my thing:). Love the simplicity of them.
Pregnancy is going well. The baby is growing. I still feel sick most of the time, but I’m used to it by now:). Only 3 months left!
Natasha (@NatashasKitchen)
Olga, those are mouthwatering and look very simple to make :). I made some pumpkin puree and will give this recipe a try. Pinning 🙂
olgak7
Thanks, Natasha:). My type of recipes are the easy ones.
veronica
This is absolutely the best cheesecake recipe I have ever made! Thanks for sharing! I made it last night and it’s almost gone today… the only thing is that my cheesecake turned out a little flat and cracked in the center, maybe because I opened the oven during the baking process?
olgak7
Thanks for taking the time to write, Veronica. I don’t know why your cheesecake turned out flat and cracked.
tania
Quick question… I’m taking this cheesecake out if the over now. There is a brown crust on top of mine. I don’t see it on your finished cheesecake. Did you cut it off?
olgak7
No, I did not cut anything off, Tania. It looks exactly the way I took it out of the oven. Every oven is different, so maybe yours baked differently.
Arina
I just made this and mine also turned out cracked… Fluffy and cracked. Still looks good though.
olgak7
Cheesecake does have a tendency to crack. If you really want to avoid cracking, you can try using a water bath to bake it next time, just like I show in my Deluxe Pumpkin Cheesecake. I hope that helps.
Evelina
Hi Olga,
I just wanted to say thank you so much for this recipe! It is absolutely fabulous and I have made it over and over in the last month, probably about 6 times since Thanksgiving really. I made a batch for a co-workers birthday and everyone was raving about how good it was and asking for the recipe… Thank you! Loving this cheesecake way too much!
Evelina
olgak7
That’s wonderful, Evelina! Thank you so much for taking the time to write. I’m so glad to hear that the Cheesecake Bars were enjoyed by so many.
Emily
Hey Olga, for the crust, do you toast the pecons first?
olgak7
No, I do not, Emily. Since they are in the crust and will be pre baked and then also will get a good amount of baking time, the pecans will get a toasty flavor without the extra step.
Alla
Thank you for this recipe. It looks fantastic! I’m planing on making these for Thanksgiving this year. I’m considering making this in a springform pan to it will be shaped like a cheesecake instead of bars.
olgak7
That would be great, Alla. I actually have a Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe on the blog that I posted a few years ago.
Julia
Hi Olga. I absolutely love this recipe and am trying to make it for a friends wedding but seeing as it’s a summer wedding I don’t think pumpkin will work. Would it be possible to incorporate strawberries or raspberries instead?
olgak7
I have no idea if it would work with strawberries or raspberries, Julia. I wouldn’t recommend it, since berries have a very different consistency from pumpkin.