Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars: These decadent Fall dessert bars feature a buttery graham cracker crust and a layer of rich creamy swirled pumpkin pie cheesecake!
The pumpkin combined with the cheesecake flavors, is a combo that’s hard to pass up. We even have mini pumpkin cheesecakes that should be next on your list of fall desserts to make!
Desserts are a huge hit at our house. Especially cheesecake! From baked versions like Coconut Cheesecake and Strawberry Crunch Cheesecake to no bake cheesecake recipes like our No Bake Cherry Cheesecake and S’mores Cheesecake, we love cheesecake in any form. Now, we’re sharing cheesecake in pumpkin bars!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
It’s pumpkin season! Get ready for all of the pumpkin recipes, pumpkin treats and pumpkin flavor. These pumpkin bars are no exception. They have a generous swirl of pumpkin pie cheesecake that will cure that pumpkin craving.
Since this cheesecake is baked in a 9×13 baking dish, you don’t have to fuss with a springform pan or a water bath.
These easy cheesecake bars are a delicious alternative to this no-bake pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving dessert. I know we’ll be making them all holiday season, as well as this sweet potato pie recipe!
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Ingredients
These pumpkin cream cheese bars use simple, easy to find ingredients that can be picked up on your next grocery store run. Here are the ingredients for BAKED pumpkin bars:
- 3 cups graham cracker crumbs
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 16 oz. (2 blocks) cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 2 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
See printable recipe card below for ingredients, nutrition information and detailed recipe notes.
Instructions
With the easy step-by-step instructions and photos below, even the most inexperienced bakers can have a pan of these decadent dessert bars ready today!
See below for “No Bake” instructions instead!
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, melt the butter in the microwave. Then, combine it with the graham cracker crumbs until it forms a wet, sandy mixture. Spread the graham cracker mixture evenly into the bottom of the 9×13 pan and press it down firmly to form a crust. Set the dish aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer to whip the cream cheese until it is smooth. Now, mix in the sour cream and granulated sugar until they are fully incorporated.
- Then, add the eggs to the cream cheese mixture and mix once more until smooth and the eggs are fully combined. Pour ¾ of the cheesecake mixture over the graham cracker crust.
- Add the pumpkin to the remaining cheesecake mixture, add the salt, pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice and mix it until combined.
- Dollop spoonfuls of the pumpkin cheesecake mixture all over the top of the plain cheesecake layer. Use a butter knife to swirl the two mixtures together.
- Next, bake the cheesecake for 35-40 minutes or until the center is only slightly jiggly.
- Turn off the oven and allow the cheesecake to cool for 30 minutes in the oven. Then, put it in the fridge and allow it to cool for 1 ½ hours.
- Finally, cut the cooled cheesecake into squares, serve, and enjoy!
Serve them on a pretty platter for an impressive dessert on Thanksgiving! (And save the leftover cut-away pieces to snack on until that turkey is done!)
Substitutions & Variations
Don’t have sour cream? Can’t find graham cracker crumbs in the grocery store? We’ve got easy alternatives and some fun ways to switch up this classic recipe for pumpkin cheesecake bars.
- If you don’t have sour cream, you can replace it with plain greek yogurt.
- Have you ever made homemade pumpkin pie spice? It is a great way to adjust the individual spices (more cinnamon, less ginger, etc.) to your taste and you can absolutely use it in this recipe.
- Feel free to make your own graham cracker crumbs if you don’t want to buy them. Simply place your graham crackers in a large ziploc bag and use a rolling pin to crush them into fine crumbs.
- We made this recipe with a traditional graham cracker crust. However, you can make the crust with your favorite cookies and crumbs! Use vanilla wafers for a mild vanilla crust. Amp up the spice by using cinnamon graham cracker crumbs. Crushed gingersnap cookies make an incredible gingersnap crust to compliment the pumpkin in this recipe. Chocolate and pumpkin are a surprisingly delicious combination, so you can try using chocolate graham crackers crumbs for the crust, too.
- Finally, there are plenty of ways to top these creamy pumpkin cheesecake bars. Homemade whipped cream or whipped topping, crunchy streusel, pumpkin pie granola, scoops of ice creams and caramel sauce are some of our favorite suggestions!
Storage
Should you refrigerate pumpkin bars? How long do pumpkin bars last? Store these Fall dessert bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Top Tips
- Allowing the cheesecake to cool in the oven before moving the dish to the fridge helps minimize cracks forming in the top of the cheesecake.
- I like to use a plastic knife to cut these cheesecake bars into squares. For some reason, a plastic knife doesn’t seem to stick to the cheesecake filling as much, and results in cleaner edges for the cut pumpkin cheesecake squares.
No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
Now, this is not a no bake dessert and these are not no bake pumpkin bars. BUT, you can use the same crumb + butter crust and make a no bake filling.
Here’s How: To make an easy fluffy filling, whisk 1 small box of pumpkin spice flavored instant pudding into 1 cup of cold milk and then fold in 1 small tub of Cool Whip for a creamy dreamy no bake pumpkin dessert. Sprinkle the top with pumpkin pie spice and refrigerate until you are ready to serve.
More Pumpkin Recipes
We are no stranger to pumpkin desserts around here! Our Pumpkin Streusel Muffins are bakery-style muffins with a decadent streusel topping and an icing drizzle. This Pumpkin Caramel Poke Cake is a super simple 4 ingredient pumpkin dessert! If no bake is more your speed, our Pumpkin Fluff Dip is a crowd pleaser for all of your Fall get togethers.
Did you make this? I’d be so grateful if you left a “star” rating below to let me know what you thought! Then, the next time you need a quick and easy recipe, come back to Fantabulosity to browse all of my easy recipes!
Recipe
Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
Ingredients differ if making the "no-bake" version. Scroll down to "notes" to see what you'll need!
- 3 cups graham cracker crumbs
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 16 oz cream cheese (2 blocks) softened to room temperature
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 2 ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
- See no bake instructions below if you prefer that instead!
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, melt the butter in the microwave and combine it with the graham cracker crumbs until it forms a wet, sandy mixture. Spread the graham cracker mixture evenly into the bottom of the 9×13 pan and press it down firmly to form a crust. Set the dish aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer to whip the cream cheese until smooth.
- Now, mix in the sour cream and granulated sugar until they are fully incorporated.
- Then, add the eggs to the cream cheese mixture and mix once more until is smooth and the eggs are fully combined. Pour ¾ of the cheesecake mixture over the graham cracker crust.
- To the remaining cheesecake mixture, add the salt, pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice and mix it until combined.
- Dollop spoonfuls of the pumpkin cheesecake mixture all over the top of the plain cheesecake mixture. Use a butter knife to swirl the two mixtures together.
- Next, bake the cheesecake for 35-40 minutes or until the center is only slightly jiggly.
- Turn off the oven and allow the cheesecake to cool for 30 minutes in the oven. Then, put it in the fridge and allow it to cool for 1 ½ hours.
- Finally, cut the cooled cheesecake into squares, serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Use the bottom of a glass to press the graham cracker crumb mixture into the baking dish to form a firm, sturdy crust.
- I like to use a plastic knife to cut these cheesecake bars into squares. (For some reason, it doesn’t seem to stick to the cheesecake filling so much!) If you use a regular knife, wipe it clean after every cut to keep the edges of the bars neat.
- Allowing the cheesecake to cool in the oven before moving the dish to the fridge helps minimize cracks forming in the top of the cheesecake.
- Store these cheesecake bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
Joyce says
I made these but they were slightly dry, what did I do wrong ? Thank you
Jessica says
Hi Joyce! Thanks for commenting. Really? That’s so interesting. Hmm… do you happen to know what part of it was dry? The crust? The filling?
Christine Mikulak says
I made these last year for Thanksgiving, and my family said it was the best dessert ever brought. That’s HUGE. Making again today for a church gathering.
Jessica says
Ahhh!!! Yay!! This is so exciting to hear and I’m so glad that you liked this pumpkin dessert! 🙂 Thank you!
Patty says
I made the pumpkin cheesecake bars today. They are delicious. I will definitely make them again. I bake mine and I went right by the recipe. You will eat one and you will want another one. Thanks for sharing.
Jessica says
Yay! So happy that you like these pumpkin bars too, thank you so much for sharing!
jess says
this is the best bar recipe I have made, these crust is fantastic and the flavors are impeccable! thank you so much for sharing
Allyssa says
Thanks a lot for this amazing pumpkin cheesecake bars recipe! It’s really tasty and super easy to make! Loved this! Highly recommended!
Journa Liz Ramirez says
I already tried different pumpkin recipes, but this one is remarkable! I’ll definitely have this on our Thanksgiving dessert.