Cream Cheese Pumpkin Pie Bars

 

 

 

 

Cream Cheese Pumpkin Pie Bars

 

These were a happy accident, Enjoy!

Cream Cheese Pumpkin Pie bars

The Crust

2 cups Flour

1 ½ cups sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 ½ tsp. baking powder

¾ cup melted butter

 

The Pumpkin Filling

1 29 oz. can of pure pumpkin or 3 ½ cups fresh roasted pumpkin flesh without the skin

1 ¼ cup dark brown sugar

1 tbsp. pure vanilla

½ tsp. salt

1 cup whole milk

3 eggs

1/2 cinnamon

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

 

Cream Cheese Swirl

1 8 oz. package of cream cheese at room temperature

¾ cup powdered sugar

 

This recipe makes one rectangle 9’13 pan of perfect pumpkin pie bars!

Pre-heat your oven to 350.  I use two mixing bowls for this recipe.  In your first mixing bowl prepare the crust. Whisk all the dry ingredients together. Pour your melted butter into the flour mixture, it will look crumbly. Press your crust into a 9’13 pan and bake partially for 12 minutes until slightly set.  You’re not looking for the crust to be completely cooked only small patches beginning to get a golden color.

While the crust is baking mix together all the ingredients for the pumpkin filling with either a hand mixer or wire whisk. Set aside.

 

In another smaller bowl microwave the room temperature cream cheese for 10-30 seconds until it’s nice and melted.  Add your powdered sugar to the cheese and mix together until the lumps have disappeared and it’s smooth and creamy.

 

When your crust has finished partially baking, pour the pumpkin into the center. Quickly spread the pumpkin all over the crust evenly, it’s perfectly fine if some of the crust moves under the weight of the pumpkin, it creates and tasty thicker edge.

Spoon the cream cheese evenly over the pumpkin; I tend to get about 12 tablespoon dollops all over the bars.  Make sure to scrape every last bit of cream cheese onto the bars.  Using your spoon, carefully drag through the cream cheese dollops and pumpkin to create beautiful swirls.  Do not over swirl, even though it is the best partJ

Return to the oven for 20-30 minutes.  You want to pull it out of the oven just before the center is completely set. A small about of wobble is fine because your bars will continue to set as they cool.  Slice into either 12 large bars or 24 average sized bars.  Try not to inhale the pan…