There seem to be two schools of thought about Thanksgiving desserts. Those who must have pumpkin pie and those who avoid anything pumpkin, other than the spice mix. I am squarely in the pumpkin camp and so is my whole family, but if you or someone you love is not, these Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake Bars are the perfect way to ease into using the Thanksgiving essential and give a loving gesture to those who adore pumpkin.
The base of these bars comes from Michelle Lopez’s new book Weeknight Baking
Watch me make these cheesecake bars on my Instagram.
Thank you Michelle for sending me the book, it is so lovely and fun to bake from!
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 1/2 cups (165g) graham cracker crumbs
- 6 tbsp (90g) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tbsp (30g) sugar
- Pinch salt
Cheesecake batter
- 1 1/2 cups (350g) cream cheese room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (112g) sour cream (crème fraîche or greek yogurt also works) room temperature
Pumpkin swirl
- 1/4 cup pumpkin puree roasted and pureed or canned
- 1 tsp pumpkin spice blend
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- To make the crust: Heat oven to 325°F. Line an 8-inch square cake pan with a sheet of aluminum foil that goes up the sides.
- Mix together all the ingredients and press it into the prepared pan. Bake for about 10 minutes or until just toasty and golden brown.
- To make the filling: In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (I really like the rubber edged attachment for this. Less scraping the bowl), mix the cream cheese on low speed until smooth. Add the sugar and mix until incorporated, scrape the bowl often. Add eggs one at a time, scraping bowl between them. Mix in sour cream.
- Separate out 1/2 cup of the filling into a bowl and add pumpkin puree, spices and vanilla. Place the pumpkin cheesecake mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a round tip or a squeeze bottle.
- Pour the remaining plain cheesecake over the baked crust and shimmy to settle it flat. Pipe the pumpkin cheesecake over the top of the plain in a zigzag pattern, then draw a toothpick through it in the opposite direction to create the swirly or marbled pattern.
- Bake in a water bath (this will help keep the shape of the swirls) for about 30-35 minutes until the cheesecake is set, but still wobbles in the center. Cool completely on a wire rack, then chill in refrigerator until firm, at least 4 hours or overnight (I cheated and after they were room temperature, I put them in the freezer for 45 minutes and cut them.)
- Use the overhanging foil to lift the bars out of the pan. To cut the cheesecake dip a sharp knife in hot water.
The video for this dessert no longer exists. Would it be possible to put it up again? It helps get the swirls right.
Thanks, Marcia
Hi Marcia! Even though it’s not visible in her Instagram highlights, this link to it still works. Please let me know if this isn’t working for you, but I just tested it myself and it brought me right to the video!
Beautiful presentation and tasty, too! I made the pumpkin swirl cheesecake recipe using cupcake liners to serve at a neighborhood block party. The individual desserts look amazing. We love them!
Absolutely delicious! The graham crust was perfect. I used baked Kabocha squash instead of pumpkin and the bars were addicting! Everyone loved them. Thanks so much for sharing.
Awesome!
Holy cow these are delicious. They are silky smooth. The perfect amount of sweetness paired with the tang from the sour cream… SIMPLY AMAZING. Thank you so much for sharing!
I don’t see a video. Is it on a different page? I want to make these with gluten free graham crackers. Do you think this works? I’ve done it to other cheesecake recipes.
Hi Debbie, Here is the video, it’s on Zoe’s Instagram page. If you have had luck with gluten free graham crackers in other cheesecake recipes, it should work here as well, but since Zoe hasn’t tried it, we can’t say for sure. Happy baking!
OMG—-These bars are so perfect for Thanksgiving. Thanks for sharing.
These pumpkin swirl bars look scrumptious and look forward to baking them. And I thing the raspberry swirl Debbi suggested sounds great also.
Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Adele
These look great! I’ll be making them this weekend.
When do you add the vanilla to the filling? I added it with the sour cream?
Making these now for Thanksgiving, thank you for the recipe.