Swirled Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars

Although it’s now officially winter, I’ve still had pumpkin and the fall spices on my mind. When my sister came over to make treats for coworkers for the holidays, she came armed with this recipe in mind. She must have read my mind! I still had one lone can of pumpkin in my pantry from stocking up last year. I wonder if I should stock up for next year now! :)

This recipe turned out very well. The ratio of spices gave it a nice kick. The bottom was a nice layer of pumpkin spice cake with a layer of cream cheese on top. I guess it’s a cheesecake bar, since the ingredients for the cream cheese layer is everything I would add in a cheesecake.

I’ve made adjustments to the original recipe since the original recipe wouldn’t be clear for beginners. We both read the recipe over many times and we almost made mistakes since it didn’t really call to divide anything in the ingredients list. I’ve separated the ingredients for the pumpkin cake part and the cream cheese mixture below. In the end, I also cut it into 48 pieces instead of the original 24. Since we were sharing other treats as well, a little taste was all you need of this. I think the smaller size is what most people can eat anyway. These fared very well when I brought them to work.

Swirled Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars
adapted from: Sunset via myrecipes.com

 printable recipe

ingredients:
1 3/4  cups  all-purpose flour
1 1/2  teaspoons  ground cinnamon
1  teaspoon  baking soda
1/2  teaspoon  baking powder
1/2  teaspoon  ground nutmeg
6  tablespoons  butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2  cups  sugar
2 large eggs
1  cup  pure pumpkin puree
1/3 cup water

cream cheese mixture:
1  package (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 large egg
1/4 cup sugar

directions:
Preheat oven to 350°. In a medium bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and nutmeg.

In an electric mixer, beat butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar at medium speed until smooth. Beat in 2 eggs, pumpkin, and 1/3 cup water until well blended, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Stir or beat the dry ingredients into butter mixture until well blended. Spread batter evenly in a buttered and floured 10- by 15-inch baking pan.

Beat  cream cheese, egg, and remaining 1/4 cup sugar at medium speed until smooth.

Drop tablespoon dollops of cream cheese mixture evenly spaced over the batter. Pull a knife tip through filling to swirl slightly into batter.

Bake in a oven until center of pumpkin batter (not cream cheese mixture) springs back when touched, about 30 minutes. Let cool completely in pan, then cut into 24 bars. (I actually cut it into 48 and they were still good sized for me)

Store in fridge for up to 3 days.