Pumpkin Week Part II: Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
I am a fan of plain cheesecake. Just the creamy filling and buttery crumbly graham cracker crust. That is all I need. No fruit, no chocolate, no caramel and absolutley NO fake strawberry goo. What is that stuff anyway? I do happen to like pumpkin cheesecake, so when I found this recipe I was pretty excited. This recipe is a Betty Crocker prize winner for 2008 and uses a Betty Crocker oatmeal cookie mix in the base.
Other than that everything else is from scratch. A drizzle of caramel ice cream topping and fudge makes the bars more special and delicious. I didn’t warm up the hot fudge before drzzling, so it came out of my ziploc bag in globs instead of a nice stream. Oops!
I ate one before I chilled the bars and it was good. I ate another little bite after a few hours in the fridge, and it was much better. These would be a good alternative to pumpkin pie…or a good addition! You can’t have too many desserts this time of year, right?
I took the bars out of the oven after 30 minutes and it was definitely done. I think any longer, in my oven anyway, would have overcooked them.
The streusel topping is very good. I like the addition of pecans and gingersnaps a lot. They give a great flavor and extra crunch to the cookie base.
Cookie Base | |
1 |
pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® oatmeal cookie mix |
1/2 |
cup crushed gingersnap cookies |
1/2 |
cup finely chopped pecans |
1/2 |
cup cold butter or margarine |
Filling | |
2 |
packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened |
1 |
cup sugar |
1 |
cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix) |
2 |
tablespoons Gold Medal® all-purpose flour |
1 |
tablespoon pumpkin pie spice |
2 |
tablespoons whipping cream |
2 |
eggs |
Toppings | |
1/3 |
cup chocolate topping |
1/3 |
cup caramel topping |
1. | Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, stir together cookie mix, crushed cookies and pecans. Cut in butter, using pastry blender or fork, until mixture is crumbly. Reserve 1 cup mixture for topping. Press remaining mixture in bottom of ungreased 13×9-inch pan. Bake 10 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. |
2. | Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add remaining filling ingredients; beat until well blended. Pour over warm cookie base. Sprinkle with reserved topping. |
3. | Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until center is set. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate about 2 hours or until chilled. |
4. | Before serving, drizzle with chocolate and caramel toppings. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator. |