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.