Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars With a Gingersnap Crust

Chef Itchy Monkey's Note:

I made these for Thanksgiving 2006, and they were a hit! Delicious crust and creamy filling. You get the best of both worlds (pumpkin pie and cheesecake) without the hassle of preparing a "real" cheesecake.

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 12

Yield: 12.0 squares

CRUST

• 2 cups finely crushed gingersnaps
• 1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

FILLING

• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 eggs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°.
2. Line bottom and sides of a 9"x13" baking pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil, leaving an overhang on all sides. Set aside.
3. CRUST: Blend cookies, sugar, and cinnamon in a food processor until finely ground; add pecans and butter and combine. Transfer crumb mixture to prepared pan, and press gently into bottom. Bake until fragrant and slightly firm, 12 to 15 minutes.
4. PUMPKIN BATTER: In a medium bowl stir together pumpkin, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves until combined; set aside.
5. CREAM CHEESE BATTER: In a large mixing bowl beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and vanilla, beating until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating at low speed after each addition just until combined.
6. Stir 1/3 of the cream cheese batter (about 1 1/2 cups) into the pumpkin batter until smooth. Pour remaining cream cheese batter over crust.
7. Place large spoonfuls of pumpkin batter randomly over cream cheese batter. Using the tip of a table knife or a thin metal spatula, gently swirl the two batters together. This should have a marbled look.
8. Bake for 25 to 30 or until center is just set.
9. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cover and chill for 4 to 24 hours before lifting out of pan and cutting into squares or bars. Store any remaining bars in the refrigerator.

Reviews

[lizeroo]

I made these for Thanksgiving (cdn) yesterday and they were well received. I am new to baking cheesecake, though, so I mistrusted the direction to cook for 20-30 min. I checked at 30 and left them in 10 more min., so they ended up slightly dry. My only change would be to bake them in a 7x11 pan instead of a 13x9. This way, the cheesecake layer would be thicker and less like a cookie bar. Thanks for the post!

[Marsha Mazz]

I thought this was wonderful. I made it for Thanksgiving and everyone loved it. Just a note of caution - don't cut this in our pan. It holds together nicely when you lift-up the parchment. Cut it on a cutting board.

[BekW]

Mmmmm. Very good recipe. I reduced the crust cook-time to 5 minutes, because 15 made it turn out hard as a rock the first time.