Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars taste like a creamy pumpkin pie and are the quintessential fall dessert. The velvety bars are easy to make and simple to serve. The homemade cookie crust is a chocolatey complement to the swirled cheesecake. It's a timeless treat worthy of serving any time of year, but especially in the fall.

Ingredients to Have on Hand

• Canned Pumpkin
• Sweetened Condensed Milk, canned (not evaporated milk)
• Pumpkin Pie Spice
• Cream Cheese
• Vanilla Extract
• Cocoa Powder
• Nilla Wafers

Easy-to-Make Crust

This recipe is unique. There's a homemade, buttery, chocolate cookie crust under the filling instead of a gingersnap or shortbread crust which are both common with pumpkin cheesecake.

Crushed Nilla Wafers are ideal for this easy-to-make crust. Use a rolling pin to flatten the wafers in a zipped top plastic bag then combine the wafer crumbs with cocoa powder, melted butter and powdered sugar. Voila! Chocolate cookie crust.

There's no need to line the pan with foil or parchment paper and there's no need to use shortening or Pam to prep the pan.

The buttery crust won't stick and will scoop out of the pan just fine after the bars are baked and chilled.

Pat-in-the-Pan Crust

When you first place the chocolatey, Nilla Wafer crumb mixture in the pan, it may look like there's not enough crust to spread across the entire baking pan, but there is!

Just take your time. Pat and push the crumbs to create a thin, even crust across the bottom of the entire pan.

Use Pumpkin Puree

Be sure to use pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. It's really easy to confuse the two, especially since they are often displayed side-by-side on the grocery store shelf and the packaging looks very similar.

But there is a big difference between pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin pie filling includes spices and sugar. Pumpkin puree is just that, pure pumpkin.

Use a Whole Can of Pumpkin

Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars use a 15 ounce can of pumpkin puree and you'll use every ounce, which is great. Nothing goes to waste.

I like to buy two cans at a time so I have pumpkin on hand any time I want to make this recipe.

How to Create the Marbled Effect

It's actually very simple to create that pretty marbled effect in these cheesecake bars and it just takes a few seconds. Watch this video to see how it's done.

Top Tips and FAQ

Easy to Serve

When we think of a fall treat or a Thanksgiving dessert it's easy to gravitate to our favorite pumpkin, apple or pecan pie recipes. And those are great. But pumpkin cheesecake bars might change everything for you and your family when it comes to fall or holiday desserts.

These velvety marbled cheesecake bars slice and serve easily. There's no filling to spill off the crust, there's not even a need for a fork.

Serves Like a Brownie

When I bake this recipe, using a 13" x 9" baking pan, I cut the bars into 24 portions. But of course, you decide how big to make each serving. I've also served these as tiny bite-size portions and that was a big hit.

These serve just like a brownie. Just slice into bars, lift each serving using a spatula, take a bite and enjoy.

More Easy to Serve Treats

It's great to have easy to serve dessert ideas ready to go, here are a few more that I think you'll love!

• Fancy Rice Krispy Treats
• No Peel Apple Cake
• Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chip Bars

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Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

These bars taste like a creamy pumpkin pie and are the quintessential fall dessert. The velvety bars are easy to make and simple to serve.

5 from 107 votes

Print Rate Pin Recipe

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Servings: 24 bars

Calories: 139kcal

Author: Melinda O'Malley Keckler

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• 2 cups nilla wafer crumbs about 60 cookie wafers or about half a bag from an 11 ounce box of wafers
• ⅓ cup cocoa powder
• ⅓ cup powdered sugar
• ½ cup butter melted
• 3, 8 ounce packages cream cheese softened
• 1, 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie filling
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Instructions

Preheat Oven and Prepare Crust

• Preheat oven to 350° F
• Combine nilla wafer crumbs with cocoa, powdered sugar and melted butter and press firmly into a 13” x 9” baking pan.

Blend the Filling

• In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. In a glass measuring cup, combine sweetened condensed milk, eggs and vanilla. Gradually pour contents of the measuring cup into the mixing bowl with the cream cheese and stir gently to blend.
• Pour half the cream cheese batter over the vanilla wafer crumb crust in the pan and set aside.
• To the remaining cream cheese batter in the mixing bowl, add the can of pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice and stir well, a whisk works great to combine everything.

Swirl the Batter

• Spoon the pumpkin batter on top of the first layer of batter in the pan.

  Drop the pumpkin batter by spoonfuls on top of the first layer.

  Use a table knife to swirl through each section of pumpkin batter. Gently combine it by twisting and turning the knife through the first layer of batter to create a marble effect.

Bake, Chill and Serve

• Bake for 45 minutes or until set.
• Cool, then chill in the refrigerator.
• Cut into bars and serve.

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Nutrition

Calories: 139kcalCarbohydrates: 10gProtein: 2gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 45mgSodium: 87mgPotassium: 54mgFiber: 1gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 329IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 19mgIron: 1mg

Please note, the nutrition details are estimated using a food database and are offered here only as a guideline for informational purposes.

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