Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake Bars

Thanksgiving is next week friends, next week!  I don’t know how it snuck up on us so quickly, but what I do know is I have your Thanksgiving dessert right here!  If you are a fan of cheesecake, but not a fan of the work that normally goes along with it, say hello to your new best friend.  Pumpkin swirl cheesecake bars are everything you love about the classic dessert packed into one hand-held bar, crunchy gingersnap crust included!

While I’m calling these beauties pumpkin swirl cheesecake bars, I feel like pumpkin pie cheesecake bars might even be more fitting.  It’s like cheesecake and pumpkin pie met and the sparks flew!  How amazing would that be on a greeting card?!  One day, it’s totally going to happen!

Sometimes I get distracted, but back to the task at hand: Thanksgiving dessert!  I wanted to create a show-stopping dessert for Thanksgiving that did not require a show-stopping amount of work.  This is the time of year when we all start to get super busy, and my goal is to make life a little easier this season.  Bonus points when making life easy turns out this delicious!

Don’t they look like you spent your whole day mixing, swirling and getting them camera ready?

Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone that the cheesecake itself bakes in under 30 minutes!  But the part that totally gets me is when you cut into these gems, you will be met with every ounce of lusciousness you’d expect from a classic cheesecake – minus the whole springform pan, water bath process!  Oh, the things that make a baker happy 🙂

The other reason I’m a super fan of these bars is they’re what I like to call a “bake and take” recipe. You bake them in a 9×13-inch pan, and then simply take the whole thing, pan and all wherever you may be going this holiday, and I swear, people will think you’re showing up with a treasure – because you are!

My other little holiday/hostess tip is buy a 9×13-inch pan, bake the bars in it, and write the recipe on pretty recipe card for the ultimate hostess gift!  You’re taking dessert of their to-do list plus you’re giving them a great pan they’ll use forever!

The one thing you’ll want to make a note of when baking these bars is to let them chill overnight before you cut into them.  Due to their luscious nature, they need time to set up.  I know it’s torture, but believe me, so worth it!  On the bright side, that means you’ll make them the day before Thanksgiving, which frees up time and oven space for things like stuffing!

Thanks so much for reading! I can’t wait to hear what you guys think of these!

Happy baking!

Disclosure: I am in a working relationship with Farberware and this recipe was developed for Farberware Cookware.  Thank you for supporting Buttercream Blondie and allowing me to share what I love!