I like my cheesecake the way I like fudge – in bite-size bars, for all of the indulgence with none of the guilt. With a rich chocolate crust and chocolate swirls, these velvety pumpkin cheesecake bars will please both pumpkin and cheesecake lovers.
If cheesecake intimidates you, please don’t shy away from these bars. Both the crust and filling come together quickly in a food processor and a toothpick or wooden skewer is the secret to pretty swirls. What could be a more fitting dessert for your Halloween festivities?
Pumpkin Chocolate Cheesecake Bars
Yield: 18 bars
Ingredients
Crust
- 30 (185 g) chocolate wafer cookies
- 3 Tbsp sugar
- pinch of salt
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
Filling
- 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 8 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup plain fat-free Greek yogurt
- 1 cup pure pumpkin
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 Tbsp flour
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp cloves
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line an 11 x 7-inch baking dish with parchment paper. Pulse chocolate wafers, sugar, and salt in a food processor until finely ground; add melted butter and pulse until moist. Press mixture evenly into bottom of prepared baking dish and bake for 13 minutes, until firm. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely and reduce oven temperature to 325°F.
- Place chocolate in a double boiler or in a heat-proof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Slowly melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally until glossy and smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
- Wipe food processor clean. Place cream cheese, yogurt, and pumpkin in processor; process until combined. Add sugar, flour, spices, salt, and eggs; process until smooth. Add 1/2 cup of pumpkin mixture to cooled chocolate, stirring to combine. Pour remaining pumpkin mixture over cooled crust and spread evenly. Dollop chocolate mixture over pumpkin layer (you will have a bit extra chocolate mixture) and swirl together with a toothpick or wooden skewer; gently tap pan once to remove air bubbles.
- Bake for 32 minutes or until set. Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack; cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 3 hours. Just before cutting, chill in the freezer for 15 minutes. Carefully lift parchment and place bars on a cutting board; use a sharp knife to trim away raised edges, then cut into bars. Store leftover bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 2 days.
Notes
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Nutrition Information
Calories: 210
Love the chocolate and pumpkin combination and the bar shape. Love everything about these! 🙂
These are so pretty, I think they’d steal the thunder from pumpkin pie on the holiday dessert table!
I’d happily eat my cheesecake in bars! Especially when it’s chocolate and pumpkin! Beautiful swirls!
That chocolate wafer cookie crust? These decadent bars?! I need 😀
WOW – my hubby would absolutely LOVE these! These are a must make.
Ooo…this may have changed my opinion on cheesecake!! I’ll swap a few sticky buns for some of your bars! 😀
Oh my. This is made for me! Glorious!!!
A wonderful Halloween/fall dessert! They look ever so perfect and delicious.
Cheers,
Rosa
These are really beautiful Laura! Love the chocolate pumpkin combo!
i love those swirls.
The pairing of chocolate and pumpkin is fabulous. The flavors make such a luscious combination, although I would be the one to cut a slice rather than a bar!
They are perfection! And they sound amazing! Love the chocolate base and the chocolate swirls – yumm
Your swirl is PERFECT! What a delish bar for Thanksgiving or anytime! 🙂
That chocolate crust looks so good with these pumpkin bars, yum!
Wow these look so gorgeous!
Bite-sized bars sound perfect for these babies. Love that dark chocolate crust!
I adore everything about this–especially since I don’t have to choose between pumpkin and chocolate 🙂 looks divine!
I don’t think you can go wrong with pumpkin, cheesecake or chocolate! 😀
What’s better than portable cheesecake? Portable cheesecake with pumpkin and chocolate!
These are beautiful! All of the pumpkin, all of the cheesecake, all of the bite size morsels!
I am not intimated by cheesecake. Plus there is NOTHING that would make me shy away from these bars. I can’t believe how beautifully intriguing looking they are. Well done!
Honestly Laura, these look more like art work than dessert. Of course I’m not saying I wouldn’t be thrilled to have a stack of these under my cake dome. I might put a towel over it though so no one else would notice them 🙂
You can’t go wrong with pumpkin chocolate AND cheesecake! These look heavenly!
I totally agree that cheesecake is best in bits and pieces. These bars are so pretty to look at and I’ll bet they taste even better!
Words cannot describe how badly I am craving one of these cheesecake bars to devour right now.. they look seriously amazing. Pinned!
Love the combination of pumpkin and chocolate! The cheesecake topping is the perfect decadence! I want a whole pan!