Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

I think I went a little overboard with my purchasing of canned pumpkin. Is that even possible? I bought a case. I really love pumpkin and have had a hankering for Pumpkin Cheesecake. I have been seeing so many gorgeous Cheesecakes on Pinterest. But the thing is, you have to refrigerate your cheesecake and I needed these bars for a party tonight! In my travels, I stumbled upon a very easy recipe for Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars. Now when I tell you easy, I mean EEEE-Z. Not easy like you open a pouch of ingredients and add water, I mean easier than a cheesecake easier. Although if you double this recipe, you can actually make a cheesecake if you place all ingredients in a spring form pan. I happened to have all of the ingredients on hand, which makes me happier than all get out. I planned on bringing these to a dinner party at Lily's home, but they were gone in a flash. Note to self, double this recipe next time! These bars are perfect for a snack, dessert or in my case breakfast. I used  chopped walnuts, but you can use pecans or choose to go nut free. Either way, these are a perfect Holiday Bar.

 

 

Here's what you need: flour, brown sugar, butter, chopped walnuts, cream cheese, sugar, pumpkin, eggs, cinnamon, allspice, and vanilla.

Combine flour and brown sugar in a medium bowl. Cut in butter to make a crumb mixture. Stir in nuts. Set aside 3/4 cup mixture for topping. 

Press remaining mixture into bottom of 8x8x1 1/2 inch baking pan. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 15  minutes. Cool slightly.

Combine cream cheese, sugar, pumpkin, eggs, cinnamon, allspice, and vanilla in  large mixer bowl. I used my Kitchen Aid. Blend until smooth. 

Pour over baked crust. Sprinkle with reserved topping. Bake an additional 30-35 minutes. Cool before cutting into bars. Makes 12 bars. If you double the recipe and put it in a spring form pan, it makes a wonderful cheesecake ( increase baking time)

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

1 c. all purpose flour
1/3 c. packed golden brown sugar
5 tbsp. butter, softened
1/2 c. finely chopped pecans or walnuts
1 (8 oz.) pkg. softened cream cheese
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. Libby's solid pack pumpkin
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground allspice
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine flour and brown sugar in medium bowl. Cut in butter to make a crumb mixture. Stir in nuts. Set aside 3/4 cup mixture for topping. Press remaining mixture into bottom of 8 x 8 x 1 1/2 inch basking pan. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. Cool slightly. Combine cream cheese, sugar, pumpkin, eggs, cinnamon, allspice, and vanilla in large mixer bowl. Blend until smooth. Pour over baked crust. Sprinkle with reserved topping. Bake an additional 30-35 minutes. Cool before cutting into bars. Makes 12 bars. If you double recipe and put in a spring form pan it makes a wonderful cheesecake (increase baking time).

Recipe adapted from Cooks.com 

Cherry Cheesecake

This is my favorite cheesecake recipe because it is relatively simple and doesn't have a lot of steps. It is very festive for the holidays and everybody loves cheesecake! This recipe is from my dear friend, Sandi Roman, she is such a great cook! She brought this to our home for Christmas Eve dinner many, many years ago when our kids were small and we didn't know many people in town. I was so impressed and I said," I have to have this recipe!"Well, I have been making it every year since then! So as I was doing the foodie shoot, I used my daughter's brand new camera and now I don't know how to download pics from her camera and she has a cold, so I don't want to bug her....so anyway, these are the pics from my camera when I was mixing the ingredients in the Kitchen Aid. You can see how high the cake rises. It feels like it weighs 10 pounds when you are all done baking and adding the cherries for the topping.

If you have a Kitchen Aid, it makes this recipe so easy, if not I always used a hand blender, keep beating until the ingredients are smooth.

Pour cream cheese batter into pan.

I was so excited how high the cake rose, I took the pic in the oven, I know I am a spaz! But it really is the little things in life, but this is huge!! LOL!

Beautiful!! It does fall when it cools and when your kids slam the door! I still hear my Mom's voice---don't slam the door and don't walk like an elephant!

When cake cools completely, add cherry topping.

Spray the pan before pressing crumbs on the bottom, I didn't so some cake stuck even though it's non- stick.

Hubs and I actually split this piece in half because he said it was too big! Ha-big baby-I could have eaten it by myself hands down!

CHERRY CHEESECAKE
Recipe from the kitchen of Sandi Roman

1½ cups Graham Cracker Crumbs ( 10 graham crackers, 1 full cracker sheet)
4 Tablespoons butter ( melted)
(3)- 8 ounce packages Cream Cheese
(1)- 14 ounces Sweetened Condensed Milk
4 eggs
(1)- 8 ounces Sour Cream
1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
1 can cherry pie filling


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Spray your pan with PAM. Combine crumbs and butter, then press down on the bottom of a 9" spring form pan.

In a Kitchen Aid, beat cream cheese until fluffy, add condensed milk, eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Mix until batter is nice and smooth. Pour into prepared spring form pan. Bake for 50 minutes. Let cool completely, add cherries on top.

Serves 12-14 depending on how big the slices are!

Abundanza! I have linked up this yummy recipe to these fabulous blogs!