Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese is simple and easy dessert recipe for fall baking season. Moist and spicy pumpkin bars are delicious breakfast or snack. But this crowd-pleasing treat is fancy enough to be served as a dessert at Halloween party or as light and easy dessert after Thanksgiving dinner.
Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese
Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese are irresistible fall treat! It will be your new favorite and the only fall dessert you need! When you try them, you’re going to want to make over and over this fall.
Although these are the ultimate fall treat, I like them so much, so I make them all year long!
Anyway, can you imagine a better way to start a day than with a cup of freshly brewed coffee alongside moist and delicious pumpkin bars. Also, nothing will warm you up more and make you feel cozy on a rainy fall afternoon, than spicy Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese and a mug of hot apple cider.
However, Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese are perfect fall treat, breakfast or snack.
But, in a less than an hour you can have large jelly roll pan of crowd-pleaser dessert. If you need simple and easy recipe to make in a last minute and bring it to a Halloween party or Thanksgiving dinner, then try this Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese recipe.
How to Make Pumpkin Bars?
To make pumpkin bars beat 4 eggs with 1 and 2/3 cups sugar. Then mix in 1 cup vegetable oil, 1 ¾ cups pumpkin puree and 1 teaspoon vanilla., Add dry ingredients mix: 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg and ¼ teaspoon ground ginger. Spread the mixture in 10 x 15-inch jelly roll pan and set aside.
Next make cream cheese mixture. Mix softened cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and corn starch until smooth. Transfer the mixture in piping bag or zip-lock bag and cut off the corner. Draw the lines of cream cheese mixture diagonally on top of pumpkin pie mixture.
Bake 25-30 minutes, until the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool completely before serving.
Enjoy!
Let the fall baking season start!
Make sure to put this Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars recipe on your to-do list as soon as possible!
If you like these awesome Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Recipe you will also like these pumpkin dessert recipes:
OMG Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes You can grab a whole pie just for yourself!
Pumpkin Lasagna It’s time for a dessert! I can’t imagine anything better than this! Creamy and absolutely irresistible!
Pumpkin Pie Bombs Want a kids friendly snack?! These crescents loaded with pumpkin pie filling is great idea!
Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese
Prep Time: 10- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 40
Yield: 24 1x
Category: Desserts
Method: bake
Cuisine: American
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese is simple and easy dessert recipe for fall baking season.
Ingredients
Pumpkin Bars:
- 4 eggs
- 1 2/3 cups sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 ¾ cups pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
For Cream Cheese mixture:
- 16 oz. cream cheese-softened
- 1 ½ Tablespoons corn starch
- 1 /3 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 eggs- slightly beaten
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and spray 10 x 15 x 1- inch jelly roll pan with non-stick spray, then line with parchment paper and spray the paper, set aside.
- To make pumpkin bars first whisk together dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices, set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl beat 4 eggs and sugar. Add oil, pumpkin and vanilla and mix to combine.
- Mix in dry ingredients and pour in prepared pan, then smooth the top.
- Mix softened cream cheese, sugar, corn starch and vanilla until smooth. Add eggs and mix just to combine. Transfer the mixture in piping bag or zip-lock bag and cut off the corner. Draw the lines of cream cheese mixture diagonally on top of pumpkin pie mixture.
- Bake 25-30 minutes, until the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool completely before serving.
66 comments
How much of each of the cream cheese ingredients are needed???
I would love to make the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars, but there is no list of ingredients for the cream cheese filling. Could you please send that to me or revise the recipe?
Reread the ingredients, the cream cheese mixture ingredients are listed under CREAM CHEESE MIXTURE.
The author probably wrote the recipe and then came back later and added the cream cheese mix ingredients after seeing the comments that it was missing. Your comment was a month later.
Umm, no salt? Needed salt.
I had problems with this recipe. The batter part was fine but the cream cheese was way to runny so I pitched it and decided to just make the cake. Rises much to much to be considered a bar. I jazzed the batter up a bit with additional sugar and a cup of chocolate morsels. Darn good cake moist and delicious. Topped it with store bought cream cheese frosting. I will keep the batter part of this recipe for sure.
I loved these and so did my family. Good flavor. Yes they were thicker , more like cake but that’s not a bad thing, in my book.
Can I use pumpkin pie spice? How much if so?
Hi Chelse, you can use it if you like,use about 2 teaspoons
Are you supposed to mix the 2 eggs into the cream cheese mixture?
Yes, that is a mixtureto be baked not a frosting
These look amazing!! 🙂
This looks awesome!! I was thinking of adding chocolate chips to it. How much would you think?
shelby…. try using cinnamon chips! hard to find but are WAY better than chocolate! Enjoy!
These made me subscribed !
I cannot find the pumpkin puree in our area so I also thought of using the pumpkin pie filling but I don’t understand your reply to use 2 teaspoons. Is that 2 teaspoons less and do you omit the spices (cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger) as they are already in the filling?
Syndi,
Pumpkin puree is just canned pumpkin, it’s usually right next to the Pumpkin Pie Mix. One 15 ounce can is used in the recipe. Instead of all of the individual spices, I used 2 teaspoons of Pumpkin pie spice. Like most other reviewers, I used half of the cream cheese ingredients and they came out really good. Every one who tried them LOVED them!
i noticed in the video that there is salt in the pumpkin mixture but none listed on the recipe. How much salt should be added?
I made the pumpkin cheese cake bars and I was less than impressed. I didn’t have a 10×15 jelly roll pan (didn’t know there was a thing,) so I used a cookie sheet. They turned out as thick as a cake, which is t a bad thing, but not what I was expecting. Also, half the cream cheese with egg and cornstarch because Inhad a ton left over. One bar would be more than enough with 1 beaten egg. Overall, the cake was good, but because of the thickness I felt it needed to be iced. Just not sweet enough for my taste.
The cream cheese frosting should be halved. I threw most of it away! The pumpkin roll part was more like a cake. I brought them to work to share and most of them ended up the trash at the end of the day. The main consensus was they needed to be a bit sweeter. I think I might try this in a cake pan instead with regular cream cheese frosting.
It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad. They aren’t very sweet and the cream cheese flavor isn’t strong enough. This was more like cake.
[…] will always be back home in America, so I still crave autumnal desserts at this time of year. This pumpkin and cream cheese cake looks so wonderful. I love the pretty criss-cross pattern on […]
I used all of mine. Made the lines about 1/2 inch think.
taste more like a cake and not sweet at all. still ok warmed with butter like a muffin.
Not a bar, definitely cake. It only faintly tastes like pumpkin. Not making this again!
These are really good., even a person who doesn’t like pumpkin pie loved these, big hit! Just use half the amount of cream cheese mixture, or it will be much, too much.
I can’t seem to select a star, but I would give this 5 stars!
Very picky daughter says this is a keeper!!!
Takes more like an hour to bake. Also way too much for one pan this size, you need like to sheet cake pans. Also, way too much cream cheese icing. Threw half of it away
Wondering if I could use Splenda instead of the sugar in both the pumpkin bar and cream cheese? If so, what amount would you suggest?
NOT WORTH THE TIME/MONEY!
I was very disappointed with this recipe. Turns out more like a cake, very bland, considering the spice and pumpkin base you would expect it to have more pumpkin pie flavour which is was seriously lacking! The cream cheese topping recipe makes WAY too much and overall it was lacking quite a bit of sweetness. More like a plain cake base than a dessert recipe. Will not be making this again. It was disappointing considering the list of ingredients and time it takes to make.
Made this tonight and it is delicious!! Yes, it is more like cake than what you’d normally think of when you say “bar”, but who cares? I must say I totally disagree with a lot of these comments. I thought the pumpkin part was plenty sweet and I like the fact that the cream cheese part was not very sweet. I think it’s a great combination.
I followed the directions exactly and this turned out perfect!!! I will definitely make it again.
Thanks so much Cheryl!
I definitely think cake pan with regular cream cheese frosting is the way to go. They come out messy and too soft when cut into bars. Unfortunately, I have to agree that the flavor of the cake part isn’t very strong… batter was waaaayyyy sweet (I was nervous) but cake is kind of bland (despite putting in an extra few dashes of the spices.) Baking the icing into it doesn’t help the dryness. I’m on my way to a party and don’t have time for a backup so I’m thinking of picking up cool whip or vanilla ice cream to accompany. I like the idea of this and pictures are beautiful, but I couldn’t get it to work.
Made this twice in one week! Absolutely love it! Yes, the cream cheese part of the recipe makes way too much….just cut it in half! I don’t know why people are saying it’s bland?? Had to taste it right out of the oven. It’s definitely better after it cools! So yummy! Hoping the extended family enjoys them for Thanksgiving ?
Thanks Melissa, happy Thanksgiving!
Does this need to be refrigerated or can it be left out since it’s more like a cake?
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Was a disapiontment
Delicious!! My co-workers loved these treats!! Even requested them for their birthdays!!?
Thanks Denise!
I didn’t like this recipe at all. It wasn’t sweet enough and it was pretty bland. The consistency was more like cake. The cream cheese mixture made way too much. I ended up tossing half of it.
Very disappointed with this recipe. 🙁
[…] *Adapted from OMG Chocolate Desserts* […]
Do the leftovers need to be refrigerated?
[…] From: OMGChocolateDesserts […]
[…] Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese […]
Terrible. Come out the consistency of cake and they fall apart. Not worth the time or money
Omg where is the cream cheese recipe for Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese??????
How many carbs our in this recipe?
I would like to know this as well
I just put this into a macro counter (everything raw, and I replaced 2 eggs with 1/2 cup of nonfat greek yogurt) and it’s breakdown was
(per 1 serving out of 24)
932 cals (WOAH?!)
5.9g protein
27.5 carbs
89.7 fat
So I don’t know. You’re technically supposed to do everything raw when counting macros… so… I DON’T know here.
(ignore the previous comment)
I just put this into a macro counter (everything raw, and I replaced 2 eggs with 1/2 cup of nonfat greek yogurt) and it’s breakdown was
(per 1 serving out of 24)
223 cals (WOAH?!)
5.9g protein
27.5g carbs
9.9g fat
Very yummy. I am going to add some pumpkin pie spice next time and a little more sugar. If you use the cream cheese mix correctly, you do not have any leftover. This definitely will be a recipe we use many times.
This makes a wonderful moist spice snack cake with pumpkin flavor and a custardy cream cheese topping is the perfect foil. The only thing I did differently in making this recipe was to add salt to the cake batter, about a quarter teaspoon, and about a pinch of salt to the cream cheese topping. For me the more cream cheese the better. I used every bit of it and I think it is a lovely accompaniment to the light pumpkin spice cake.
If you go all the way down the bottom there is the list of the cream cheese ingredients that’s what I thought too at first
[…] Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese by OMG Chocolate Desserts […]
My whole family loved this recipe! It was so moist, gooey, rich and the texture of the bar was amazing! I added double of the amount of spices, but I always do when cooking with pumpkin. It ended up a bit thicker than what was pictured but we had no problem with it; if the thickness is really a concern, doing 1/2 or 3/4 of the recipe is an easy remedy! The only thing I would change is that, if you want to draw on the frosting, make half of the cream cheese mixture. Personally, I used all the cream cheese and just spread it flat across the whole thing. Amazing!
For some reason I baked it and the toothpick comes out with stuff on it
Liked this recipe, added dark chocolate chips. Also, FYI… in the detailed instructions they forgot to list the sugar when adding the dry ingredients (although it is listed in the ingredient list)
Made this for the first time today. Love it! Not sure what all of the negative reviews are about. Pumpkin desserts typically are not over sweet, which I appreciate. I will definitely make this again. Hubby loved it! Was very moist and done in the 30 minute time. I wouldn’t change a thing in any of the directions, including the amount of cream cheese topping. Awesome recipe being added to my family favorites!
Thanks Candice!
Made these for Thanksgiving and they came out perfect! I believe many people are under the impression that these should be like a bar cookie and not actually a cake. They also seem to think the cream cheese portion is a frosting when it is actually part of the batter.
Ehhh I would not make this again. I have so much of it now and I don’t really feel like it’s a dessert worth the calories. Not a whole lot of flavor or sweetness as others have said. I froze a large amount of it this morning. I like the idea of the cream cheese making a pretty pattern on the top but if it don’t taste amazing, it’s not worth the calories! :/
Yes they were more of a cake but because they are a bar I choose not to use a fork, lol! I didn’t have ginger so I used just a bit extra nutmeg. Also, one small can of pumpkin comes up about 1/4 cup short so I went with that and it was still very good with no shortage of pumpkin flavor. I would also add a little more sugar and vanilla to the cream cheese mixture but that is just my preference, it was fine as is!! Beautiful crisscross design on top. Lots of compliments, and lots of full bellies! I would think if you wanted thinner just make two pans instead of 1, however that might take away from some of the nice moist cake, but probably get you closer to the bar idea, and make thinner cream cheese lines to in this scenario; also would be less baking. Delicious!
This is a cake, not a bar. I was slightly disappointed with the texture. The cream cheese was too much for the cake. Also, the written recipe does not include the salt. I did however like the flavor of the cake, the cream cheese on the other hand was non existent in flavor.
I don’t get all the hate for this recipe. I’ve made it three times and every time it’s been a hit! I even made it for my Dad’s birthday in March because he loved it so much when I made it for the previous Thanksgiving. I’ve had people ask me for the recipe and received so many compliments. I don’t own the type of pan the recipe calls for so I just use a large cake pan. I’m a bit heavy handed with my spices so I probably used more than recipe calls for – I just spice to taste. It’s definitely more of a cake consistency, but it’s always had good flavor and never been dry. If it’s dry, you’re probably overbaking it. The cream cheese recipe does make a lot so you can easily cut it in half if you want less. Other than the pan and spices, I always follow this recipe exactly! My family just asked me to make this again for Thanksgiving so here goes round 4 with this great recipe!