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Pumpkin Maple Butter Swirled Cheesecake Bars

Fall is here and that by default reads pumpkin to the food blogging world, or well at least to me! So when Sprouts sent me their new pumpkin label ingredients I was very excited to use them in my baked goods. I made some pumpkin donut muffins (will share the recipe soon) and these maple pumpkin butter swirled cheesecake bars. With just seven ingredients total, these cheesecake bars are an easy way to dive into fall flavors this month!

I am a big cheesecake fan. Probably the kinds who would join Chandler and Rachel with a fork, eating cheesecake off the floor (yes, I am a Friends’ nerd). A well baked cheesecake is the perfect dessert for me with its smooth and creamy texture and buttery graham cracker crust. And while I love cheesecake, the process of making it and the wait involved always makes me think twice before I embark on that adventure.

Enter these cheesecake bars. They are so easy to make, and the results- delightful. One of my friends, who is not a fan of cheesecake (such people do exist!) said she absolutely loved these. To give these cheesecake bars a fall flavor, I used pumpkin snap cookies instead of regular graham crackers for the crust and swirled some maple pumpkin butter over the top of the cheesecake mixture.

Update November 2019: In case you do not have pumpkin butter, I used this recipe to make a batch of my own: https://barefeetinthekitchen.com/pumpkin-butter-recipe/

You can substitute the pumpkin snap cookies for regular digestive cookies. I like to add a little cinnamon powder and dry ginger powder for added spice.

Pumpkin Maple Butter Swirled Cheesecake Bars

Serves: 9

Ingredients

Base Ingredients:
24 Sprouts pumpkin snap cookies
½ stick butter, melted
Cheesecake Ingredients:
2 (8oz) Sprouts cream cheese, at room temperature
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup Sprouts maple pumpkin butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 F.
Line a square baking pan with parchment paper.
Process the ginger snap cookies in a food processor into fine crumbs. Add in the melted butter and pulse a few times to combine. Transfer to lined pan and pat it down to cover the pan. Bake for 5 minutes.
While the base is baking, cream the cream cheese with the sugar for 2-3 minutes. Add in the eggs, one a time, scraping the sides before adding the next. Add the vanilla and beat till the mixture is lump free.
Pour the mixture into the baked pumpkin snap crust and smooth it to be an even layer. Drop dollops of the maple pumpkin butter into the batter and swirl with a knife or toothpick.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes or until the center only slightly jiggles. Remove and let cool on wire rack for 20 minutes. Then place in the refrigerator for 3 hours to set. Once set remove from pan and cut 9 squares.

3.5.3208

Check out the other recipes Sprouts has on their website for more fall inspired recipes.

This post is in collaboration with Sprouts Farmers Market and while I was compensated for this post, all opinions above are my own.