Pumpkin-Cream Cheese Bars with Streusel Topping and Biscoff Crust
Pumpkin-Cream Cheese Bars start with a Biscoff cookie crumb layer, and topped with a sweet streusel for some welcome texture, crunch and flavor! Warmly spiced, these layered bars make a delicious fall treat or Thanksgiving dessert, ideal to enjoy with your favorite tea or coffee.
Servings: 16 bars
Ingredients
Crust
- 8.8 oz. package of Biscoff Cookies
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
Streusel Topping
- 1/4 cup pecans roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup rolled oats old-fashioned or quick-cooking
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 1/3 cup brown sugar light or dark
Pumpkin Bar Filling
- 1 package cream cheese (8 ounces), softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup canned pumpkin not pumpkin pie filling
- 2 large eggs room temperature, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
Vanilla Glaze
- 2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
- pinch salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 - 3 tablespoons milk
Instructions
To make crust
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 8 x 8 (or 9 x 9 inch) baking pan with nonstick spray and line with parchment paper with edges hanging over the pan for easy removal of bars.
- Place cookies in a *food processor with salt. Pulse until you have fine crumbs. Add melted butter to food processor and pulse until combined. *Alternatively place cookies in a zip-top bag and crush them with a rolling pin.
- Press crumb mixture into prepared pan in an even layer. Bake at 350° for 12 - 15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven and set aside while preparing filling and streusel topping.
To make streusel topping
- In a small bowl, mix together all the ingredients together until crumbly. Set aside.
To make pumpkin filling
- In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in the pumpkin, eggs, vanilla extract and pumpkin pie spice.
- Pour mixture over crust, then sprinkle streusel topping evenly over pumpkin filling.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown: cool in pan on wire rack.
- For easy cutting into bars, place pan in refrigerator. When chilled, remove bars from pan by parchment paper edges and cut into16 bars. Drizzle with optional vanilla glaze if desired.
To make vanilla glaze
- In a small bowl mix the glaze ingredients together until smooth, add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until reaching desired consistency.
- Drizzle over the cooled bars and serve. Store leftover bars in refrigerator.
Notes
- Substitute ginger snap cookies or cinnamon graham crackers for Biscoff cookies if desired.
- For less clean up, you can make this recipe in the food processor. Mix streusel topping in processor; remove and then mix up cookie crust. Wipe out processor with a paper towel, then use to mix pumpkin/cream cheese filling.
- Glass vs. Metal Pans: The insulating properties of glass make it slow to heat up, retaining heat longer than metal. A good rule of thumb for baking in a glass pan is to lower the oven temperature by 25°F and bake up to 10 minutes longer.
- Due to the cream cheese, these bars need to be stored in the fridge. Store them in an airtight container for up to four days.
- These bars freeze well and last up to three months. Wrap them individually in plastic wrap and place them in the freezer. When you’re ready to eat, thaw them in the refrigerator for up to eight hours or overnight.