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Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pie Bars

Bar Desserts, Cream Cheese, Easy, Lizzy's Favorite Fall Recipes, Lizzy's Favorite Recipes, Pumpkin, Sweet Treats, Thanksgiving • • 25 Comments

Pumpkin Pie Bars with a Cream Cheese Swirl and a no fuss crust! So easy and perfect for Thanksgiving!
I found it. The best Pumpkin Pie Bar recipe. Let me tell you why this is the best one. It starts with the crust, this crust is a shortbread crust. It’s way too easy to make (You’ll be like “Whaaaaaat? That was it?!?!”) and you just dump it into the pan and press flat! No rolling out pie crust and covering your whole kitchen counter with flour. There also is plenty of crust! I feel like the standard ratio in pumpkin pie is off. I love pumpkin filling, but I need some more flakey crust in there to eat it with. So basically, this crust is awesome. Then the pumpkin pie filling is topped with a cream cheese swirl, making these Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pie Bars. When you’re eating it, you’ll realize just how genius that cream cheese is. That little tang you get from it balances out the sweet filling and the crumbly crust so perfectly! It’s just magical. I called my mother after I made these pie bars and told her this is how we’re making pumpkin pies this year for Thanksgiving. I’ll just make 2 pies with this recipe, press the crust up the side of the pie pan and adjust the baking time. Viola!
Pumpkin Pie Bars with a Cream Cheese Swirl and a no fuss crust! So easy and perfect for Thanksgiving!
I’m partnering with Crisco® as a Crisco Creator to bring you this recipe and to help inspire home cooks with new recipe ideas! And WOW am I happy I did! I probably wouldn’t have created this recipe without the extra push and it really is my new favorite pumpkin recipe. The trick to a great pie crust is Crisco® All-Vegetable Shortening Sticks. It keeps the crust (and cookies) light, tender, moist and everything you want from a crust. This crust recipe only uses 4 ingredients, so all the moisture comes from the shortening! It’s sort of magical actually because you mix up the crust and it seems dry. But once it bakes and the shortening melts the whole thing comes together. Shortbread crust is definitely the way to go with pie bars. Not only does it taste great, but it’s easy to cut into pieces and serve too!

Pumpkin Pie Bars with a Cream Cheese Swirl and a no fuss crust! So easy and perfect for Thanksgiving!
I meant what I said, this really is my new favorite pumpkin recipe! I’ll be making this for my Thanksgiving this year! I’ll half the recipe and press the crust into a pie pan! The gorgeous swirls of cream cheese will make this the prettiest dish at dinner… sorry turkey. I know I photographed the pie with a cinnamon whipped cream, but you honestly don’t even need it. The cream cheese serves as the creamy component and the stripes on top of the pie bars are so fun! You could even get creative and write a name or a “Happy Thanksgiving” using your cream cheese if you want! (If you add 1 more tsp. of milk you can get a little better control if you want to write messages.)
I’ve seriously been dream of these Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pie Bars since I made them.
Pumpkin Pie Bars with a Cream Cheese Swirl and a no fuss crust! So easy and perfect for Thanksgiving!
I baked this a few times in different pans and let me tell you, not all pans are created equally! I first made it in a standard glass 9X13 and it worked great! And then you’ll see in the video I made it a ceramic pan that was sort of 9X13 but on the small side (because its decorative and curves) and it took decently longer to bake… So, if you have the standard 9X13 of any material, use that! Don’t risk it by putting it in a slightly smaller cuter pan! But if all you have is a smaller pan then don’t use all the filling! You can make some mini pie cupcakes on the side if you want 🙂
Pumpkin Pie Bars with a Cream Cheese Swirl and a no fuss crust! So easy and perfect for Thanksgiving!
Crisco® All-Vegetable Shortening Baking Sticks have zero grams trans-fat per serving¹. Plus, the packaging is great! Each Baking Stick comes in a no mess, measurable package in it’s own little plastic container, so if you don’t use the whole stick, just pop it back in the container and snap the lid shut! There are many ways to cook and bake with Crisco® shortening and it’s a lot easier than you might think!
Pumpkin Pie Bars with a Cream Cheese Swirl and a no fuss crust! So easy and perfect for Thanksgiving!
5 from 1 vote
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Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pie Bars

Ingredients

  • SHORTBREAD CRUST:
  • 2 cups Pillsbury BESTâ„¢ All Purpose Flour
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup Crisco® Baking Sticks All-Vegetable Shortening
  • PUMPKIN PIE FILLING:
  • 1 can 29 oz pumpkin puree
  • 2 cans 12 oz each evaporated milk
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
  • CREAM CHEESE SWIRL:
  • 8 oz. cream cheese
  • 3/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons milk

Instructions

  1. HEAT oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 9x13 inch pan.
  2. COMBINE flour, powdered sugar and salt using a food processor or a pastry blender by hand. Drop in pieces of cold Crisco shortening and pulse until it looks evenly coarse. (About 8 pulses should do it.)
  3. POUR into baking dish and press flat. (You can use the bottom of a glass or measuring cup to make it smooth)
  4. BAKE for 20 minutes.
  5. PIE FILLING
  6. COMBINE pumpkin puree, evaporated milk, eggs, vanilla, sugar, salt and pumpkin pie spice. Pour over baked crust.
  7. CREAM CHEESE SWIRL
  8. COMBINE cream cheese, powdered sugar and milk. Drizzle over pie filling (I like to use a mini plastic bag to sort of pipe out the filling, watch the video to see what I mean!).
  9. BAKE for 40-50 minutes or until the filling is firm.
  10. COOL and refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream!

Recipe Notes

TIP: Most pumpkin recipes are actually better the second day because the flavors have a chance to develop. So this is the perfect dessert to make the night before and then not stress about it the day of the party!

Visit Crisco.com or search #CriscoCreators on social media to find more great recipes! If you need help with your holiday baking this year, the Crisco® Pie & Baking Hotline is a great one-stop resource. Just call 1-877-367-7438 for real-time expert advice and tips for all your baking needs.
As a participant of the Crisco® Ambassador Program, I’ve received compensation for my time and product samples for review purposes. All opinions are my own and I only work with brands that I know my readers will love.
¹See nutrition information for fat and saturated fat content.
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Comments

  4. Peta Begley says

    Thank you fora delicious sounding and looking recipe, I can’t wait to bake this. As I live in Australia could you pls tell me what I can replace the vegetable shortening with? Is one cup of unsalted butter or maybe vegetable oil?

    Many thanks to anyone who can help.

    Reply

  5. Mary says

    Your comments talk about a 9 x 14 pan, but the recipe says 9 x 11. Which is it?
    Can wait to try to try this recipe!

    Reply

  11. Julie J says

    I made this recipe for one of my Thanksgiving desserts. Just wanted to let you know how yummy it was and a great success! Everyone loved it! As a few others have mentioned, it took at least an additional 20 minutes to bake … but so, so good! Thank you for sharing!

    Reply

  12. Cathy says

    just wondering if this would be suitable to use sweet potato puree instead of the pumpkin. Recipe sounds delicious!

    Reply

  15. Nikki says

    I just tried this and noticed that my cream cheese swirl filling sank right into the pumpkin pie filling. Did I do something wrong?? hoping it will still come out okay.

    Reply

  16. Linda Schuler says

    I also had a few problems with this recipe – one, the cream cheese topping sank into the pumpkin layer. Two, I used my copper 9″ x 13″ baking pan and I couldn’t put all the filling in it and 3′ it took a half hour longer to bake. I normally never read the paragraphs left by the author, I just go right to the recipe – I did follow the amount of ingredients 100% but like I said the filling sank and not all the ingredients fit. Made this for tomorrow, Thanksgiving and will let you know how my guests thought.🤞

    Reply
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