Quicker and easier than a regular cheesecake, these pumpkin cheesecake bars are nice and light and the perfect way to end a holiday meal!
Before we get to the recipe, don’t forget to enter the Anolon and Wusthuf giveaway. :) We’re giving away $700 worth of goodies but you can only enter for a few more days, so head on over and check it out!
Also, I have a new post up over at Good Life Eats! I made some healthier Greek yogurt mashed potatoes. Why use heavy cream and cream cheese when you could make them with Greek yogurt? They taste just as good! Besides, I’d rather save my calories on Thanksgiving for the desserts!
So, now – the pumpkin cheesecake bars! I have to admit that I prefer heavy, really dense cheesecakes but for those of you who don’t want to eat something that calorific after a huge Thanksgiving dinner, here you go! These lighter cheesecake bars are the perfect option for when you want just a little something and don’t feel like downing 400 calories per piece.
I think these are so light because of the pumpkin to cream cheese ratio. There’s even more pumpkin in these bars than cream cheese! So there you go. Make these pumpkin cheesecake bars and get your vitamin A and antioxidant carotenoids. :D
I was in a hurry and used Biscoff cookies mixed with melted butter as my crust, but you could make a chocolate cookie crust, a grain-free graham cracker crust, or gingersnaps! Whatever you fancy.
For the topping I used some Greek yogurt mixed with a little sugar. But to be honest, I preferred these pumpkin bars without the topping! If you want to make it, I just added sugar to plain Greek yogurt until it was sweet enough for me. And then I added some chocolate shavings to the top just to make it look pretty.
So what are y’all making for Thanksgiving? Here are 180 ideas for some healthier Thanksgiving meal options!
Lighter Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 16 bars
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (172 grams) Biscoff cookie crumbs (about 20 cookies)
- 1/4 cup (56 grams) melted butter or refined coconut oil
- 8 ounces (225 grams) cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/3 cup (75 grams) unrefined or granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 1/3 cups (310 grams) pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup (54 grams) plain full-fat Greek yogurt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
For the crust:
For the cheesecake:
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
- In a medium bowl, mix together the Biscoff cookie crumbs and the butter.
- Line an 8" x 8" pan with parchment paper and pat the crust on top of that (just over the bottom of the pan - not up the sides).
- With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar until fluffy.
- Add the eggs and mix until combined.
- Add the remaining cheesecake ingredients and mix just until combined.
- Pour the filling over the crust and bake for 35 minutes or until the middle of the cheesecake bars appears set and no longer jiggles when you move the pan.
- Open the oven door and let the bars cool completely before removing from the oven. This is to prevent the cheesecake from cracking.
- Cover and store the bars in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
For the crust:
For the cheesecake:
Join over 12,400 readers and sweeten up
your inbox with new posts for free!
This subscription is free of charge and can be canceled at any time.
29 comments on “Lighter Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars” — Add one!
Hello! Can I do this recipe with honey as sweetener and no crust? Thanks!
Hi there! I’ve never tried it (or any crustless cheesecake) but I think it’d work. And the honey as sweetener should be fine, too. I hope you’ll enjoy it!
Awww thanks for replying! Will be doing them tomorrow for Xmas :) happy holidays!
No problem! Hope you’ll enjoy it and happy holidays to you, too! :)
The Greek Yogurt goes into the cheesecake bars and not just on top, right? Confused by the “yogurt topping” pictures. I love how minimal of sugar these have, but I’m wondering if they’d do okay with one less egg and perhaps extra yogurt in its place. (I’m down to only 2 eggs in the fridge!)
It just goes in the bars and not on top. I explain the topping the second to last paragraph. :) I’m not really sure about subbing yogurt for an egg. I just looked into it and one page says 1/4 cup yogurt for each egg. It says to thin it down if thick (which Greek yogurt always is) so I guess you’d need to do more like 3.5 tbsp Greek yogurt + .5 tbsp milk? But I’m really not sure if it’d work as I haven’t tried it. Good luck and enjoy! :)
What if you baked this in a pie pan?
I haven’t tried it so I’m not sure if it’d work or how long you’d need to bake it for. Sorry about that! I hope you’ll enjoy it if you try it. :)
How many calories do they have?
I don’t know but there are calorie calculators out there you can use. :)
Hey Erin!
Have you ever tried to freeze these?? I’d love to make a batch in advance, but am curious if they freeze as well as regular cheesecake (and by regular, I mean the dense heavy ones) :)
Hi, Angela! I haven’t tried freezing these but I’m guessing they wouldn’t do very well. It’s just a guess, though! Good luck if you do try and I hope you’ll enjoy them. :)
Could I use sour cream in replacement of the greek yogurt or would that compromise the recipe, flavor, consistency, etc,.? Also could this be baked in an 8 inch cake pan as well?
I think it would work, but as I haven’t tried it, I can’t say for sure. And an 8″ cake pan should also be fine, but as the area is less than the square pan, you’ll have to bake the bars a little longer. How much longer I can’t say, though. Just make sure the middle is no longer jiggly! :)
What a perfect dessert! I’m terrible at making traditional cheesecakes, but I can totally handle cheesecake bars!
How are you terrible at making traditional cheesecakes?! I bet they’re awesome. :)
I want one of these immediately! I love that the pumpkin looks fluffy, rather than dense–I love cheesecake, but sometimes it is just too dense and just TOO MUCH in general.
But that’s the good stuff! ;) Gimme dense and too much! :D
Love the texture of these cheesecake bars! They look perfect!
These are seriously so stunning, Erin! I’m weird in that I’d much rather have cheesecake bars than a full-size cheesecake so these are perfect!
Erin, the texture of these looks incredible! Love the colour too.
This bar looks absolutely delicious and perfect! what a great dessert!
Can I just say that these look incredible? Learning that they’re a little guilt-free just adds to my excitement. Wow. Quick question about the cookie crust though – would I have to use Biscoffs, or could I substitute them for something I already have on hand? Cinnamon graham crackers, Trader Joe’s gingersnaps perhaps…?
Thanks, Courtney! You can use any type of crust you like. :) Cinnamon graham crackers or gingersnaps sound great! You might have to add a little sugar to the graham cracker crumbs when you’re mixing it with the butter. Just start off with a tablespoon or two of sugar and keep adding until it’s to your liking. Hope you’ll like the bars! :)
These bars look fabulous, Erin! Pinned!
Ha Ha, calorific. usually by the time dessert rolls around, I am too full to have more. So I am a big fan of having dessert for breakfast on Black Friday with my morning cup of coffee. This would be the most amazing breakfast. Lol! So glad to know about your blog Erin:) Cheers!
When I read your recipes I always wish you were still in Texas so that I could come over and try your amazing food! Everything always looks so rich and delicous.
Oh my goodness these look so good! I really do love pumpkin cheesecake and I don’t have cheesecake nearly as much as I should (my pants probably thank me for that) But these look absolutely amazing! :)
These are really pretty pumpkin bars! Love that proportion-wise there is more pumpkin in these bars vs. cream cheese – my type of cheesecake! :) Pinned! I love Greek yogurt, mixed in with sugar it makes a great topping for dessert bars like these.