Cream Cheese Filled Pumpkin Praline Bars
Cream Cheese Swirled Pumpkin Praline Bars are soft, pumpkin cake filled with creamy cream cheese filling and topped with buttery, praline crumb topping!
Fall temperatures have descended on the northeast! I am fairly excited about this now, while our afternoons are still in the 70’s… I know this won’t last, but I am certainly going to enjoy it while it’s here.
Now, I will admit I haven’t always been a pumpkin fan. I’m not sure if pumpkins are fruits or vegetables, or whatever science has named them…but as a kid they seemed far too food-pyramidy to sit on my plate at dessert time. Pumpkin Pie? Yeah, no thank you very much.
Of course, in recent years pumpkin has become a whole thing in the universe, with pumpkin pie only being the jumping-off point. And as my duty as a very basic gal and food blogger I have looked pumpkin square in the gourd and come out a changed woman. Let’s pumpkin ALL THE THINGS!
These bars are pretty ridiculous, in the best way possible. They’re a dense, pumpkin cake filled with sweet cream cheese and topped with praline crumble. If that isn’t true love, your heart must be stone.
Use canned pumpkin in this recipe…I never know what to call this, pumpkin puree? Pure Pumpkin?
It’s the canned pumpkin like Libby’s brand, not pumpkin pie filling. Got it?
The batter is super simple.
To assemble the bars spread half the batter in a 9×13 pan, top that with a simple cream cheese filling, and then top with the remainder of the batter.
Then you should DEFINITELY go ahead and make a pecan crumb topping to go on top. I mean, at this point, let’s just go for it!
I use chopped pecans in this one to give it a rich crunch. I know some of you don’t like nuts, but I really feel like they are the right way to go here. Trust me.
The topping is just butter, brown sugar, flour and pecans!
Sprinkle that all over the top of the batter…
And bake it for 30-35 minutes until the center is set up to the touch and the crumb topping starts to get a little golden brown.
When it’s cooled, I give you permission to cut it up…
Just remove it from the pan with the foil.
Are you ready?
This sweet treat deserves a place on your fall menu. It’s versatile enough for bonfires or potluck suppers while still being special enough for a place at your Thanksgiving table.
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Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- 1 cup flour
Filling
- 8– ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Praline Topping
- 1/4 cup cold butter
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 3/4 cup flour
- 3/4 cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9×13 baking dish with aluminum foil and coat with non stick spray. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix the butter and brown sugar together for 2 minutes in medium speed. Add in the pumpkin pie spice and mix for 20 more seconds until incorporated, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add in the vanilla, eggs, salt, baking soda, and baking powder and continue mixing until smooth.
- Mix in the pumpkin on low speed until combined and then finally add the flour, mixing until just incorporated.
- Spread half of this batter into the bottom of the prepared pan. Transfer the remaining batter into a small bowl while you make your filling.
Filling
- In the clean bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment mix the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add in the egg and vanilla continuing to mix on medium speed until combined.
- Spread the filling onto the batter in the pan and top with the remaining batter.
Praline topping
- In the clean bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Add in the flour and pecans and mix until crumbly and combined, about 1 minute.
- Sprinkle this mixture on top of the pumpkin batter.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until the center is set to the touch.
- Allow to cool on a wire rack completely and cut into bars.
Notes
Store airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
recipe adapted from food.com
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My heart is most definitely made of stone — and I want to bury my face in a huge pile of that praline streusel. WHAT THE WHAT. Amazing.
I love pumpkin….I love cream cheese…I love praline….all three together…genius!!!!
So delicious! Thee are so many yummy components going on in these bars!
Oh wow – these look delicious! I use to hate pumpkin and pumpkin pie too, but I can’t even remember why. Now I obsess over it all through the fall!
I made these for a family reunion and got so many compliments. People like that they were not “too sweet” and loved the pecans. However I used room temperature butter with the other ingredients in my stand mixer. The praline topping came out like a cookie dough that I just had to glob on. Was still delicious, but not crumbly. I think using cold butter and “cutting it” into the brown sugar by hand (the old fashioned way) is how I will try it next time. Yes, this recipe is a keeper for sure. Thank you!
I agree with Becky, the comments I received from my co-workers were that they enjoyed them because they weren’t too sweet. Unlike Becky, my topping came out too dry, like there was too much flour for the amount of butter. I think I will start with less next time. Also, I was confused-was the butter to be cold or room temperature? And what type of attachment was to be used on the mixer? Maybe the wisk would have worked well? Thanks for a great recipe!!
You use cold butter, as the recipe states and the paddle attachment! The crumb mixture should be dry, so it doesn’t sink into the bars… but if you try an adaptation, let me know!
I made these last night with great reviews. Ate it cold today and it was still amazing. I did not use the mixer to make the crumb topping. I used my pasty cutter-I didn’t feel like using the mixer 😉 and only 1/2cup flour (per other reviews) to make sure it wasn’t to dry, and cold butter. It turned out perfect. Shelly I think there is some confusion about the butter temperature for the praline topping because it states “cold butter, room temperature” 🙂
Oh my word!! Yes it’s cold butter! I get so used to typing room temperature for butter I went into autopilot! Thanks for the catch…all fixed 🙂
I made theses bars and followed the recipe to the letter. You surprised me by mixing the streusel with a mixer, but it worked great! The bars were picture perfect and tasty, too!
What would I need to change for high altitude? 6,000 ft
How many bars does the recipe yield? Looking for a recipe for cookie exchange this year, and this just might be it! Looks delicious!
I’m totally into pumpkin desserts. This looks do delicious.
Do you think walnuts will be ok to used ?
Thanks
This is streusel, not praline.
★★★★