CHOCOLATE PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE BARS: Pumpkin Cheesecake Day

Tomorrow is Pumpkin Cheesecake Day, and I thought I'd get a jump on the holiday!

 

Here's an easy favorite recipe involving cheesecake and chocolate -- Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars. This recipe for Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars is adapted from Martha Stewart.com. It's a good recipe as is, but I changed a few things. I make the filling using my mixer, not a food processor. I find the results are smoother, and I'm better able to control the consistency and not over-mix. I always use the very best quality dark chocolate. And, I love a chocolate cookie crust with pumpkin, so there's even more chocolate! These taste and look delicious. You can even stuff these in a school lunch...but they'll probably be eaten long before lunch.

CHOCOLATE PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE BARS

FOR THE CRUST
20 chocolate wafer cookies, (half a 9-ounce package)
2 Tbsp sugar
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

FOR THE FILLING
2 packages bar cream cheese (8 ounces each)
1 cup sugar
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin puree
3 large eggs
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp pumpkin-pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
4 ounces dark chocolate, 65-75% cacao, chopped

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom and sides of 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil, leaving overhang on all sides. Set aside.

In food processor, blend cookies with sugar until finely ground (you should have about 1 cup crumbs); add butter, and pulse until moistened.

Transfer crumb mixture to prepared pan, and press into bottom. Bake until slightly firm, 12 to 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Mix cream cheese in standing mixer until smooth. Add sugar, pumpkin puree, eggs, flour, pumpkin-pie spice, and salt; mix until combined. Set aside.

Place chocolate in microwave-safe bowl; microwave in 30-second increments, stirring between each, until melted--or melt in double boiler on stovetop. Add 1 cup pumpkin mixture; stir to combine. Set aside.

Pour remaining pumpkin mixture into prepared pan. Drop dollops of chocolate mixture onto pumpkin mixture; swirl. To create swirls, drag blade of paring knife through chocolate and pumpkin mixtures several times to make marbled pattern. Bake until cheesecake is set but jiggles slightly when gently shaken, 40 to 50 minutes.

Cool in pan. Cover; chill until firm, at least 2 hours (and up to 2 days). Using overhang, transfer cake to work surface. With knife dipped in water, cut into 16 squares. Serve.