Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
Earlier this month, when I made a batch of maple-walnut ice cream, I mentioned how any mention of maple reminds of a classic episodes of Friends, as well as Buddy the Elf. Truth be told, both Ross and Buddy knew what they were talking about. Maple is such a pure, clean flavor, and unfortunately, it oftentimes takes a backseat to other favorite fall baking ingredients, like pumpkin and apple.
This recipe certainly encompasses the best that fall has to offer – maple, pumpkin, gingersnaps, and cheesecake, not to mention cinnamon and the usual suspects when it comes to fall spices. If you’re looking for fall flavors, these bars are a total win.
While I love, absolutely love cheesecake, there’s no denying that it’s a lengthy process to make one from scratch. They are totally worth the effort, but between the long bake time, cool time, and chill time, sometimes you don’t get to taste your creation until the next day.
These bars are the perfect compromise. They are essentially a pumpkin cheesecake filling, spiked with maple, and poured on top of a gingersnap crust (which means they can be thrown together quickly), but you can eat them as soon as they cool to room temperature.
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I love that these bars encompass all of my favorite flavors and textures of the season. What’s your favorite flavor to bake with during this time of year?
More Pumpkin Bar Desserts:
- Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Pumpkin Pie Bars
- Pumpkin Blondies
- Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal Crumb Bars
Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 42 gingersnap cookies, about 9 ounces
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the Filling:
- 8 ounces (226.8 g) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 cup (220 g) light brown sugar
- 15 ounces (425.24 g) canned pumpkin puree (about 2 cups)
- 2 eggs
- 12 ounces (340.2 ml) canned evaporated milk
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) kosher salt
- Pinch ground cloves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan and line with parchment paper so that it extends over each long side of the pan.
- Make the Crust: In a food processor, pulse together the gingersnaps and sugar until they become fine crumbs. Add the melted butter and pulse a few more times to incorporate. Press the crumbs evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes.
- Making the Filling: While crust is baking, prepare the pumpkin filling. Beat together the cream cheese and the brown sugar on medium speed until smooth and creamy, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed, about 3 minutes. Add the pumpkin and mix on low speed until completely incorporated. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well until fully incorporated and scraping down the sides of the bowl between each addition. Add the evaporated milk, maple syrup and vanilla, and beat until well combined, about 1 minute. Add the cinnamon, ginger, salt, and cloves and mix on low to incorporate.
- Pour the filling over the prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter to remove any air bubbles. Bake until the filling is set in the center, about 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven and set on a wire rack to cool. Once the bars have cooled to room temperature, you can cut and serve them, or you can refrigerate them and serve them chilled.
- Using the parchment paper overhangs, lift the bars from the pan and onto a cutting surface. Cut into squares and serve with whipped cream and candy corn, if desired. Store the bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
These are amazing!!!
Made these for a party, cut them into bite size pieces, a little whip cream on top and listen to the raves from your guests.
These were nice, thank you for posting! I was able to spin them up while having friends over, and enjoyed everybody’s compliments. Yes, the filling will be thin when you first mix it up. By the time it was set I’d baked it for more like 40 minutes, but the bars do hold their shape and I didn’t have any issues with the texture like some other commenters did – be sure that you’re using large eggs, not jumbo sized!
I also agree that the maple flavor doesn’t come through very strongly, but that was ok since I didn’t want them to be TOO sweet. Maybe add a little maple to your whipped cream if you’re looking for that extra pop.
I don’t really like gingersnap cookies (or gingerbread men). I was thinking I could pour this filling into a graham cracker crust pie plate and cut it into pie wedges instead of bars. For me, better tasting AND easier. I wonder if this recipe would make one pie or two.
You should get 1 pie out of this if you go that route!
Excellent dessert. It is more pumpkin pie than cheesecake, but that’s alright with me. In my quest to reduce sugar in my baked goods I eliminated the sugar in the crust and used 2/3 cup in the filling. It was plenty sweet and allowed the pumpkin to shine. The crispy crust and creamy filling are delicious together. I did bake for 10 minutes longer than the recipe stated.
Made these for (Canadian) Thanksgiving this past weekend. Had to comment after reading the weirdly negative reviews above. These were AMAZING.
Regarding timing – I baked as directed “until the centre was set”. It wasn’t set at 30 mins so I baked a while longer – maybe 10 mins. Also chilled it over night in the fridge and it set and cut up PERFECTLY. There is cream cheese in it so one shouldn’t be shocked at the cream cheese taste – stick to pumpkin pie if that is what you are after. If you are a cheesecake/maple/pumpkin fan then this will not disappoint. Texture was glorious, flavor was better than I had hoped and everyone was VERY quiet while enjoying their dessert after dinner.
My only variation was that I was short on the spices so I used a “gingerbread blend” that I had on hand. I also dusted with Maple Sugar that I picked up at Costco and a generous dollop of fresh whipped cream. These were so good that I am kicking myself for leaving the leftovers at my Sister’s house. I am going to bake a second batch today for an encore.
My family enjoyed this at (Canadian) Thanksgiving tonight. As there are several gluten-free folks in the group, made the crust with Sunstart gluten-free Stem Ginger Cookies (2 pkgs). Thanks for the recipe.
I make these once before. And the second time I remembered to keep them in the oven a little longer (10 minutes). They look great so far and am them letting cool. Can’t wait to eat them!
I just made these to bring to our Thanksgiving tomorrow….They are cooked but way too soft and you can’t taste anything but the cream cheese. I should have went with my gut and added more ginger and cinnamon. would it be OK to sprinkled some on with powdered sugar?
Hi Jenny, I’m sorry you weren’t happy with the bars. You could certainly sprinkle powdered sugar on them.
Thank you for responding. A night in the fridge seems to have made them better. I am making a topping of ginger, cinnamon and powdered sugar to dust on before serving:).
Just not good–proportions are off—wondering if this was even tested. Needs more spice, less evap milk, maybe another yolk and time was too short.Maple flavor gets lost–such a small insignificant amount–really needs extract if you want that flavor to come through. Problem with blogs is that recipe testing is sketchy. Even after baking longer , cooling and refrigeration still too loose in texture. For those who review without even making the recipe think again–it might sound like it will taste good but you must actually PREPARE the recipe to give an accurate review.
I made these bars and I love them. However, I don’t notice any flavor of maple syrup and they seem more pumpkin pie like, than cheesecake.
Tried making this tonight and am not pleased with the results. They sound amazing but I don’t think the proportions of ingredients provided work. The cheese cake filling came out reeeaaaally thin even though I followed the instructions. I baked it longer than the recipe advises to because the filling would not set. In the extra bake time the filling still didn’t set and the crust burnt. I will try it again but without eggs and a bit more cream cheese! Hoping to at least salvage the filling from this first try once it cools.
So glad to see others are also finding it thin and taking much longer to bake. I wish I’d added another egg or less milk.
Hey Michelle,
After reading some of the other posts about the mixture coming out too thin, do you think this could be made in an 8X8 dish? How would you adjust the baking time/temp?
Thanks so much! Love your site!
Hi Sarah, I think it might be a bit close in an 8-inch square dish, and I wouldn’t want to risk overflowing. If you decide to try, I would recommend placing an empty baking pan on the rack below to catch any spills, just in case.
I made these bars today, and they are delicious. They are so much easier to manage than a whole cheesecake. Of note, mine took quite a bit longer to cook than the recipe recommends.
While I am not a big fan of cheesecake, the combination of the various flavors in this recipe – maple, pumpkin, ginger and other spices – sounds very enticing! The recipe also seems like a fairly easy one to put together. I’m always looking for pumpkin recipes that vary from the usual pumpkin pie variety. So, I’m definitely going to try this. And perhaps it will make a cheesecake fan of me yet! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
these look so good and are definitely the next pumpkin recipe i am trying!! i love a good gingersnap crust
Made these yesterday and they are AMAZING. I have to get them out of my house before I eat them all by myself! I actually think I’m going to use the crust of these bars with your pumpkin pie recipe this Thanksgiving. It’s delicious and a fraction of the work of traditional pie crust!
Oh my! They look so terribly tempting and delicious! I’ve never tried a recipe with pumpkin and I love cheesecake….so…I guess it’s about time to try your recipe! :-)
Greetings from Spain!
xoxox