Can a dessert bar be considered a cookie? I hope so, because these pumpkin cream cheese bars are too decadent not to be featured as one of our Cookie Month recipes. The classic pumpkin pie flavors — cinnamon, sugar, and nutmeg — are packed into this three-bite dessert. Perfect for Fall, these cookies would be a wonderful addition to a potluck and a lovely finish to any holiday dinner. For the recipe, please read more


Swirled Pumpkin-Cream Cheese Bar Cookies
From Sunset magazine

6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature

  1. In a bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar until smooth. Beat in 2 eggs, pumpkin, and 1/3 cup water until well blended, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
  2. In another bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and nutmeg; stir or beat into butter mixture until well blended. Spread batter evenly in a buttered and floured 10- by 15-inch baking pan.
  3. In a bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese, remaining egg, and remaining 1/4 cup sugar until smooth.
  4. Drop cream cheese mixture in 24 evenly spaced 1-tablespoon portions over batter. Pull a knife tip through filling to swirl slightly into batter.
  5. Bake in a 350° oven until center of pumpkin batter (not cream cheese mixture) springs back when touched, about 30 minutes. Let cool completely in pan, then cut into 24 bars.

Makes 24 bars

Nutritional Information: CALORIES 164(38% from fat); FAT 7g (sat 4.2g); PROTEIN 2.6g; CHOLESTEROL 45mg; SODIUM 130mg; FIBER 0.4g; CARBOHYDRATE 23g

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