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Soft and cake-y pumpkin bars with cream cheese swirls are delicious with a side of ice cream! Top them with chocolate chips for extra flavor.

We know from our Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting that pumpkin + cream cheese is a wonderful combo. Pumpkin cream cheese bars have the cream cheese baked INTO the pumpkin, which is even better! Add this to your repertoire of pumpkin recipes—you won’t be sorry!

pumpkin cream cheese bars on a white plate.

yummy fall flavors!

Are you sick of pumpkin yet? I’m just making sure that come Thanksgiving you have a ton of pumpkin recipes to choose from. 🙂

This recipe for pumpkin swirl bars is one that I found on Pinterest and made a few changes to. They’re pumpkin “bars”, but the consistency is somewhere in between Pumpkin Brownies and Pumpkin Cake. And they have the most DELICIOUS swirls of cream cheese throughout!

Pumpkin and cream cheese are a match made in heaven. Add a little bit of chocolate on top, and BOOM. You have the ultimate combination of flavors. You can leave the mini chocolate chips on or off—all done according to your preference. Our family definitely loves chocolate so we were sure to leave them on.

Pumpkin batter being poured into a pan

Tips for Making Them

PUMPKIN BATTER. Stir together all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add eggs, pumpkin puree, and oil, stir until combined. Pour and spread batter into an ungreased 15×10 pan.

CREAM CHEESE SWIRLS. With an electric mixer, cream your cream cheese and sugar. Beat in egg and milk. Drizzle over your pumpkin layer. Gently use a knife to swirl the mixtures.

BAKE. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top, if desired. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. If you like, add more chips on the top after cake has cooled for 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack for about two hours.

Variations + Storing Info

Ways to mix it up:

  • You can make a gingersnap or graham cracker crust to go underneath your bars.
  • You could also mix chocolate chips into your batter.
  • To make the cream cheese layer more cheesecake-like, add vanilla extract

STORE this dish in the fridge because of the cream cheese. I would only keep the bars for a week at most. They are super moist, so they might begin to go mushy and gross after a while.

serving of pumpkin cream cheese bars on a white plate

Yummy, yum!! You will definitely love these if you love Pumpkin… and cream cheese… and chocolate!! 😀

For more great Pumpkin recipes, be sure to check out:

5 from 20 votes

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars Recipe

By: Lil’ Luna
Soft and cake-y pumpkin bars with cream cheese swirls are delish with a side of ice cream! Top them with chocolate chips for extra flavor.
Servings: 12
Prep: 8 minutes
Cook: 25 minutes
Cool: 2 hours
Total: 2 hours 33 minutes

Ingredients 

Cream Cheese Layer

  • 4 oz cream cheese softened
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsp milk
  • 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Instructions 

  • Stir together all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add eggs, pumpkin puree, and oil, stir until combined. Pour and spread batter into an ungreased 15×10 pan.
  • With an electric mixer, cream your cream cheese and sugar. Beat in egg and milk. Drizzle over your pumpkin layer. Gently use a knife to swirl the mixtures. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top.
  • Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Add more chips on the top if desired when cake has cooled for 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack for about two hours.

Nutrition

Calories: 315kcal, Carbohydrates: 54g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Cholesterol: 79mg, Sodium: 267mg, Potassium: 217mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 35g, Vitamin A: 5760IU, Vitamin C: 1.5mg, Calcium: 80mg, Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Making this recipe? Tag us!
Share it with us on Instagram using the hashtag #lilluna, so we can see what you’re creating in the kitchen!

Adapted from Kitchen Meets Girl.

About Kristyn

My name is Kristyn and I’m the mom of SIX stinkin’ cute kids and the wife to my smokin’ hot hubby, Lo. My mom’s maiden name is Luna, and I’m one of the many crafty “Lil’ Lunas” in the fam. On this site I like to share all things creative - from recipes to home decor to gifts and home decor ideas. Welcome!

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17 Comments

  1. When you made this in a 15×10 pan, did you use a cookie sheet kind of pan, jelly roll pan, or a sheet cake kind of pan?