These delicious pumpkin streusel bars have a cinnamon graham cracker crust, creamy pumpkin cheesecake filling, and brown sugar streusel on top. They're a little different than classic pumpkin pie - and even more delicious if you ask me.
Preheat the oven to 325F degrees. Line a 9x13 inch (23x33 cm) glass or ceramic pan with parchment paper.
Graham Crust
In a medium bowl, stir together the graham crumbs, sugar and salt.
Stir in the melted butter.
Press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan and bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven & keep the oven turned on.
Pumpkin Layer
In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth.
Beat in the white sugar, brown sugar, spices and cornstarch. To ensure the batter is smooth, ensure there are no lumps in the brown sugar before adding it into the cream cheese.
With the mixer on low speed, mix in the vanilla extract and pumpkin.
Carefully mix in the eggs 1 at a time until just combined.
Pour the pumpkin batter over top of the crust.
Bake in the preheated oven (at 325F degrees) for 30 minutes as you make the streusel topping.
Streusel
In a medium bowl stir together the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and oats.
Stir in the melted butter - it should feel like wet sand.
Crumble/sprinkle the streusel over top of the semi-baked pumpkin layer (after it's been baked for 30 minutes).
Return the pan to the oven and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes, or until the top is golden, and there is no wobble in the middle if you give the pan a nudge.
Cooling, Chilling & Serving
Place the pan on top of a wire rack and let the bars cool at room temperature (in the pan).
Once the bottom of the pan is room temperature, cover the pan with aluminum foil and refrigerate for at leat 6 hours (or overnight).
When ready to serve, remove the bars from the fridge. Lift them out of the pan using the overhang of the parchment paper and place on a cutting board. Slice with a sharp knife.
Optionally, whisk together the cream/ and powdered sugar starting with 1 tablespoon of cream and adding more if needed. Drizzle on top of each slice. Or drizzle each slice with salted caramel sauce.
Notes
Graham crumbs can be substituted with digestive biscuit crumbs.
Make sure to use full-fat, brick-style cream cheese. Do not use lite or spreadable because they won't give the cheesecake the proper consistency.
To make your own pumpkin pie spice - use 1 ¼ teaspoons cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ginger and ⅛ teaspoon allspice. Or if you're really in a pinch, use 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon.
Cornstarch can be substituted with flour if needed.
One 15 ounce can is almost 2 cups of pumpkin measured out. I do not recommend using homemade pumpkin puree because it can have different amounts of liquid and therefore lead to inconsistent results. Do not use pumpkin pie filling.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Nutrition information is an estimate only, and based one bar (without glaze) assuming that the pan is sliced into 15 equal pieces.