Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Fall is finally here! Which means I can start cooking with pumpkin again. I know you can use it any time of year but it is just so fall to me. Pumpkin is definitely my favorite fall ingredient. My friend Nicole made a pumpkin cheesecake last year and I have been hooked since. So since the temperature just started to drop last week, I decided it was time to make something with pumpkin. I found these cheesecake bars in Cooking Light and they sounded yummy! I did need to cook it longer than the recipe suggested, but this recipe was still very easy.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Cooking Light

Yields 12 Servings

Ingredients

Crust:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (6 3/4 ounces)

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

8 teaspoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces

Cooking spray

Filling:

1 1/4 cups canned unsweetened pumpkin

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 (8-ounce) package fat-free cream cheese, softened

1 (8-ounce) package 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup egg substitute

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1 large egg

Remaining Ingredients:

1/4 cup chopped pecans

2 teaspoons water

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To prepare crust, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add flour to pan; cook 5 minutes or until light brown, stirring often. Remove pan from heat. Transfer flour to a bowl; cool completely.

Combine cooled flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and salt in a food processor; pulse 5 times or until combined. Add chilled butter; pulse until mixture resembles fine meal. Press 1 cup of flour mixture evenly into the bottom of a 13 x 9 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray; reserve the remaining flour mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until crust is lightly browned.

To prepare filling, spread pumpkin in an even layer on several paper towels; cover with additional paper towels. Let stand 5 minutes.

Combine granulated sugar, 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, and cream cheeses in a bowl. Beat with an electric mixer at medium speed 2 minutes or until smooth. Scrape pumpkin into bowl using a rubber spatula. Add egg substitute, cinnamon, vanilla, allspice, and egg; beat until smooth.

Scrape batter into baked crust.

Combine reserved flour mixture and pecans in a small bowl; sprinkle with 2 teaspoons water. Squeeze handfuls of topping to form large pieces. Crumble over filling. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes or until filling is firmly set. Remove from heat; cool in pan on wire rack to room temperature. Cut into 12 portions. Serve at room temperature.

NOTE: The original recipe suggests to cook for 40 minutes but I didn't think that was long enough so I cooked it for 15 more minutes and it was good to go!