It's less than 5 days until Thanksgiving and we're getting serious up in here. Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars are on the blog and it's very exciting.
One of the things you guys requested this holiday season was make ahead items for the thanksgiving table. Dessert is one of those things you can whip up ahead of time so you're not worried about it the day of. To be honest, you could make this Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake 4-5 days ahead of time and be fine! Just keep it frozen until the day before and then let it come to room temp before serving.
Let's break this down shall we? It's an oreo crust that's so good you could eat it on it's own. Then a super easy pumpkin cheesecake that gets swirled with a chocolate mixture to create this marbled topping. Who wouldn't want this as the pièce de résistance for Thanksgiving dinner! Sure you could serve it up with a pie, or apple crisp, but you could also serve it up solo and people would be pumped!
PS - are you thinking of putting this on your Thanksgiving menu? Check out the full What's Gaby Cooking menu here along with the master prep schedule to keep things organized and on track!
Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 9 ounces Oreo Cookies
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
For the filling
- 16 ounces plain cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 3 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 ounces dark chocolate chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil, leaving an overhang on all sides. Set aside.
- In a food processor, blend cookies until finely ground, add butter, and pulse until moistened.
- Transfer crumb mixture to prepared pan, and press gently into bottom. Bake until fragrant and slightly firm, 12 to 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.
- Place cream cheese in food processor; blend until smooth. Add sugar, pumpkin puree, eggs, flour, pumpkin-pie spice, and salt; process until combined. Set aside.
- Place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl; microwave in 30-second increments, stirring between each, until melted. Add 1 cup pumpkin mixture; stir to combine. Set aside.
- Pour remaining pumpkin mixture into prepared pan. Drop dollops of chocolate mixture onto pumpkin mixture; swirl. Bake until cheesecake is set but jiggles slightly when gently shaken, 40 to 50 minutes.
- Cool in pan. Cover; chill until firm, at least 2 hours (and up to 2 days). Using overhang, transfer cake to work surface. With a knife dipped in water, cut into 16 squares. Serve.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Photo by Matt Armendariz / Food Styling by Adam Pearson / Prop Styling by Gena Sigala // Recipe by What’s Gaby Cooking
Has anyone tried to make the cheesecake part gluten free? I have a replacement for the cookies but not sure which flour or combo would be best to replace all purpose flour.
I'd use Bob's Red Mill GF 1:1
How many Oreos equals 9 ounces if using regular Oreos?
These are SO GOOD! I was worried because I have never made a cheesecake-type dessert before but this was super easy and worked really well!
You never answered the question is it 1 cup or a 15 ounce can of pumpkin
I must have missed your original question - use 1 cup of canned pumpkin. slightly less than a 15-ounce can
You said they can be frozen for later. Can you explain how to freeze and how to thaw?
you can bake these entirely and then freeze. When you're ready to serve, just thaw and let come to room temp
Wondering if i can use chocolate wafers ( in yellow box) instead of oreos. I can't imagine having to scrape the cream out of the middle of all the cookies ! This recipe sounds amazing
you sure can
What kind of dark chocolate?
personal preference! anything works
Can this recipe be doubled? Need to serve a large crowd 🙂
yes but make it in 2 separate baking pans otherwise the timing will get messed up