Don’t panic if you’ve never baked a before. These bars are wayyyy easier. Below are some tips for perfect results, every time.
1. Get the cream cheese melty. It doesn’t need to be a pourable liquid, but it should be loose enough to swirl with the pumpkin batter.
2. Don’t overmix. Pumpkin desserts tend to be cakey, which is not a quality we want in these blondie-ish cheesecake squares. Don’t use a hand mixer, a whisk is all you need—it’ll ensure that you don’t incorporate too much air into the dough.
3. The toothpick test should yield a few moist crumbs. It’s been in the oven too long if your toothpick comes out clean. Think of these as similar to brownies. A few crumbs = moist, fudgy bars.
For the Cream Cheese Topping
sour cream, at room temperature
2 tbsp.
2 tbsp.
1 tsp.
1/2 tsp.
For the Pumpkin Spice Blondies
(2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the pan
all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
2 tsp.
1 tsp.
1 tsp.
15-oz. can unsweetened pumpkin purée
- Make the Cream Cheese Topping: Microwave the cream cheese in a medium microwave-safe bowl in 15 second bursts, stirring until smooth but not hot. Whisk in the sour cream, flour, sugar, vanilla, and salt until smooth. Set aside while you make the blondies.
- Make the Blondie Base: Preheat oven to 350º. Butter a 9″-x-13″ pan and line with parchment, leaving a 2″ overhang.
- In a small bowl, whisk flour, pumpkin spice, and salt until well combined.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together butter and brown sugar until smooth, then whisk in egg and vanilla. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Whisk in pumpkin purée and scrape the sides down again, then whisk in the flour mixture until no streaks remain.
- Reserving about 1/2 cup of the blondie batter, spread batter evenly in the prepared pan. Spread the cream cheese topping over the blondie batter, leaving a 1/2″ border. Dollop reserved blondie batter on top, then use a chopstick, butter knife, or toothpick to swirl the blondie batter and cream cheese layers together. Be careful not to overmix—the idea is to get pretty swirls of the two without combining them too much.
- Bake the blondies until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool completely in the pan, then cut into bars and serve.
Delish: Eat Like Every Day’s The Weekend
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This content was originally published here.