The Supermom Chef

I had hopes of making a pumpkin roll sometime during the Thanksgiving holidays, but time just got away from me. November was such a crazy busy month that I never got a chance to make it and I was so disappointed! I know it’s almost December and it’s time for Christmas goodies and all kinds of candies recipes to be making their rounds here, but I just had to post this recipe for y’all. After all, it’s still fall and when you think of fall one of the first food items you think of is pumpkin, right? Since I didn’t get the chance to make the pumpkin roll, I decided to go with the next best (read: easiest) thing and make these yummy bars instead. This recipe was described as tasting like a pumpkin roll, but being much easier to make. I was sold immediately, and these are just as delicious as I thought they would be!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars

Cake

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin

1/4 cup water

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Cream Cheese Filling

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9×13″ baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. In a bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar until smooth. Beat in two eggs, pumpkin, one teaspoon of vanilla and water until well blended, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed. In a separate bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin/butter mixture and combine until well blended. Spread about 2/3 of the batter evenly into the prepared pan. In a bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese, one egg, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla until smooth. Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over the pumpkin batter. Dollop the remaining pumpkin batter over the cream cheese mixture and spread out as evenly as possible.  Use a table knife to swirl together the cream cheese and top layer of pumpkin batter.  Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the center of the pumpkin batter springs back when touched. Cool completely in pan, then cut into bars.

Recipe from: http://letsdishrecipes.blogspot.com/2010/11/pumpkin-cream-cheese-bars.html