The Best Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake Bars

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These pumpkin swirl cheesecake bars combine the autumnal flavors of pumpkin pie with the timeless velvety richness of cheesecake. They’re less challenging to make than traditional cheesecake and even easier to share. If you love pumpkin desserts but are tired of traditional pumpkin pie, make these pumpkin swirl cheesecake bars for this year’s holiday gathering and enjoy being the star of the party.

Why You’ll Love These Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake Bars

A fun spin on a traditional holiday treat. We know that some people get bored with having pumpkin pie every holiday season. So if you want to try something new, these bars have all the flavors of pumpkin pie swirled into rich, velvety, tangy cheesecake.
Great shareable dessert option for fall or winter holiday gatherings. These bars are easy to cut into large or even bite-sized squares. They’re the perfect treat to bring to family gatherings, work parties, or your solo staycation in front of your favorite cozy movie.
Easier to make than traditional cheesecake or standard pumpkin pie. These bake up in a regular square dish instead of a springform pan, and you don’t need to use a water bath. There’s also no need for finicky homemade or dry store bought pie crust.

Grid of pumpkin swirl cheesecake bars lined up, with the center bar twisted off center.

A Note on Cheesecake Bars

Cheesecake has a reputation for being finicky and challenging to make, but these bars are a bit easier. They’re baked in a square pan, not a springform, and they don’t require a water bath. It’s important to note that some minor cracks may naturally form due to the difference in texture and moisture levels of the pumpkin cheesecake mixture and the regular cheesecake mixture. These cracks tend to form wherever you swirl the batters together. If you want to try to avoid these cracks, take a look at our tips below.

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Ingredients in Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake Bars

Graham cracker crust – you’ll need graham cracker sheets (crushed in a food processor) or pre-made graham cracker crumbs, melted salted butter, and a little sugar.
Pumpkin filling – you’ll need pumpkin puree (we’ve had the best results with Libby’s brand), sugar, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon, cornstarch, and an egg yolk. You’ll also mix in some cheesecake filling with the pumpkin before baking.
Cheesecake filling – you’ll need cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, cornstarch, a touch of salt, and beaten eggs.

How to Make These Bars

Preparation: Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease an 8×8 inch baking dish and line it with parchment. You should have enough parchment to cover the bottom of the dish with an overhang on 2 sides. This will help you lift the bars out after they’ve baked. Optional tip: secure the parchment overhang with metal binder clips.
Graham cracker crust: Blitz the graham crackers in a food processor until they’re fine crumbs. Alternatively, you can buy pre-made crumbs. Mix the graham cracker crumbs with the sugar in a food processor or bowl. Mix in the melted butter until the mixture resembles coarse, wet sand. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish and press down into an even layer. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes and set aside to cool.

Square baking dish lined with parchment paper and filled with pressed down graham cracker crust.

Pumpkin filling: Make the pumpkin filling by mixing together the pumpkin puree, sugar, spices, and cornstarch. Gently mix in the egg yolk until just combined.
Cheesecake filling: To make the cheesecake filling, beat together the cream cheese and sugar with a hand mixer, then mix in the sour cream, lemon, vanilla, cornstarch and salt. Mix in the beaten eggs until just combined. Be careful not to overmix.
Combination: Gently fold ¾ cups of the cheesecake filling into the pumpkin filling.

Bowl with pumpkin filling and measuring cup pouring in a portion of cheesecake filling. Larger bowl with remaining cheesecake filling in background.

Assembly: Assemble the cheesecake by alternating scoops of regular cheesecake and pumpkin cheesecake onto the crust. You should have about 6 scoops of each mixture. Use a knife to gently swirl the cheesecake flavors and make a marbled effect.

Alternate scoops of pumpkin and regular cheesecake
Swirl the cheesecake flavors together
Tap the baking pan onto the counter to remove bubbles.

Bake: Tap the cheesecake against the counter a couple of times to get any bubbles out. Bake it for about 35 minutes, or until it’s mostly set with only a slight wobble in the middle.
Rest and chill: Remove the cheesecake from the oven and let it rest on the counter until it comes to room temperature. Once rested, chill it in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or up to overnight for best results.

Emily & Rachel’s Tips for Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake Bars

Rachel and Emily from Cooking with Conks

Use room temperature ingredients. This will ensure the ingredients mix together more smoothly, and the bars bake up more evenly.
Don’t overmix your cheesecake batter, especially once the eggs are added. Whipping too much air into the eggs will cause the cheesecake to rise too fast then fall once removed from the oven. This can create extra cracks in your cheesecake bars.

Once swirled, lightly bang the baking dish onto a counter or surface to remove any bubbles. Bubbles can cause the cheesecake to rise too quickly in different spots, increasing the possibility of cracks later.
If you want to go the extra mile, you can use a water bath, but we don’t think it’s necessary. While usually not necessary for cheesecake bars because they’re typically thinner than traditional cheesecake and bake more evenly, you could do a water bath if you want to ensure fewer cracks. We don’t usually mind a few cracks in our bars if they do show up, so it’s up to you.
After removing the cheesecake bars from the oven, run a knife around the edges of the bars where they touch the baking dish. When the bars cool, they’ll naturally contract toward the middle, and if they’re stuck to the edges of the baking dish, this can create more cracks.
Let them cool to room temperature before chilling them in the fridge. Quick changes in temperature (hot oven to cold fridge) can cause cracks to form more easily, and it can also create condensation or wetness on the top of the cheesecake. Let the cheesecake slowly drop to room temp after removing it from the oven (this may take an hour or so), then place it in the fridge for a few hours or up to overnight. When ready to serve, remove it from the fridge and let it stand at room temperature for about a half hour so that it’s not frigid when eaten.

Storage Suggestions

Store any leftover cheesecake bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days for best results. The cheesecake will last longer, but the crust can get a little soggier the longer it’s in the fridge. You can also freeze the bars for up to a month or so.

Top view of six squares of pumpkin swirl cheesecake bars, with the top left and bottom left pulled out to the side.

FAQs: Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake Bars

To get the best marbling effect, your pumpkin cheesecake and plain cheesecake need to be similar in texture density/thickness. If one is a lot runnier than the other, they may be harder to marble together. This can happen if you use a runnier or thinner pumpkin puree (see the FAQ about pumpkin puree below).

For the best outcome, we recommend alternating scoops of pumpkin and plain cheesecake onto the prepared crust until you’ve used up both cheesecake batters. This means you’ll have a scoop of pumpkin cheesecake, then a plain cheesecake scoop next to it, then another pumpkin, and so on.

You also want to avoid over swirling the cheesecake flavors together, if possible. Just take a butter knife or small offset spatula and dip the point into the cheesecake batter, holding the knife or spatula straight up and down, not at an angle. Gently drag the knife through the scoops of pumpkin and plain cheesecake (be sure not to drag it through the crust below), swirling it by changing direction and moving the knife slowly through the batter. Just be careful not to over swirl. If you try to marble or swirl the cheesecakes together too much, they’ll mix in more and you’ll lose the marbled effect altogether. Don’t worry too much, though. These bars will taste amazing no matter what, with or without the marbling!

Yes and no. Pumpkin puree brands differ in thickness, color, and taste. If you use a thinner, more watery brand (like Trader Joe’s), you may not be able to achieve a marbled effect because the pumpkin cheesecake and plain cheesecake may be too different in moisture level. However, it’s still going to taste good and bake well, even if the marbling looks different or not perfect. We’ve always made this with Libby’s brand and have had a lot of success with it. You can find many listed rankings on pumpkin puree out there too. Other popular brands include Kroger, 365, and Farmers Market.

We don’t recommend using low-fat ingredients in these pumpkin swirl cheesecake bars. Full-fat cream cheese and sour cream give these bars their signature richness and they also help the bars set up and get firm. Using low-fat will give the cheesecake a looser, more watery texture.

Absolutely! There’s no gluten in the cheesecake fillings themselves, but there is gluten in the graham crackers. To make this gluten-free, make sure to use gluten-free graham crackers in the crust.

No. These need to set up in the fridge for at least a few hours or up to overnight or they’ll be too soft and won’t taste right.

Yes! These actually work best when they have time to set in the refrigerator, so you can bake them up the day before. Just don’t make them too far in advance or the crust might get soggy.