Friday, October 18, 2013

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars from Carolyn Mendoza

Just in time for pumpkin season, Carolyn Mendoza brought these delicious bars for the Historical League October meeting. Carolyn also takes Tastes & Treasures cookbook to many venues during the year. The book is wonderful for Holiday gift giving, filled with histories of Arizona's historic venues as well as recipes.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar, divided
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup cold butter, cubed
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened, cubed
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp cardamom
1 can (15 oz) solid-pack pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs, lightly beaten

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, mix flour, 1/4 cup sugar and brown sugar; cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in oats and pecans. Reserve 1 cup for topping.

Press remaining crumb mixture onto bottom of a greased 13 X 9 inch baking pan. Bake 15 minutes.

In a small bowl, beat cream cheese, spices and remaining sugar until smooth. Beat in pumpkin and vanilla. Add eggs: beat on low speed just until blended. Pour over warm crust: sprinkle with the reserved crumb mixture.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean and filling is set. Cool on a wore rack. Serve or refrigerate, covered, within 2 hours of baking.

Recipe from Tasteofhome.com