strawberries in paris

Jen’s Pumpkin Cheesecake Delights

Even though my roomate Jen and soon to be member of our family (CONGRATS BOBBY AND JEN!!! ) had Thanksgiving dinner at her house with her huge family, she was able to make it over for the dessert gathering at Auntie Martha’s house and she brought these!!

They are known as pumpkin streusel cheesecake bars and they were out of this world. I’m not usually one to really enjoy pumpkin pie or apple pie at Thanksgiving.. but Marfi’s pecan pie was very spectacular this year and another welcome addition was Jen’s cheesecake bars! She got the recipe off of Betty Crocker and apparently this was the prize winning recipe from 2008. High accolades for this recipe and I can see (and taste) why! Check out the recipe and a cute picture below…

Ingredients:
Cookie Base
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® oatmeal cookie mix
1/2 cup crushed gingersnap cookies
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1/2 cup cold butter or margarine
Filling
2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
2 tablespoons Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
2 tablespoons whipping cream
2 eggs
Toppings
1/3 cup chocolate topping
1/3 cup caramel topping

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, stir together cookie mix, crushed cookies and pecans. Cut in butter, using pastry blender or fork, until mixture is crumbly. Reserve 1 cup mixture for topping. Press remaining mixture in bottom of ungreased 13×9-inch pan. Bake 10 minutes. Cool 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add remaining filling ingredients; beat until well blended. Pour over warm cookie base. Sprinkle with reserved topping.
3. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until center is set. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate about 2 hours or until chilled.
4. Before serving, drizzle with chocolate and caramel toppings. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Bake 40 to 45 minutes.
Notes:
A food processor can be used for even easier preparation. Place cookie base ingredients in processor bowl; pulse until crumbly. Reserve 1 cup for topping. Press remaining cookie base mixture in pan. Place filling ingredients in processor bowl; pulse until well blended. Continue recipe as directed.
To drizzle the toppings easily, place each topping in a small food-storage plastic bag, snip off a small corner of each bag and squeeze to drizzle toppings over bars.

And here’s a picture of the newly engaged couple, my cousin Bob and lovely Jennifer. I am sooooo thrilled for them and to help Jen plan this wedding!!!