Video
Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars with Pecan Praline
Super creamy pumpkin cheesecake bars with pumpkin pie spice on a homemade cinnamon brown sugar crust with irresistible 2-ingredient pecan praline on top!
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 cup 142g all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup 70g packed dark brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 5 tablespoon 70g unsalted butter very soft
Filling:
- 9 oz 250g brick cream cheese softened
- ½ cup 110g packed dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup 60ml thick full fat yogurt
- ½ cup 120ml pure pumpkin puree
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon each ground ginger nutmeg, clove, allspice or ¾ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Pecan praline:
- ¾ cup 80g whole raw pecans
- ½ cup 60g icing sugar
- sea salt for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8x8-inch pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang along each side.
- For the crust, combine flour, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon in a small bowl and blend well so there are no lumps of brown sugar. Add soft butter and rub it into the flour mixture with your fingertips until it holds together in clumps. Press it evenly into the prepared pan. Smooth and pack it down with the back of a spoon and press it about ½ inch up the sides to form an edge crust.
- Bake the crust for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden, then set aside to cool slightly. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F
- For the filling, beat cream cheese until creamy using an electric hand mixer. Add brown sugar and beat until smooth and glossy. Beat in egg and vanilla until incorporated. Mix in yogurt, then mix in pumpkin puree, vanilla and spices.
- Spread it all out evenly with an off-set spatula over the pre-baked crust. Bake for 20-23 minutes until just set and puffed around edges and the surface looks dry. It will continue to set on cooling. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely and then chill for at least 2 hours before slicing.
- For the pecan praline, combine pecans and icing sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat and stir constantly until the sugar begins to melt. At first it will look like nothing is happening and then suddenly you will see the sugar turn to caramel. Continue turning and tossing the nuts so that the sugar caramelizes evenly. Once it turns an amber colour and you see the pecans get darker, scrape it out onto a tray lined with parchment paper. Immediately sprinkle sea salt on top while still hot and then let it cool. Once cooled it will be hard and brittle. Chop it up and sprinkle it over the cheesecake just before serving.
