Pumpkin Salted Caramel Snickerdoodle Bars
Snickerdoodle cookie crust topped with spiced pumpkin cheesecake and a salted caramel swirl. What more could you ask for in a Fall treat?
I’m finally posting my first pumpkin recipe for the year. Don’t get me wrong, I love pumpkin. But this year, I was holding on to summer for as long as I could. I broke out the pumpkin beers a few weeks ago, but was still holding out on baking with pumpkin. Now that the weather is turning cooler and the leaves are starting to change colors, I’m ready to embrace fall baking in it’s entirety.
Today is an exciting day for me. It’s my little sister’s due date. She’s been ready and waiting for my nephew to arrive, but over the last couple of days, she’s starting to get impatient. I have to admit, we’re all really excited about adding another baby to the family.
In honor of her due date, today I’m posting a recipe that my sister would love. Well, anyone would love these Pumpkin Salted Caramel Snickerdoodle Bars, but B would especially love them. I’ve mentioned before that she loves snickerdoodles. In fact, the snickerdoodle crust I used here came from these Snickerdoodle Cheesecake Bars that I made when she visited earlier this year.
Next up comes a spiced pumpkin cheesecake layer that came from these Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Brownies that I first made over 4 years ago! That recipe never disappoints. Last but not least, there’s a swirl of homemade salted caramel. I actually only recently became aware of the combination that is pumpkin and caramel. If you haven’t tried it yet, believe me, it just works.
Don’t forget about my Power of Pink Challenge! Make something PINK during the month of October to raise Breast Cancer Awareness and a chance to win a $100 donation to the charity of your choice.
One Year Ago: Apple 7-Layer Magic Bars and Granny Smith Brunch Cake
Two Years Ago: Balsamic Roasted Vegetables
Three Years Ago: Homemade Graham Crackers and Caramelized Apple Grilled Cheese
Six Years Ago: Sweet Potato Home Fries and White Chocolate and Blueberry Cupcakes
Pumpkin Salted Caramel Snickerdoodle Bars
Snickerdoodle cookie crust topped with spiced pumpkin cheesecake and a salted caramel swirl. What more could you ask for in a Fall treat?
Yield: 16 bars
Ingredients:
For the Snickerdoodle Crust
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 tsp cream of tartar
For the Cheesecake Filling
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/3 c sugar
3 Tbsp flour
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp fresh nutmeg
1/3 cup salted caramel sauce (homemade or store-bought)
Directions:
For the Snickerdoodle Crust
Preheat oven to 350 degF. Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper or grease well.
Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add egg and beat until fully incorporated. Scrape down bowl and beat for another 30 seconds.
Add dry ingredients and mix until fully incorporated. Clean out the mixing bowl to use for cheesecake filling.
Press the cookie dough into the pan to make an even bottom layer.
For the Cheesecake Filling
Beat together all ingredients except the caramel sauce.
To Assemble the Bars
Pour the cheesecake filling over the snickerdoodle crust. Add dollops of salted caramel sauce and swirl with a knife.
Bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack to room temperature. Then put in fridge for 1 hour.
Recipe by Beantown Baker.
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
This is the perfect recipe for all of the leftover ingredients I have! Hubby made me buy a 3-pound bag of cranberries because he loves them, but you only use 12 ounces for cranberry sauce so I’ve got about 2 pounds of cranberries left to use, plus lots of pumpkins and pecans. This is definitely being made this weekend!
Oh man. That does sound good. And I know it must be if you’re repeating it because I am the same way. I’m going to make a cranberry maple pecan cake on Friday… but this is really tempting too.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Oh, man! If I only had more time for Thanksgiving dessert table – this is certainly one I would try.
Oooh this cake looks so ooey gooey and delicious! I wish there weren’t already so many desserts coming to my Thanksgiving table because I’d totally make this!
Sues
This looks super delicious and your photos look great too! Happy Thanksgiving to you and hubby!
ooooh, my, i must try this 🙂 happy thanksgiving!!
What a fabulous recipe! All the flavors sound delicious to me.
This looks amazing! It looks so moisty yum, I should try to make this sometime, Love your blog! this is my first comment for you so I thought I’d show some appreciation for your blog, because I’ve been drooling over all your recipes for a while
Shandra-http://shandrita.tumblr.com/
Your photos are beautiful! The pictures I took of the actual cake didn’t look to appealing, the photos I took of the bite sized cake bites looked pretty though lol
Good job!!
What a great recipe! You totally had me at caramel/pecan/cranberry topping.
Just finally made this cake and it is astoundingly good! Truly the best dessert I’ve had in…oh, a very long time. Thank you for your post!
I tried to be good, I really did! This cake was so delicious, I not only had seconds, I had a piece for breakfast the next day and for a snack later that day. This one goes on my Christmas menu!
beantownbaker — December 1st, 2013 @ 6:52 pm
I doubled the recipe this time and you’ll remember the middle didn’t quite bake through. It also spilled over a bit, so next time, I’ll put a pan under the cake in the oven.