For the chocolate, butter, and cream steps, just make sure to thoroughly melt the butter and heat up the cream before adding the chocolate, otherwise it will seize. Cold liquid to warm chocolate? Nope. Hot liquid to cold chocolate? No problem! If you're not into the double boiler situation, you can go ahead and heat the butter and chocolate together in the microwave in 20-30 second stints, while scalding the cream on the stove. When the chocolate and butter are completely melted together and the cream is steaming, slowly pour the cream into the chocolate mixture and stir constantly until completely combined. Either way works!
All in all, these drool worthy bars take some time to make and a little more focus than usual to make but they are truly worth every single second. Lots of cooling is required so make sure to start these early on before your Thanksgiving feast! In fact, I would make them the day before, and let them cool over night to really set up. Serve these to your family and friends this Thanksgiving to make a perfect end to a delicious meal! (complete with these Easy Cranberry Daiquiris ย to startย of course ๐ )
Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Squares
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 mins
- Yield: 24 squares 1x
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 8 graham crackers (1 pack)
- ยผ cup sugar
- ยผ tsp ground cinnamon
- 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake:
- 16 oz cream cheese
- 1 ยพ cups white sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- ยผ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- โ teaspoon nutmeg
- ยฝ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ยผ teaspoon sea salt
- 6 oz semisweet chocolate, broken up
- 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- For the Frosting
- 1 ยผ cups sour cream
- ยผ cups white sugar
- Chopped chocolate for garnish
- Pinch of nutmeg and cinnamon for garnish
Get Recipe Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350หF. Prepare a 9X13 inch baking pan.
- Using a food processor, process the graham crackers down into tiny crumbs. Remove to a medium size mixing bowl.
- Add the sugar and cinnamon, stir until completely mixed. Pour in melted butter and stir until just combined.
- Scoop into the prepared baking pan. Using a spatula, gently spread the graham cracker mixture into an even layer covering the bottom of the pan.
- Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool while making the chocolate pumpkin cheesecake. Lower oven to 325หF.
- Using an electric mixture or a whisk, combine the cream cheese and white sugar at a medium speed in a large bowl until completely smooth.
- Add the eggs slowly, one at a time, whisking at a low speed until each egg is just combined.
- Add pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract and salt and mix on a low speed until just combined. Set aside.
- Place a small heatproof bowl over a small saucepan half full of simmering water, creating a double boiler. Pour the heavy cream and butter into the sauce pan. Stir the mixture until the butter is completely melted and the cream is heated but not boiling.
- Add the chocolate and stir constantly until completely mixed and smooth. Remove from heat.
- Slowly pour a โ cup of the pumpkin mixture into the chocolate mixture, stirring constantly. Repeat two more times.
- Pour this chocolate pumpkin mixture over the now cooled graham cracker crust. Spread evenly with a spatula.
- Pour the rest of the pumpkin mixture on top of the chocolate pumpkin layer and spread evenly with a spatula.
- Bake for 45 minutes, until the center is set and the filling has puffed up, rotating the pan halfway through baking time. Remove and let cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, whisk together the sour cream and white sugar for the frosting. When the cheesecake has cooled, gently spread the frosting on top using a spatula.
- Chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours up to overnight. Cut into 24 squares. Top each one with a pinch of nutmeg, cinnamon, and a few chopped chocolate pieces for a garnish. Serve chilled.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour
heycakes says
Yum! These look fantastic!
Fun, Yum & Frills says
Whaaaaat!? How did I not know about these until now!? Officially pinned and in my future. Thank you for sharing!
aberdeenjenae says
Of course, thanks for the pin!
Cher|cherthatdish says
These look sooooo gooooood! I love the idea of pumpkin and cheesecake! Will definitely try these out in the future!
Linda says
Yes! These would be perfect for Thanksgiving...chocolate & pumpkin combined in a cheesecake is so so good!!! Pinned it ๐
Jason Witte says
Brenden made these for Thanksgiving and everyone loved them. They were like dessert crack... a TOTAL success. We had trouble finding gluten free graham crackers, so we used crumbled GF chocolate chip cookies as a substitute. YUM! It worked! Thanks... miss you and BH!
Jason Witte (Lehmann)
Dan says
The only bad part about this dish was giving out extras to friends. I would easily weigh a lot more if I lacked any self-discipline. These treats are so rich and yummy, it's hard to say no to seconds.