No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

These No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars have a rich, creamy, spiced pumpkin cheesecake filling atop a gingersnap crust. They're flavorful, delicious, and the best make-ahead Thanksgiving dessert!

5 from 2 votes

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 30

Set Time: 4

Total Time: 4 30

Servings:

Calories: 115kcal

Author: Lindsey Janeiro

Equipment

Ingredients

30 gingersnap cookies
5 tablespoons butter melted
1 cup pumpkin puree drained
1 cup heavy whipping cream cold
16 ounces cream cheese (2 x 8oz packages)
½ cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or extract

Garnish

whipped cream
cinnamon sugar

Instructions

Prepare the Crust:

Line a 9x9" baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
Place gingersnap cookies into the bowl of a food processor. Process until the gingersnaps have turned into a fine crumb, about 1-2 minutes. Add melted butter and process another minute, until you have a fine crumble.
Transfer the gingersnap mixture to the prepared pan. Use a spatula or clean fingers to firmly press it into an even layer in the bottom of the pan. Set aside.

Prepare the Cheesecake:

To eliminate excess moisture in the cheesecake filling, drain the pumpkin. To do so, place pumpkin in a cheesecloth bag or in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze repeatedly, until a significant amount of liquid has come out. The drained pumpkin puree should have a play-doh-like consistency. Set the drained pumpkin aside.
Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, whip the heavy whipping cream in a large bowl until it has formed stiff peaks (about 1-2 minutes). Set aside.
In another large bowl, add cream cheese, drained pumpkin, powdered sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla bean paste (or a high quality extract). Mix on medium high, or until the mixture is thick, smooth, and creamy.
Carefully fold the whipped cream into the pumpkin cheesecake mixture. The cheesecake mixture should be very dense, so this will take a few minutes, just carefully keep folding it until you have one smooth, thick mixture.
Evenly spread the pumpkin cheesecake mixture on top of the crust and smooth the surface.
Refrigerate overnight, or at least 4 hours until set.

To Serve:

For clean cuts, you can place the no bake pumpkin cheesecake in the freezer for 30-60 minutes before cutting. Most importantly, wipe clean your knife between every cut. You can cut the cheesecake into however many servings you'd like, but as this is a very rich dessert, I like to cut into 36 bite-sized pieces.
Just before serving, top with additional whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar. Enjoy!

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