Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bars

By charlotteh371

Ingredients

• 1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar, divided
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup cold butter, cubed
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened, cubed
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten

Preparation

Step 1

•Preheat oven to 350°. In a small bowl, mix flour, 1/4 cup sugar and brown sugar; cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in oats and pecans. Reserve 1 cup for topping.
• Press remaining crumb mixture onto bottom of a greased 13x9-in. baking pan. Bake 15 minutes.
• In a small bowl, beat cream cheese, spices and remaining sugar until smooth. Beat in pumpkin and vanilla. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until blended. Pour over warm crust; sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture.
• Bake 20-25 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean and filling is set. Cool on a wire rack. Serve or refrigerate, covered, within 2 hours. Cut into bars. Yield: 2 dozen.