These bar cookies combine raisins, carrot cake, and pumpkin cheesecake into one rich dessert. These bar cookies are easy to make because they begin with a cake mix and canned pumpkin.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hours,
Ingredients:
- 1 cup raisins (see pre-instructions)
- Crust Base:
- 1 box carrot cake mix (18 ounces)
- 1 egg, beaten
- 8 Tablespoons butter, softened (1 stick)
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- Topping:
- 3 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup sugar, divided use
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 eggs at room temperature
- 1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Preparation:
Soak raisins in hot water to cover for 15 minutes to plump them. Drain thoroughly and blot with a paper towel to dry. Set aside.Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with foil. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Crust base:
Combine cake mix, 1 egg, and butter. Spoon into ungreased 9-inch by 13-inch baking pan. Press evenly into bottom of pan.
Sprinkle raisins evenly over crust base and press gently with spatula into the crust.
Filling:
Beat cream cheese, 3/4 cup of the sugar, and vanilla with electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Reserve 1-1/2 cups of the plain batter.
Stir remaining 1/4 cup sugar, pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves into remaining batter.
Spoon the pumpkin batter evenly over crust. Drop dollops of the reserved plain batter over the pumpkin mixture. Cut through batters with knife, gently swirling for marble effect, taking care not to dislodge the crust.
Bake at 350 degrees F. for 1 hour. Cool and slice into squares before serving.
Yield: 24 bars
Note: These are extremely rich so you may wish to cut the bars smaller.
