Cinnamon Cheesecake Swirled Pumpkin Blondies with Chocolate Chips!

The perfect fall dessert. Moist and fudge-y pumpkin blondies swirled with sweet and creamy cinnamon cheesecake and filled with melt-in-your-mouth chocolate chips to make the best blondie you’ve ever had in your life.

Being that I’m in Australia….we don’t normally pimp our pumpkins into desserts. I mean, maybe some of us do, but mostly our pumpkins are roasted with meat. But, seeing so many ‘fall’ recipes, also known to us as ‘autumn,’ I’ve seen so many dessert recipes based around pumpkin that I just had-ta jump on board. yes. Had-ta.

Well. Can I just say HELLO PUMPKIN! I will now and forever onwards from this day forward make it a compulsory rule in this house to always pimp my pumpkin. And what better to try our first ever blondie than with a creamy Cinnamon Cheesecake swirl? Oh! And before I forget. Chocolate chips just happened to fall into the batter. I didn’t do it. I swear.

Maybe. Wow. These blondies kicked my ass. No, seriously. My first attempt? Not sa’ good. But my second? Hold the phone! My oven was smelling super fudgilicious. The pumpkin in these, sweetened and flavoured with some honey…I mean…you guys NEED TO MAKE THESE!

And then melty chocolate chips on top of everything else going on in there was like the cherry on top of popping my pumpkin-for-dessert cherry.

I could not stop spooning with the batter…I mean spooning the batter outta the bowl. I nearly had to make another batch, because the kids dove into this with all of their hearts and souls. Bless ’em. Before I chased them away.

And then the cheesecake mix? Well, let’s just say the spooning got a little worse.

And then the swirrrrrl…..with the chocolate chips peeking up out at me, all innocent like? Girrrrrlfriiiiend… this batter was lucky to make it into the oven.

Lining the tray with baking/parchment paper was the best decision I made. I actually thought ahead of time, and knew that I’d want to pull these babies out ASAP. Such an easy and smooth transaction… Lemmetellya. Shooting these was a slow and painful process. Slow because cutting into these, they were so super fudge they almost…almost…didn’t feel set.

So moist. Super fudge-licious I nearly died. But breaking them apart, ever so gently, they were absolute perfection.

Ugh. So fudgy I want more! Sadly, they didn’t last long. Maybe a good 20 minutes all up.

Cinnamon Cheesecake Swirl Pumpkin Blondies

Weight watchers: 3pp each

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Serves: 16 bars

Ingredients

Blondies

• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar , packed
• 1/4 cup natural sweetener/raw sugar
• 1 cup pumpkin puree , canned or homemade (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 2 tablespoons light butter , melted; or oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup plain flour (spelt/oat or all purpose flour(s) are fine)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup dark/semi sweet chocolate chips

Cheesecake

• 1 x 250g | 8.8oz packet low fat/fat free cream cheese , at room temp
• 2 tablespoons plain/all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 tablespoons natural sweetener/sugar of choice

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 180c | 350F. Grease a 8-by-8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray; line with baking/parchment paper (to remove Blondies easier) and set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk the egg, brown sugar, sweetener/raw sugar, pumpkin, oil, honey and vanilla until smooth and creamy.
• Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt, and stir until just combined (don't over-beat.)
• Fold through chocolate chips; set aside and make the cheesecake layer
  

Cheesecake

• Combine cream cheese, flour, cinnamon and sweetener/sugar in a medium sized bowl, and beat until smooth.
  

Blondies

• Pour the blondie batter into prepared pan and evenly smooth the top lightly with a spatula.
• Pour the cheesecake mixture over the top, and using the back of a knife, swirl small amounts of the blondie batter gently into the cheesecake mix until a marble effect is created on the top (not too much because you still want both layers).
• Bake for about 20 - 27 minutes (depending on your oven), or until done. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out mostly clean/slightly dirty, with a few moist crumbs BUT no batter. (TIP: The dirtier the toothpick, the fudge-ier the blondies). Allow bars to cool in pan for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving.

Notes

Storage: Bars should be stored in an airtight container, or on a tray/plate covered with plastic wrap at room temperature for about 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 119kcal | Carbohydrates: 17.4g | Protein: 3.3g | Fat: 3.8g | Fiber: 0.4g