I have been on a pumpkin roll lately, and these bars are what took me from intrigued to LOVE. I saw them on Amy's Playing House, and they looked so good I knew I had to try them immediately. What's not to love - cheesecake AND chocolate? I'm there.
And here's why I have officially become a pumpkin convert: it has a very neutral taste, it gives your baked goods beautiful colour, and it replaces the fat in recipes without you even noticing. Plus pumpkin is super good for you! The good for you part wouldn't make me use it without the rest, but its nutritional benefit definitely tipped the scales. I love it so much I'm sure they'll find out in a few years that pumpkin causes systemic organ failure in short redheads or something, as it is rare at best that I luck out with foods I adore.
Anyway, Amy's recipe is super simple and so, so good. I made a few changes, the main one being that I didn't have pumpkin pie spice so I ended up winging it with nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon. I went a little heavy on the nutmeg, so don't do that. I think allspice would be great in these, too. Also, Amy uses an Oreo crumb crust, and I ended up forgoing a crust entirely. I can't remember why; maybe I was out of butter, or I was tired, or the dishwasher was full and I didn't want to clean a bowl by hand, I'm really not sure. Knowing me, it was the latter.
