Pumpkin Pie Streusel Cookie Bars
Despite it’s popularity at this time of year, surprisingly, I never tried a pumpkin pie until I was well into my twenties. It probably has something to do with the fact that my family were huge sweet potato pie lovers, and the cooks/bakers just didn’t see the need to do both.
Although the consistencies of the pies were the same or at least very similar, something that I can remember is having this impression as a kid that sweet potato pie was superior to pumpkin pie because pumpkin pie was universally bland and average in comparison to sweet potato pie.
Now that I’m grown and do a lot of baking myself, I know of course that that’s not necessarily true and that the taste/flavor of any pie is completely dependent upon the skills and discretion of the baker. The right amount and combination of spices and ingredients can make just about anything taste good.
Incidentally, if you do a deep dive in the earlier year archives, you’ll see my very first baking experiments with pumpkin on this blog, several years ago.
My first attempt at something akin to a pumpkin pie was actually a pumpkin tart, and I was so pleased with how it turned out that it changed my mind about pumpkin pie being a unilaterally inferior second cousin to sweet potato pie. It made me realize instead that they’re actually more like distinctive siblings; different, but each with their own unique potential for greatness.
I’ve used sweet potato as an ingredient quite a lot in recent 12 Days of Christmas series, and going into this year I felt/knew that it was time for me to circle back to pumpkin.
The first appearance were these absolutely delicious pumpkin angel biscuits.
The second are today’s recipe.
I love cookie ‘pie’ bars for several reasons. The first has to do with their ease factor; unlike with typical pie recipes, they’re really really really difficult to screw up. There’s no fiddling around with a pie dough that has to be made a particular way, rested for a particular amount of time, and even baked a particular knd of way to turn out right. With a cookie crust, you literally toss it together, press it in a pan, bake it off and it’s good to go.
Secondly, even though a cookie pie bar is not the same thing as pie, I never feel like I’m having ‘sub-par’ version of one when I make/eat them. In fact, sometimes it’s the complete opposite. So long as you’re using a deep enough pan, a cookie pie bar will be made with just as much filling as a regular pie. Additionally, because it’s base IS a sturdy layer of cookie dough and not just a thin layer of crust, you’re getting a dessert that has not just more structure, but texture to it that strikes a wonderful contrast between the chewiness of the cookie and the smoothness of the filling.
These pie bars give what I think is a great twist to traditional pumpkin pie. The cookie crust isn’t just any regular butter cookie crust; it actually has an oatmeal base that gives an added layer of both texture and flavor. About 1 cup of that oatmeal cookie crust is divided out from the base so that it can be crumbled on top of the pumpkin filling. What that gives you are three layers of cookie streusel-pumpkin-cookie crust that really, really works.
If you’re a fan of pumpkin pie, I guarantee you that you will love these. Even if you are not a fan of pumpkin pie, I am still very confident that you will like these anyway. So give ’em a shot.
And just like that, we’ve reached the end of yet another 12 Days of Christmas on the blog. As always, thanks to all of you who’ve been following along with me. I hope that some of these recipes spread a little holiday cheer your way and inspired you to get into the kitchen for the holidays at least once or twice.
This will more than likely be my last post of 2025 as well, so I’d also like to wish each and every one of you a safe, healthy and Happy Holidays, and New Year to you and yours.
Be well. I’ll see you in 2026 đŸ˜‰
Day 1: Holiday Lunch Lady Bars
Day 2: Ginger Thins
Day 3: Chunky Gingerbread Spiced Apple Butter
Day 4: Bakery-Style Apple Butter Cookies
Day 5: Apple Butter Spice Cakes
Day 6: Spiced PolvorĂ³nes Cookies
Day 7: Pumpkin Angel Biscuits
Day 8: Malted Sugar Cookies
Day 9: Biscoff Sandwich Cookie Shortbread
Day 10: Caramel Apple Butter Scones
Day 11: Chai Spice Apple Tassies
Day 12: Pumpkin Pie Streusel Cookie Bars
Pumpkin Pie Streusel Cookie Bars
Recipe Adapted from Southern Lady Magazine
Ingredients
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
- â…” cup quick-cooking oats
- â…” cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt, divided
- 1 cup cold butter, diced
- 1 (16-ounce) can pumpkin
- 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 large eggs
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°.
Line a 9-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, or parchment paper allowing edges to extend over sides of pan. Spray with baking spray with flour. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, and ½ teaspoon salt.
Using a pastry cutter or the large holes on a box grater, cut in butter until mixture appears crumbly.
Remove 1 cup oat mixture; set aside.
Pat remaining oat mixture into the bottom of prepared pan.
Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, condensed milk, pumpkin pie spice, lemon zest, eggs, and remaining ½ teaspoon salt.
Pour over cooled crust.
Sprinkle with reserved 1 cup oat mixture.
Bake until oat mixture is golden brown and filling is set, about 45 minutes.
Let cool completely on a wire rack.
Refrigerate until chilled, about 4 hours.
Using edges of foil, lift from pan. Cut into bars, using a serrated knife.
Sharing at Fiesta Friday #620.
Happy Holidays! May the year ahead be healthy, happy, abundant and fulfilling.
Thank you so much–the same to you đŸ™‚