Once upon a time, I made a rich chocolatey brownie swirled with a smooth pumpkin cheesecake and enjoyed one piece after another.
Who could resist Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies? Just look at that dark chocolate brownie with its pumpkin cheesecake layer!
BEFORE BAKING THESE BROWNIES – please read through ALL of the directions and recipe steps! Many questions have already been addressed and you’ll save yourself a hassle by doing so first. Happy baking!
Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies
The pumpkin cheesecake swirl in the brownies is worth the tiny bit of extra effort and it also works to keeps these brownies ultra-moist.
I must be on a cheesecake kick this fall, my last recipe also involved pumpkin cheesecake too.
Pumpkin Brownies
This is my classic brownie recipe with pumpkin mixed in for extra pumpkin flavor. Then you’ll swirl in the cheesecake layer to make them even better.
Half of that cheesecake layer is plain cheesecake and half is pumpkin cheesecake. That is what creates the pretty two-toned effect in the swirl.
The first time I made these, I chose to use only about ¾ of the pumpkin mixture and then regretted it because I wanted more cheesecake on top.
Take your pick on how much cheesecake batter to use. Using less will make prettier swirls, but more cheesecake is my preference for taste.
The brownie is thick, dense and soft. Not too chewy thanks to the addition of pumpkin, but rich like a brownie should be. There is an extra egg in these brownies for more chewy brownie texture.
How to make pumpkin swirl brownies
Getting the pretty swirl on top isn’t too hard. Spoon the cheesecake mixture on top of the brownie batter in stripes and then take a butter knife or toothpick and run it through the batter to make a criss cross pattern. Then swirl it in a couple circles for good measure.
Be careful not to over-swirl or it will turn the swirls muddy and the brownies won’t be as pretty – they’ll still be delicious though.
Baking Tip
The cheesecake layer will initially be runny, you need to bake the brownies until the cheesecake has set.
Please note that the baking time is a range, however ovens and pans vary and will affect the time needed to fully bake this recipe. Keep baking until a toothpick inserted into the cheesecake portion comes out clean.
Let me know in the comments if you make this recipe. I think it would be perfect for a fall potluck or party, maybe even Thanksgiving dessert.
This pumpkin brownie recipe is loosely based on my Best Brownie Recipe in the world from scratch. If you’re looking for a great basic brownie recipe, be sure to check that recipe out too.
Pumpkin Cheesecake Swirled Brownies
Ingredients
For the Brownies
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup cocoa
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the Cheesecake Swirl
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/3 cup canned pumpkin
- 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Beat together melted butter, sugar, pumpkin, eggs and vanilla together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the cocoa, flour, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix together until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.
- To make the cheesecake filling, beat together cream cheese, sugar, egg, vanilla and pumpkin pie spice in a medium bowl. Reserve 2/3 of a cup of this mixture and set it aside now to make the white cheesecake swirl layer.
- Mix the pumpkin into the remaining cheesecake mixture. You should have two small bowls of cheesecake batter and pumpkin cheesecake batter. Starting with the white batter, spoon the mixture onto the brownie batter in thin rows. Then do the same with the pumpkin cheesecake batter. Don’t worry if they touch or its not perfect. Run a butter knife through the batter in a grid pattern to get the swirled look. Don’t over do it.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before slicing. Makes 24 brownies.
Notes
Nutrition
{originally published 10/1/14 – recipe notes and photos updated 8/13/21}
I first shared this recipe in September 2014 as a contributor on Uncommon Designs.
Follow along on my pumpkin, cheesecake, and chocolate craze with these other recipes!
Layered Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
Salted Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake
Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with Pumpkin Spice Buttercream
Allie | Baking a Moment says
Those swirls are gorgeous! Love the halloween colors- so perfect!
Beth @ The First Year says
I love these cute little brownies, especially for halloween because they have all of those fun colors!
Jen @ Baked by an Introvert says
Pumpkin and chocolate are a great pair and the cheesecake just makes these 100x better. Pinning!
Mandy @Mandy's Recipe Box says
These look delicious, Mallory! And so pretty.
Amy @ A Healthy Life For Me says
Oh WOW, yummy. Pinning now!
genevieve @ gratitude & greens says
Yum! Saving them from when I’m feeling indulgent 😉
janelle says
Wow! Amazing shots and your dessert looks like a must have fall recipe.
heather @french press says
GORGE swirls! mine never seem to look that pretty
Aimee @ ShugarySweets says
These are quite possibly the most gorgeous brownies ever. The swirls are lovely 🙂
Jessica @ A Kitchen Addiction says
Love the cheesecake swirls! These brownies look amazing!
Christine @ A Sprinkle of This and That says
These brownie look so yummy! I love the swirls! Each bite must be pure bliss!
Amanda says
I love everything about these gorgeous brownies!
Sharana @ Living The Sweet Life Blog says
Yumm!! these are gorgeous
Kelly - Life Made Sweeter says
Pumpkin cheesecake and brownies sound like the best thing ever! I love the pretty swirls! They look gorgeous!
Lyndsay says
the bake time cannot be right. im already an additional 20 minutes passed 23 minutes and there nowhere near done.
M Perez says
Was very quick & easy to put together with ingredients I already had on hand. Had to add an additional 5 minutes. Got first place for best dessert at our work luncheon! Stayed moist all afternoon. Kids said it’s a keeper!
Mary says
I’m so glad the brownies were a hit!
Lyndsay says
their***
Dani says
Bake time is not correct…. mine habe been in for 40 min and center is not quite ready. I would say 40-45min.
Mallory says
No. Adding butter would make it more runny. How long was the bake time?
Cait says
Just finished baking for 20 minutes…. still completely runny in the middle. Also, your recipe does not state when to add in the pumpkin pie spice.
Mallory says
Just keep baking them till done. Ovens temperatures can be off and the type of baking pan you use can drastically affect baking times. Happy baking.
Ashley says
My cheese cake portion was super runny as well I added about 2 more oz of cream cheese and that seemed to do the trick! The 30 minute bake time was enough for mine but I’m at a high altitude so I’m not sure if that made a difference.
SLB says
I was craving something pumpkin and decided to try this recipe. I was anticipating a dense fudgey brownie but the finished product was more like chocolate cake. The topping was pretty but very little pumpkin or even cheese cake like flavor. Not sure if I did something wrong but I did follow the recipe exactly. I was planning on sharing the finished product with friends but didn’t think it was worthy. Threw them away instead.
Mary says
I’m sorry to hear that this recipe wasn’t a hit for you. I hate when that happens. As you can tell both from the photos and from comments below, this is supposed to be a cake-like brownie, clearly not a fudgey or traditional-style brownie. You can certainly increase the amount of swirled topping here if you want that to be the dominate flavor too. (You’d need to increase the bake time accordingly.) All of that said, we enjoy them as written and the swirl is simply for a slight pumpkin flavor and to make them so pretty. Better luck with another recipe, my friend.
Maddy says
The bake time for me was about 40-45 minutes, my oven needed the extra 5 minutes. After a few extra minutes in the oven, this recipe turned out amazing! Thanks!!!
Mari says
Thanks for the tip Maddy. I will be making these today, hope they turn out well.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Sierra says
I don’t usually leave reviews on blog recipes but all of the negative reviews I see here are before the update, so I wanted to add a review based on what’s currently written with the extra egg and longer bake time. I made these brownies tonight to share with my family, and it got mixed but mostly positive reviews. It is a very cakey brownie, not fudgey, but everyone has a different preference there so that’s not really negative. Everyone did agree it could use a stronger cheesecake flavor, maybe just add a ton more of the topping. 45 minutes cooked it through, but it wasn’t crispy the way I like brownies so maybe I should have left it longer even. Everyone liked them enough to eat more than one, and a couple people really loved these, so if you’re on the fence about making it I would say just go for it. It might not be the best tasting brownie I’ve ever had, but it’s one of the prettiest.
garbo says
Wish I had read the comments before baking. These are so pretty, but following the directions I added the pumpkin pie spice to the cream cheese in the first step and it turned brown so there was no white stripe for me; I gave up on having 2 colors and just added the pumpkin into the bowl and had one color instead.
Lisa Dierks says
How do you cut these without it getting destroyed and all over the knife – help! I used a plastic knife which usually helps but it didn’t:-(
Mary says
Lisa – make sure you are cooling them COMPLETELY in the fridge before trying to slice them. You could also line the pan with parchment so you can lift the brownies out and cut them with unflavored floss.
KG says
Am I they only one who found the directions for the cheesecake parts confusing? I added ingredients as stated and ended up with just pumpkin cheesecake, no worries I’ll just have one color of swirl. Then it seemed really runny and was more like a top layer to brownies. They don’t look pretty but I’m sure they taste fine.
Mina says
The cheesecake part didn’t work! It was soupy and liquidy with tiny chunks (chunks!!) of cream cheese no matter how long i beat the batter! And the chocolate brownie part was too thick! I hat this recipe!
Mary says
I’m sorry to hear that it didn’t work out for you, Mina. Was the cream cheese completely softened when you began beating it? If it wasn’t, it’s nearly impossible to make it combine smoothly and yes, you’ll see chunks. Unfortunately, if all of the cream cheese isn’t incorporated into the cheesecake batter, the other ingredients will certainly be too liquid.
All of that said, I understand your frustration, as I hate it too when recipes don’t work out as expected. I’ve put this recipe on my re-test list, just to confirm everything works as written.
Sam says
Wish I woulda read the reviews before making this. It came out like fluffy like a cake, not brownie-like at all. I found the cheesecake instructions confusing and wasn’t sure if I was to use salted or unsalted butter since it just said butter. Bummer
Mary says
Hi, Sam! Sorry the brownies didn’t turn out the way you’d thought they would. This is supposed to be a cake-like brownie, as the photos/description/comments detail. I normally use salted butter unless otherwise indicated. Better luck next time.
Leah Chapman says
I am gluten free and modified this recipe accordingly, and make some adjustments based on the comments. Most significantly, I subbed the flour for GF Pillsbury flour and I doubled the cheesecake recipe. I had some leftover, but that’s okay. I’ll do something else with the leftovers. Just wanted to make sure I had plenty.
It came out AMAZING. Thank you for such a great recipe!!
Mary says
You are welcome, Leah! Glad to hear that you were able to adapt the brownies to suit your needs. Happy baking!
Kiley says
I made these with gluten free flour and doubled the cheesecake part. My family loves them! I can’t make them pretty like yours though.
Mary says
No matter how they might have looked, I’m sure the brownies were still delicious, Kiley. I’m glad you were able to adapt the recipe to suit your needs. Happy baking!
Tamara says
I can’t speak for the brownie portion of this recipe because I used a boxed mix that I had on hand.
These tasted great once finished but my swirls didn’t turn out nearly as great because the cheesecake mixture was much too runny!!
The portion of cheesecake I mixed with the pumpkin was just the right consistency however I did have to add icing sugar (I didn’t have any additional cream cheese on hand or I would have done that instead) to make it thick enough to add ontop.
I would be cautious with the amount of egg in the future. Once baked consistency and taste was great! No concerns and they did still look nice just a little runnier cream cheese mixture than I would have liked for swirling.
Mary says
I’m glad you like the recipe!