Small Recipes...Pumpkin Marble Cheesecake Bars

This is a recipe I’ve made for a number of years. This time I made it in an 8” square pan and cut them into bars to get smaller portions. These freeze well, after cooling thoroughly overnight in the refrigerator. I also make it in a 9” spring form pan or in a 9” pie plate.  
Pumpkin Marble Cheesecake Bars

Crust
2 Cups Pecans -- finely chopped
1/4 Cup Butter -- melted
1/4 Cup Sugar
Filling
16 Ounces Cream Cheese -- softened
3/4 Cup Sugar, divided
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
3 Large Eggs
1 Cup Canned Pumpkin
3/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 Teaspoon Nutmeg
CRUST: Combine pecans, sugar and butter, press onto bottom and 1 1/2 inches up sides of 9" pie pan or spring form pan and bake for 10 minutes at 350°.
FILLING: Combine cream chese, 2/3 of total sugar, and vanilla, mixing at medium speed with electric mixer until well blended.
Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one is added. Reserve 1 cup of batter in another bowl. Add remaining sugar and pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg to remaining batter, mix well.
Spoon pumpkin and cream cheese batters alternately over crust, zigzag through batter with a table knife for marble effect.
Bake at 325° for 55 minutes, check 10 minutes before time to see if it’s done.  Don't overbake.   Chill and serve. 
This makes 8 servings of cheesecake, I cut 16 bars from a square pan.
**You can line an 8" square pan with parchment paper with handles and make this recipe. After it cools, carefully remove the cake with the handles and cut into squares or bars suitable for coffee time.