2 recipes in 1: molasses cookies & pumpkin bars

Molasses cookie crust. Cream cheese pumpkin filling. Brown sugar crumb topping. 

 I had leftover molasses cookie dough in the freezer & I thought it would make a good crust for pumpkin bars!

So, I decided to give it a try & they turned out really good! Here is what I did...

First, I used this recipe to make my favorite soft molasses cookies!

(click the recipe below for a bigger image to save & print)

As I said, I had leftover dough in the freezer, so because of that the crust was really easy. 

If you are making this just for the crust, it might be a good idea to cut the recipe in half. 

Or you could freeze the extra dough for baking cookies later, which is always a good idea!

To make the crust...

Spread out an even layer of the molasses cookie dough into an greased 8x11 baking dish.

Poke it several times with a fork. Bake it at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes.

Allow the crust to cool, while you make the filling & topping.

Filling Ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

¾ cup sugar

½ cup pumpkin puree

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1½ teaspoons cinnamon

½ teaspoon cloves

½ teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla 

Topping Ingredients:

8 tablespoons butter

1 1/3  cup flour
½ cup brown sugar

½ cup oats

To make the pumpkin filling… 

Combine all of the filling ingredients in to a mixing bowl. 

Use an electric mixer at medium speed to blend until the mixture is smooth. 

To make the crumb topping… 

Mix the flour, brown sugar & oats in a medium bowl. 

Cut in the butter & use a fork to make the mixture coarse and crumbly.
Finally, pour the pumpkin mixture over the baked crust. Then sprinkle with the brown sugar crumb topping.

Bake at 350 degrees for another 30-35 minutes or until firm. 

Keep the pumpkin bars chilled before serving.