20 Recipes That Prove Pumpkin and Cream Cheese Are Meant to Be

Pumpkin Cheese Bread II

Pumpkin bread is great, but pumpkin bread with a layer of cream cheese in the middle is even better. This recipe yields a moist, flavorful bread with a perfect consistency and a touch of citrusy flavor from the orange zest.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Pumpkin Cheesecake Filling

These chocolate cupcakes have a great surprise inside — creamy pumpkin cheesecake filling. A few drops of food coloring give the cream cheese that pumpkin color. Some reviewers added more pumpkin to bump up the flavor.

Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake

Reviewers say this pumpkin pecan cheesecake tastes almost exactly like the one from the Cheesecake Factory. To add more texture to the top layer, simply double the amount of topping.

Fantastic Pumpkin Bars

These pumpkin bars are super moist and dense, and almost have the exact taste and texture of carrot cake. The cream cheese frosting adds a zing that takes the entire bar over the top.

Granny Kat's Pumpkin Roll

"I wish there were more stars available because I'd give this recipe ALL of them," says community member Christie. "I have been using a half sheet pan recently and it works PERFECTLY. With that size the cake is so thin that it's nearly impossible for it to break when you're rolling. My husband who has something to say about EVERYTHING said 'Well I just can't find one thing that I'd improve about this.'"

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Dessert

If you're looking for an easy alternate to pumpkin pie with a little more, well, cream cheese, your search ends now. The harmony between the pumpkin and cream cheese prevents either ingredient from overwhelming the palate. This recipe includes raw egg whites, but you can always omit them (or save them for something else) and use whipped topping instead.

Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake

"I made this for Thanksgiving and it was a HUGE hit," says community member APRILEYER. "It didn't last more than 24 hours. Which is saying a LOT since there were about 20 other desserts available. I didn't have any gingersnap cookies available, so I added some ginger and a little pumpkin spice into crushed graham crackers. It made a completely different and wonderful tasting crust."

Thanksgiving Pumpkin Slush Cake

Consider this dessert the autumnal equivalent of lemon lush — it's a fun alternative to pumpkin pie, easy to make, and, most importantly, delicious. The crust is on the sweeter side, so adjust the sugar to suit your taste.

Pumpkin Sheet Cake

If you've got a fall potluck or tailgate in your near feature, this is the dish you need to bring along. The cake itself is incredibly moist, while the cream cheese frosting is tangy and sweet with some crunch from the walnuts sprinkled on top. To really lean in on the pumpkin flavor. add 1 ½ teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice to the batter.

Whipped Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin and cream cheese pairings are typically dense, but this whipped pie feels lighter than air. Anyone who isn't a fan of traditional pie should give this pie a chance: it's simultaneously creamy and fluffy, and the crust isn't prone to cracking so you get nice clean cuts.

• Does Pumpkin Pie Need To Be Refrigerated?

Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting (The World's Best!)

These cookies make a great option for fall parties, fall festivals, and Friendsgivings — they're easy to prepare, and with a yield of 36 cookies, even easier to share. They're moist and cake-like (one review compares them to the top half of a cupcake), and work well stacked into whoopie pie-like sandwiches.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

Paired with cream cheese frosting, these pumpkin spice cupcakes are so dense and delicious they're almost hearty. You may need to adjust the bake time depending on your oven, and many community members recommend adding oil to increase moisture.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Enchiladas

These easy, air-fried "enchiladas" are a fun twist on pumpkin cheesecake. The filling is light and slightly spicy with the inclusion of nutmeg and ground cinnamon, while the tortilla gets a delicate and crispy churro-like consistency.

No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie

This no-bake pie provides an easy way to get your fall flavor fix. The dish itself takes 10 minutes to put together, while the hard part is simply waiting 4 hours for the pie to chill and settle. You can also chill this in the freezer for an easier time slicing.

Kelsandra's Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Thees homemade cinnamon rolls take on the flavor profile of pumpkin pie, making them a fun seasonal breakfast or treat. They're tender and chewy and have a wonderful flavor that can easily be amplified with the addition of raisins, crushed walnuts, or more spices.

Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake

This dessert stands somewhere between cheesecake and pie — if you're wanting something more like cheesecake, try doubling the amount of cream cheese mix. If you have a sparse spice cabinet, you can simply buy pumpkin pie filling instead of canned pumpkin and bypass mixing in the spices yourself.

Paul's Pumpkin Bars

"I have made these at least 5 times now and I can't get enough of them! I don't have a jelly roll pan so I divide the batter between a 9x13 and an 8x8 pan to get the right thickness and they are always perfect," says community member MEG2979. "Make sure you try this one — this is the one sure-thing I always want to bring to parties because everyone loves them!"

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

There's no need to visit a certain coffee chain when you can make these indulgent pumpkin muffins right at home. To ensure the cream cheese is more of a filling than a topping, squeeze it in to the muffin pan with a plastic bag with its corner cut off rather than simply spooning it over the batter.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Squares

These pumpkin cheesecake squares get major flavor from two special ingredients: cinnamon chips and sugar cookie dough. The result is super indulgent bars with a cookie crust. Community member YesterdaysDessert recommends cutting these twice for easier execution — once about 20 minutes after they're out of the oven, and again about four hours after sticking them in the fridge.

Holiday Pumpkin Cake with Rum-Cream Cheese Glaze

The rum-cream cheese glaze drizzled atop this pumpkin cake gives it a sophisticated twist, making it a nice melt-in-your-mouth alternative to pumpkin pie. For a kid-friendly version, simply substitute vanilla extract, orange peel, or orange extract for the rum.

More Inspiration

• Browse more pumpkin recipes
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• 10 Pumpkin Spice Cookie Recipes Full of Cozy Fall Flavor