these were a solid hit! Flavor was incredibly decadent. Don't bother with parchment paper. I just pressed the crust in and baked it (accidentally a little too long which gave it a wonderfully crisp texture and extra flavor. It is a labor intensive recipe for a cheesecake but very worth it.

First, these were more difficult to make than it seemed. I think the parchment paper was a bad idea, next time I'll probably try to grease the dish. You really need to sprinkle the graham crackers across the whole bottom are of the pan because it's a pain to spread them out and pack them down later. Because you're going for the checkerboard pattern, spreading out the cream cheese and pumpkin fillings in a way that they don't already mix is tricky. Second, the finished product was really thin, I was expecting it to be a bit fuller. And also not as fluffy as I had hoped. Perhaps next time I need to mix the cream cheese filling for a longer time? The taste is fine, but nothing to write home about and not worth the effort that went into making the bars.