Pumpkin Pie Shortbread
Buttery spiced shortbread bars with a sweet and spicy pumpkin pie filling. Think of a pumpkin pie with shortbread on the bottom and crunchy bits on top!
I had been thinking to do a fall twist on these blueberry rhubarb shortbread bars, and while apple seemed the obvious choice – I did something like that with these apple pie caramel shortbread bars a couple of years ago. I also really wanted to find a way to use my pumpkin curd, in something other than these pumpkin pie cookies!
Recipe Origins
The first batch of these featured a plain shortbread and a pumpkin curd filling. They were great and if you decide you want to use that as a filling instead you’ll have some wonderful bars. I ultimately decided to go with a slightly easier filling for these shortbread bars, one that wasn’t cooked prior, to reduce the effort and time going into this bake. The filling is adapted from a pumpkin pie recipe I developed for the washington post last year, sans the brown butter and with cream cheese in place of the sour cream so the filling would be slightly more firm, easier to slice under the crisp shortbread.
Recipe Ingredients
Flour: all purpose flour, of a medium or low protein content. Higher protein flours will make the shortbread tougher and we’re aiming for a delicate crisp.
Sugar: fine granulated sugar.
Salt: fine sea salt. If using table salt, halve the amount.
Pumpkin spice: a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and sometimes cloves.
Butter: unsalted, and at room temperature to make the shortbread.
Vanilla: pure vanilla extract.
Cream cheese: spreadable and brought to room temperature.
Brown sugar: dark or light, should be soft.
Pumpkin puree: pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling.
Egg: one large whole egg and an egg yolk. Reserve that extra egg white for something else.
How to make Pumpkin Pie Shortbread
Make the shortbread dough
The butter should be soft before making this recipe so bring it to room temperature first.
Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of a food processor (the flour, sugars, salt and spiced) and give it a quick run to just mix them together.
Slice the softened butter into pats and add it with the dry ingredients, now run the processor on high until the mix starts to come together in one piece. If your butter is overly soft it won’t ball up necessarily but it will be a sticky, even mass. If the butter is at a cool room temperature the dough will become a ball and stick to one side.
Prep a square pan, preferably a light metal 8 or 9 inch pan (8 inch will give you taller bars) by oiling it first then adding two pieces of parchment paper, cut to fit the pan and line the sides. The two sheets should overlay each other to cover all inner sides of the pan.
Press two thirds of this dough into the bottom of the prepared pan. This will be your crust.
If the paper is annoying and moving around as you press, use some metal clips to hold it in place. For pressing, use your fingers or an offset spatula to smooth and press it into an even layer.
Another trick I like: grab a clean sheet of parchment paper and lay it over the dough then press until the dough is even and smooth, then peel it off.
We’re going to pre-bake the crust (otherwise the final bar will be doughy on the bottom). Bake it for about 25 minutes until it’s golden. While it’s baking, whip up the filling.
Make the filling
The cream cheese should be at room temperature before starting or you’ll have a lumpy filling so warm it!
In a bowl beat the softened cream cheese with the brown sugar until smooth. Add the spices, salt and vanilla and beat to combine.
Now add the pumpkin puree and beat. Then the egg and yolk and beat.
Lastly, beat in the powdered sugar. The mix should be smooth and evenly mixed.
Assemble & bake
Once the crust has turned golden, you can pour the filling over it. Smooth it over so it’s in an even layer.
For the topping, use your fingers to add the remaining shortbread dough in bits on top, making little bits scattered around the top but leaving some bits of filling exposed.
Return the shortbread to the oven and bake until the topping has turned golden and the filling is matte all over (it should look set too).
Set on the counter to cool. You can serve these warm but they’ll be harder to slice. Alternatively chill in the fridge and then slice; serve cold or at room temperature.
Pumpkin Pie Shortbread Recipe
Pumpkin Pie Shortbread
Ingredients
Pumpkin Spice Shortbread
- 260g or 2 cups all purpose flour
- 35g or ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 50g or ¼ cup fine granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 226g or 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pumpkin Pie Filling
- 80g or ⅓ cup full fat cream cheese at room temperature
- 50g or ¼ cup brown sugar light or dark
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 210g or scant 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg yolk from a large egg reserve white for another use
- 35 or ¼ cup powdered sugar
Method
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line an 8x8 square baking pan with parchment paper so all sides are covered (two overlaying sheets).
Make the shortbread
- (I use a food processor for this part but you can also use a hand mixer) Add the flour, sugars, salt, and pumpkin spice to the bowl of a food processor and pulse to just mix the dry ingredients together. Stop the machine and slice the butter and add it to the bowl. Run the processor on high until the dough starts to clump together, about a minute or two.
- Press about two thirds of the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan. Use an offset spatula or floured measuring up to pack in the dough into an even layer. This will be the bottom crust (we pre-bake it so it’s not doughy later). Bake for about 25 minutes, until golden.
Make the filling
- While the crust is baking, start making the filling: set the softened cream cheese and brown sugar in a bowl and beat with a hand mixer until smooth (if you start to get lumps it’s because the cream cheese was too cold - warm the mix just a bit and proceed). Add the spices, vanilla, and salt and beat to combine. Beat in the pumpkin puree, and once beaten add the eggs and beat to combine. Lastly, beat in the powdered sugar.
- Once the crust has turned golden and baked for 25 minutes, pour the filling over it - smooth it over until it’s in an even layer. With the last third of the shortbread dough, add it in bits over the filling to distribute it all over, leaving some bits of exposed filling (see photos for reference). Return to the oven to bake until the top shortbread bits are golden brown, for about another 30 minutes. Let cool at room temperature. The bars are easiest to slice when cold. Enjoy warm, at room temperature, or set in the fridge and enjoy the bars cold the next day.
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