Pumpkin Spice Crème Brûlée Bars
Serves 16
30 mins prep
45 mins cook
75 mins total
Pumpkin Spice Crème Brûlée Bars have a soft chewy gingerbread base topped with a thick and creamy layer of pumpkin custard finished with a caramelized sugar crust on top. Ginger molasses blondie meets pumpkin crème brûlée!
For the Gingerbread Blondie Base
For the Pumpkin Custard
For the Topping
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Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9” x 9” square pan with cooking spray. Line with parchment paper to create a sling, with an overhang on all four sides. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of the parchment-lined pan.
Gingerbread Blondie Base: Melt the butter and allow it to cool slightly. In a large mixing bowl, add the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar and whisk well until combined.
Mix in the egg and vanilla. Add the flour, spices, baking powder, salt, and molasses. Mix just until combined.
Use a small offset spatula to evenly spread the gingerbread dough into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until the edges start to turn golden brown. While the gingerbread base is baking, make the pumpkin custard.
Pumpkin Custard: In a medium saucepan, whisk together the sugars, cornstarch, spices, and salt. Whisk in the egg yolks and pumpkin and mix until thoroughly combined. Slowly stream in the heavy cream and milk while whisking.
Cook the mixture over low heat and whisk constantly until the mixture thickens and starts to bubble, about 10-15 minutes. Remove the custard from heat and strain through a fine mesh sieve to remove the zest. Stir in the vanilla and butter.
Pour the hot pumpkin custard onto the warm gingerbread crust. Spread the custard out into an even layer. Return to the oven for an additional 8-10 minutes, until the top is set and the custard starts to bubble around the edges. Allow the bars to cool to room temperature then move them to the fridge to chill for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
Once the bars are chilled, carefully remove them from the pan and slice into 16 even squares. Wipe your knife off between each cut for clean slices. Move the squares to a large empty metal sheet pan (no parchment paper) and freeze for about 15-30 minutes before torching.
Torching: Remove the squares from the freezer and working with 2-3 squares at a time, sprinkle an even layer of the granulated sugar over each bar. Use a kitchen torch to carmelize the sugar, holding it a few inches away and constantly moving the torch in small circular motions. Repeat with the remaining bars, sprinkling and torching 2-3 at a time. Allow the sugar to cool for a few minutes to harden completely. Serve immediately and enjoy!
