Pumpkin Pie Gooey Bars – GF

PREPARE CRUST: Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Line an 8x8-inch baking pan with parchment paper and spray the bottom and sides with baking spray. Set aside. In a large bowl add the melted butter, cookie crumbs and pumpkin pie spice. Mix until ingredients are incorporated and mixture resembles coarse sand. Pour crust into prepared pan and use the back of a spoon (or your clean hands) to firmly push the crust into the pan.

Bake crust in 350-degree oven for 15-minutes. Remove baked crust from the oven and set on the counter to cool. Allow crust to cool before preparing the filling.

FILLING: In a large microwave-safe bowl, add the entire can of sweetened condensed milk and white chocolate. Place bowl in microwave and microwave the ingredients in 20-second intervals, stopping to thoroughly stir the chocolate and sweetened condensed milk at every interval. Microwave the mixture just until all the chocolate has melted (approximately 90-120 seconds).

Remove the bowl from the microwave and stir in the butter, salt and vanilla extract. Stir until ingredients are combined.

Stir in the pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice into the bowl. Stir until all ingredients are combined and mixture is smooth and creamy. Pour the filling onto the prepared cookie crust.

Option to sprinkle additional cookie pieces on top of the pumpkin bars, pushing the cookie pieces gently into the top of the bars.

Let bars set on the counter until cooled, and then put the pan in the refrigerator. Once bars are completely cool, cut into desired sized squares.