Moist, tender Pumpkin Bars with cozy spices and cream cheese frosting.
I love pumpkin! Do you love pumpkin? And I'm so glad it's almost time for cooler weather and all things autumn.
My son's 11th birthday was on Wednesday and although we're actually having his party tonight, we wanted to celebrate with some cake on the actual day. To my surprise, he requested pumpkin cake, so I made these delicious Pumpkin Bars With Cream Cheese Frosting to bring to him and his baseball team after practice. The boys loved them!
These Pumpkin Bars With Cream Cheese Frosting are the perfect way to start tasting a little bit of the upcoming Fall season. I used organic canned pumpkin for this recipe as an added bonus.
Pumpkin Bars With Cream Cheese Frosting are very simple to make. You can whip up the batter by hand, all in one bowl. I used organic eggs, organic pumpkin and organic extra virgin olive oil in this recipe which made it even better!
Start by whisking together all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Then stir in the wet ingredients - pumpkin, eggs and olive oil. I love that you can stir everything together by hand. The added spices along with the pumpkin makes the batter smell soooo good!
Pour the batter into a 15"x10" sheet pan that's been greased and lined with parchment paper. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
While it's baking, whip up some easy cream cheese frosting. Just beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until creamy. Then gradually add powdered sugar. Beat with an electric mixer on low until the sugar and cream cheese mixture are combined. Turn mixer up to medium and beat until smooth. Spread onto cooled pumpkin cake.
Garnish with cute candy pumpkins. And yes, they're actually in stores already. I found them at Walmart.
Slice the cake into 24 pumpkin bars. Serve them on plates with forks or you can eat them like a cookie bar. I handed them out on napkins to the baseball team.
My son loved them too. Now I'm off to make his real birthday cake! Stay tuned for that blogpost!
Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
For the bars:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 15 oz. can pumpkin
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
For the frosting:
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- ¼ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
For garnish:
- Candy pumpkins
Instructions
For the bars:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and line a 15"x10" sheet pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Place all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk together. Add wet ingredients and stir until completely combined. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Let cool.
For the frosting:
- Place cream cheese and butter in a large bowl. Beat with electric mixer until creamy. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar. Beat on low until combined, then turn up to medium and beat for about a minute. Frost cooled pumpkin bars. Decorate with candy pumpkins. Slice into 24 bars.
Nutrition
Megan @ MegUnprocessed says
This is creative! Love that toppings!
Samantha | My Kitchen Love says
Looks delicious and those little pumpkins on top are the cutest!
Doris says
They look so good.could u please tell me what size pan do I need for this recipe ?
Mom Loves Baking says
!5"x10" sheet pan
sara says
Delicious looking bars!! Luke has great taste at 11!!:) Can't wait to try this treat!