One of the best recipes to make during the Fall months are Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting! They truly hit every Fall dessert craving you will ever have. A spiced pumpkin cake is slathered with the most delicious cream cheese frosting resulting in the perfect Fall dessert!
So I am going to be honest with you. I have shared this recipe before but it was before I figured out how to use a camera. These pictures are MUCH prettier…thank God. Plus, who doesn’t love pumpkin bars in October? I know I do and I like A LOT of them. I also changed the recipe up slightly…added some pure vanilla extract because vanilla should be in ALL desserts.
I decided to add more cream cheese frosting to these pumpkin bars because 1, 8 ounce block of cream cheese is just is not enough in my opinion…what was I thinking before?
Cream cheese frosting is my FAVORITE frosting out of all the amazing frosting recipes out there. I love the sweet, tangy and super creamy texture. This frosting would be amazing on all sorts of desserts…like red velvet cupcakes, carrot cake, or even on brownies!
I did lick the bowl, and I am not ashamed of it. These were a favorite of my work friends – every year they asked me to make them because they’re THAT good! This recipe is not complicated…it’s actually very basic when it comes to baking. I love an uncomplicated recipe that results in one of the most delicious desserts ever! Life is good when this happens!
Now, please don’t feel like you have to put a ton of frosting on your pumpkin bars…that’s just how I prefer them. You can cut the recipe in half if you would like which will make a thin layer of frosting or just simply not use all the frosting…save it for later. Add it on top of French toast, eat it with spoon…whatever your little tastebuds desire!
These pumpkin bars also feed a crowd! The recipe makes 12 large bars so you could easily get 24 smaller ones out of it. The pumpkin bars are taller so even at 24 bars, everyone is getting a nice sized piece!
I am obsessed with these pumpkin bars and I hope you are, too!
- Pumpkin Bars
- 4 eggs
- 1⅔ cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 15 ounce can pure pumpkin
- 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour (measure flour first then sift)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Cream Cheese Frosting
- 16 ounces cream cheese (2 blocks), room temperature
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted better, room temperature
- 2½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13 pan with non-stick baking spray. You can also use parchment paper - this is helpful when taking the bars out of the pan to cut them. Simply spray the bottom of your pan, lay the parchment paper on top, some will be hanging over the edges. You use the edges to carefully remove the bars from the pan to easily slice them up!
- In a stand-alone mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (hand-held mixer works, too) combine the eggs, sugar, oil, pumpkin and vanilla until light and fluffy.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt
- Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low-speed until thoroughly combined. Spread the batter into a greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes.
- Let cool completely before frosting.
- To make the icing, beat together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Turn your mixer down to low and add powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Finally add vanilla and mix until combined. Spread over cooled bars. refrigerate then cut!
Recipe slightly adapted from Paula Dean
The edges of these cooked way before the middle 🙁 I turned the heat down and added more time so the edges wouldn’t cook too much more but it didn’t help
It’s very normal for the edges to bake before the middle. Were they burnt? They should pull away from the pan. You can try tenting the pan with aluminum foil to help prevent burning while the middle continues to bake…I’ve never had that problem though.