Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

Best EVER Pumpkin Bars with cream cheese frosting are moist, soft, and delicious—a perfect dessert or snack.

These pumpkin bars are light and fluffy in texture yet moist. They’re not as dense as pumpkin bread or other pumpkin cakes. They practically melt in your mouth.

They have the most tender crumbs, and cream cheese frosting on top adds the best finishing touch. They might be your new favorite this fall season.

Reflecting back now on my childhood, my “foodie” type attitude started a long time ago, and I just didn’t know it. So many of the things I love are from my time growing up.

As I went to make these bars I started to think about all the times I ate them as a child and can you guess where that was? Camping! My mom’s friend Jean made these every Christmas and for our camping trips. 

Pumpkin Bar Ingredients

• Eggs
• Canola oil
• Sugar
• Pumpkin puree
• All-purpose flour
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Cinnamon
• Ginger
• Cloves
• Nutmeg

Recipe Instructions

For this recipe, grease a 13″x 18 ” half-sheet pan, but you can also use a 9×13″ pan if you want thicker bars.

Whisk the eggs, oil, sugar, and pumpkin in a large mixing bowl. Sift the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture and stir just until combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Depending on the size of your pan, bake the bars at 350°F for:

• Jelly roll pan: 20 to 25 minutes
• 9×13″ baking pan: 25 to 30 minutes

Be sure to check with a toothpick that the bars are done, and then cool them in the pan before frosting and slicing.

Cream Cheese Frosting

While the bars cool, you can make the frosting.

• Softened unsalted butter
• Softened cream cheese
• Powdered sugar (confectioners’ sugar)
• Almond extract
• Room temperature milk

Mix the butter and cream cheese in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Add the powdered sugar a cup at a time with the mixer on low speed until the frosting is smooth and creamy. Beat in the almond extract, and then it’s ready to use.

Once the cake is cooled, spread the frosting over the top. Slice and then use an offset spatula to lift the individual bars out of the pan easily.

Garnish Ideas

You can add some garnishes to give the bars a unique look and more texture and flavor.

• Sprinkle toasted chopped nuts over the top of the frosting. Walnuts or pecans would be delicious.
• A sprinkle of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice adds a nice touch, too.
• Mini chocolate chips would be a fun decoration.

When these bars are baking in the oven, waiting for them to finish is almost impossible. They will fill your house with the most beautiful scent. But the first bite is even better – these soft, fluffy pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting won’t last long when you make a batch.

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