We have now stepped into December with one foot still in pumpkin season… Right?
Just because Christmas is peaking around the corner doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the decadent taste of pumpkin… Right?
In my opinion, pumpkin season is year-round, but most people don’t agree with that… Haha!
This week’s Blog is special since it’s paired with a Vlog! YES! You can WATCH me make this recipe and bake right along with me!
Today I’m sharing yet another family favorite: Pumpkin Bars!
YUM! If you crave a *MOIST* pumpkin-flavored cake topped with glazed cream cheese frosting, then this is your lucky day! I promise you these won’t last long because they are so delightsome and absolutely delicious!
Watching my fork slide into a perfectly sliced pumpkin bar to capture a scrumptious bite genuinely makes me smile. What other baked treat elicits such a wonderful feeling? (SECRET: as a child, I didn’t like pumpkin bars because I thought pumpkin was weird – pumpkins were for CARVING, not eating. Thank goodness I grew up!)
They conjure up a sense of at-home satisfaction reminiscent of entering Grandma’s house and seeing her friendly face—she greeted me with the biggest smile every time, and I can still smell the comforting aroma of her kitchen. To this day, that’s the most home-y I’ve ever felt! My goal is to bring that same feeling to you through this Blog: home-y and authentic!
If you bake these, PLEASE share with me! Let me SEE what you create and HEAR what you thought!
Homemade Pumpkin Bars
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 1 Large can pumpkin 29 oz
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 3 oz cream cheese
- 1/2 stick margarine
- 1 tsp. milk
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9x13x2 dish with cooking oil.
- Beat eggs with electric beaters (handheld preferred) until foamy in a bowl.
- Add pumpkin, vegetable oil, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt to the bowl.
- Mix all ingredients together with beaters until uniform smooth consistency.
- Pour the batter into the baking dish.
- Place dish in oven and bake for 30-40 minutes. At 30 minutes, insert toothpick into the middle of several bars. If the stick comes out gooey, bake for an additional 5 minutes and check again. We want the toothpick to have crumbles on it, not be gooey. (I discuss this in my vlog)
- While the bars are baking, mix the Cream Cheese Frosting ingredients together until a frosting forms, it will take 1-2 minutes of straight mixing with electric beaters.
- Once the bars are done, pull from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
- Spread the frosting on while the bars are WARM. Not hot, not cold but warm! This allows the frosting to turn into a slight glaze but still maintain frosting form. It’s also easier to spread!
