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Spiced pumpkin bars are topped with tangy cream cheese frosting to create the perfect fall dessert.
Hello, November!
I can’t believe I am admitting this publicly, but I am sitting at my kitchen island with the smell of banana bread wafting through the air while I’m completely surrounded by Christmas bins.
Yep, we’ve started decorating for Christmas. Now before you tell me I’ve skipped Thanksgiving, or I’m all kinds of ridiculous, hear me out.
We’re actually leaving for vacation this month and I have zero desire to rush around trying to get the house ready once we’re back, so we’re those people with a leg lamp in our front window on November 4th.
I promise, I’m not going to bombard you with peppermint and cookie recipes just yet because I’ve got a few more pumpkin recipes on my agenda, including these delish pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting!
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Pin ItEasy pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting
I love these pumpkin bars for so many reasons – first of all, there’s pumpkin involved.
I mean, you all know by now that pumpkin recipes are my jam. And I’m fairly certain I could eat a piece of notebook paper if it had enough cream cheese frosting on it.
Combined, they’re the perfect way to please a crowd of party-goers, end a day of fall activities, eat your feelings…whatever strikes your fancy.
There are not a lot of things in life that define fall more for me than the combination of pumpkin and cream cheese. It’s a favorite in my pumpkin cookies, pumpkin cream cheese pie, and pumpkin brownies.
In these pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting, the tangy frosting is the perfect accompaniment to the moist pumpkin cake base.
And the best part is that they come together quickly, so you can easily have this delicious recipe ready to go any day of the week.
How to make these pumpkin bars
The cake base for this pumpkin bar recipe doesn’t even require a mixer, so it’s something just about anyone can make.
Ingredients you’ll need
For the pumpkin bar base, you will need:
- 4 large eggs
- 1 ⅔ cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon salt
The oil in this recipe helps keep the bars super moist. It also means you don’t have to cream anything together, so you can use a whisk instead of a mixer to bring the batter together if you want.
Make sure you know how to measure flour correctly before you get started. This will help your pumpkin bars to turn out perfect every time.
For the cream cheese frosting, you will need:
- 8 ounces room-temperature cream cheese
- 4 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
The cream cheese and butter both need to be at room temperature before you start making the frosting. This will help the frosting to come together and not split.
If you forget to set them out ahead of time, I have some tips for softening butter and softening cream cheese quickly.
Making this recipe
These pumpkin bars are made in a jelly roll pan. It’s the same size pan that’s needed for my pumpkin roll and banana bars, so it’s a worthwhile investment to make.
Line the pan with parchment paper and spritz it with nonstick spray. Set the pan aside.
In a large bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, oil, pumpkin, and vanilla. Separately, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.
Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until combined, then spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
Bake the pumpkin bars at 350°F for 25-30 minutes. They’re done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean with just a few crumbs clinging to it.
Set the pan on a wire rack to cool completely.
Once the pumpkin bars are cool, use a mixer to beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla for about 3 minutes. With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar until combined, then increase the speed again and beat another 2-3 minutes until very smooth.
Spread the cream cheese frosting over the bars. Since you leave the bars in the pan to frost them, you don’t have to worry about frosting the sides or even making the top super smooth.
If you’re feeling fancy, you could even sprinkle a little extra pumpkin pie spice on top of the cream cheese frosting.
Freezing tips
This recipe makes a lot of bars, so they’re perfect for any upcoming holiday function or potluck.
But you want to make some just for yourself, you can freeze leftover pumpkin bars for later.
Just place the bars in an airtight container. If you need to stack the bars, be sure to separate the layers with parchment paper.
To thaw, pull out as many bars as you like and let them thaw in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for a couple of hours.
Because let’s be honest. Having pumpkin bars in the freezer, ready to snack on any time, is about the best move I can think of.
FAQs
Yes! If you happen to have homemade pumpkin puree, that will work great. You will need about 2 cups to equal one 15-ounce can.
Keep in mind that homemade pumpkin puree is typically lighter in color than canned pumpkin, which is a darker orange since they usually use a combination of winter squash. Your pumpkin bars will still be delicious, they just might not be as dark orange as mine are.
Unfortunately pumpkin pie filling won’t work in this recipe. Pumpkin pie filling has added ingredients that will throw off the ratio for these pumpkin bars, so you do need pure pumpkin puree.
Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
For the bars
- 4 large eggs
- 1 ⅔ cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 can pumpkin puree 15 ounces
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon homemade pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the cream cheese frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar sifted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line (1) 10×15 inch jelly roll pan with parchment paper and spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, combine the eggs, sugar, oil, pumpkin and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Stir flour mixture into pumpkin mixture until combined.
- Spread batter evenly into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow pumpkin bars to cool completely before frosting.
- When pumpkin bars are completely cool, prepare the cream cheese frosting. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla on medium-high speed for 3 minutes. Turn speed down to low and gradually add in confectioners’ sugar until incorporated. Turn speed back to medium-high speed and beat for an additional 2-3 minutes. Use an offset spatula to frost the pumpkin bars.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
pumpkin bars with cr. cheese frosting. DELICIOUS!!
used store bought pumpkin spice
made these and they were a huge hit at our fall block party!
Have you ever frozen these after frosting/cutting? Did it work out?
I have tried this, Terry. Sorry I am not more of a help.
how is this a bar? it appears to be more like a cake.
Hi Jamie, the recipe looks great! I’d love to make this but I don’t have a jelly roll pan and would hate to go out and buy one just for one recipe. What would the bake temp and time be for 9 inch rounds / 9×13 pan / cupcakes / or jumbo muffins? Those are my current options.
Thanks! Jessica
Jessica-
You could bake them in any of those pans, I would start checking at about 18 minutes but depending on which pan it could take a little longer. You can check it by inserting a wooden pick until it comes out clean. I hope this helps.
-Jamie
Just made these for Thanksgiving and it’s more a cake than bars, they are very light and fluffy and entirely fine on their own, no need for the frosting which was frankly sickly sweet (even though I seriously cut the sugar). I will certainly cook this again and have been asked for the recipe but I’ll do it as a round cake next time and either use lemon/orange cream cheese frosting with far less sugar or omit the frosting altogether.
Teresha-
I’m sorry to hear that you didn’t care for the frosting. I am glad that you will be making the bars again as a cake. Thanks for stopping by.
-Jamie
Would these work as cupcakes? I wouldn’t get the height of a normal cupcake but would that small size dry out fast while baking?
Kirsten-
I haven’t tried these bars as cupcakes, so I can’t really tell you whether it would work or not. My guess is that they might be be a little dry. Thanks for stopping by.
-Jamie
I can only imagine how good these pumpkin bars would have tasted.. drooling over the images and that thick layer of cream cheese frosting! Definitely a recipe I have saved to recreate. Pinned!
Thalia-
Thanks so much for stopping by!
-Jamie
Congrats on the move to working from home! The bars look perfectly fall and delightful!
Tracy-
Thanks so much. I appreciate you stopping by.
-Jamie