Pumpkin Bars
These moist and flavorful pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting are amazing. They are the perfect fall treat and are sure to please!
This is a classic Paula Deen recipe that is utterly amazing.
I made these pumpkin bars last fall and loved them instantly.
I recently made them again and decided to substitute applesauce for half the oil in a half-hearted attempt to lighten them up (since they still have plenty of sugar and eggs!). The result? They were still extremely moist and just as delicious as I remembered!
The only difference was they baked up quite a bit higher this time. The first time with the full oil amount, they were a little bit more dense, but equally delicious.
Although this is more a fall recipe than a summer recipe, I will definitely be making these again before “pumpkin season.”
The cream cheese frosting is to die for and whether you substitute part applesauce or keep them true to the original, they are sure to please!
Pumpkin Bars
Ingredients
Bars:
- 4 large eggs
- 1 ⅔ cups (353 g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil, can substitute 1/2 cup applesauce for 1/2 cup oil
- 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
- 2 cups (284 g) sifted all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Icing:
- 1 (8-ounce) package (227 g) cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup (113 g) butter or margarine, softened
- 2 cups (228 g) sifted powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy.
- Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth.
- Spread the batter into a greased 13 by 10-inch baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes.
- Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars.
- To make the icing: Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again. Spread on cooled pumpkin bars.
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Recipe Source: from Paula Deen
87 Comments on “Pumpkin Bars”
Loved it!
Can I use a 10×15 pan?
Sure! The bars will be slightly thinner but should work just fine.
Made this & used a one to one gluten free flour. Cooking time was about 10 – 15 minutes longer. I baked until the toothpick came out clean. Everyone loved it!
Great easy recipe. I added cloves to it because I really like cloves with cinnamon and pumpkin. A really easy and delicious crowd pleaser.
This recipe is absolutely the best! Be prepared! People will loose their sanity because they are soooo delicious! The applesauce substitute was perfect!
Loved the pumpkin bars…I will be sure to make them again and again ..thanks
So good….really these are so good! We made exactly as instructed but next time will try with applesauce.
Thank you for sharing.
Thanks, Cindy!
Yum, these were good. I needed to cook them longer because I had a 13×9 pan. The edges were done after 30 minutes but the middle was soggy. I think I’ll try a 10×15 next time to get a thinner bar. And also add some pumpkin pie spice as others commented. I like that they were more cake-y than bar like. I used the applesauce substitition and they were still rich, No need to add the full oil.
How should I store these? I’m making the day before and wanted to know if I should refrigerate or is room temp OF. THANKS
I’d probably store in the refrigerator, covered, and then take out in time to take the chill off a bit before serving.
Hi Mel! I plan on making these (along with your cherry pie and confetti corn) for Thanksgiving! Any thoughts on how these bars would fare as cupcakes? I’m thinking I’d keep everything the same, but wondering how much I should fill up the muffin tins – e.g., if this cake rises a lot?
I believe others in the comment thread have made these into cupcakes, but I haven’t personally. If it were me, I’d fill the liners halfway full (this cake rises a bit).
Wonderful! Delicious! Amazing! And that was just the batter with out the frosting! It took all the willpower I had to actually bake the bars- but the were definitely worth it! The frosting put them over the top! Even more amazing the next day- however I’m surprised there was any left!
I used applesauce and they were more cake like than bar like.
These are disgusting…..ly AMAZING! My friend introduced them to me a few months back. I have made them three times since. These are my heaven on earth. THANKS!
Haha, that made me laugh!
Omg the amount of deliciousness is incredible.
When I first got this recipe from a friend, years ago, I thought they had too much oil and sugar. I’ve always baked these in a large pan, as the 9×13 just makes it a cake in my opinion. So this is what I did to improve recipe:
4 eggs
1 c. brown sugar
2/3 c. sugar
1/4 c. oil
3/4 c. milk
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. unbleached flour
1/2 tsp. cloves
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. baking soda
Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 15x11x1 pan. Mix eggs, brown sugar, sugar, oil, milk, pumpkin, vanilla. Add whole wheat flour, unbleached flour, spices, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Mix until smooth. Spread evenly in prepared pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.
Hi Mel-How much extra flour would you suggest I try for high altitude? Thanks!
Probably just a couple tablespoons to start. I’ve actually made these at 6,500 feet as is with no problems.
hi melanie, while i dont think we have canned pumpkin at our grocery store here, do you think we can substitute it with real pumpkin? and how would the substitution be?
thanks so much!
Nadia – I’m not sure, although you could try searching on the internet for a fresh pumpkin equivalent to canned pumpkin. Good luck!
Oh.my.goodness. This was amazing! While I consider this to be more of a cake than a bar, it was SOOO delicious – light and fluffy yet dense and moist at the same time. I made it using the 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup applesauce variation and I also added a 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (using your recipe for pumpkin pie spice). I frosted it with your whipped cream cheese frosting (from your banana bars with whipped cream cheese frosting recipe) and the result was amazing! I can’t say enough good things about that whipped cream cheese frosting. I’m not an icing person, but I could have eaten this frosting by the spoonful!! (Ok, maybe I did actually eat a few spoonfuls…)
Hi Melanie,
Going to bake these this afternoon with my two little ones. Do the leftover bars have to be refrigerated due to the cream cheese icing or can they be stored at room temp? Thanks a bunch!
Stephanie – if you are storing them longer than a couple hours, I’d refrigerate them.
Yet another amazing recipe I’ve found on here that’s currently in my oven. I think for dinner we’re going to have your bourbon chicken. I am totally addicted to your website!
I made my bars with the applesauce, and since I’m giving some to people with dairy issues, and some to people without, I can’t decide if I should even frost them. Well, the fact that I don’t think I have enough powdered sugar might make that decision for me!
Anyways, your website is amazing:)
Love these bars! This recipe is so simple and easy to pull together and the results is delicious. Also they cut up beautifully and serve nicely, I brought to a work potluck and they were a hit.
Holly – I’ve never baked them that way. I suppose you would just decrease baking time by a few minutes (watch carefully). And yes, they will be thinner bars if the batter is being put on a larger pan. If you double the recipe, make sure the pan is large enough they won’t overflow in the oven (since they are pretty thick bars in a 9X13 pan).
Have you ever baked this on a cookie sheet before? What would the cooking time be?
Would you double the recipe or just have thinner bars?
When I found this recipe, I had forgotten that I was out of flour….so I took a regular yellow cake mix, made it according to the box, added 6oz of applesauce and used 1lb of fresh pumpkin. After mixing all of that, I added the cinnamon as well as a little nutmeg to the mixture. After baking, I topped it with the icing from this recipe and it was delicious!!! Not as time consuming either….My fiance made a special request to have this as his birthday cake today. Thanks for the inspiration/recipe 🙂
Hi! These were great! I added maple syrup (just a little) to the icing and sprinkled walnuts on top. I also substituted wheat flour for white flour and I used the applesauce substitution.
SO delicious to kill time while we’re stranded in the house for Hurricane Sandy.