Lynnie's Pumpkin Bars
Lynnie’s Pumpkin Bars
It’s Fall and that means Pumpkin bars in my house! Rich, cream cheese frosting makes this dessert one of my family’s favorites … not just for Halloween! Here’s your dessert… Kids and adults love these!
Lynnie’s Pumpkin Bars
Yield: 15 servings (13 x 9 inch pan)
8x8 pan is 1/2 a batch
Ingredients:
1 cup pumpkin, fresh or canned
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon salt
Cream Cheese Frosting:
4 ounces light cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
2 – 3 tablespoons milk
Candy for decorating
Equipment Needed:
Dry and liquid measuring cups
Stand up mixer or hand mixer
Medium mixing bowl for hand mixer use
Small mixing bowl
Wire whisk
Rubber spatula
13 x 9 inch baking pan
Flat-edged spatula for spreading
Pumpkin bars are so rich, moist and yummy you’ll be tempted to eat more than one! Cream cheese frosting gives it just the right amount of sweet…and of course the decorations will make them so fun! These bars are so easy too. I have most of the spices and ingredients in my pantry, except for perhaps the pumpkin. When fall hits I grab a can of pumpkin so I can make these whenever the occasion arises. Pumpkin is rich in Vitamin A too, so not only is this dessert recipe fairly low in fat, it provides you with nutrients too! A win-win recipe, so let’s grab what we need and get baking!
First thing ….Preheat your oven to 350 F and prep the baking pan.
I find prepping the pan a great step to do first, so when the batter is finished I can pour it in and throw them in the oven right away. I use about a tablespoon of butter, but you can use a vegetable spray too. Butter provides a nice flavorful crust with every bite which I love…but if you prefer to not use butter that’s fine. Set the pan to the side while you make your batter.
Did I say this recipe is easy? Literally about three steps and you will be done.
Pumpkin bars are a form of a quick bread, as baking powder and baking sodas are used as leavening agents. First step is to combine the wet ingredients and then add the dry to it. So place the pumpkin, eggs, sugar and vanilla into the standup mixer or bowl and combine well. Your probably wondering why sugar is considered a ‘wet’ ingredient as its dry when you measure it. Due to the fact that it dissolves into the other ingredients, it is added with other liquids or ‘wet’ products.
Now for the dry ingredients!
In a small bowl, combine the flour, spices, leavening agents and salt. Use a wire whisk or fork to blend these together until you see no visual clumps of color. This will help in combining the dry ingredients easily without overmixing the batter.
I remember showing Alton Brown’s DVD “The Muffin Man” to my Foods 1 class when learning about quick breads. In this video, he does a splendid job of explaining the process of leavening agents and how to combine ingredients to make a light and fluffy muffin. Combining dry and wet ingredients together and not overmixing is key to a light texture, free of tunnels.
I was always preaching… ‘Don’t overmix your muffins’ and this stuck with the students for sure! So when adding the pre-blended dry ingredients to the mixing bowl only blend for about 20 seconds on medium low speed to blend ingredients. Stop mixer and scrape down sides with a rubber spatula to be sure all the dry ingredients are included in the batter. Restart the mixer and continue mixing for about only 1 more minute. Batter should be devoid of white chunks and silky smooth. Should smell wonderful too! Nothing like cinnamon, cloves and ginger to get the olfactory system excited!
Bake Time!!
Be sure your oven is up to temperature and preheated to 350 F. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and using the rubber spatula, spread the batter evenly to make sure corners are covered. Bake for 28 – 30 minutes or until your finger lightly indented on the top bounces back. If not, bake a couple minutes more. When the bars are finished baking they will be wonderfully fragrant and golden brown too. I prefer using the finger test to check for doneness as this cake is so moist that sometimes a toothpick will come out with a bit of goo on it. Don’t be tempted to over bake these bars as they will continue to bake a bit as they cool too. Allow the pan to cool completely before frosting too. This takes about an hour.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Frosting making is super easy too!
Literally dump, mix and spread. Place the powdered sugar, softened cream cheese and butter into the standup mixer or medium mixing bowl and add 2 tablespoons of milk. Beat on low speed until frosting pulls together a bit and gradually add 1 tablespoon of milk at a time until you get the smooth, spreadable texture you desire. Amount will vary depending on the measurement of the powdered sugar and how packed in the cup it is, but 3 – 4 tablespoons usually does the job well!
To frosting your pan of pumpkin bars pour the entire bowl of frosting on the center of the cooled pan and spread carefully using a flat or off-set spatula… butter knife works well too. Push frosting to the corners ensuring that every inch has enough of this wonderful flavor. I use autumn pumpkins and candy corn in fall to decorate. I lightly score cake to create the piece sizes and place a decoration in the middle of each square. Each pan makes about 15 – 16 pieces depending on the size you want! One bite and you will make these all the time… doesn’t have to be fall either! Enjoy!!