Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

Spiced pumpkin bars are topped with tangy cream cheese frosting to create the perfect fall dessert.

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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!

Easy 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.

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Save Recipe

Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

By: Jamie

4.62 from 34 ratings

Prep: 20 minutes mins

Cook: 30 minutes mins

Total: 50 minutes mins

Servings: 24

SaveSaved Pin Print

Spiced pumpkin bars are topped with tangy cream cheese frosting to create the perfect fall dessert.

Equipment

• Jelly Roll Pan
• Mixing bowl set
• KitchenAid 9-Speed Digital Hand Mixer

Ingredients

1x2x3x

US CustomaryMetric

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

Pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting can be stored in an airtight container within the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Nutrition

Serving: 1bar, Calories: 279kcal, Carbohydrates: 34g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 15g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Trans Fat: 0.1g, Cholesterol: 42mg, Sodium: 220mg, Potassium: 74mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 25g, Vitamin A: 2982IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 42mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this recipe? Leave a comment below!

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