Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting – another fall favorite…I may have too many “fall favorites!” Fall just has so many wonderful flavors! When I was growing up, these were popular cookies to make in the fall. The pumpkin, spices and smooth cream cheese frosting are such a tasty combination.

This is another easy to make recipe! Beat eggs, sugars, oil and pumpkin together until smooth. Whisk the remaining dry ingredients together.

Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture.

Stir in raisins, if using. (Golden raisins also work.)

Spread in a prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes.

Let the cookies cool completely, about 2 hours. Then mix up the frosting and spread it over the cookies. This is one of the best ways to eat them….love the pumpkin cookies with smooth frosting. YUM!

But is fun to “play with your food” when a holiday is coming up.

I used a biscuit cutter to create little round cookies, and them topped them with Jack O’ Lanterns and Halloween sprinkles.

These are also good sprinkled with nuts. These have chopped up pistachios, with a few sprinkles. Chopped roasted walnuts also taste amazing on these. Enjoy being creative and topping these with your favorite fall sprinkles, nuts or other toppings. Store in the refrigerator. Happy Fall!

Print Recipe

Pumpkin Spice Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

A traditional fall treat! Enjoy this pumpkin bar cookie!

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Bar Cookies, Fall, Pumpkin

Servings: 30 servings

Author: Mary Beth

Ingredients

Bars

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar*
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar*
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 15 oz can pumpkin
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup raisins, if desired

Frosting

• 1 package (3 oz) cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts, if desired

Instructions

Bars

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease bottom and sides of 15 x 10 x 1 inch pan. In a large bowl, beat eggs, sugars, oil and pumpkin until smooth. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Stir flour mixture into pumpkin mixture, stirring until combined. If desired, stir in raisins. Spread in pan.
• Bake 25-30 minutes or until light brown and toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on cooling rack, about 2 hours. You could also just lightly dust the bars with powdered sugar, if you don't want to add frosting.

Frosting

• In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smooth and combined. Gradually beat in powered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until smooth and spreadable. If necessary, add more powdered sugar. Spread frosting over bars. if desired, sprinkle with chopped nuts or decorate for fall with pumpkins and sprinkles. Store in the refrigerator.

Notes

*Traditional recipe called for 2 cups of granulated sugar instead of combination of brown and granulated.  You can also add 1-2 tablespoons of maple syrup to the frosting, especially good if you are topping the cookies with toasted walnuts.

Snickerdoodles are one of my favorite cookies….but now imagine adding brown butter and pumpkin to the mix!!! This is a cookie you will want to add to your fall baking list for sure!

If you haven’t tried a baking recipe with brown butter, you are missing out! The deep caramel flavor the brown butter adds is so good! You mix these up, much like traditional snickerdoodles, except you add the brown butter and pumpkin puree – along with pumpkin pie spice. You do need to chill the dough in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours before rolling and baking.

I used a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop and ended up with 14 perfectly sized cookies. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and what a gorgeous color!

I think you will really love these! The flavors of pumpkin and brown butter combined with the cinnamon and sugar coating make the perfect snacking cookie. Enjoy!!!!!

You can find the recipe, lots of photos and full directions on the website below:

This Thanksgiving is going to be so different from ones in the past, we just won’t be able to have the big family gatherings that we enjoy so much! But we can still show our family and friends how much we care about them. One way to do that is by baking some of your favorite treats and sharing them with others. Pumpkin bread is a fall favorite!

Pumpkin bread smells sooo good while it is baking! So you get the benefit of your house smelling amazing while you are making these. This recipe is loaded with pumpkin flavor and is full of fall spices. One regular recipe makes three small loaves, so I doubled the recipe and made six loaves. Some I topped with cinnamon and sugar, the rest were sprinkled with roasted pumpkin seeds and a bit of coarse sugar.

To me, the best way to eat pumpkin bread is to toast it and slather it with butter! The toasting seems to intensify all those wonderful flavors – and it also adds a bit of that nice toasty crunch around the edges.

Add ribbons, bows and special tags to your gifts. Your friends and family will thank you! A wonderful gift from your kitchen.

For the recipe, click on the website below:

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!