Pumpkin Spice Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
A traditional fall treat! Enjoy this pumpkin bar cookie!
Servings: 30 servings
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.