Perfect Pumpkin Bars
Perfect pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting are perfect for hungry kids after school, Halloween parties, tailgating and game day gatherings ~ in other words, the perfect fall bake!
Servings: 30
Equipment
- half sheet pan, 13"x 18" buy mine here.
Ingredients
wet ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil*
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling), I like Libby's
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp salt
dry ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking soda
cream cheese frosting
- ½ cup salted butter, at room temperature (1 stick)
- 8 ounces brick style cream cheese
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray and flour your half sheet pan.
- In a large bowl whisk together the wet ingredients. Make sure to work out any large lumps of brown sugar.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Fold the dry into the wet, mixing just until there is no dry flour left. Don't overbeat your batter.
- Turn the batter into your prepared pan, spreading out evenly from corner to corner.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, just until done through and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out without wet batter on it. Note: this is a very thin cake so it will bake quickly. Being confident of your oven's temperature is important. I recommend using an oven thermometor to be sure.
- Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack. You'll want it to be pretty much completely cooled before you frost it.
- To make the frosting you can use electric beaters or a stand mixer, but I prefer to use my food processor! I load everything into the bowl and process until silky smooth. This method is great because you can use cold cream cheese. If you use another method you'll want to soften your cream cheese at room temperature first.
- Frost the bars and enjoy! Store leftovers in the refrigerator (because of the cream cheese in the frosting.) The bars will stay delicious for several days.
Notes
*I've made these will olive oil and they turned out fantastic ~ give it a try and see!
Nutrition
Calories: 265 kcal · Carbohydrates: 34 g · Protein: 2 g · Fat: 14 g · Saturated Fat: 5 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 5 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 3 g · Trans Fat: 0.2 g · Cholesterol: 30 mg · Sodium: 125 mg · Potassium: 56 mg · Fiber: 0.5 g · Sugar: 26 g · Vitamin A: 1509 IU · Vitamin C: 0.4 mg · Calcium: 24 mg · Iron: 1 mg
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although The View from Great Island attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
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