A Pinch of Joy

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Pumpkin Bars

Pumpkin Bar with Cream Cheese Frosting - A Pinch of Joy

I’ve had this recipe for Pumpkin Bars forever — one of those handwritten, spattered, tattered, cornerstone recipes.   I love to make it in the fall when pumpkin is readily available.  It has a nice autumn spice fragrance and a deep rich color that is so satisfying.  It goes together in a snap and because it is in a jelly roll pan, it also bakes quickly.  Less than 10 minutes to make it and 25 to bake and your dinner menu rises to a new level.

Serve with whipped topping to keep the carb count at about 13 carbs per serving.  Or go for the classic cream cheese frosting spread over the cooled bars.    This lower carb version of cream cheese frosting uses about half the powdered sugar of most recipes so adds about 8 carbs per serving.  It is light but flavorful and a perfect complement to the pumpkin flavor. Add walnuts halves in the center of each frosted serving for another classic fall touch.  A perfect, moist and comforting transition dessert that leads us right into fall!

Bonus question — Did you know that pumpkin is both vegetable and fruit?  Botanically, fruit is a flesh surrounding seeds. So cucumbers, tomatoes, beans and pumpkins are  fruits.  Vegetables are those things which do not have seeds as part of what is eaten.  Celery, radishes, carrots and lettuces fall here.  Confused?  In culinary terms, fruit is sweet and fleshy and can be eaten raw.  And everything else is considered a vegetable.  The one thing we can be certain about is the tomato – well, sort of.  The US Supreme Court ruled in 1983 that the tomato is a vegetable, even though it had been classified botanically for centuries as a fruit!

Pumpkin Bars
 
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Delicious spiced pumpkin bars topped with classic cream cheese frostings -- a fall favorite!
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Serves: 25 bars
Ingredients
  • 4 eggs
  • 1⅔ cup sugar
  • 1 cup oil
  • 1 15 oz can pumpkin
  • 2 cup flour
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda.
  • 1 cup golden raisins, optional (not included in carb count)
For Cream Cheese Frosting:
  • 1 8 oz package cream cheese, room temperature
  • ½ cup butter, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
  1. Beat together eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin till light and fluffy.
  2. Add dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
  3. Spread batter in ungreased 15x10x1 baking pan. (often called jelly roll pan)
  4. Bake at 350 for 25 – 30 minutes, until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.
  5. Serve warm or cool with whipped topping or ice cream. OR Cool to touch and frost.
For Cream Cheese Frosting
  1. Beat all ingredients together until light and fluffy.
  2. Spread uniformly over cooled bars.
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Comments

  3. Congratulations!
    Your recipe is featured on Full Plate Thursday this week. Hope you will have a great week and enjoy your new Red Plate!
    Miz Helen

    • Thanks so much for the feature last week! What a delightful surprise — and I will enjoy the Red Plate!

  6. Hi Charlene,
    Your Pumpkin Bars look so good. I might just make your recipe today for a treat! Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday. Hope you are having a great week end and come back soon!
    Miz Helen