• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Life, etc
  • Create
  • Money
  • Blogging
  • Dishes & Dust Bunnies
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
Dishes & Dust Bunnies

Dishes & Dust Bunnies

Good Home Cooking and The Magick of Modern Homemaking - Recipes and lots of good stuff!

Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

by Michelle Dunster

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our discloure policy.

Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

This classic and easy recipe for pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting are perfectly soft, moist, spiced just right and are absolutely irresistible! They're perfect for celebrating fall and make the perfect little dessert for Thanksgiving and for Halloween. Oh, and don't get me started on the frosting… It’s so good!

Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

I hope you enjoy this recipe! ❤️ If you give it a try, please let me know how it turned out for you in the comments section at the bottom of the page or share a pic of your om noms on Instagram and tag @dishesanddustbunnies! ❤️

*This post has been updated from an earlier version to include new photos and a few tweaks to the original recipe to make it even more scrumptious!*

Get the Recipe at the bottom of the page!

Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

How to make Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting – Overview

Making homemade pumpkin bars from scratch is easy peasy! At the bottom of this post, you'll find the complete instructions and ingredient amounts, but before we get started, here's a little overview of how to make them. 😋

You'll begin by combining the wet ingredients – cream together the butter with the sugar, then beat in the eggs and mix in the pure pumpkin puree.

Next, in a separate bowl, using a whisk, combine the dry ingredients – pumpkin spice, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Combine the wet and dry ingredients, then scrape the batter into a greased (and parchment-lined) 9″x13″ metal baking pan. Bake at 350°F for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center.

While your pumpkin bars are cooling, mix up a delicious cream cheese frosting in your electric mixer using softened butter, icing sugar, softened cream cheese (not the light kind!) and a little vanilla. Spread the prepared cream cheese frosting evenly over the pumpkin bars.

Chill in the fridge for a few hours, then using a sharp knife, cut the pumpkin bars into 18 pieces and serve!

What's the difference between Pumpkin Bars and Pumpkin Cake?

Although pumpkin bars and pumpkin cake are very similar in their ingredients, such as pumpkin spice, pureed pumpkin and cream cheese frosting, one difference is that pumpkin bars have a more dense body.

Pumpkin cake is typically fluffy and has more of that typical “bready” texture most cakes tend to have. Pumpkin bars have a richer, more dense texture similar to pumpkin pie but leaning more towards the cakey side… so somewhere in a super yummy in between!

Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

Homemade pumpkin puree vs store bought:
Which is best for my pumpkin bars?

You can use either homemade pumpkin puree or the store-bought canned kind (like Libby's) for this recipe. Both will work; however, I'd highly recommend using store-bought as the pumpkin flavour will be richer and more pronounced.

If you do choose to use homemade pumpkin puree for this recipe, you'll need to make sure it's been drained of most of its liquid, concentrated and thick enough to pack enough flavour to make the pumpkin bars their yummiest.

I find that sometimes when using homemade puree, the pumpkin flavour we're looking for just isn't as intense as the canned version… and that's ok! The store-bought kind is super concentrated and contains less water, so that's why it works so well!

Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

Get the Recipe at the bottom of the page!

A few possible recipe variations:

Sprinkles: Depending on the occasion, Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc., you could top your pumpkin bars with some appropriately themed sprinkles! For Halloween, you could try orange, black sprinkles or even cute little bat shapes!

Different Frosting: For this recipe, I decided to use the traditional and classic plain cream cheese frosting to top these pumpkin bars, and it works very well! If, however, you'd like to experiment with a different frosting flavour, definitely give it a try!

I'm working on a few different frosting recipes that I know will complement the flavour of these pumpkin bars very well – maple cream cheese frosting, for example! Once I've perfected it, I'll link to it here! 😋

Nuts: You could try adding some nuts to the batter to give the pumpkin bars! Walnuts, pecans and pralines would work very well! You could also try sprinkling chopped nuts on top of the cream cheese frosting for garnish and for yumminess!

Chocolate chips: Sometimes, I like to throw a handful of mini chocolate chips into the batter! Sooooo yummy!

Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

More pumpkin recipes you'll enjoy:

  • Pumpkin Cheesecake with Butterscotch Drizzle
  • Instant Pumpkin Spice Latte Mix
  • Pumpkin Spice Latte Ice Cream
  • Pumpkin Cheesecake Jack-O-Lanterns – A Perfect Halloween Dessert!

Make sure you don’t miss a thing! Follow Dishes & Dust Bunnies on:
Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter 
For NEW RECIPES delivered straight to your inbox, signup for my email list! 

Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon

Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting


  • Author: Michelle Dunster – DishesAndDustBunnies.com
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 18 bars 1x
Print Recipe
Pin Recipe

Ingredients

Scale
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
  • ½ cup white sugar
  • ½ cup brown sugar, packed
  • 2 large eggs
  • 14 oz. canned (1+3/4 cups) pure pumpkin purée like Libby's or E.D. Smith brands.
    (you can also use your own pumpkin purée for this recipe, but I highly recommend using canned – see my notes)
  • 2 tsps pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt

Frosting ingredients:

  • ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 12 oz. (1 1/2 cups / 1 1/2 blocks) of plain cream cheese, softened (don’t use the light kind for this recipe)
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups icing sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  2. Cream the butter and sugar together.
  3. Beat in the brown sugar and then eggs one at a time.
  4. Slowly combine the pumpkin.
  5. In a separate bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients so that they are well combined.
  6. Combine the wet and dry ingredients.
  7. Scrape the batter into a greased and parchment paper lined 9 x 13” metal baking pan.
  8. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the centre.
  9. Once the pumpkin bars have finished baking, allow them to cool on a metal cooling rack until they reach room temperature (while still in the pan!).
  10. Once cooled, spread the cream cheese frosting evenly over the surface of the bars. Chill in the fridge for at least four hours. Once chilled, cut into about 18 bars and serve.

Frosting instructions

  1. Using an electric mixer or stand mixer, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smooth.
  2. To this, beat in about ¼ cup of the icing sugar at a time and mix until smooth.
  3. Spread evenly over the pumpkin bars.

Notes

For this recipe, you can use either homemade pumpkin puree or the canned store bought kind (like Libby's). Both will work however I'd highly recommend using store bought as the pumpkin flavour will be more rich and pronounced. I find that sometimes when using homemade puree, the pumpkin flavour we're looking for just isn't as intense as the canned version… and that's ok! The store bought kind has is super concentrated, thicker and contains less water, so that's why it works so well!

  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Baking

Keywords: pumpkin, halloween, fall dessert

Did you make this recipe?

If you make this recipe, I'd love to hear about it!
Tag @dishesanddustbunnies on Instagram and hashtag it #dishesanddustbunnies,
and I'll share your pic in my Instagram stories! ❤️

Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
_________________________
Hi there! I'm Michelle!
Welcome to Dishes & Dust Bunnies where I share recipes, tips and hints to help make this messy chaotic life as a mom just a little easier! Learn more >>
_________________________

Primary Sidebar

Hi there, I'm Michelle!

Welcome to Dishes & Dust Bunnies where I share recipes, tips and hints to help make this messy chaotic life as a mom just a little easier! Learn more >>

Connect

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Popular Posts

French Onion Smothered Pork Chops
Old Fashioned Chicken Soup from Scratch (using a Whole Chicken)
How to make The Famous Atlantic Canadian "Halifax Donair"
Maple Glazed Salmon
Subscribe to get a free eCookbook with my Top 25 Recipes!
____________________________
Get the latest from Dishes & Dust Bunnies delivered right to your inbox :)

Footer

Connect

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Dishes & Dust Bunnies

About
Sponsored Content
Media Mentions
FAQs
Contact

Explore

Recipes
Life, etc
Create
Money
Blogging

For Bloggers

Blogging Resources
Guest Posting

Latest on Instagram

  • by dishesanddustbunnies 2 months ago
  • by dishesanddustbunnies 2 months ago
  • by dishesanddustbunnies 2 months ago
  • by dishesanddustbunnies 2 months ago
  • by dishesanddustbunnies 2 months ago
  • by dishesanddustbunnies 2 months ago
  • by dishesanddustbunnies 2 months ago
  • by dishesanddustbunnies 2 months ago
  • by dishesanddustbunnies 2 months ago
  • by dishesanddustbunnies 2 months ago
  • by dishesanddustbunnies 2 months ago
  • by dishesanddustbunnies 2 months ago
  • by dishesanddustbunnies 2 months ago
  • by dishesanddustbunnies 2 months ago
  • by dishesanddustbunnies 2 months ago
  • by dishesanddustbunnies 2 months ago
  • by dishesanddustbunnies 2 months ago
  • by dishesanddustbunnies 2 months ago
  • by dishesanddustbunnies 2 months ago
  • by dishesanddustbunnies 3 months ago
Dishes & Dust Bunnies

Privacy Policy - Disclosure
Copyright © 2022 DishesAndDustBunnies.com

Sign up for email updates and get a free eCookbook with my top 25 recipes!
Sign up for email updates and get Top 25 Recipes from Dishes & Dust Bunnies eCookbook FREE!
We hate SPAM and promise to keep your email address safe.
Subscribe to get a free eCookbook with my Top 25 Recipes!
____________________________
Get the latest from Dishes & Dust Bunnies delivered right to your inbox :)
GET IT NOW
.
Did you make this recipe?

Tag @dishesanddustbunnies on Instagram and hashtag it #dishesanddustbunnies

Hi there! This is a message to my readers about the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle. Please check out my post 10 Reasons Why you NEED The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle
Enter your name and email below and I'll send you my free printable Cooking Conversions Chart!
Plus, you'll get FREE email updates whenever a new post is published to Dishes & Dust Bunnies!
Thanks so much!
Your free printable is on it's way!
If you don't see an email from me (Michelle Dunster) within a couple of minutes, be sure to check your spam folder just in case it landed in there!
Subscribe to get a free eCookbook with my Top 25 Recipes!
____________________________
Get the latest from Dishes & Dust Bunnies delivered right to your inbox :)
Get the latest from Dishes & Dust Bunnies delivered right to your inbox!

As thanks, I'll send you a free eCookbook with my Top 25 Recipes! :)

This training has ended. No worries though, I'd love to let you know when new ones are available.
If you don't want to miss out on future trainings or webinars enter your email below and I'll make sure you're the first to know when any new ones are available!
Unfortunately this year's Genius Blogger's Tool Kit sale has ended. The good news is that a new Tool Kit becomes available each year (and occasionally, the current year’s Tool Kit will be offered up again during a flash sale).

If you don’t want to miss out on future opportunities to purchase the Genius Bloggers Tool Kit, enter your email below and I’ll make sure you’re the first to hear when future Tool Kits go live!
Unfortunately enrollment for Elite Blog Academy is currently closed. In order to best serve their students, the doors to EBA are only open for a short time each year.

So you don’t miss out on future opportunities to join EBA, enter your email below and I’ll make sure you’re the first to hear when registration opens again!
Don't forget to like us on Facebook!
Subscribe to get a free eCookbook with my Top 25 Recipes!
____________________________
Get the latest from Dishes & Dust Bunnies delivered right to your inbox :)
_________________________
Hi there! I'm Michelle!
Welcome to Dishes & Dust Bunnies where I share recipes, tips and hints to help make this messy chaotic life as a mom just a little easier! Learn more >>
_________________________
Subscribe to get a free eCookbook with my Top 25 Recipes!
____________________________
Get the latest from Dishes & Dust Bunnies delivered right to your inbox :)
Subscribe to get a free eCookbook with my Top 25 Recipes!
____________________________
Get the latest from Dishes & Dust Bunnies delivered right to your inbox :)
Your information will *never* be shared or sold to a 3rd party.
Your information will *never* be shared or sold to a 3rd party.
Your information will *never* be shared or sold to a 3rd party.
Your information will *never* be shared or sold to a 3rd party.
Need more a bit more help getting started? No worries!
I'm in the process of updating this page to give you more info on getting your blog up and running! I'd love to let you know when I update this page!
Enter your email below and I'll let you know when this page is updated!
 

Loading Comments...