Pumpkin Bars with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

By srumbel

Fluffy and moist and SO easy to make, these delicious pumpkin bars are the perfect fall treat, and that amazing whipped cream cheese frosting is quite literally the icing on the cake. And now! Now, they can be made in a 9X13-inch pan, if that’s what you have on hand (you'll probably notice that most pumpkin bar recipes call for a 10X15-inch jelly roll pan, which not everyone has).
from melskitchencafe.com

Ingredients

• Pumpkin Bars:
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups (9.25 ounces) granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup neutral-flavored oil, like canola, vegetable, avocado, refined coconut (see note for applesauce sub)
• 15-ounce can pumpkin puree/canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups (7.5 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional, but I love the flavor)
• Cream Cheese Frosting:
• 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 4 tablespoons butter, softened
• 2 cups (8 ounces) powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon sour cream or plain yogurt (see note)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Details

Preparation time 25mins
Cooking time 50mins

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch pan with cooking spray and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, oil, pumpkin and vanilla until well-combined.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and nutmeg (if using).
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk until the batter is smooth (don’t go crazy; just mix until there are no more lumps).
Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and bake for 25-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top of the bars is set and springs back lightly to the touch.
Let the bars cool completely in the pan.
For the frosting, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or with a handheld electric mixer, mix together the cream cheese and butter until very smooth and light, 2-3 minutes.
Add the powdered sugar, sour cream, and vanilla. Mix (start on low speed so the sugar doesn’t fly everywhere) until combined. Increase the speed to medium-high and whip the frosting for 2-3 minutes until very light and fluffy.
Spread the frosting on the cooled bars. Cut into squares and serve immediately or refrigerate for up to a day (maybe longer??).

Notes:

These bars adapt really well to subbing in some applesauce for that oil! I’ve never subbed 100% of the oil for applesauce, but I often will use half applesauce, half oil (just filling the liquid measuring cup up with both until I get to 3/4 cup).

The sour cream or yogurt is optional in the frosting, but if you haven’t tried it, you must! It lends a delicious flavor boost that takes sickly sweet cream cheese frosting and makes it extra special. I don’t make cream cheese frosting any other way.

Yield: 9X13-inch pan of bars