Easy Pumpkin Bars With Cream Cheese Frosting

Name: Pumpkin Bars With Cream Cheese Frosting
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 1/2 cup sugar; 1/2 cup butter (softened); 1 egg; 3/4 cup pumpkin puree (1/2 can); 2 teaspoons vanilla; 1 cup flour; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon cinnamon; 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg; 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves; 6 oz. cream cheese (softened); 1/4 cup melted butter; 2 cups powdered sugar; 2 Tbsp. milk; 1 teaspoons vanilla

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Easy pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting are easy to make and so delicious! Moist, all the flavors of fall, and topped with a candy pumpkin.

You might also like our frosted banana bread bars, our sugar cookie bars, or our chocolate peanut butter cookie bars!

Pumpkin bars frosted and cut into squares.

My pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting are delicious and easy to make. They are basically the same recipe as my banana bars, with a few swaps like pumpkin puree and pumpkin spices in place of mashed bananas. You can top the bars with vanilla frosting or cream cheese frosting. Brown butter frosting would be amazing, too.

Why I Like This Recipe

The recipe is easy to double. You can make a 9x13" pan of bars or double the recipe to fit into a half sheet pan to feed a crowd.
Quick to make. Start to finish, these bars are done in a little over an hour. The hardest part is waiting for the bars to cool so that you can frost them and dig right in!
Stays soft for days. These pumpkin bars are soft and moist and stay that way. Cover the pan with plastic wrap to keep fresh for 3 days.

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Why I Like This Recipe
Tips and Tricks
Ingredients
How To Make Pumpkin Bars
Pumpkin Bars FAQs
More Pumpkin Recipes To Make
Pumpkin Bars With Cream Cheese Frosting

Tips and Tricks

Danish dough whisk. My favorite kitchen tool, besides my stand mixer, is my Danish dough whisk. You can use that to mix the batter, and it works like a dream! Way better than a wooden spoon.
Don't overbake the bars. Bake only until a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean. This will keep the bars moist and soft.
How to double the recipe. Bake a double batch of bars in a sheet pan. Cooking time is similar. Check for doneness around 22 minutes with a toothpick.

Ingredients

Bowls of flour, sugar, salt and baking soda, can of pumpkin puree, egg, bottle of vanilla, stick of butter, bottle of pumpkin pie spice, bottle of milk, cream cheese and cinnamon.

Pumpkin Bars

Sugar: I typically bake with a combination of sugar and brown sugar, but the pumpkin puree adds enough moisture that you don't need brown sugar.
Butter: I bake exclusively with salted butter, but you can use unsalted butter if you'd like.
Egg
Pumpkin puree: 100% pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling.
Vanilla extract
Baking soda and salt: For leavening and flavor.
All-purpose flour
Ground cinnamon*
Nutmeg*
Ground cloves*

Cream Cheese Frosting

Melted butter
Cream cheese, softened
Powdered sugar
Milk or heavy cream
Vanilla extract

*I like using my own combination of spices, but you can use pumpkin pie spice if you'd like.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

How To Make Pumpkin Bars

Mixing bowl with pumpkin batter and danish dough whisk.

Step 1: Mix sugar, butter and egg together.
Add pumpkin and vanilla.

Step 2: Add in dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Pumpkin bar batter spread in 9x13 baking dish.

Step 3: Spread batter in a greased 9×13 baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out dry.

cut pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting

Step 4: Mix frosting ingredients together and spread over cooled pumpkin bars.

One pan makes 12 bars and they are just as delicious the second day.

Pumpkin Bars FAQs

What is the difference between pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie filling?

Pumpkin puree is 100% pumpkin that has been cooked and pureed. There are no additional ingredients. Pumpkin pie filling is a sweetened mixture of pumpkin puree, sugar, and spices, and is typically not suitable for use in recipes other than pumpkin pie.

How is doneness determined for pumpkin bars?

Bake only until a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean. This will keep the bars moist and soft.

Can you freeze pumpkin bars?

Yes! Freeze bars in a single layer on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet until firm. Then transfer to a freezer container and freeze for up to 3 months.