Leaves paint the ground.
Vivid orange, red, and yellow swirl through the sky, stirred by a cool Fall breeze.
Monet’s paintbrush.
(Hope you liked my little poem!)
Fall is by far my favorite time of year. Everything about it just seems so cozy: oversized sweaters, steamy mugs of hot cider, scarecrows and falling leaves. It’s the comfort food of seasons. Not to mention the actual comfort foods of Fall: roasted veggies, juicy apples, and—of course—pumpkin!
Topped with my favorite Healthy Cream Cheese Frosting.
If you could sum up “Fall” in a bar, this would be it. My first attempt at these bars was based on a (non-vegan) recipe I found online from Better Homes and Gardens. Sadly, that attempt turned out bland and dry. So for my second attempt, I went with my own intuition, adding ingredients I thought sounded good together and hoping for the best.
Oh they were delicious! These bars have a soft texture and the perfect balance of sweet to spice.
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars
(These can be gluten-free!)
- 1/2 cup spelt or white flour, oat flour, or Bob’s gf)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ener-g powder OR 1 tbsp ground flax (If necessary, you can omit completely)
- 3 tbsp brown sugar or agave (For a sugar-free version, you can use xylitol)
- pinch uncut stevia OR 2 more tbsp sugar
- 1/2 cup canned or cooked and pureed pumpkin
- 2 tbsp milk of choice
- 2 tbsp oil (Some readers say subbing applesauce is fine, but I haven’t tried)
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine dry ingredients, then add in wet. Spread into an oiled 7×5 pan (or double the recipe for an 8×8) and cook for 14-15 minutes. Note: You can sub agave for the sugar; they’ll just be fluffier and a bit more dense. Let the pan cool for at least ten minutes before cutting or frosting the squares. Also, the flavors seem to intensify and these taste even sweeter the next day.
View Pumpkin Bars Nutrition Facts
You can frost with the aforementioned Healthy Cream Cheese Frosting. Or you can opt to leave them plain. They are deliciously-sweet even when completely unfrosted! (Alternative topping ideas include: apple butter, peanut butter, coconut butter, etc.)
Do you like reading or writing poetry?
I actually do, which is surprising because I hated reading poetry when I was younger. I’d get so confused! But I’ve always loved writing freestyle poetry, where there are no rules—you get to throw in exactly the words you want, in exactly the order you want. Come to think of it, that’s how I create recipes, too!
maringo says
Hi, i made it before and my kids just love it, but i need to know can we sub the sugar with honey?
alida says
Hi katie. I love your recipes. How about some printable recipes?
Unofficial CCK Helper says
All of her recipes posted after 2014 have a print option.
Marie says
I don’t know why but I had to put these back in the oven to bake again. After cooling I tried to cut them but it just glooped everywhere 🙁
The batter seemed really wet. I doubled the recipe for 8×8 glass dish maybe i should have anticipated doubling the baking time?
Begginer says
Do the bars to be stored in the fridge or just in a jar at room temperature? thanks!
Sandra says
Katie, these are so good!!! First of all, I am from Mexico, and pumpkin isn’t really a thing here, but I just kept seeing all these interesting pumpkin recipes in the blogs that I follow so when I went to Texas a few weeks ago, I grabbed some pumpkin and pumpkin spice. These pumpkin bars are the first thing that I make and my taste buds are dancing with joy right now. I can’t believe I’ve been missing out all these years. Now I have to try pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin cinnamon rolls, pumpkin cookie dough ice cream… Argh, I should have bought more cans!
Tess says
KATIE. Huge problem with these bars…they are too delicious and now I have lost all self-control. And they get better as they sit in the fridge!! I keep some whipped coconut cream and slice the bars in half and slather that in the middle like a sandwich. SO. GOOD.
Morgan says
I made these for Thanksgiving with Bob’s gluten free all purpose flour and they tasted off. Did I use the wrong GF flour? Do you have another recommendation for a GF flour? Would coconut flour work?
Thanks!
Jason Sanford says
Hi! What other ingredients (oil, sugar, etc) did you use? And what do you mean by “off”? Is it just that you don’t like that flour’s flavor? This post looks like it’s from 2011, so if nothing else, might be worth trying the updated version of her recipe here! https://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2018/09/10/chocolate-chip-pumpkin-bars/
Mimi says
I made these, but with sweet potatoes since pumpkin is very expensive to get here, and they are amazing! These will definitely be a repeat dessert/snack!
JD says
Is there a way to combine this with your brownie recipes for pumpkin cream cheese brownies?