Paula Deen's Pumpkin Bars are the best ever! Moist and lightly spiced, this recipe is a must for your fall baking list! Top these easy pumpkin bars with a delicious cream cheese icing and enjoy with a tall glass of milk or cup of tea!
Are you a pumpkin lover? If not, this recipe might just convert you!
I've tried many pumpkin bar recipes and this one is THE BEST EVER! I turned to Paula Deen for this wonderful recipe.
You can do whatever you like with this delicious cream cheese icing. It can be spread over the cooled cake or piped into pretty rosettes.
If you haven't quite embraced the fact that FALL is around the corner, this pumpkin bar will definitely get you in the spirit!
YOU'LL LOVE THIS RECIPE!
- I love how quick and easy it is to put together. Wet ingredients, dry ingredients, then add one to the other. What could be easier?
- If you're looking for a fall baking recipe that will please the whole family, this is it!
- the ingredients are pretty basic. I always like to keep a can of pumpkin on hand. If you don't have one, grab that and the cream cheese. Everything else is pantry staples.
INGREDIENTS & SUBSTITUTIONS
STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
I used my stand mixer for these pumpkin bars. You can also use a hand-held electric mixer, or even mix it by hand. (a bit of a workout).
Combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin and beat it until light and fluffy. I beat it for about a minute and half.
In a separate mixing bowl, stir together all-purpose flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture all at once. Mix on low speed until combined.
Spread the batter into prepared 9×13 inch baking pan.
Bake in 350°F oven for 30 minutes.
Test with cake tester or toothpick to ensure that the bars are fully cooked in the middle of the baking dish. They may need an extra 5 minutes of baking time.
Let cool completely before frosting. If you don't cool completely and frost the bars while they're still too warm, the icing will be runny and not set properly.
While bars are cooling make the cream cheese icing.
For the icing: I like to use the whisk attachment on my stand mixer or you can use the regular beaters on an electric hand mixer. You can also do it by hand if you don't have a mixer.
Beat the cream cheese and butter on medium-high speed until it's smooth.
Gradually add in the powdered sugar and mix at low speed until combined.
Add vanilla and give it a final mix on medium speed until it's nice and creamy and the right spreadable consistency.
Next, you have two options. You can either spread the icing on the bars, then cut into bars or pipe the icing using a 1M (or any large star piping tip) onto the tops of the bars.
If you like, give them a little dusting of cinnamon to make them even prettier!
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PrintPaula Deen's Pumpkin Bars
Paula Deen's Pumpkin Bars are the best ever! Moist and lightly spiced, this recipe is a must for your fall baking list! Top these easy pumpkin bars with a delicious cream cheese icing and enjoy with a tall glass of milk or cup of tea!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 30
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven Baked
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
4 eggs, room temperature
1 ⅔ cup sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
15 oz. can pumpkin
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
8 oz. package cream cheese
½ cup butter, softened at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish and set aside.
- In bowl of stand mixer, or using electric mixer with mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until smooth and creamy.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, combine all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
- Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture. Mix at low speed until combined.
- Spread batter into prepared baking dish.
- Bake in 350°F oven for 30 minutes. Test the centre using a toothpick to ensure the bars are completely cooked in the middle. They might need an extra 5 minutes of baking.
- Cool bars completely before frosting.
- To make the cream cheese icing: beat butter and cream cheese together until smooth.
- Gradually add in the powdered sugar and beat over medium speed until combined.
- Add in the vanilla and mix on high for a minute until it's nice and creamy and spreadable.
- Spread on pumpkin bars, then cut into bars.
- Alternatively you can pipe rosettes as shown in the feature image using a 1M Wilton piping tip and decorating bag for icing.
- Makes 20 small or 10 large bars.
Notes
- The original recipe indicated that a 9x13-inch pan would make 10 bars. I found them to be large and cut 20 bars from a 9x13-inch pan and it was the perfect size for dessert.
- Storage instructions: Store cooled bars covered in the refrigerator for up to four days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: one bar
- Calories: 327
- Sugar: 29 g
- Sodium: 209.6 mg
- Fat: 18.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 13 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 40.2 g
- Fiber: 0.9 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 53.7 mg
Keywords: pumpkin bars
Sandra
My husband request these for his birthday on the weekend! I spread the frosting over the entire 9x13-inch bar and it was delicious!
★★★★★
Sarah
These are the best I have found. I was wondering if you could use the same recipe but use applesauce if so how much applesauce would you substitute for the pumpkin??
Sandra
Aren't they so tasty!! I haven't tried applesauce as a substitute but I would love to hear the outcome if you try it! Thanks so much for commenting and stopping by! 🙂 Sandra