If you are looking for a quick and easy snack to serve your family or loved ones, pumpkin squares with cream cheese frosting would be the best choice! This recipe is budget-friendly to make and would indeed satisfy anyone who gets to have a bite from it.
These healthy pumpkin bars have an excellent spiced pumpkin taste. Rest assured that these are rich in texture and are not nearly as light and cakey as most other recipes that you might have already tried. Instead, they are soft and tender, which matches nicely with the spiced cream cheese icing on top!
Making a batch of these delightful snacks will surely satisfy your cravings for pumpkins or for anything sweet for that matter. You may have your pumpkin bars at breakfast, as they may serve as your baked goods in the morning. A few hours after midday, you can eat pumpkin bars as your snack. There are no restrictions as to when and how much you will consume these easy pumpkin bars so long as you know your eating limit.
Pumpkin bars aren't just about sweetness and softness. This delight-filled snack also highlights the exciting note of spices from ground cinnamon, ground ginger, and ground nutmeg. Hence, you will recognize the dish's almost new and unique flavor when you take a bite.
History of Desserts Bar-Pumpkin Bars
Dessert bars are a form of American "bar cookie" that resembles a solid cake or a softer cookie. They are baked in a pan and are very popular over the holidays. Many coffee shops and bakeries sell them as well, so it's not only the American households that enjoy the said dessert.
Chocolate chips, nuts, raspberry jam, coconut, cocoa powder, graham cracker, pudding, mini-marshmallows, and peanut butter are all typical components of this recipe, along with exotic ingredients like sour cream, vanilla, raisins, and pumpkin.
People love experimenting with food using different ingredients. Thus, it is of no surprise anymore that wide varieties of these dessert bars have come to the spotlight. Among these varieties, however, the pumpkin bars took most of the limelight because of their spice that the rest of the dessert bars could not offer.
Why Does This Pumpkin Squares With Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe Works?
You may prepare your pumpkin bars in various ways per the search results you may find on the internet. There is almost no limitation of the recipes for this dish that you may encounter. However, this particular recipe would work well with you and is the very must-try one because of the following reasons:
- It is budget-friendly, and the ingredients are easy to find without the fear of being pricey.
- Preparation time won't be that long. You don't have to wait for the bars to bake.
- Finished with spiced cream cheese frosting! Should we say more?
- Pumpkin bars would surely become our children's all-time favorite snack!
- They are healthy and delicious snacks.
What's in This Pumpkin Squares With Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe?
All-purpose Flour. All-purpose flour helps in building the structure of your Pumpkin Bars.
Pumpkin. Pumpkin tastes like most winter squashes, though some are sweeter and more widely used in baking. Fresh pumpkin has a vibrant flavor, while canned pumpkin has a milder flavor. I used canned pumpkin in making this recipe; however, feel free to use homemade pumpkin if you like.
Baking Soda. Baking soda is used as a chemical leavening in baking. It combines with an acid to produce carbon dioxide or plenty of bubbles, which helps your pumpkin bars rise.
Spices. Add ground cinnamon, ground ginger, and ground nutmeg to serve as your spices. These spices would really give your pumpkin bars a woody, citrusy, bittersweet flavor with traces of clove and a fresh, rich scent. They all have a rich flavor and are warm and aromatic.
Butter. Butter is also crucial for Pumpkin Bars' structure; the fat and moisture in butter can stimulate or prevent gluten production, directly affecting the shape, spread, and texture of your bars. You will also use butter later for your frosting.
Oil. Using canola oil for baking these Pumpkin Bars is the ideal option since it will not affect the finished product's flavor. However, you can also use sunflower or vegetable oil if you like.
Granulated Sugar. Because of the size of the sugar crystals, it is ideal for aerating batters and doughs during the creaming process, resulting in light and soft crumbs when baked.
Light Brown Sugar. The use of brown sugar will result in pumpkin bars that are softer and moister.
Eggs. Eggs are essential in preparing our Pumpkin Bars since eggs provide structure, leavening, color, and flavor, among other things. When it comes to baking, the balance between eggs and flour is critical in determining the height and texture of this recipe.
Vanilla Extract. Add sweetness to your bars and their frosting by adding drops of vanilla extract!
For The Cream Cheese Frosting
Cream Cheese. The flavor of cream cheese is mild and cheesy. You can compare it to mozzarella, as they are both relatively light in comparison with other cheeses.
Powdered Sugar. The finer granules make powdered sugar ideal for preparing sweet meals that need to be smooth. This is the best-chosen type of sugar for baked good embellishments like frosting, glazing, and dusting.
Butter. It gives the frosting an excellent buttery taste, and it improves the texture of the frosting.
Vanilla extract. It adds extra flavour.
How to Make The Best Pumpkin Squares With Cream Cheese Frosting?
- Preheat oven to 180 C. Grease a 20x30 cm baking sheet with butter or line with parchment pepper.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.
- Microwave the butter until melted (about 20-30 seconds)and let it cool slightly.
- In a mixing bowl, combine granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, pumpkin puree and vanilla extract, pour the butter and oil over the mixture and whisk until well combined.
- Now, fold the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture, stir until combined.
- Spread the batter evenly into the baking sheet.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, let cool completely.
Preparing the cream cheese frosting:
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla extract well until combined.
- Spread the frosting over the pumpkin cake. Cut into squares and scatter some cinnamon on top.
Top Tips!
- Avoid over-mixing the batter. It will result in a denser and tougher pumpkin bar.
- Measure your flour correctly, or your Pumpkin Bars will be a complete disaster.
Some Variations
- Decorate the bars with chopped nuts, chocolate chips, sprinkles, or candy pumpkins.
- You may use honey or maple syrup in place of vanilla extract.
Serving Suggestion
Pair your healthy pumpkin bars with a hot espresso in the morning and freshly quizzed orange juice during snack time. Your kids will surely love them!
Recipe FAQs
When stored in the refrigerator, these bars will last for three days. It is recommended that you keep them refrigerated and not leave them out for more than two hours due to the dairy in the frosting.
Yes! After baking, you can freeze pumpkin bars. But for optimal results, do so before frosting. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freeze; thaw overnight and cover with cream cheese icing.
Trying to bake this new delightful recipe to share with your family and loved ones? Share with us your thoughts and pumpkin bars stories!
Healthy Pumpkin Recipes
- How To Make Pumpkin Puree From Scratch
- Healthy Pumpkin Pancake Recipe
- Pumpkin Cupcakes
- Pumpkin Scones With Vanilla Glaze
- Easy Pumpkin Bread Recipe
Pumpkin Squares With Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 can pumpkin puree , not pie filling
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ cup unsalted butter , diced
- ½ cup oil
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 226 g cream cheese , at room temperature
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter , at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C. Grease a 20x30 cm baking sheet with butter or line with parchment pepper.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.
- Microwave the butter until melted (about 20-30 seconds)and let it cool slightly.
- In a mixing bowl, combine granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, pumpkin puree and vanilla extract, pour the butter and oil over the mixture and whisk until well combined.
- Now, fold the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture, stir until combined.
- Spread the batter evenly into the baking sheet.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, let cool completely.
Preparing the cream cheese frosting
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla extract well until combined.
- Spread the frosting over the pumpkin cake. Cut into squares and scatter some cinnamon on top.
Notes
- Avoid over-mixing the batter. It will result in a denser and tougher pumpkin bar.
- Measure your flour correctly, or your Pumpkin Bars will be a complete disaster.
- Decorate the bars with chopped nuts, chocolate chips, sprinkles, or candy pumpkins.
- You may use honey or maple syrup in place of vanilla extract.
Nutrition
If you like this pumpkin squares with cream cheese frosting recipe and want to save it for later? Add it to your favourite recipe board on Pinterest!
Follow Healthy Life Trainer on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram to keep up-to-date with all new recipes. Also, you can subscribe to my Newsletter to recipe all the latest recipes once published.
Mia Oliver
Yummy and sweet. I love these bars so much, and the cream cheese makes them more rich and delicious.