Best Easy Pumpkin Bars Recipe (Pumpkin Spice Bars)

If you’re looking for a pumpkin dessert recipe that epitomizes the flavors of fall and the holidays, Pumpkin Bars (Pumpkin Spice Bars) are going to be your new not-as-guilty pleasure.

I first shared this recipe on my old Busy-at-Home blog in September 2011. I was anxious to share the recipe with all of you and was going to use what I had to create a new post. But, I discovered that my photography skills have evolved slightly over 12 years of blogging. lol. This is what I had.

So, I made a new batch and tweaked the recipe a bit ’cause that’s what bakers do. And I shot some new photos for you.

These tender, wonderfully spiced pumpkin bars are moist and fragrant and topped with cream cheese frosting. Like those famous potato chips, you won’t want to eat just one.

No matter how many times I make them, we’re head-over-heels for all the pumpkin dessert recipes of Fall. We even love these scrumptious gluten-free pumpkin muffins. They taste like eating pumpkin pie with your hands!) But we’re especially fond of this recipe for pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting.

When serving pumpkin spice bars at our recent family birthday party, I was reminded that you all need to know about this easy and delectable dessert. And my kids need to be able to find it quickly for their own baking. (My blog has become each of their recipe boxes.) lol

You only need five or ten minutes to mix up the batter for Pumpkin Spice Bars and to get them in the oven. Then just bake, cool and frost them. It’s so easy!

My Pumpkin Bars formula is one of THOSE recipes. ☺ You’re gonna want to splash some flour on your face and clothes to make it look like you slaved away in the kitchen. lol No one has to know how simple this scrumptious Fall dessert is to make.

You’re gonna be a baking star!

White Whole Wheat Flour

White whole wheat flour is NOT the same as all-purpose, bleached or unbleached.  It IS whole wheat flour but milled from a lighter-colored variety of wheat, white spring wheat. The whole wheat flour you may be more familiar with is winter red wheat. 

Products made with white whole wheat flour bake up lighter in color and also in texture than ones baked with traditional red whole wheat. Red whole wheat flour is more coarse than the finer textured white whole wheat flour.

White whole wheat flour has the same nutritional value as red whole wheat flour. It is high in fiber and protein, which helps balance those carbs, unlike all-purpose flour. It’s loaded with dozens of vitamins and minerals that are just gone after the processing of all-purpose flour.

As a baking alternative, white whole wheat flour is one of my favorite ways to make our baked goods a little more healthy while still tasting absolutely delightful. And it’s become very “mainstream”, so it’s easier to find now in the baking aisle of most grocery stores.

At Walmart, I usually buy the Prairie Gold brand of white whole wheat flour. It works beautifully. My all-time favorite is the King Arthur Flour brand _{[affiliate link]} but at my Walmart, they don’t carry it anymore.

Pumpkin Bars and

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients

Pumpkin Bars are not “health” food by any stretch of the imagination, but my version is a more healthy pumpkin bar than other options, just by using the white whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour. It’s likely the only ingredient you may not already have in your pantry.

Pumpkin Bar Ingredients

• Melted Butter
• Granulated Sugar – I get asked about my sugar a lot. I use less refined granulated sugar. It’s still plain old granulated sugar, just not white in color. The brand I use is Zulka Morena and I get it right off the shelf at Walmart.
• Canned Pumpkin Puree – It’s important to check your can and be sure you’re buying pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. Puree is just cooked pumpkin that has been pureed. It’s one ingredient. Pumpkin pie filling is a combination of many ingredients ready to dump in a pie shell and make a pie.
• Eggs
• White Whole Wheat Flour – I have not tried this recipe with all-purpose flour. I assume that it could work, but I cannot tell you for certain.
• Pumpkin Pie Spice – Buy ready-made or make your own, as you prefer. I had a jar in the pantry so that’s what I used.
• Baking Powder
• Baking Soda
• Cinnamon

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients

• Cream Cheese, softened
• Butter, softened
• Vanilla Extract (I use homemade Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract. Whatever you choose, please be sure it is pure vanilla and not imitation.) P.S. If you’ve never seen how easy and how much more affordable it is to make your own vanilla extract at home, you have to check out my easy Homemade Vanilla Extract recipe.
• Powdered Sugar (Confectioner’s Sugar)

FAQs

What to Serve with Pumpkin Bars

As a dessert, these easy, delicious Pumpkin Bars are the perfect end to almost any meal. You certainly can’t beat them as the crowning finish of these favorite meals.

• Mississippi Pot Roast Recipe
• Crockpot Turkey Tenderloins with Gravy
• Best Crock Pot Ham Recipe, 3-Ingredient Simple

Pumpkin Bars and Cream Cheese Frosting also receive great accolades after a meal of:

• Walking Taco Casserole Recipe (Frito Pie)
• Slow Cooker Chicken Breasts, the Juicy Secret
• Easy Crock Pot Cube Steak

Soup and salad couldn’t be finished off in grander style than with my Pumpkin Spice Bars recipe. Try them after any of these delicious and comforting soup options.

• Ham and Beans Recipe
• Best Easy Chili Recipe | 6 Ingredients, 30 Minutes
• Jalapeno Chicken Corn Chowder Recipe
• Chicken Pastina Soup (Chicken and Stars)
• Slow Cooker Charro Beans Recipe (Pinto Beans)
• Colcannon Soup | Simple, Rustic & Delicious

How to Make Pumpkin Bars

1. Melt the butter and set aside to cool slightly.
2. Preheat the oven to 350°.
3. Measure out the white whole wheat flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon into a small bowl and mix to evenly combine them. Set the dry ingredients aside.
4. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the melted butter, eggs, sugar and pumpkin until thoroughly combined. (Be sure the butter is cool enough not to cook your eggs. If it still seems too hot, mix the eggs, pumpkin and sugar first. Then, add the melted butter.)
5. Add the dry ingredients to your mixing bowl and stir just until all flour is thoroughly combined with the wet ingredients. No flour should be showing, but you also don’t want to overbeat the mixture.
6. Spread the thick batter into the prepared pan and bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes. Insert a toothpick into the center to test for doneness. The toothpick will come out clean or with just 2 or 3 moist crumbs attached.
7. Cool the bars completely before frosting.
8. To make the cream cheese frosting, beat together the cream cheese, butter, homemade vanilla extract and powdered sugar until your frosting is smooth and creamy.
9. Spread the frosting over the cooled bars.
10. Store your pumpkin bars in the fridge until ready to serve.