October 3, 2011 | 0 Comments

Like Christmas morning…

It’s finally October, my favorite month! I woke up with extra pep in my step on Saturday because I finally got to put out my Fall decorations. Now there are no Griswald comparisons that can be made with my house, but I do love decorating the mantle, tables, and my front door with leaf garlands, lanterns, and pumpkins. Tons of pumpkins, both the traditional orange and the odd yet adorable white ones! There is something about the sight of a pumpkin that just makes me smile.

To welcome this joyous day that I’ve been looking forward to I want to share with you my Pumpkin Bar recipe. The flavors of cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg mixed with pumpkin are to die for. This cake like bar is topped with just the right amount of cream cheese frosting and is a great alternative to the traditional pumpkin pie. My family loves it so much they request this over pumpkin pie each year.

Pumpkin Bars

Yields: Approximately 32 pieces

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

4 Brown Cage Free Eggs
1 2/3 cups Organic Granulated Sugar
1 Cup Vegetable oil
2 Cups Canned Pumpkin
2 Cups Unbleached All Purpose Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Crushed Cinnamon
1 tsp Crushed Clove
1 tsp Freshly Grated Nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 Cup softened Cream Cheese
1/2 Cup Softened Unsalted Butter
2 Cups Organic Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Good Quality Vanilla Extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease 13×10 inch Baking Dish
Mix eggs, sugar, vegetable oil and pumpkin with electric mixture thoroughly
Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg in a bowl
Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and mix throughly until smooth
Pour batter into baking dish and bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center of cake comes out clean
As the pumpkin bars are baking blend cream cheese, vanilla, butter, and powdered sugar until smooth
Let bars cool completely before cutting and frosting. Can frost completely or with a little rosette on top.