These are the best pumpkin bars I’ve ever had. They have incredible spiced pumpkin flavor and aren’t quite as light and cakey as most other recipes I’ve tried. Instead, they’re soft and sturdy which pairs perfectly with the spiced cream cheese frosting on top!
I’m following up the best pumpkin cake I’ve ever had with the best pumpkin bars I’ve ever had. My pumpkin bars and pumpkin cake have their differences, which I discuss below, and I’m so proud to share both of these recipes on my blog with you. If you enjoy my pumpkin cake, you will FLIP for these pumpkin bars too.
These are the Best Pumpkin Bars I’ve Ever Had
And here’s why:
- Big pumpkin flavor
- Generously spiced with pumpkin pie spices
- Sweetened with brown sugar
- Soft, yet sturdy (just like my soft pumpkin cookies)
- Super moist
- Cakey, but not as cakey as others—no fork required!
- Finished with spiced cream cheese frosting
- …and sprinkles!
Video Tutorial
Are Pumpkin Bars and Pumpkin Cake The Same?
Let’s clear this up right away! Some pumpkin bar recipes basically produce pumpkin cake. Sure, the bars are totally delicious, but they’re more like a thin and fragile piece of cake than an easy bar dessert. I set out to create something slightly different, but still maintain a favorably soft and moist texture.
I actually started with my pumpkin cake recipe because, again, it’s my favorite. Here we’ll reduce the baking powder so the bars have a little less lift. We’ll also remove 1 egg because less egg = less cakey. And, finally, reduce the granulated sugar and add a touch of maple syrup. The pure liquid sweetener adds flavor, moisture, and really gives these particular bars that little something extra. (These definitely stand out from other recipes.)
So, yes, pumpkin bars and pumpkin cake can taste the same. Follow my recipe for a little variation. By the way, if you’re craving pumpkin pie as a bar, here are my pumpkin pie bars. Or for breakfast try these simple pumpkin muffins. And if you need to feed a crowd, don’t miss my pumpkin Bundt cake. 🙂
How to Make Pumpkin Bars
- Mix dry ingredients together. You need flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. You can use homemade pumpkin pie spice here!
- Whisk wet ingredients together. You need vegetable oil or melted coconut oil, eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, pure maple syrup, 1 can pumpkin puree, and vanilla extract. By the way, I love when recipes use the entire can of pumpkin. So convenient!
- Combine all the ingredients and spread into a 10×15-inch baking pan. The size of the pan is key to the texture. Anything smaller creates thick pumpkin bars, which taste almost identical to pumpkin cake. A pan larger than 10×15 inch will give you thin and flimsy bars.
- Bake for around 30 minutes. Baking times can vary, so keep an eye on yours. The bars are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool, then frost.
Good news is that you’ll get a lot of use out of this particular size pan. (I recently purchased this one and love it.) Use it again for pumpkin roll, champagne cake roll, and apple slab pie.
Baker’s Tip: A few lumps in the batter is OK.
Topping for Pumpkin Bars
You can keep these pumpkin bars totally plain or even dust with a little confectioners’ sugar. They’re still fabulous without a special garnish on top! But, alas, I never pass up an opportunity for cream cheese frosting. To give them a little extra flair, add pumpkin pie spice to the frosting, just like I do for pumpkin oatmeal cream pies. You’ll be surprised how a *little* spice can totally transform frosting, as evidenced with the frosting on these banana cupcakes and gingerbread cookie bars.
Tangy, creamy, spiced, and sweet, this cream cheese frosting is the perfect partner for our pumpkin bars. I cut back on the butter in the frosting to (1) produce less and (2) create a thicker, sturdier frosting. Perfect for these portable bars.
Let’s Garnish!
To finish them off, garnish with festive sprinkles or even pumpkin icing decorations. Aren’t they fun and festive for Halloween? I used “Ah Maize-ing Twinkle Sprinkle Medley” from Sweetapolita. I’m unable to find a link to the exact pumpkins you see in the photos, but these pumpkin decorations are also adorable. Here are our decorated Halloween cookies and Halloween cupcakes if you need additional seasonal dessert ideas!
Pumpkin bars are a total classic and I hope you turn to this recipe the next time you crave a batch. If you need more inspiration, here are my 30+ best pumpkin dessert recipes. How many votes for year-long pumpkin season?
The Best Pumpkin Bars I’ve Ever Had
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: about 24 bars
- Category: Bars
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These are the best pumpkin bars I’ve ever had. They have incredible spiced pumpkin flavor and aren’t quite as light and cakey as most other recipes I’ve tried. Instead, they’re soft and sturdy which pairs perfectly with the spiced cream cheese frosting on top!
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons store-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice*
- 1 cup (240ml) vegetable oil*
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup (200g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/3 cup (65g) granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) pure maple syrup
- 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree*
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces (226g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp; 56g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3 cups (360g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon store-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice*
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- optional: sprinkles for decorating
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and grease a 10×15-inch baking pan. Or line the pan with parchment paper with enough overhang on the sides to easily lift the bars (as a whole) out.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice together in a large bowl. Set aside. Whisk the oil, eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, maple syrup, pumpkin, and vanilla extract together until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and use a mixer or whisk until completely combined. Batter will be thick.
- Spread batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 28-35 minutes. Baking times vary, so keep an eye on yours. The bars are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If you find the top or edges of the bars browning too quickly, loosely tent with aluminum foil.
- Remove the bars from the oven and set the pan on a wire rack. Cool bars completely. (After about 45 minutes of cooling, you can place the bars in the refrigerator to speed things up!)
- Make the frosting: In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter together on high speed until smooth and creamy. Add confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then switch to high speed and beat for 2 minutes. If you want the frosting a little thicker, add an extra 1/4 cup of confectioners sugar. Spread the frosting on the cooled bars. To help “set” the frosting, refrigerate for 30 minutes before slicing and serving. This makes cutting easier and less messy.
- Enjoy with or without a fork, but definitely grab a napkin!
- Cover leftover bars tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. If you skipped the frosting, cover and store plain pumpkin bars at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Prepare recipe through step 4. Cover cooled bars tightly and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze up to 3 months. You can cut the bars and freeze in a large freezer container, too. Bring to room temperature, make the frosting, frost, and serve. Frosted bars also freeze well, up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature or serve cold.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 10×15-inch Baking Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Cooling Rack | Icing Spatula
- Lining Pan: You can line the baking pan with parchment paper to easily lift out the bars as a whole. Or you can simply grease the pan. Once completely cool, you can (very carefully!!) slide a couple thin spatulas under the bars and lift out to put on a cutting board to slice. Or just slice them in the pan.
- Spices: You can find pumpkin pie spice in the baking aisle of most grocery stores or make your own homemade pumpkin pie spice. If you don’t have either and want to use individual spices, use 3/4 teaspoon each: ground ginger and ground nutmeg, and 1/4 teaspoon each: ground cloves and ground allspice. Do not leave out the 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon that is also called for in this recipe. In the frosting, use a tiny pinch of each, plus a tiny pinch of cinnamon too.
- Oil: Instead of 1 cup of oil, try 1/2 cup (90g) unsweetened applesauce and 1/2 (120ml) cup oil. The bars are just as moist. Vegetable oil is best, but melted coconut oil works too.
- Pumpkin: I strongly recommend using canned pumpkin puree over homemade in this recipe, though 2 cups of homemade would be fine in a pinch. I found the flavor better with canned. I prefer Libby’s brand.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Can you sub Bob Red Mill Measure for Measure gf flour to make it gluten free?
Hi Morgan! We haven’t tested this recipe with gluten free flours, but some readers have reported success using 1:1 flour substitutes. If you try it, let us know how it goes!
I made these with 1:1 gf flour and they were fantastic!
I made the bars without the cream cheese frosting to avoid the extra calories, but I am sure it would be wonderful with the frosting.
I added 1/2 cup craisins and 1/2 cup chopped pecans instead. They turned out great following everything else. They hold together well and are very moist. I did use my own pumpkin puree without any issues, but I could see that there could be problems if a homemade puree is not the right consistency.
Delicious and easy to make!
can you bake this in a 9X13 pan?
Hi Louise, a 10×15-inch baking pan is crucial for this recipe. If you have a 9×13 pan, you can use this recipe for pumpkin cake instead.
I was wondering about substituting the maple syrup with molasses. Would I use the same amount. I was also thinking about adding pecans and golden raisins to the bars (I add these to my spice cakes). Hopefully these changes/additions will pair well with pumpkin.
Hi Debbie, while some readers have reported success swapping with molasses, we recommend using honey or regular sugar instead. You can definitely add a combination of pecans and raisins. We recommend anywhere between 3/4 – 1.5 cups total add-ins.
Can I omit butter in the frosting? I’d rather not use it..or can I replace it with oil? I also find that, that’s a lot of confectioners sugar
Does this recipe need to be adjusted for High Altitude?
Made this last year and they are very tasty.
Hi Chris, wish we could help, but have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
I live at about ~6,000 ft. Made as written, baked in a 9×13 pan at 350 for about 30 minutes and they turned out perfect.
Hello Sally, Thank you so much for all of your amazing recipes! Do you think two 8″ × 8″ pans would work for this particular recipe?
Hi Laurie! The 10×15-inch pan really is best for this recipe so that the bars have the proper texture. If you want to use other sizes pans, we’d recommend our pumpkin cake recipe instead.
Can you substitute avocado oil for vegetable oil
Hi Carol, yes, that’s fine here!
A delicious 10 x 15 sheet cake, but nothing about this is a bar.
same here! delicious but definitely turned out as a sheet cake for sure! but still a win and not a crumb left!
I absolutely love your recipes and helpful hints. You are so generous with your online recipes that I felt I needed to buy your cookbook as a thank you.! Can chopped. Nuts be added to pumpkin bread?
Hi Charlotte! Yes, absolutely. Thank you so much for making our recipes!
I was looking for a recipe for a pumpkin and cream cheese recipe, but couldn’t find quite what I was looking for. So I took this recipe and made the bars and directed. Then I made up a cheesecake mixture and swirled it into the batter for the pumpkin bars and hoped for the best. They came out amazing!
Is it ok to use melted butter instead of oil.
I’m hoping it would make it more like a brownie texture.
Thank you !
Hi Leigh, the same amount of melted butter would work in a pinch, but the bars may not taste as moist.
Hi Sally,
there was another pumpkin bar recipe you use to have, with the cream cheese swirled on the top. I distinctly remember the picture having pumpkin seeds on top … could you please re-direct me to it. I can’t find it. I make that recipe every single year.
Hi Sarah! We recently removed that older recipe from the website, but if you send us an email (sally@sallysbakingaddiction.com), we’d be happy to share a copy with you. Thank you!
Is there any way to increase the recipe so that i can use a full sheet pan? That’s all i have.
Hi Lily! By a full sheet pan do you perhaps mean a half sheet pan (18×13 inches?). Other bakers have reported making 1.5x this recipe for a half sheet pan. A full sheet pan is very large (18×26 inches). I know the terms can be confusing since a half sheet pan is usually what we think of as the largest in a home baker’s kitchen.
Yes! Sorry! It’s a half sheet. So i can just increase it by 1.5? Same temp?
We haven’t tested it, but other bakers have done so with success! Same temp. Bake time will be a little longer.
Can you pipe this icing through a wide tip to make it more festive?
Hi Paula! Cream cheese frosting pipes well but doesn’t hold intricate designs. Let us know what you try!
Well, the piping worked! Except that my largest star tip was Wilton 21, so I had to do lots of small stars instead of a large center one. I increased the size and tweaked my pattern as I went along, but I am pleased with the results. I did have to start working pretty quickly toward the end as the icing warmed!!
Hi, Sally, I saw in another comment that instead of maple syrup, you said we can replace it with an extra 2 TBs of sugar. Would that be white or brown sugar? Also, what about using honey as an alternative to the maple syrup? Would that work/what would be the ratio for that? Thank you in advance!
Any of those sweeteners are fine here, Rebecca! Same amount for all of them (2 Tbsp).
Hi! Can this recipe be doubled?
Hi Meredith, For the best results we recommend making two separate batches instead of doubling.
So, instead of using a sheet pan. Which would make thin bars. This recipe can’t be doubled for a 13×9 baking pan?? Does Sally have a recipe for that type of pan??
Hi LuAnn, a 10×15-inch baking pan is crucial for this recipe. If you have a 9×13 pan, you can use this recipe for pumpkin cake instead.
Will it make a difference if I use Philadelphia 1/3 less fat cream cheese?
Hi Lily, the frosting will be thinner with low fat cream cheese.
Just served these for a dinner for 60. They were completely gone. Great recipe. I would have loved them with dried cranberries and with candied pecans on the top but…. I’ll do it here at home. FYI, a batch and a half is the perfect amount for a 1/2 sheet pan.
I made this last night for an event this morning. They are delicious and everyone said so. BUT, I can’t understand why they are called bars. They are ( or mine are) a thin pumpkin cake with icing. I think of bars as a dessert that can be picked up and eaten without the use of utensils and not getting anything left on one’s fingers: that is not possible with this recipe: the icing prohibits this. As I said in the beginning, these are scrumptious but not my understanding/definition of a “bar”.
Made these for a football watch party and my friends and their kiddo loved them! Tons of compliments about how moist they were. I halved the recipe and baked in an 8×8 pan for 25 mins. Also ran out of vegetable oil so used half veg oil and half coconut oil. So good!
I haven’t made these yet, but very excited to try them.
I was wandering what would happen if I left out the maple syrup?
Hi Dawn, you can leave the maple syrup out, or replace with an extra 2 TBS of sugar. Enjoy!
Oh my, these bars are the bomb. I have made them two times recently. I did not have pure maple syrup that it calls for, I added the next best thing which is pure natural honey ( my son has bee hives). May I again say they are delicious. Yum, yum.
Can I use a glass baking pan to make pumpkin squares?
Hi Geraldine, a 10×15-inch baking pan is crucial for this recipe. If you have a 9×13 glass pan, you can use this recipe for pumpkin cake instead.
Sally, am such a fan–thanks for all your great recipes! For me, this one turned out like a delicious pumpkin cake. Has anyone tried it eliminating either the baking soda or powder?
Hi Nancy Jo, did you use a difference size pan by chance? The pan size is crucial for the correct taste and texture in these bars. We wouldn’t recommend eliminating the baking soda and/or baking powder, or the bars could turn out squat and overly dense. Let us know if we can help troubleshoot further!
So delicious but like others said mine turned out like cake. And I did use the correct size pan! Not sure what went wrong. I was thinking they would be a brownie/blondie consistency.
Wonderful recipe! I get rave reviews whenever I make them. I sub 1/2 applesauce for the oil.
So excited to make these for my best friend’s birthday. She loves pumpkin. Have you tried these with chocolate chips? Do you think it would turn out okay?
Hi Lacey, you can definitely add chocolate chips to this batter. We recommend folding in about 1 cup after you mix the wet and dry ingredients together.
Your picture doesn’t do the recipe justice. It is so delicious and I have never received so many compliments. It’s a winner!
Great recipe! Brought them to a housewarming party and everyone loved the taste and texture. A guest even told me I should open a bakery.
Made these for Thanksgiving but ended having to make 2 because I ate the first batch