Leaves paint the ground.
Vivid orange, red, and yellow swirl through the sky, stirred by a cool Fall breeze.
Monet’s paintbrush.
(Hope you liked my little poem!)
Fall is by far my favorite time of year. Everything about it just seems so cozy: oversized sweaters, steamy mugs of hot cider, scarecrows and falling leaves. It’s the comfort food of seasons. Not to mention the actual comfort foods of Fall: roasted veggies, juicy apples, and—of course—pumpkin!
Topped with my favorite Healthy Cream Cheese Frosting.
If you could sum up “Fall” in a bar, this would be it. My first attempt at these bars was based on a (non-vegan) recipe I found online from Better Homes and Gardens. Sadly, that attempt turned out bland and dry. So for my second attempt, I went with my own intuition, adding ingredients I thought sounded good together and hoping for the best.
Oh they were delicious! These bars have a soft texture and the perfect balance of sweet to spice.
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars
(These can be gluten-free!)
- 1/2 cup spelt or white flour, oat flour, or Bob’s gf)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ener-g powder OR 1 tbsp ground flax (If necessary, you can omit completely)
- 3 tbsp brown sugar or agave (For a sugar-free version, you can use xylitol)
- pinch uncut stevia OR 2 more tbsp sugar
- 1/2 cup canned or cooked and pureed pumpkin
- 2 tbsp milk of choice
- 2 tbsp oil (Some readers say subbing applesauce is fine, but I haven’t tried)
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine dry ingredients, then add in wet. Spread into an oiled 7×5 pan (or double the recipe for an 8×8) and cook for 14-15 minutes. Note: You can sub agave for the sugar; they’ll just be fluffier and a bit more dense. Let the pan cool for at least ten minutes before cutting or frosting the squares. Also, the flavors seem to intensify and these taste even sweeter the next day.
View Pumpkin Bars Nutrition Facts
You can frost with the aforementioned Healthy Cream Cheese Frosting. Or you can opt to leave them plain. They are deliciously-sweet even when completely unfrosted! (Alternative topping ideas include: apple butter, peanut butter, coconut butter, etc.)
Do you like reading or writing poetry?
I actually do, which is surprising because I hated reading poetry when I was younger. I’d get so confused! But I’ve always loved writing freestyle poetry, where there are no rules—you get to throw in exactly the words you want, in exactly the order you want. Come to think of it, that’s how I create recipes, too!
Can I use a regular egg instead of the flax and the one you used?
is the cream cheese just in the frosting or did I miss something?
I don’t have any pumpkin pie spice and can’t get it where I live 🙁
Will the bars taste just as delicious with just extra cinnamon? 🙂
I think that’d be fine!
I just made these for thanksgiving dessert. They are amazing!! I love them 🙂 you are a genious!
couple questions about this..
first, when you say coconut oil, do you always mean liquid form? i’m new to baking and not sure if you all nuke yours since it always seems to be a solid in the cabinet.
second, can you explain more what you mean by using a powder for an “egg” ? Do you mean we could use something like protein powder or should non-vegetarians actually use an egg?
finally, could you advise the cooking time for the 8×8 version?
thanks:) tastes EXCELLENT so far by the way.. I have it in the oven right now. 🙂 THANK YOU!
Yes, liquid… I’m in Tx so it’s usually liquid anyway ;).
No, use Ener-g egg replacer. (Google image search to see what it looks like.) Or you can use 1 tbsp ground flax.
8×8 same time.
Just doubled the recipe in an 8×8 pan (baked for 20 minutes) and they turned out fantastic–no cream cheese necessary! Thanks for the great recipe! How do you recommend storing them? Thanks again!
I made these today and they are AMAZING!! I ate so many. It tastes like pumpkin pie. I followed the recipe and doubled it. I ended up having to bake it for an extra 8 min. I’ll def be making them again.
This is an awesome slice, I will be using this recipe over and over.
Thankyou Katie.
Hello! First of all — love your blog. I’m pretty much obsessed with your oatmeal and pancake recipes! Thanks for making such healthy and tasty breakfast options!
So I made this bar and I’m not sure what I did wrong. I followed the recipe exactly (left out the egg/flax part, like you said we could), but it ended up very puffed up and cake-like. Not like the pictures at all. It was extremely tasty, so I’m willing to try again! I’m just wondering if maybe you did something in your trials that made it cakey and I make the same mistake? Cheers!
Did you mix these up with a blender or food processor or ?? I like to make most of my stuff in a stand mixer, but your recipes are often so small – that doesn’t work out so well. Hoping for some guidance.
Just use a mixing bowl and a fork.
Sure wish I knew when this would be done. I started it at 14.5 minutes. I’m on my 3rd extra minute now. My cake tester sure keeps coming out with stuff on it…
These are in the oven right now! Can’t wait to try them!
Delicious recipe, thank you! I swapped some items: I used 2% milk, whole wheat flour, and nutmeg because I didn’t have pumpkin spice. Then, I added a half a cup of mini chocolate chips. I made as cookies instead of bars and they are yummy!!!
Wow!!! Soooooo delicious!!! It was love from first bite!
Thanks a lot for recepie!
Hi, what do you mean by:-
■1 “egg” of choice- I used 1 tsp ener-g powder, but 1 tbsp ground flax would work. If necessary, you can omit completely.
Are you saying use 1 egg plus 1 tsp ener-g powder or flax?
Thanks 🙂
No, she means just 1 tsp energ powder or 1 tbsp flaxmeal.
The recipe for pumpkin cream cheese bars has no cream cheese in it? Or did you forget to list it? Thanks, Jill
These look amazing- any thoughts on how to adjust the amount of each ingredient so this could be made in a 13×9 pan? If I double it and put it in this size pan would they be too thin? thanks!