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!
They look delicious! I try to adapt magazine recipes all the time and it usually works better if I do my own thing. I like Fall, but I DON’T like being constantly cold. And having to wear leggings under my jeans. But other than that… 😉
Ugh agreed! I need to remind myself of that… magazine recipes hardly ever work out well for me!
Oh yum yum yum!
When I was a teacher, poetry was my favorite unit to teach! I love creative writing, and poetry gives you limitless possibilities. So fun!
Mmmm… autumn and pumpkin are a match made in Heaven! Autumn is my favourite season too – it’s so pretty with all the leaves changing colour.
Poetry? I’m still in the ‘way-beyond-confused’ state where 99% of poetry doesn’t make sense to me. If there was ever such a thing as food poetry, I’d certainly have a better understanding. 😉 Oh, wait, you say your recipes are food poetry? No wonder they taste so good!
Ah, these are different than how I imagined! I like how the cream is optional… I think they might be lovely with cranberry-apple butter, too. 🙂
As for poetry: I’ve been writing it since the third grade… I seemed to have a knack for it, so I love it because it was something everyone told me I was “good at”. Then in high school, when we had to analyse boatloads of poetry for IB Higher Level English, I grew to actually love reading it, too. I like how there are so many subtle ways to create mood or convey different tones and messages through poems. I don’t think there’s a form of poetry I don’t like… So anyway, I’m with you all the way on loving poetry!
Oh my gosh- these look so delicious! They look totally moist (I know everyone hates that word- but it’s true!) And I love that they are so low in calories! What a great way to have a little pumpkin indulgence! I wonder how these would be with just a little sprinkling of powdered sugar on top?! Just a thought! And I’ve gone though times when I was into poetry but I can only really do non-rhyming poetry… when you ask me to rhyme I have a hell of a time 😉 hehe ok I couldn’t resist that one!
Haha I know everyone hates that word… Why does everyone hate that word?!? I don’t get it! It’s such a good word. Much better than DRY or CARDBOARD or even GUMMY! Moist forever! 🙂
These look fantastic! I have a potluck to go to tonight and although I have pretty much no time to prepare for it, I’m going to try to find a way to make these happen before I head over!!!
PUMPKIN!!! YUM!!! “Fall in a bar” haha I love it!! I used to love poetry in high school and I won a few contest. Somehow when college started I just didnt have time for it since im a science major.
The only poems I used to like were limericks. And maybe shel Silverstein:) now I enjoy poetry… But I’m more of a reader then a writer.
Yay! I am so excited to try your recipe! The love love LOVE pumpkin! Now if only we can get this Texas weather to be more fall-like. As for poetry, I was never big on writing it but I loved reading Robert Frost poems, because I love nature, and Shakespeare’s sonnets. Thanks for the recipe Katie!
Yuuuuuum!! I am definitely making these today! I bet they would be delicious with chocolate chips in them, or instead of frosting them, dipping them in chocolate! Thanks so much!
Yes, I love poetry, I enjoy both reading and writing it. Still, I like prose much more 🙂 Thanks for the recipe, it looks very very good!
Hey Lenna! I love poetry too! Fabulous looking recipe, Katie, and you look so pretty (as usual) with all your pumpkins! 😉
Ooohh these look so fudgey! Yum 🙂
I’m an English graduate and my boyfriend is doing a PHD on poetry so I’d like to say yes…but I can’t!
These sound great. A few things: Bob’s is not vegan anymore because of the company donated tons of money to animal research. Not good for the animals. Bummer, I liked their products!
Maybe better wording would be to write “egg replacer” of choice instead of “egg of choice”. It almost sounds like you are encouraging people to use an egg, which I know is not your intention at all.
Wha?! Are you serious? This makes me so sad… last I heard, he was a super-magnanimous guy who was retiring and giving his entire company away to his employees as opposed to selling it off for a huge profit. Wow.
Plus, honestly how stupid do you have to be in this day and age to give $ to animal research anyway? People and animals are DIFFERENT, and therefore they throw away 90% of those test results anyway. (Did you know Tylenol causes cancer in rats?) And with computer simulations, why wouldn’t a company want to back that up instead when it’s so much more accurate? Especially a company who knows it will receive backlash from its fan base/ target audience if it gives to animal research???!
End rant. (Sorry, I know I’m preaching to the choir here.) I’m going to go read up on this when I get a chance, and I’ll then change my post. I am very disappointed.
Just did a little research. Wow, that is sad. I found, among other things, “Neither party will deny that some of the funds will be used on animal research.” It just baffles me that Bob’s would want to anger their main target audience like that. Forget the compassionate standpoint for a moment, it doesn’t even seem like a good idea from a BUSINESS standpoint!
I changed my post and will definitely not be recommending Bob’s in the future :(.
YUMmmmmmY!
And I like reading poetry, but I’m not one to sit around and just read poetry. I’d rather read recipes!
Can’t wait to make these for my dad, he LOVES pumpkin!!
Would these workout with whole wheat flour? or whole wheat pastry flour maybe?
I don’t see why they wouldn’t work with ww pastry!
Mmmm you and I definitely have the same idea of comfort food! Veggies and fruit! And chocolate, of course. These look delicious, and since I love everything pumpkin perhaps i’ll whip some up tonight!