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!
THANKS soooo much for making these! i asked about them and you made them!! you really are the best blogger 🙂
Aww and you are the sweetest commenter! 😉
Thank you! Soooooo looking forward to baking these, and so looking forward to all things pumpkin now that fall is here! And I see you’ve already been playing in the pumpking patch! 🙂
I love how ooey gooey they look. YUM! My hubby loves pumpkin pie, I wonder if he’d go for bars? I’d have to try.
These look really good, nice and chewy and soft. 🙂 I will let you know if I make them, (I have so mannnnny Pumpkin recipes always being made, where to add another!) I know if I do they will be devoured in 2 hours. haha!
BTW, I do love your poem. 🙂
I am a English Lit major so I think it’s my job right now to read, write and love all types of poetry! Great recipe 🙂 Happy 1st day of Fall!
Hey Katie!
I have been following your blog for a while now and I am literally in love with all the recipes that you post, but when I’m away at school I don’t have access to a kitchen, so I was wondering if you could maybe do some recipes that focused on using a microwave haha cuz thats all I can use!
I wish I could make these Pumpkin bars – they look scrumptious!!!!
Hi Natasha,
If you browse through my recipes, you’ll see that a lot of them don’t require cooking at all! 🙂 By any chance, can you sneak a Magic Bullet into your dorm? Many of my recipes only require a blender. And also, many of the cooked ones can be cooked in the microwave (such as the single-lady cupcakes). I wonder if you could do these in the microwave… I bet you could!
Ya i definitely could get a Magic Bullet in my room!!! So ya definitely some of the no bake recipes would work! I can’t wait until i get a kitchen when i can actually use an oven to make these hahah
Love pumpkin, love these! 🙂
These look amazing! Could you use whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour? I’d love to make these 🙂
I don’t see why you couldn’t use ww pastry 🙂
I used whole wheat flour and they tasted great
I am not into poetry but I am into these bars! Wow, they look amazing!
Can these also be sugar free too? Not as in fake sugar but as in no sugar. I’m trying to do a sugar detox, but these sound heavenly.
Sure, I don’t see why not. Obviously, they’d be a lot less sweet… but maybe you could eat them more like cornbread? Or with pb on top?
Or, another thought is to soak dates and then puree them and use that in place of the sugar. Or maybe even banana?
If you try any of these things, let me know how it goes!!
These look fantastic! I’m loving pumpkin right now, I’ll have to try these!!
I’m so glad you went with posting these, they look so delicious! The moistness is just calling to me – I can’t wait to try these. In Canada Thanksgiving is the beginning of October so it’s coming up real soon and these will be on our dessert table! 🙂
Pumpkin!!! Yay these look so soft and… Moist, hehe. Great fall recipe Katie!
These look so delicious! I can’t wait to make them with gluten free flour! I am on a huge pumpkin kick right now.
I like to read poetry. Def not writing. I am not one with words. I’m more of a science girl, not an english girl.
Okay, YUM! I just stocked up on pumpkin from Trader Joe’s yeseterday so I can’t wait to try these! 🙂 Yay for fall (and poetry). He he!
I LOVE YOU!!! I can’t wait to get some pumpkin again so I can make these!! Or I might just get so desperate that I’ll skip that and use sweet potato instead! 🙂