Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Icing
For Thanksgiving, I tried a new recipe and made Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Icing. The recipe is from the Food Network website, adapted by Paula Deen. Don’t be scared away by just hearing the name Paula Deen–this recipe has a few places where it can be made lower calorie. Or you can just remember that it’s the holiday season and let yourself indulge in some sweetness in the name of the holidays. 
To start off with, the recipe called for these ingredients:
The Ingredients for the Bars & Icing
Here’s what you will need for the Pumpkin Bars:
-4 eggs
-1 2/3 cup granulated sugar
-1 cup vegetable oil
-15 ounce can of pumpkin
-2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
-2 teaspoons baking powder
-2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
-1 teaspoon salt
-1 teaspoon baking soda
…and the ingredients for the Cream Cheese Icing:
-8 ounce package of cream cheese, softened
-1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
-2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Now let’s get started!
The first part...
Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until lightly fluffy. (Note: here you can sub half the sugar for Splenda and use applesauce in place of the vegetable oil. You can also use an egg white mix or egg-like products, too.)
Mix that orangey goodness together!
I used my Kitchen Aid mixer for this entire recipe, even if it meant washing it out twice while baking I figured what better time than holiday baking? I mean, I’ve had it for going on four years now and have not used it once.. It worked really well!
The pumpkin batter will be thick and fluffy
After you’ve got your pumpkin batter thoroughly mixed, you can move on to the next step.
In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda.
Dry Ingredients
Once they are thoroughly mixed together, add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin batter.
Mixing in the dry ingredients...
Mix on low until the batter is smooth
Make sure you mix the batter on low until all lumps and bumps are mixed into oblivion
Yummy & lump free thick Pumpkin batter
After the batter is completely mixed, spread batter into a greased 13 x 10 inch baking pan.
The batter waiting to be baked
"Bake me!"
Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees F. After completely cooled, cut into bars. I never cut mine into bars because I did not plan on taking it out of the baking pan so it wasn’t an issue.
While the bars bake, start making the icing.
First you combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl until smooth.
Soft butter & soft cream cheese
These two will clump together if they are not soft enough so make sure you get them nice and mixable before you pop ‘em in the mixer.
Next mix in the confectioners’ sugar:
Now with the confectioners' sugar...
Mix in the CF at a low speed until well combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again.
The finished icing with be thick & very sweet!
I kept my icing in the fridge for about 10 minutes and then let it soften before I iced my pumpkin bars… and I made sure to wait until the bars were completely cooled:
Baked Pumpkin Bars
And then I iced them…
Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Icing
These bars smelled delicious and the frosting that I tasted was sweet and very cream-cheesy! I never actually ate a bar (at the end of the night I wasn’t even craving anything sweet… I was just so tired!) but I heard from my mother-in-law, father-in-law, and brother-in-law that they were very good. So… success.
Thick layer of icing!
I would definitely like to try making this again… the more low-sugar/low-calorie way.. although I am a firm believer that some things are best as they are intended to be… so maybe I should just let this be fattening and enjoyable next time I make it? We’ll see
What is your favorite holiday dessert recipe?
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