Pumpkin Bars Recipe with Cream Cheese Frosting

When the air finally starts to crips up and the leave change color, these Pumpkin bars come to the top of our minds. We’ve whipped up this dessert for baby blessings, girls nights, Sunday dinner and so much more. It’s a recipe we come back to every single fall, and it is not from a magazine or a fancy cookbook. It came to us on a little index card in someone else’s handwriting, which really is our favorite way to find new recipes.

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These bars are soft, warmly spiced, and topped with a glorious cream cheese frosting. They come together in one bowl, they feed a crowd, and they somehow taste even better on day two. If you only bake one pumpkin thing this season, make it this one.

Where This Pumpkin Bars Recipe Came From

This one belongs to my mother-in-law. It lives in her recipe box on a card that says Pumpkin Sheet Cake across the top, and it has the little butter smudges and soft corners that only come from a recipe someone has actually made a hundred times. It’s already made the rounds through all our homes and now comes out every time someone needs something pumpkin flavored.

What Goes Into These Pumpkin Bars

Nothing fancy here, and you probably have most of it already. The bars need canned pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. The frosting is just softened butter, cream cheese, vanilla, powdered sugar, and a splash of milk to bring it together. Grab pure canned pumpkin (we use Libby’s, from Target or Amazon) rather than pumpkin pie filling, since the filling is already sweetened and spiced and will throw the whole thing off.

You will also want a greased 18×13 inch sheet pan (a standard half sheet pan, like this one from Amazon or this one from Target) and a mixer, though a big bowl and some arm strength will get you there too.

How to Make Pumpkin Bars

This pumpkin bars recipe is a one bowl kind of recipe. Beat the pumpkin, sugar, and oil together, add the eggs, then stir the dry ingredients in until the batter is smooth and glossy. It spreads into the pan easily and bakes in about half an hour. The only rule we are strict about is letting the bars cool completely before the frosting goes anywhere near them. Full measurements and steps are in the recipe card below.

The Threads Between

Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

Soft, spiced pumpkin bars topped with an easy cream cheese frosting. A handed-down family recipe that makes one big 18×13 inch sheet pan, perfect for feeding a crowd all fall.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Servings: 24 bars

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

For the Pumpkin Bars

• 15 oz canned pumpkin
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs beaten
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

• 3/4 cup butter softened (12 tablespoons)
• 8 oz cream cheese softened (one standard block)
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2-4 tbsp milk

Method

 

Pumpkin Bars

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease an 18×13 inch sheet pan (a standard half sheet pan).
2. In a mixing bowl, beat the pumpkin, sugar, and oil together until smooth.
3. Add the beaten eggs and mix well.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and beat until well blended.
6. Pour the batter into the greased pan and spread it evenly into the corners.
7. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the bars cool completely in the pan.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Beat the softened butter and cream cheese together until smooth, then mix in the vanilla.
2. Add the powdered sugar a little at a time, then add the milk one tablespoon at a time until the frosting is soft and spreadable.
3. Spread the frosting over the completely cooled bars and cut into squares.

Notes

This recipe came from Eliza’s mother-in-law, whose recipe card calls it Pumpkin Sheet Cake. Use pure canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling. Store the frosted bars covered in the refrigerator, and let them sit out a few minutes before serving. The bars freeze well for up to 3 months, frosted or unfrosted.

Why We Love These Pumpkin Bars

This pumpkin bars recipe makes one big pan that feeds a whole family gathering, which is saying something with six sisters and a house full of kiddos. The batter is forgiving enough that little hands can help with the stirring, and the bars travel beautifully to a soccer game, a neighbor’s porch, or a church potluck. Mostly though, we love that every time we make them, we are making someone else’s family recipe. That feels like the whole point of what we do here.

Tips for the Best Pumpkin Bars

• Use pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling. The filling is already sweetened and spiced and will throw off the whole pan.
• Really soften the butter and cream cheese. Cold cream cheese is how you end up with lumpy frosting. (Learned this from experience)
• Start with 2 tablespoons of milk. Add more a teaspoon at a time only if the frosting feels stiff. It is much easier to thin frosting than to thicken it.
• Let the bars cool all the way. Frosting a warm pan is a delicious mess, but it will slide right off.
• Store them covered in the fridge because of the cream cheese frosting, then let them sit out for a few minutes before serving.
• They freeze beautifully, frosted or unfrosted. See the FAQ below for exactly how we do it.

Pumpkin Bars FAQ

Can you freeze pumpkin bars?

Yes, and they freeze better than most cakes because the batter is made with oil instead of butter, so the bars stay soft even straight out of the freezer. They keep for up to three months. The best way is to freeze the cooled slab unfrosted, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and then foil, then thaw it at room temperature and frost it fresh. You can also freeze frosted bars. Chill them in the fridge first so the frosting sets, freeze the cut bars uncovered on a tray for about an hour, then stack them in a container with parchment between the layers. Thaw frosted bars overnight in the fridge rather than on the counter so the cream cheese frosting does not get weepy.

What size pan do you use for pumpkin bars?

We bake these in an 18×13 inch sheet pan, which is the standard half sheet pan most of us already own. The bars come out thin, soft, and easy to cut into squares, with plenty of frosting on every bite. The same batter also works in a 10×15 inch jelly roll pan if you like a thicker bar. Either way, bake until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.

Can I use pumpkin pie filling instead of pumpkin puree?

No, this one really matters. Pumpkin pie filling already has sugar, spices, and extra liquid mixed in, so with the 2 cups of sugar in this recipe the bars would turn out overly sweet, muddled in spice, and gummy in the middle. Look for a can that says 100% pure pumpkin. We use Libby’s, and the recipe adds its own cinnamon and nutmeg.

Do pumpkin bars need to be refrigerated?

Yes. Because of the cream cheese frosting, store them covered in the fridge for up to four or five days. Let them sit out for a few minutes before serving so the frosting softens up.

If you make this pumpkin bars recipe, we would love to know whose recipe box your favorite fall dessert came from. Tell us in the comments, because we are always collecting.

xo- Eliza

Looking for another easy dessert? Try our Easy Lemon Cake Mix Cookies next.

These bars are one of the fall dessert recipes we make every year, and the rest of the list is just as easy.