Moist, cakey, and delicious, these pumpkin bars with a thick buttery cream cheese frosting are perfection. The best part? They’re so easy to make with no mixer required!
I’ve been searching for the perfect cakey, chewy, moist, delicious pumpkin bar recipe for years and decided to develop it myself. It’s based on my moist and delicious pumpkin bread recipe paired with a less-sweet version of my classic cream cheese frosting recipe.
Jump to:
Ingredients for Pumpkin Bars
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Eggs
- Sugar (granulated and brown)
- Butter
- Spices: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves
- Pumpkin Puree
- Plain yogurt (Greek or Icelandic) or sour cream
- Vanilla Extract
How to make pumpkin bars
This dessert recipe is easy and requires no mixer. Simply combine the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately. Next, pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, mixing just until combined. Pour the batter into your prepared baking pan and bake!
Would you like to save this recipe?
We'll email this recipe link to you, so you can come back to it later!
How to make thick cream cheese frosting for bars
This frosting requires cream cheese, salted butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and dried milk powder. The milk powder here is important because it reduces the need for more sugar to achieve the desired thickness of the frosting. I know it sounds odd, but please just trust me on this one!
Using a silicone spatula, combine softened cream cheese and softened butter together in a medium bowl until well blended and smooth. Stir in vanilla extract.
Slowly sift in powdered sugar and milk powder, stirring frequently to combine. Stir until smooth and clump-free.
Spread generously over bars using a metal spatula to create an even surface. Refrigerate bars immediately and the frosting will set as it cools.
More of my favorite pumpkin recipes!
Pumpkin Muffins – Readers rave about these deliciously simple and easy muffins!
Pumpkin Banana Bread – The best of both worlds!
Chocolate Pumpkin Torte (GF) – Fudgy, mousse-like chocolate cake my family is obsessed with!
Pumpkin Pancakes – The perfect fall weekend breakfast treat.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies – For chocolate chip cookie lovers.
Pumpkin Bars with Buttery Cream Cheese Frosting
Moist, cakey, and delicious, these pumpkin bars with a thick buttery cream cheese frosting are perfection. They're so easy to make with no mixer required!
Ingredients
Pumpkin Bars
- 2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (100g) light (or dark) brown sugar
- ½ cup (113 g / 1 stick) salted butter, melted
- 15 oz (425g) pumpkin puree (canned or fresh, I use canned)
- ¼ cup (60 ml) plain Greek or Icelandic yogurt or sour cream
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
Buttery Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 oz (113g) full-fat cream cheese block, softened
- ½ cup (113g / 1 stick) salted butter, softened
- 1 ½ c (150g) powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (15g) dried milk powder
Instructions
Make the bars
-
Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Prepare a 9×13 inch pan by lining it with parchment paper.
-
In a large bowl whisk together dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.
-
In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, granulated sugar and brown sugar until combined. Add melted butter slightly cooled and whisk until combined. Add pumpkin puree and yogurt or sour cream and whisk until combined. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture and mix gently just until combined.
-
Pour batter into parchment-lined pan. Bake for 28-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bars comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan on a wire rack. Frost when completely cooled.
Make the frosting
-
Using a silicone spatula, combine softened cream cheese and softened butter together in a medium bowl until well blended and smooth. Stir in vanilla extract.
-
Slowly sift in powdered sugar and milk powder, stirring frequently to combine. Stir until smooth and clump-free.
-
Spread generously over bars using a metal spatula to create an even surface. Refrigerate bars immediately and the frosting will set as it cools.
Recipe Notes
Keep the bars in the fridge for up to 5 days. Serve them at room temperature so they’re soft and moist.
Nanajee Travels says
These pumpkin bars sound like pure fall perfection! 🎃🍂 Moist, cakey, and topped with a thick, buttery cream cheese frosting—what’s not to love? Even better, they’re super easy to make without a mixer!
personal recipe book says
These pumpkin bars look absolutely delicious! I love how easy the recipe is, and the buttery cream cheese frosting sounds perfect. Can’t wait to try them—thanks for sharing.
Stephanie @ Pretty.Simple.Sweet. says
Thank you so much for your kind words!
Amber says
What can I use if I don’t have sour cream or greek yogurt on hand? Making these on a whim.
Stephanie @ Pretty.Simple.Sweet. says
Hi Amber! You could make these using buttermilk, blended cottage cheese, or thinned out cream cheese or mascarpone cheese. Also a DIY Buttermilk using heavy cream (or canned coconut cream) and lemon juice together would also work. I’m not sure what you have on hand to work best. The main thing is that you need to replace the fat and acidity that yogurt or sour cream provide in this recipe.