The moist Pumpkin Bars with a sweet butter pecan frosting are the perfect holiday treat. Large pan of pumpkin bars topped with a creamy butter pecan frosting that will impress your family and friends!
Love Pumpkin recipes? Be sure to give my Pumpkin Roll a try or bake a loaf of Pumpkin bread today! Or start your day with a delicious batch of Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls.
Pumpkin Bars
Have you ever bitten into an unflavored pumpkin dessert? I’ve done that. It’s not good. It’s boring and bland. In short, I do not recommend it.
The thing about pumpkin is that it’s not that exciting to eat all on its own. It’s all about what you put it with! Just like you need to adequately season meat…you also need to adequately season pumpkin desserts.
The first step to creating a pumpkin bar that makes you want MORE is using the right spices. In this recipe, I used a healthy amount of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in the bars themselves.
Yes, they smelled pretty incredible while they were baking.
But I couldn’t stop there. You know how I feel about unfrosted bars: why have a dessert bar that tastes good when you can have one that tastes amazing?
I knew what had to be done. Frosting. Frosting is never a bad idea.
Instead of staying safe and using a simple vanilla icing or cream cheese frosting, I chose Butter Pecan Frosting for my pumpkin bars.
Butter Pecan is one of my favorite ice cream flavors, so it seemed only fitting that as we say goodbye to summer, we make the transition smooth by paying homage to all those pints of butter pecan I enjoyed throughout the season.
Ingredient Notes
- Pumpkin puree- you want the canned pumpkin (100% pure pumpking), not the pumpkin pie filling that has spices in it.
- Dry ingredients- all-purpose flour, sugar (brown and granulated), spices (you can use our pumpkin pie spice mix if you prefer), baking soda AND baking powder.
- Wet ingredients- butter, eggs
- Frosting- we use powdered sugar, milk, and toasted pecans! You could also swap it out for a traditional cream cheese frosting if you prefer.
How to Make Pumpkin Bars
- See the recipe card below for tips and tricks.
- Combine the wet ingredients with dry ingredients and pour into a prepared 15x10x1-inch baking dish.
- Bake until done (a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean or with a few crumbs).
- Frost. Using our delicious butter pecan frosting, spread over cooled bars.
How to Freeze Pumpkin Bars
Cut the bars into individual portions before freezing and place them into an airtight freezer safe container (like tupperware).
When you’re ready to serve the bars again, take them out of the freezer and let them thaw in the refrigerator. They’ll be ready to eat again within a few hours at most.
The frosting stays perfectly set, and the bars remain moist even after freezing and thawing. How easy is that? A couple dozen pumpkin bars are a great idea to keep on hand in the freezer for unexpected guests over the holidays!
Recipe FAQs
Yes absolutely. Pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting are amazing. Use my favorite frosting recipe that’s included in my banana cake recipe.
Sure! For these pumpkin bars, substitute the cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves for 2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice.
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Pumpkin Bars
Ingredients
FOR THE BARS:
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 can pumpkin puree 15 ounce
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
FOR THE FROSTING:
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- ¼ cup milk
- ½ cup plus 2 Tbsp unsalted butter softened (divided)
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- 24 pecan halves
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin and melted butter until smooth. Add remaining ingredients for the pumpkin bars and beat for 2-3 minutes until fully combined.
- Pour batter into a lightly greased 15x10x1inch baking sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.
- Remove and cool completely before frosting.
- For the frosting, combined brown sugar, 2 Tbsp butter and milk in a small saucepan over low heat. Whisk until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and cool completely.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat 1/2 cup softened butter with powdered sugar. Pour in COOLED brown sugar mixture. Beat for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy. Fold in chopped pecans.
- Spread over cooled pumpkin bars. Press pecan halves gently into top of bars. Cut and store in airtight container in refrigerator. Or, freeze until ready to use.
Notes
- Freeze for up to 3 months.
- Due to the high sugar content and nature of the frosting, I highly recommend refrigerating pumpkin bars after baking and frosting them.
- Pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting are amazing. Use my favorite frosting recipe that’s included in my banana cake recipe.
- For these pumpkin bars, substitute the cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves for 2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice.
- See blog post for more recipe tips and tricks.
Video
Nutrition
As a fall treat or holiday dessert, you can’t beat a flavorful batch of Butter Pecan Frosted Pumpkin Bars! Topped with a butter pecan frosting and bursting with seasonal spices, these just might be the best pumpkin bars you ever make.
Can gluten flour be used.thks
That butter pecan frosting. I mean those pumpkin bars look moist and wonderful but DUDE THAT FROSTING. It needs to be on all my desserts pronto. 😀
haha, yeah that frosting needs to be on EVERYTHING.
Pumpkin bars with butter pecan frosting? This is just like a cake out of my dreams! Come to me deliciousness!!! I love that you are as pumpkin obsessed as I am 🙂