Pumpkin Bars

These Pumpkin Bars are soft and moist, flavored with pumpkin spice, and topped with an incredible brown butter frosting. 

Happy September! It’s that magical month where we make the transition into fall. Have you traded your iced coffee for a cozy Pumpkin Spice Latte? If you’re ready to make the jump into fall, I have a new pumpkin recipe ready for you. Soft and fluffy Pumpkin Bars topped with (the BEST EVER) brown butter frosting!

Prefer Pumpkin PIE Bars? That recipe is here: Pumpkin Pie Bars. 

Love pumpkin and coffee? Try our Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake.

Recipe overview: Pumpkin Bars

These “bars” are a close relative to pumpkin cake. They are bit more dense and moist than a traditional pumpkin cake, and since this recipe is baked in a 10x15x1 pan, they bake up on the thinner side.

Here’s how to make them:

• Combine dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt.
• Combine wet ingredients: melted butter, sugars, eggs, pumpkin puree, and vanilla extract.
• Add the wet to the dry: whisk until well combined.
• Bake

Brown butter frosting:

A delicious and easy brown butter frosting is the perfect topping for these bars. Brown butter adds a deep, rich, almost toffee-like flavor to the frosting. Prefer your Pumpkin Bars with cream cheese frosting? Use this Cream Cheese Frosting recipe.

Here’s what you’ll need for the frosting:

• Butter
• Powdered sugar
• Half and half
• Vanilla

How to brown butter

• Place butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
• As the butter melts it will begin to foam and it will eventually turn golden brown with brown bits on the bottom of the pan.

Tips for browning butter:

• Use a light-colored saucepan so that you can watch the color of the butter closely.
• Swirl the pan occasionally to be sure the butter is cooking evenly.
• The butter will take a while to turn brown, but once it is brown it can burn quickly, so make sure you’re watching it closely.
• As soon as the butter has browned move it out of the hot pan and into a bowl to cool.

More pumpkin recipes

Pumpkin Muffins – Soft and fluffy pumpkin muffins topped with a brown sugar crumble.
Pumpkin Cupcakes – Moist spiced pumpkin cupcakes topped with maple cream cheese frosting.
Cream Cheese Pumpkin Pie – A combination of cheesecake and pumpkin pie in a graham cracker crust.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins -Moist pumpkin muffins filled with chocolate chips.

Recipe

Pumpkin Bars

These Pumpkin Bars are similar to a soft spiced pumpkin cake topped with an incredible brown butter frosting.

5 from 1 vote

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cooling: 45 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 24

Calories: 218kcal

Author: Allison Mattina

Ingredients

Pumpkin bars:

• ▢ 1-¾ cups all purpose flour
• ▢ 1-½ teaspoons baking powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 2-½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ ¾ cup unsalted butter , melted and cooled slightly
• ▢ ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ▢ ½ cup light brown sugar
• ▢ 3 large eggs
• ▢ One 15-oz can pumpkin puree , (not pie filling)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Brown butter frosting:

• ▢ 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• ▢ 3 cups powdered sugar, plus more, if needed
• ▢ 3 tablespoons half and half, plus more, if needed
• ▢ ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Pumpkin bars:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 10x15x1 baking pan, set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt.
• In a separate bowl whisk melted butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Add eggs, pumpkin, and vanilla and whisk until well combined.
• Pour the wet ingredient into the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined. Don't whisk too vigorously or for too long (you don't want to add too much air into the batter).
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth it into an even layer. Bake for 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool completely. Note: The cake will reach the top of the pan while baking.

Brown butter frosting:

• Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat (see tips for browning butter in the notes section). Swirl the pan occasionally to be sure the butter is cooking evenly. As the butter melts, it will begin to foam. Watch the butter closely, continuing to swirl the pan occasionally. It will eventually turn golden brown with brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Immediately pour the butter (and brown bits) into a large mixing bowl. Allow to cool to room temperature.
• Using a stand mixer (fitted with the paddle attachment) or a hand mixer, beat the cooled butter with 2 cups of powdered sugar. Add the half and half, vanilla, and additional cup of powdered sugar and beat until well combined. Add more half and half if you need to thin the frosting or more powdered sugar to thicken it. Once you get it to your desired consistency beat it on high speed for about 20-30 seconds. Spread the frosting on the cooled cake.

Notes

Tip for browning butter:

• Use a light-colored saucepan so that you can watch the color of the butter closely.
• Swirl the pan occasionally to be sure the butter is cooking evenly.
• The butter will take a while to turn brown, but once it is brown it can burn quickly, so make sure you're watching it closely.
• As soon as the butter has browned move it out of the hot pan and into a bowl to cool.

Nutrition

Calories: 218kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 54mg | Sodium: 107mg | Potassium: 29mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 393IU | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.

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