Is it really Halloween in two weeks? I have no idea where October is slipping off to. Life has been so crazy with work and personal stuff that the weeks are passing by at a scary pace! I can’t believe we are almost into full blown holiday season mode. With the holidays, comes lots of baking right? Well for me anyway it does. I just so happen to have a few recipes that I make over and over again, and one of them is my sheet pan pumpkin bars! They are always a crowd pleaser and couldn’t be any easier to make! I will most definitely be making a batch of these for Halloween this year as well as for the rest of the holiday season! My sheet pan pumpkin bars are sure to become one of your new favorite dessert recipes!
These pumpkin bars have been made by just about every woman in my family for years and years and now most of my friends have started making them because they are addicting. That’s the bottom line here. They truly are amazing and you will want to make them all fall long every year from here on out! I actually only make pumpkin bars starting in the fall through the holidays because I can eat half of the pan in one sitting...
I wish I was kidding…
I have to save up for them all year long and then when October hits, I feel like it gives me the green light to bake these moist and fluffy delights and eat as many as I want. Let me live here.
These bars make a great dessert to take to any pot luck that you have this season and they also are pretty dang good with a cup of coffee in the morning. Just sayin’..
So go ahead and get your stretchy pants out friends, it’s time to make pumpkin bars.
Ingredients:
4 Eggs
1 2/3 Cup Granulated Sugar
1 Cup Vegetable Oil
1 15 oz. Pumpkin Puree (not pumpkin pie puree)
2 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 Tsp. Baking Powder
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
2 Tsp. Cinnamon
1 Tsp. Salt
Icing-
8 oz. Room Temperature Cream Cheese
1/2 Cup Room Temperature Unsalted Butter
1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 Lb. of Powdered Sugar
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Beat eggs, oil, pumpkin, and sugar until fluffy about 2-3 minutes with a stand or hand mixer.
Add your dry ingredients and mix well.
Spread onto a parchment lined 15 x 10 x 1 pan (a baking sheet with about an inch rim around it also called a jelly roll pan) into an even layer.
Bake for 20-25 minutes depending on your oven, until lightly brown around the edges. Stick a toothpick in the center of the bars at twenty minutes and see if it comes out clean, if so then they are done! You don't want to overcook here, the moistness is key!
Let the bars cool for at least 30 minutes but up to an hour before icing.
To make your icing, cream together the cream cheese and butter until smooth.
Mix in your vanilla.
Gradually add in your powdered sugar until all incorporated and you have a smooth icing. Leave at room temperature until the bars have fully cooled and then spread into a thin layer on top of the pumpkin bars.
Happy pumpkin and baking season y’all! You are going to want to make these bars ASAP so go ahead and pin them to make all season long!
