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My mother made pumpkin bars on the first Friday of October, every year, and she cut them small. She said a big square of anything looks greedy on a potluck table. It did not matter. People went back for four. The pies other women brought sat there with one slice gone, and our pan came home scraped clean with a knife mark down every row. Nobody in our town ever said out loud that the bars were better than the pie. Everybody knew it.
The reason is simple. A pumpkin pie is a custard, and a custard is fussy: it cracks, it weeps, the crust goes soggy. A pumpkin bar is a cake, moist from the oil and the pumpkin, soft enough to eat with your fingers, and it carries a thick layer of cream cheese frosting that a pie never gets. It is made in one bowl, it bakes in half an hour, and it travels in the pan it was baked in. The only rule my mother held to was the cooling. The cake must be completely cold before the frosting goes on, or the frosting slides off in a sheet.
Why this pumpkin bars works
- Oil, not butter, in the cake. Oil keeps the crumb moist and tender for days, even straight from the refrigerator.
- A whole can of pumpkin. Fifteen ounces of plain puree in a thin sheet cake gives the deep color and the soft, almost custardy texture.
- A jelly roll pan. The batter bakes thin and even, so every bar has the same height and nothing is dry at the edges.
- Frosting on a cold cake. Cream cheese frosting holds its swirls only on a cake that has cooled all the way through.
Ingredients
Makes one 15 by 10 inch pan, 24 bars cut small the potluck way. The measurements are in US cups with grams in brackets.
For the bars
- 4 large eggs
- 1 2/3 cups granulated sugar (333g)
- 1 cup vegetable oil (240ml)
- One 15 ounce can plain pumpkin puree (425g), not pie filling
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (250g)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
For the cream cheese frosting
- One 8 ounce block full-fat cream cheese (226g), softened
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (113g), softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar (240g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Plain pumpkin puree only. Pumpkin pie filling is already sweetened and spiced and makes the bars heavy and wet. Use block cream cheese for the frosting, not the soft spread kind, which turns runny.
How to make pumpkin bars
- Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 15 by 10 inch jelly roll pan, the kind with a rim about an inch high.
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and oil together until smooth and slightly pale, about 1 minute. Stir in the pumpkin until the batter is an even orange.
- In another bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add it to the pumpkin mixture and stir just until smooth and no streaks of flour remain. Do not beat it hard.
- Pour the batter into the pan and spread it evenly into the corners. Bake at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes, until the top springs back when pressed and a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
- Set the pan on a rack and cool it completely, at least 1 hour. Touch the middle of the pan bottom: if it is the least bit warm, wait.
- For the frosting, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Spread the frosting thick over the cold cake, all the way to the edges, and drag the back of a spoon through it in swirls. Refrigerate 30 minutes so it sets, then cut into 24 bars with a long knife wiped clean between cuts.
Tips that make the difference
- Do not frost a warm cake. Even a slightly warm pan melts cream cheese frosting into a glaze that runs off the sides.
- Soften the cream cheese and the butter on the counter for an hour. Cold cream cheese leaves little lumps in the frosting that no amount of beating removes.
- Pull the bars at the first clean toothpick. Overbaked pumpkin bars turn dry and dense at the edges.
- Cut them small. A 2 to 2 1/2 inch square is the right size for a potluck table, and people will take two.
Variations
- Walnut. Stir 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (60g) into the batter, or scatter them over the frosting.
- Pumpkin spice. Replace the cinnamon with 2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice for a stronger clove and ginger flavor.
- Half sheet pan. For a larger crowd, bake in an 18 by 13 inch half sheet pan for 18 to 22 minutes. The bars are thinner and you get about 36.
- Brown butter frosting. Brown the 1/2 cup butter in a saucepan, cool it until it is soft and set again, then use it in the frosting for a nutty note.
Storage and make-ahead
Keep the frosted bars covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. They are better on day two, when the cake turns denser and the spice comes forward, so they are the perfect thing to make the night before.
To freeze, freeze the unfrosted cake whole, wrapped in plastic and foil, for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator overnight and frost it cold.
Do not leave the frosted pan out on a warm table for more than a couple of hours. The frosting is cream cheese.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use a 9 by 13 inch pan?
Yes. The bars come out thicker and more like a snack cake. Bake them 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick in the center comes out clean, and cool them completely before frosting.
Why are my pumpkin bars gummy in the middle?
They came out too early, or the pumpkin was pie filling instead of plain puree. Bake until the center springs back and the toothpick is clean, and use plain canned pumpkin.
Can I use fresh pumpkin?
You can use 1 3/4 cups (425g) of thick homemade puree from a baking pumpkin. Drain it in a strainer for an hour first, because fresh puree holds more water than canned.
Can I make them ahead for a potluck?
Yes, and they are better for it. Bake and frost them the night before, keep them covered in the refrigerator, and carry them in the pan.
One bowl, one pan, a cold cake and a thick coat of frosting. Bring them to the next potluck in October and see which pan comes home empty.
Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting (The October Sheet Pan)
Old-fashioned pumpkin bars baked in a 15 by 10 inch jelly roll pan at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes, then covered in thick cream cheese frosting. Cups and grams, the cooling rule, and how to cut them for a crowd.
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs
- 1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- One 15 ounce can plain pumpkin puree (425g), not pie filling
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- One 8 ounce block full-fat cream cheese (226g), softened
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (113g), softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 15 by 10 inch jelly roll pan, the kind with a rim about an inch high.
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and oil together until smooth and slightly pale, about 1 minute. Stir in the pumpkin until the batter is an even orange.
- In another bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add it to the pumpkin mixture and stir just until smooth and no streaks of flour remain. Do not beat it hard.
- Pour the batter into the pan and spread it evenly into the corners. Bake at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes, until the top springs back when pressed and a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
- Set the pan on a rack and cool it completely, at least 1 hour. Touch the middle of the pan bottom: if it is the least bit warm, wait.
- For the frosting, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Spread the frosting thick over the cold cake, all the way to the edges, and drag the back of a spoon through it in swirls. Refrigerate 30 minutes so it sets, then cut into 24 bars with a long knife wiped clean between cuts.
