Pumpkin Spice Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

Pumpkin Spice Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting are a fluffy and delicious fall dessert! Using a cake mix short cut, this sweet pumpkin treat comes together in a snap!

Well, we are more than a week into October and although it doesn’t quite feel like fall in Florida, I can’t put it off any longer – it’s pumpkin season. While I’m not a big PSL (Pumpkin Spice Latte) gal, I do enjoy pumpkin flavored candles and, most of all, pumpkin desserts. I guess I am still kind of basic then, right?

If you follow my blog you know that I love to doctor up a box of cake mix. My cake mix cookie bar recipes (like this one and this one) are some of my most popular because they are so simple. That’s why, I am switching it up a bit and sharing a recipe that I baked over the weekend. These Pumpkin Spice Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting are just as easy as my cookie bars but a little more decadent 🙂

These fluffy pumpkin spice bars are a soft, melt in your mouth bite of all my favorite fall flavors.

My trick is to use a spice cake mix for this recipe because it already has the fall spice triple threat: cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Add butter (duh), eggs and a can of pumpkin and you’re all set. The batter will bake up into a rich, spicy sponge cake.

While the cake itself it packed with fall flavors, what really makes these bars decadent and totally addictive is the cream cheese frosting. There’s something about a classic cream cheese frosting recipe that you just don’t mess around with – so I didn’t. Spread this tangy, sweet frosting over the top for a perfectly indulgent fall treat the whole family will enjoy!

Try the recipe below and let me know what you think!

Happy Fall!

Kelsey Renee

Pumpkin Spice Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

October 11, 2018

by Kelsey Renee

Category Holiday Recipes Sweets

Persons

12

Ingredients

• 5 tablespoons butter (softened)
• 2 eggs
• 1 box spice cake mix
• 15 ounce can pumpkin puree

For the cream cheese frosting

• 4 tablespoons butter (softened)
• 4 ounces cream cheese (softened)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk

Instructions

• 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• 2. Line 9x13 baking pan with parchment paper and lightly grease with cooking spray.
• 3. In a large bowl, stir together 5 tablespoons butter, eggs and cake mix until well combined. Fold in pumpkin puree until no streaks remain.
• 4. Pour batter into prepared baking pan. Use a rubber spatula to smooth out the top.
• 5. Bake in the preheated oven for 23 minutes. Toothpick should come out clean.
• 6. Allow pan to cool completely.
• 7. Meanwhile, prepare the frosting. Using a hand mixer, beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla until fluffy and smooth.
• 8. Add ½ cup of powdered sugar and beat until fully combined. Repeat until you have added all the sugar.
• 9. Once cake has cooled completely, remove from pan and place on a sheet of parchment paper. Use a rubber spatula to smooth frosting over top of the cake.
• 10. Using a large knife, cut the cake into 12 squares (bars).
• 11. Garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon and enjoy!
• Store bars in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Tags

cake,

cookie,

cookie bars,

cream cheese frosting,

dessert,

fall,

halloween,

pumpkin,

sweet

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