These moist and dense high altitude pumpkin bars are a cross between pumpkin cake and pumpkin pie, topped with rich and creamy vanilla bean cream cheese frosting.
Looking for more high altitude pumpkin recipes? You’ll love these pumpkin pecan waffles, pumpkin crumb coffee cake, and pumpkin maple sugar cookies.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Quick and Easy to Make. It only takes 10-15 minutes to make the bars and the frosting. The hardest part will be waiting for the bars to cool so you can frost and eat them!
Stays So Soft and Moist. These pumpkin bars are incredibly moist, and they’ll stay fresh for days in the refrigerator.
Cake + Pie. If you love the cream cheese frosting on pumpkin cake with the dense, silky texture of pumpkin pie, then these bars are for you!
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
Bars
- Butter. Unsalted butter adds fat, richness and moisture to these bars.
- Sugar. A combination of granulated sugar and brown sugar adds sweetness, moisture and a hint of molasses.
- Pumpkin. Canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling) keeps these bars so moist and full of flavor.
- Milk. Adds moisture.
- Egg. Adds structure to the batter and helps them puff up a little.
- Vanilla Extract.
- Flour. All-purpose flour gives the bars structure and strength.
- Baking Powder. Leavening agent.
- Salt. Adds flavor and balances the sweetness.
- Spices. Warm spices like cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg perfectly complement the flavor of the pumpkin, and balance the sweetness of the frosting.
Frosting
- Cream Cheese + Butter. The cream cheese adds a wonderful tangy flavor and creamy texture to the frosting, while the butter adds a bit more flavor and richness.
- Powdered Sugar. Sweetens and thickens the frosting.
- Vanilla. I used vanilla bean paste, but you can also use vanilla extract.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness.
Instructions
Make the pumpkin bars.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Spray a 9-inch baking pan with non-stick baking spray.
- In a bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugars, pumpkin, milk, egg and vanilla.
- Separately, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and spices. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk until combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for about 25 minutes, until a cake tester or sharp knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool the bars completely before frosting.
TIP: This is a softer frosting, much softer than what you’d use to frost a layer cake, and isn’t meant to hold its shape well. If you like a thicker, sweeter frosting, add more powdered sugar.
Make the cream cheese frosting.
- With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter for 1 minute until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla bean paste and salt, and beat for 2 minutes until smooth and creamy.
- Spread the frosting onto the cooled bars, cut into squares and serve.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
Do these bars have a cakey texture?
They’re really not cakey at all. They’re dense and incredibly moist, with an almost creamy texture like pumpkin pie.
Can I use an 8 inch pan instead of 9 inch?
Yes, an 8 inch pan will work just fine. You’ll probably need to bake the bars for a few minutes longer, since they’ll be slightly thicker.
Can this recipe be doubled?
You can double the recipe and bake it in a 9×13 pan. You might need to add a few more minutes of bake time.
Will these bars work with gluten free flour?
You should be able to swap the all-purpose flour for a good-quality, measure-for-measure gluten free flour blend.
Is there a way to make these without the egg?
I haven’t tested it, but you might be able to replace the egg with 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce.
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High Altitude Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- 9 inch baking pan
- Electric Mixer (Stand or Hand-Held)
Ingredients
Bars
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, loosely packed
- 1 ¼ cups canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
Frosting
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 4 oz unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
- ⅛ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
Instructions
Bars
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Spray a 9-inch baking pan with non-stick baking spray.
- In a bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugars, pumpkin, milk, egg and vanilla.
- Separately, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and spices. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk until combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for about 25 minutes, until a cake tester or sharp knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool the bars completely before frosting.
Frosting
- With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter for 1 minute until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla bean paste and salt, and beat for 2 minutes until smooth and creamy.Note: This is a softer frosting, much softer than what you'd use to frost a layer cake, and isn't meant to hold its shape well. If you like a thicker, sweeter frosting, add more powdered sugar.
- Spread the frosting onto the cooled bars, cut into squares and serve.
Do you think I could bake and freeze the bars and add frosting once thawed?
I haven’t tried freezing them, but I think it would probably work.
Hi Heather. Do you think I could sub bananas for the pumpkin, or would that make it too wet?
I honestly have no idea if that would work. If you try it, please let me know how it turns out!