I’m going to tell you a secret.
Are you ready?
I’m not a huge fan of pumpkin.
Yup. You heard me….pumpkin is not my favorite thing and I don’t get excited about the fall and making all things pumpkin. This year I decided that I was going to try to cook with pumpkin because I have seen a ton of yummy looking pumpkin stuff. And I’m always trying to expand my horizons!
How do you feel about pumpkin?
I made pumpkin bars for my hubby to take to work. He needed to bring treats, so I looked up a recipe. I came across Paula Deen’s Pumpkin Bars recipe and I was sold. Now, these aren’t what I would call healthy. They’d be the opposite of that, but holy cow, they turned out tasty!
- 4 eggs
- 1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 15-ounce can pumpkin
- 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Icing:
- 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
- 2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth. Spread the batter into a greased 13 by 10-inch baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars.
To make the icing: Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again. Spread on cooled pumpkin bars.
I didn’t change a thing with this recipe. Paula knows her baked goods!
They ended up really tasty. Even this non-pumpkin loving girl thought so! Super soft and fluffy with a great frosting!
They were also a hit with his co-workers!
In other news…I’ve spent the day at home with a sick 2 year old. We have been trying to fight a fever and knock it out of the park. Hopefully by Monday she’ll be back to 100%…we need to be able to go trick-or-treating!!
AND…we watched Bridesmaids last night.
I’m not gonna lie, I think I had too high of expectations. I was way let down with the movie. There were some funny parts, but it just wasn’t as fabulous as I thought it was going to be!
I’m off to watch some football this afternoon and catch up with blogging stuff! I hope you have a fabulous weekend!
Go Hawks!!!
These sound awesome and I love that they don’t have any butter in them! Delicious!!
I love all things pumpkin, so I’m sure I’d love these bars! Off to watch the Hawks as well!
Just what the doctor ordered on this snowy Saturday in NYC. If only I could find some pumpkin, we seem to be having a shortage!!!
you found me on pinterest! that made me smile. sorry about your hawks – it’s a good thing all of the halloween hooligans were out last night because Iowa City otherwise would have been a silent place. those pumpkin bars look good! it’s always nice when you can make something with an ingredient you don’t particularly enjoy, yet you come out loving the end result!
I’m a huge pumpkin fan, I don’t even reserve it for fall baking–I use it all year. This recipe looks delicious.
I’m a UM student, so I’ll be rooting for Blue next Saturday. May the best team win:D
They look delicious–props to you to baking w/ pumpkin even if you don’t really like it!
Pumpkin and cream cheese frosting sounds like a heavenly combo to me!
I do love pumpkin – but mostly for it’s versatility and colour more than it’s flavour
i personally love pumpkin! these look great. if you like them i can’t imagine how much i’d like them
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!