Fluffy Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
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These pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting are the perfect fall dessert! They’re soft, fluffy, warm-spiced, and the spiced cream cheese frosting is truly heavenly. I’ve tested this recipe for pumpkin bars with dairy and completely dairy free to make sure it works both ways.
Pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting are actually one of the first pumpkin desserts I crave once the summer is over. Just like my pumpkin banana muffins, there is something about this recipe that feels so cozy.
These are made like a sheet cake in a 9×13 pan, which makes them easy to serve to a crowd. Plus, I love that it can be made in just under an hour!
Featured Reader Review
“Made this (halved the recipe in an 8×8) to test out for Friendsgiving dessert and it was so good! Can’t wait to make it again next weekend!”
Lucy
This recipe is perfect for Thanksgiving and the holidays! Every year my family requests that I bring either these pumpkin cake bars or my chocolate pumpkin cake to Thanksgiving dinner.
Ingredient Notes
- Milk and butter: Use regular dairy ingredients or dairy free for this recipe!
- Pumpkin Spice: If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, you can make your own. The recipe for this is in the notes section of the recipe card at the bottom of this page.
- Cream Cheese: when I tested this recipe with dairy free cream cheese, I found that I had the best results with Violife, Tofutti, or Vitalife. These were the brands that most closely mimicked traditional cream cheese in both flavor and texture.
How To Make These Easy Pumpkin Bars
Mix butter and sugars together.
Add in wet ingredients.
Toss in dry ingredients to finish off the batter.
Bake!
Make the spiced frosting.
Frost the bars and slice them up!
Recipe Developer Tips
- Don’t over-bake the pumpkin bars! Be sure to check on them early, as leaving them in the oven a little too long can make them dry.
- Refrigerate the cream cheese frosting until the cake has cooled completely, then frost the cooled cake. If the cake is still warm, the frosting will melt or slide off.
- Adjust the frosting consistency by adding more powdered sugar if necessary to thicken it up!
More Recipes You’ll Love
If you make this recipe, let me know how it went in the comments below, I’d love to hear from you! You can also tag me on Instagram or Facebook so I can check it out!
Baking FAQ
These are the topics I’m asked about most frequently:
You can get these answers and more in my frequently asked questions post!
Fluffy Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
Video
Ingredients
Pumpkin Sheet Cake
- ¾ cup (158 g) butter, softened, (regular or dairy free)
- ½ cup (100 g) light brown sugar
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (240 ml) pumpkin puree
- ⅓ cup milk of choice, (regular or dairy free)
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice, SEE NOTES
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 cups (250 g) flour, SEE NOTES
Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting
- ¼ cup (53 g) butter, softened, (regular or dairy free)
- ½ cup (115 g) cream cheese, softened ( 4 oz), (regular or dairy free)
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 2¾ cup (330 g) powdered sugar
Instructions
Pumpkin Bars
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13 rectangular pan with cooking spray and place a sheet of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan.
- Whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice in a medium bowl and set aside.
- In a large bowl of a standing or handheld mixer, beat together butter and sugars. Add in the eggs, vanilla extract, milk, and beat until just combined. Add in the pumpkin puree and mix again.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients into the bowl of the standing mixer and mix until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl every so often.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. It will be thick, so spread it out evenly throughout the pan with a spatula.
- Bake the cake bars for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely before adding the frosting. Don't worry if it looks a bit lumpy, Don't worry if it looks a bit lumpy, it will be covered in frosting!
Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting
- In the bowl of an electric mixer or using the wire whip attachment in a standing mixer, whip together the cream cheese and butter until smooth.
- Add in the vanilla and cinnamon and mix until incorporated.
- Add in the powdered sugar, ¼ cup at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl every so often until desired consistency is reached. Add more if needed!
- Scoop a large dollop of spiced cream cheese frosting on top of the bars then spread it around using an offset spatula or regular spatula. Sprinkle a bit of cinnamon on top if desired. Enjoy!
Hi Gabby! I’m definitely making this to get in the fall vibes. Do you think it would be ok to replace the eggs with applesauce for a vegan version? Thank you!
That may work yes, you could definitely try! I haven’t tested it that way this myself so I can’t say for sure how it would turn out.
Can this recipe be turned into cupcakes?
Thanks 🙂
Hi Katie! I haven’t tried it myself but that should work fine! Just keep an eye on the baking time and check on them often! Please let me know how it goes if you try! 🙂
Absolutely delicious!
Hi Lucie! So happy you loved it, thanks for the review!
Made this (halved to recipe in an 8×8) to test out for friendsgiving dessert and it was so good! Can’t wait to make it again next weekend!
Hi Lucy! I’m so happy to hear that! I hope your friends enjoy it too, thanks for the review! 🙂
This is delicious. I’m eating it as I write actually. (as my lunch. shhh). I made this using gluten free flour, adding in anthem gum the package suggested. I found it took a bit longer to cook, about 30 minutes maybe. I also used pumpkin pie filling despite the warnings. Gabby suggested cutting the sugar and the spices so I did that, however I added in a couple table spoons of brown sugar with the butter and egg mixture to balance the texture.
The cream cheese icing is incredible. I’ll definitely be making this again.
Hi Sarah! I’m SO happy to hear that you loved the recipe and that it was delicious with the substitutions! Thank you so much for sharing 🙂