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Easy Pumpkin Bars With Cream Cheese Frosting
If you want one of the easy pumpkin desserts that everyone asks for in the fall, make these pumpkin bars. They’re soft, moist, warmly spiced, and topped with a thick layer of tangy cream cheese frosting, like the best pumpkin cake baked in a sheet pan. The batter is mixed in one bowl with a whisk, they bake in about 25 minutes, and one pan makes 24 bars, perfect for potlucks, school events and Thanksgiving dessert tables.
Below you’ll find the ingredients with weights, step-by-step instructions, the cream cheese frosting, pan size options, tips and storage. The printable recipe card is at the bottom.
Ingredients for Pumpkin Bars
For the bars
- All-purpose flour, 2 cups (250 g), spooned and leveled.
- Baking powder, 2 teaspoons, and baking soda, 1 teaspoon.
- Fine salt, ½ teaspoon.
- Ground cinnamon, 2 teaspoons; ground ginger, 1 teaspoon; ground nutmeg, ½ teaspoon; ground cloves, ¼ teaspoon. Or use 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice.
- Large eggs, 4.
- Granulated sugar, 1 cup (200 g), and light brown sugar, ⅔ cup (133 g), packed.
- Neutral oil, 1 cup (240 ml).
- Pumpkin purée, 1 can (15 oz / 425 g). Plain purée, not pie filling.
- Vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon.
For the cream cheese frosting
- Cream cheese, 8 oz (225 g), full-fat block style, softened.
- Unsalted butter, ½ cup (113 g), softened.
- Powdered sugar, 2½ cups (300 g), sifted.
- Vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon, and a pinch of salt.
How to Make Pumpkin Bars (Step by Step)
1. Prepare the pan
Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 10×15-inch (25×38 cm) jelly roll pan, or a 9×13-inch pan for thicker bars (see the chart below), and line it with parchment if you’d like to lift the bars out.
2. Mix the dry ingredients
Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices in a medium bowl.
3. Mix the wet ingredients
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with both sugars until smooth, about 1 minute. Whisk in the oil, pumpkin and vanilla until combined.
4. Combine
Add the dry ingredients and stir with a spatula just until no dry flour remains. Don’t overmix.
5. Bake
Spread the batter evenly in the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the top springs back when pressed and a toothpick in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
6. Cool completely
Cool the pan on a rack for at least 1½ hours. The bars must be completely cool, or the frosting will melt.
7. Frost and slice
Beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth, add the powdered sugar, vanilla and salt, and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Spread it over the cooled bars, chill for 30 minutes for clean edges, and cut into 24 bars.
Pan Size Options
| Pan | Bake at 350°F | Yield |
|---|---|---|
| 10×15-inch jelly roll pan | 25 to 30 minutes | 24 thin bars |
| 9×13-inch pan | 35 to 40 minutes | 16 to 20 thicker, cake-like bars |
| Half sheet pan (13×18-inch), batter ×1.5 | 25 to 30 minutes | 36 bars |
Chef Emma’s Tips
- Use canned pumpkin. Its consistency is reliable; fresh purée varies in moisture.
- Measure flour carefully. Too much makes the bars dry and dense.
- Don’t overbake. Start checking a few minutes early; the bars should stay moist.
- Frost only when cool. Even slightly warm bars melt cream cheese frosting.
- Cut with a hot knife, wiped between cuts, for neat edges.
Variations
- Pumpkin muffins: skip the frosting and bake the batter in 24 lined muffin cups for 18 to 22 minutes. Top with a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar before baking.
- Brown butter frosting: brown the butter, chill it until soft-solid, then make the frosting as usual for a nutty flavor.
- Chocolate chip: fold 1 cup mini chocolate chips into the batter and skip the frosting.
- Nutty: sprinkle ½ cup toasted chopped pecans over the frosting.
More easy pumpkin desserts: try our pumpkin dump cake, which tastes like pumpkin pie with a crunchy pecan topping. For other fall treats, see our apple dump cake, our bread pudding, and all our dessert recipes.
Storage
- Refrigerate frosted bars, covered, for up to 5 days. Cream cheese frosting shouldn’t sit at room temperature for more than 2 hours. Let bars sit out for 15 minutes before serving.
- Freeze unfrosted bars, wrapped well, for up to 3 months; thaw and frost. Frosted bars can be frozen in a single layer, then wrapped, for up to 1 month.
Don’t taste the raw batter; raw flour and eggs can carry harmful bacteria. See the FDA’s advice on handling flour safely.
Pumpkin Bars FAQs
Can I make pumpkin bars ahead?
Yes. Bake them up to 2 days ahead, cover and refrigerate, and frost on the day you serve them; or frost them and keep them in the fridge.
Do pumpkin bars need to be refrigerated?
Yes, once they have cream cheese frosting.
Can I use butter instead of oil?
Oil keeps the bars softer and moister, especially after refrigeration. Melted butter works, but the bars will be slightly firmer when cold.
Can I reduce the sugar?
You can cut the granulated sugar to ¾ cup (150 g). The bars will be a little less moist and tender.
Pumpkin Bars Recipe Card
Calories are an estimate per bar (1/24 of a 10×15 pan, with frosting) based on USDA FoodData Central values.
Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and grease a 10×15-inch jelly roll pan.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.
- Whisk the eggs and sugars 1 minute, then whisk in the oil, pumpkin and vanilla.
- Stir in the dry ingredients just until combined and spread in the pan.
- Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely, about 1 1/2 hours.
- Beat the frosting ingredients until fluffy, spread over the bars, chill 30 minutes and cut into 24 bars.
