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Recipe updated 6/21/16
Continuing the Pumpkin Spice kick…
So we’ve had syrup, a jumbo pancake, oatmeal, latte, French Toast in a Bowl…all pumpkin spiced. Now comes the pumpkin bars, because this is a basic recipe that everyone needs to have on hand, and what better time to post it than during the fall?
These moist pumpkin bars are topped with a delicious cream cheese frosting. ‘Nuff said.
Bars are just some of the easiest desserts to make to have on hand. Never mind intricately boiling a candy mixture, scooping countless cookies, or making a single-serve snack every afternoon (although I do that once in awhile). Bars (the dessert kind, that is) are the way to go. Mix wet ingredients, mix dry ingredients, plop in oven. Make frosting. Frost. Refrigerate. One big pan. Like, really. How much easier can it get?
You can find this recipe in my cookbook, Necessary Food.
- 1½ cups Briana's Baking Mix
- 1 T baking powder
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- ½ tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. cloves
- ¼ tsp. + 2 doonks THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder (most people will probably want to add a teaspoon or two of THM Super Sweet Blend in addition to this, but just the stevia was perfect for me)
- -
- 1 15-oz. can plain canned pumpkin puree
- ¾ cup salted butter, melted
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup egg whites
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 8 oz. reduced fat (or full fat) cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup Greek yogurt (or an additional 4 oz. cream cheese, for a richer frosting)
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
- ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 T THM Gentle Sweet, or more to taste (I also like using ⅛ tsp. THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder in place of the Gentle Sweet)
- For the bars, whisk together the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and mix well. Spread the batter into a greased 9x13 inch glass baking pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 26-28 minutes. Let the bars cool completely on the counter before frosting.
- For the frosting, beat the cream cheese until smooth, then add the other ingredients and beat again until thick and stiff-ish, about 30-40 seconds.
- When the bars are cool, frost them and put them in the refrigerator to chill completely before cutting. Store in the refrigerator. These bars are best cold. Yields 15 servings.
Briana’s Baking Mix recipe
Suggested products:
THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder and Gentle Sweet (as well as other great products) can be purchased from the Trim Healthy Mama online store.
Stacy Bogue says
I just made this recipe and it’s very wet still on top, not even a crust yet. Do you have to sometimes cook longer? I’m perplexed!
Briana Thomas Burkholder says
I’m perplexed too! Did you make any substitutions or changes to the recipe?
Sandy says
Could you make these with monk fruit?
Briana Thomas Burkholder says
I’m sure you could. 🙂 The safest thing to do is just to sweeten to taste to make sure it’s what you like. If you want an approximation of how much sweetener to use you can find out how your sweetener measures in comparison to sugar and then use that info in this sweetener conversion chart: https://media.trimhealthymama.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2017/05/07222306/THM.Sweetener-Conversion-Chart.pdf
Emily says
This is such a great recipe! We were looking for something pumpkin and this was just right!
Emily says
Hey there! I have THM gentle sweet. Can I use that for the sweetener, or is that not sweet enough?
Thanks!
Briana Thomas says
Yes, you can use Gentle Sweet in place of the stevia, but you’ll need to use much more than the recipe calls for since stevia is so concentrated. 🙂 This chart can help you (or just sweeten to taste, which is probably more foolproof): https://media.trimhealthymama.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2017/05/07222306/THM.Sweetener-Conversion-Chart.pdf
Joy says
Do you have a recipe for cheese cake balls? Thanks and have a blessed day!
Briana Thomas says
Nope – sorry!
Joy Hanson says
Thank you for replying!
Carole McCarthy says
Briana, I’m so glad I found you…I’ve been looking for a THM recipe for pumpkin bars. I have a question, is oat fiber the same as putting oatmeal in a blender and blending it until it’s flour? It’s not in my grocery stores, I guess I’ll have to go to Trader Joes. Thank you.
Briana Thomas says
Hi Carole! No, what you’re referring to is oat flour. Oat fiber is totally different in texture and nutritional value, so they’re not interchangeable. As far as I know, you can only find oat fiber online. I buy mine from Netrition.com. 🙂
Nita says
Would these freeze ok? I want to make some for a short road trip but do not want to take too many. Would love to enjoy them when I return home. Thanks.
Briana Thomas says
I’ve tried freezing them, and it sort of works, but I definitely prefer them fresh.
Alicia says
Do you know how long these last in the fridge?
Briana Thomas says
No, I’m afraid I don’t. They don’t last very long around here… 😛
Angela says
Can I substitute pumpkin pie spice instead of the cloves and cinnamon?
Briana Thomas says
I don’t see why not!
Cassie says
If subbing pumpkin pie spice for the cinnamon and cloves, how much would I use?
Briana Thomas says
I don’t know – never tried it. 😉 2 1/2 tsp. would probably be fine.
Amy says
Just took the cake out of the oven…can’t wait to dig in!!! Thanks for the recipe!! I love fall and am trying out all of the THM pumpkin recipes I can get my hands on 🙂
diane says
Do you have any information on the nutritional value-I think sometimes there are different interpretations of “low-carb.”
Briana Thomas says
Yes, definitions of “low carb” are a dime a dozen. 😉 These bars have no significant carb sources in them, so I call them low carb. I follow a healthy eating lifestyle called Trim Healthy Mama which focuses on not having to count, so I like to embrace that freedom and don’t provide nutritional info for my recipes. 🙂 If you like, you can use an app like My Fitness Pal to calculate the carbs per serving.
Nita Ostroff says
Made the basic recipe, split it into two bowls, added 1/2 the listed pumpkin to one, and 2 smashed bananas to the other, baking in 8″ round pans. Then I cut each layer in half, iced with the frosting, and stacked, so that I had a 2 layer cake, with one half pumpkin and the other banana.
Briana Thomas says
Cool! Glad it worked out for you! Just pointing out for my THM and low carb friends that adding banana would make a crossover for THMs and take this recipe out of the low carb zone.
Bria says
What can I use instead of pure stevia extract powder?
Briana Thomas says
Any low glycemic sweetener of your choice, to taste (you can check out the Trim Healthy Mama sweetener conversion chart for help figuring amounts).
Kim says
Hi Briana ? I made a bag of your baking mix today just for this recipe. So worth it. These are amazing and you are a genius! Thank you for all that you do!
Briana Thomas says
Awesome! I’m so glad you’re enjoying them!
Krystine says
Good Morning. I do not have the ingredients to make your baking blend or nor do I have the THM blend. Could I substitute something?
Briana Thomas says
You can substitute your own blend of low carb flours, but you’ll just have to do some experimentation with amounts, of course. 🙂
Bethany @ Athletic Avocado says
pumpkin + cream cheese frosting = perfection !
Jennie says
These really are wonderful! Thank you for the recipe!
Briana Thomas says
Thank YOU for making them!