Pumpkin Swirl Bars

These bars were amazing! I had quite a bit of pumpkin puree left over from these cupcakes so I tried to find a good recipe to use it up for my softball team. I decided on these pumpkin cream cheese swirl bars I came across a few weeks ago.

I'll admit that I can sometimes be somewhat of an over mixer. I get carried away. I definitely overdid it when mixing in the dollops of cream cheese and, by the time I was finished, you couldn't even see the swirls. I baked them up that way. Over mixed. When they had cooled enough for a sample, I was disappointed that the cream cheese had been mixed in so well that I couldn't really taste it. The bars needed a little something extra, a different texture on top, so I decided to keep using up more of the puree (and yes, even after this, I still had more left) I mixed up some pumpkin buttercream for the top.

With this deliciousness spread across the top of the bars, they were completely perfect. I would recommend these for any upcoming holiday party. I promise that they will magically disappear.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Bars

From Sunset

6 Tbsp melted unsalted butter

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/3 cup water

1 3/4 cups AP flour

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Swirl:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla

1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 15×10 inch pan* with non-stick foil or just spray with cooking spray.

Pumpkin Batter: Mix together the butter and sugar. With a mixing spoon or whisk, beat in eggs, pumpkin, and water until well blended, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Mix flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and nutmeg together; stir into batter. Spread all but a few tablespoons batter evenly in prepared pan. Reserve the few tablespoons of batter.

Swirl: In a second bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add egg and beat just until it’s mixed in. Drop tablespoons of cream cheese mixture over pumpkin batter, then drag a knife through to make marbles. Drop reserved tablespoons of pumpkin batter over top. The reason for this is, there’s a lot of white batter, so putting a few tablespoons of pumpkin batter on top gives more of a contrast.

Bake on center rack until pumpkin batter springs back when touched, about 30 minutes.

*NOTE: If you do not use the pan size indicated (15×10 or half batch in a 9×9), you will probably need to adjust bake time! For instance, if you use a 13×9 inch pan instead of a 15×10 inch pan, you’ll have thicker bars which will probably need more time in the oven.

Let cool completely in pan, then chill for an hour or more. Frost with pumpkin buttercream:

Pumpkin Buttercream

Adapted from Loves to Eat

1 stick of unsalted butter at room temp

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

~3 cups confectioner’s sugar (more or less)

Cream butter, pumpkin and spices. Slowly add sugar until you reach desired consistency.