Pumpkin Cake Bars with Brown Butter Frosting
Pumpkin cake bars are made with a spiced cake and topped with a nutty brown butter frosting. These fall-inspired treats are perfect for Halloween festivities and beyond.
Hey there, and welcome back, friends.
You are in for a fall treat!
This post was originally published on October 30, 2015, and has been updated with new photos.
Pumpkin Cake Bars
To be honest, I only get into pumpkin eating after most of my apples are gone. I figure we have till Thanksgiving to enjoy pumpkin so why rush it? I know I am a minority in that line of thinking.
But these pumpkin cake bars with brown butter frosting started the pumpkin kick in my house again. A simple (and favorite) spiced pumpkin cake recipe is made in a brownie pan and topped with sweet nutty brown butter frosting.
I cut these into bars and sprinkled them with some fall-inspired colors. These delicious treats are perfect for Halloween festivities and beyond.
Should I really say more to convince you?
I didn’t think so. I am sure I got you at pumpkin anyway. But while I still have you here, I want to tell you about one of my favorite charities, Cookies for Kids.
Every year, OXO supports Cookies for Kids’ Cancer through their #OXOGoodCookies program where they encourage everyone to bake a difference with OXO for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer.
Cookies for Kids’ Cancer was founded by two OXOnians (OXO employees) who were inspired by their son Liam’s battle with pediatric cancer; a disease which claims the lives of more children in the US than any other disease.
Cookies for Kids’ Cancer provides inspiration and support to allow anyone to easily get involved in fundraising to find a cure for pediatric cancer. This year, OXO will donate up to $100,000 to support Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, through their specially marked bakeware (the green sticker in my brownie pan above!).
25 cents for each specially marked product will go towards supporting pediatric cancer research up to our $100,000 commitment.
In addition, as part of their campaign, they will be donating $100 to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer for each blog post dedicated to this campaign in October.
Amazing right?
These pumpkin cake bars are helping a little toward pediatric cancer research (and I am all about organizations that give research as we are struggling to get funds to understand these diseases).
Head out there and buy some green sticker OXO bakeware!!
For more information, follow OXO on social media: Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Pumpkin Cake Bar Ingredients
- all-purpose flour
- baking powder
- baking soda
- salt
- ground cinnamon
- ground ginger
- ground cloves
- brown sugar
- a few eggs
- vegetable oil
- pumpkin puree
- vanilla extract
- milk
- unsalted butter
- powdered sugar
How to Make Pumpkin Cake Bars
For Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a rectangular 9 x 13-inch pan.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.
In the bowl of your Stand Mixer, beat the brown sugar and eggs until light and fluffy.
Gradually add in vegetable oil and mix until just combined. Beat in pumpkin puree and vanilla extract.
Alternate the dry ingredients and milk, in three batches, and beat until combined between each addition.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.
Bake cake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let cake cool in pan completely before frosting.
For frosting:
In a large bowl, beat all the ingredients together on low speed until combined. Increase speed to medium and beat until fluffy.
Spread frosting over cooled cake and cut into bars.
How to Store Pumpkin Cake Bars
Store pumpkin cake bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in your fridge for up to 5 days. You can also freeze these bars for up to 3 months. Unthaw the cake bars at room temperature.
More Pumpkin Dessert Recipes
- Pumpkin Spice Angel Food Cake
- Baked Pumpkin Donuts with Maple Glaze
- Pumpkin Cupcakes
- Instant Pot Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
What do you think of this tasty pumpkin bar recipe? What would you serve with these cake bars? Let me know in the comment section below.
If you share across social media, make sure to tag #aclassictwist, so I can see your beautiful creation come to life!
Happy baking, friends!
Pumpkin Cake Bar Recipe
Pumpkin Cake Bars
Pumpkin cake bars are made with a spiced cake and topped with a nutty brown butter frosting. These fall-inspired treats are perfect for Halloween festivities and beyond.
Ingredients
For Cake:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup milk, room temperature
- For brown butter cinnamon buttercream
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and browned
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3-4 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
For Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a rectangular 9 x 13-inch pan.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.
- In the bowl of your Stand Mixer, beat the brown sugar and eggs until light and fluffy. Gradually add in vegetable oil and mix until just combined. Beat in pumpkin puree and vanilla extract. Alternate the dry ingredients and milk, in three batches, and beat until combined between each addition.
- Divide batter equally into prepared pans. Bake cake 20 to 25 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cake cool in pan completely before frosting.
For frosting:
- In a large bowl, beat all the ingredients together on low speed until combined. Increase speed to medium and beat until fluffy.
- Spread frosting over cooled cake and cut into bars.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
20Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 471Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 42mgSodium: 235mgCarbohydrates: 92gFiber: 1gSugar: 80gProtein: 3g
I made them this past weekend, and everyone loved them. I added a little bit of maple extract to the frosting.
Sounds yum Pat! Thanks for sharing.
I made these tonight and they smell amazing… We’re anxiously waiting for them to cool. But sadly my frosting turned out NOTHING like how yours looks in the photo. Did you let the butter cool before mixing it with the other frosting ingredients? I kinda just plowed forward because it didn’t mention that in the instructions. Help!
Hi Angie! So glad to hear the cake smells amazing already as it bakes 🙂 I am sorry about the instructions. I usually wait for my butter to cool down as it is hot coming out of the stove. But I don’t think that will affect the way your frosting turns out. Was your frosting too thin? Or thick? It’s hard to tell from your description. Sometimes when there’s a lot of liquid it takes a little bit of mixing to get it to come together. Let me know how it turned out for you.
Pumpkin and brown butter are one of my favorite combinations — these bars look delicious! We have only a few weeks left of pumpkin season, really, and I’m glad you got these out!
The season is coming to an end too soon.
These bars look so yummy!
Mmm, these pumpkin bars look absolutely delicious, Zainab!
You had me at brown butter frosting Zainab!! Looks delish! Thanks for sharing!