With Halloween in a few short days and Thanksgiving just a month away, it is time that I break out my favorite pumpkin bar recipe to share with all of you! This is not just any pumpkin bar recipe, it is my Mom's famous recipe that I grew up on. She used to make these bars multiple times through out the Fall season, especially around Halloween and Thanksgiving time.

I have to be honest that I am not a fan of pumpkin pie (I have tried to like it for years) but I love to mirror the flavors in other dessert forms. This recipe includes the perfect mix of pumpkin pie spice and fresh canned pumpkin smothered in the most amazing cream cheese frosting.

As these were baking in the oven, the house was filled with the aroma of pumpkin spice and brought me right back to my childhood. My Mom used to bake these on a crisp Fall day, with the intent of feeding a crowd. I was either putting the last touches on my Halloween costume, or counting down the days until Thanksgiving break. These bars were always the hit at any party we brought them to, and that's how they quickly became my Mom's famous recipe.

In my opinion, you can never go wrong with cream cheese frosting! It is so easy to make, and it takes this dessert to the next level. Once the pumpkin bars have cooled completely, I like to use an offset spatula to spread the frosting evenly across the pan of pumpkin bars.

I recommend baking these on a sheet pan, so they are easy to transport if you are taking them to an event and they yield at least two to three dozen bars (depending on how you cut them).

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as our family does this Fall season!

Pumpkin Bar Recipe

Ingredients For the Bars:

2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 cup oil
4 eggs, brought to room temperature
2 cups canned pumpkin (non-spiced)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Ingredients for the Frosting:

1- 3oz. package of cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter
2 Tbsp. cream
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 13x18 sheet pan. Mix all of the bar ingredients together until well incorporated. Pour the batter onto the greased sheet pan and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a tooth pick comes out clean. Set on a wire rack and let the bars cool completely.
To make the frosting, mix the cream cheese and butter together. Combine with the other ingredients and mix well. Spread the frosting over the cooled bars with an offset spatula. Cut the bars into rectangles and enjoy!

Whether you are sending your kids back to school, going back to school yourself, or feeling the nostalgic feelings of what it was like to go back to school (like me), I think we all have one thing in common; you can never go wrong with peanut butter and jelly! The flavor combination has been around for longer than you and I have, and there is no wonder why. In honor of school starting back up, I am sharing one of my favorite ways to enjoy peanut butter and jelly which is in a dessert bar form.

I have fond memories of making this recipe, which is usually in the Fall, so these always remind me of back-to-school and football season. My Mom gave me one of Ina Garten's cook books for my Birthday one year, and I always find myself flipping through cook books during football season when there is more down time on the couch. The first time I made these bars was when my now Husband and I were just dating and it was a crisp Fall day. Football was on in the background at his apartment, and the room was filled with the amazing scent of these bars baking.

I knew I had to try this recipe since it was loaded with peanut butter and I love all of Ina Garten's recipes so I had a hunch they would be delicious. One bite into these bars and I knew this recipe was going to be a keeper!

Ina Garten's cook book, much like some of my old text books, have followed me from house to house over the years and it is one that I proudly display in my kitchen. This recipe has an old post-it note sticking out of it marking it's page. Yeah, it's one of my favorites :)

Since this recipe makes about 24 bars, they are perfect to bring on the first day of school, back-to-school activities, a Fall tailgate or just to cozy up with and enjoy. They are rich, flakey yet creamy and packed with flavor. They really do taste like the sandwich we all grew up on, sans the crust.

As Ina states in her book, these bars will appeal to everyone including the "inner child" in you. I hope you enjoy this recipe and it truly does bring out the inner child in you, as it has done so for me :)

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

Ingredients:

Yields about 24 bars

½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan
1½ cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups creamy peanut butter, such as Skippy (18 ounces)
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pan
1 teaspoon baking powder
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
1½ cups raspberry jam or other jam (18 ounces)
2/3 cups salted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 x 2-inch baking pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light yellow, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the vanilla, eggs, and peanut butter and mix until well combined.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture. Mix just until combined.

Spread two thirds of the dough in the prepared pan, using a knife to spread it evenly. Spread the jam evenly over the dough. Drop small globs of the remaining dough evenly over the jam. Don’t worry if all the jam isn’t covered; the dough will spread when it bakes. Sprinkle with the chopped peanuts and bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and cut into small squares.

*Recipe from Barefoot Contessa