Gluten Free Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
Celebrate fall with these easy gluten free pumpkin bars. This gf pumpkin bar recipe produces a delicious treat that's a cross between a cake and a cookie or bar—with all the best flavors of fall.
Servings: 12 bars
Equipment
- Stand mixer or handheld mixer (for the frosting)
Ingredients
For the bars
- 2 ½ cups all purpose gluten free flour blend (I used Better Batter; please click thru for appropriate blend info)
- 1 ¼ teaspoons xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- ⅝ cup neutral oil (vegetable, canola, grapeseed, or peanut oil would all work well)
- 2 eggs at room temperature, beaten
- ⅜ cup pure maple syrup at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons unsulphured molasses at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 can pure pumpkin puree at room temperature
For the cream cheese frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
Make the bars.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease and line a 10-inch x 15-inch x 1-inch jelly roll pan and set it aside.
- In a large bowl, place the flour blend, xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder, salt, pumpkin pie pie, and sugar, and whisk to combine well.
- Add the brown sugar, and mix to combine. Be sure to break up any clumps in the brown sugar.
- Add the oil, eggs, maple syrup, molasses, vanilla, and pumpkin puree. Mix until combined. The batter will be thick but quite soft.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, and use a wet spatula to smooth it into an even layer. Be sure to spread the batter all the way into the corners of the pan, even with the rest of the batter.
- Place the pan in the oven and bake for about 28 minutes, or until the bars appear puffed and lightly golden brown all over. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out with no more than a few moist crumbs attached.
- Remove the pan from the oven and allow the bars to cool completely in the pan.
Make the frosting.
- In a large bowl with a hand mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, place the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and salt, and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes).
- Add 1 1/2 cups (173 g) confectioners’ sugar, and beat until smooth (another or 2 minutes).
Frost the cooled bars.
- Spread the frosting on top of the cooled bars, creating a swooping pattern on top, if you like.
- Using a sharp knife, slice the frosted bars into 12 squares of equal size, and serve.