Gluten Free Pumpkin Bars (Cream Cheese Frosting)

These gluten free pumpkin bars are made simply with canned pumpkin and plenty of warm, spicy pumpkin-friendly spices. The crumb is denser than cake, more tender than cookies, and absolutely packed with deep, fall flavors.

This gluten free fall dessert will make your house smell heavenly, and you can make the bars with or without a generous spread of creamy, sweet cream cheese frosting.

Want to save this recipe?

Enter your email and we’ll send it to you! Plus, get new recipes every week.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Name *

Email *

Save Recipe

Why this recipe works

These gluten free pumpkin bars are like a cross between a gluten free blondie or gluten free pumpkin cookie, and a pumpkin cake. The crumb is denser than a cake, which is airier, but less tight than a cookie, which tends to be either crispy or chewy.

Baking with pumpkin puree like we are here, instead of thicker, more intense pumpkin butter means that our baked goods are naturally fluffier, in a way that we can’t quite control. Pumpkin puree just has so much moisture! Here, we use that moisture to make incredibly tender pumpkin bars, but balance it with more gluten free flour and different sugars that add flavor, sweetness, and some chew.

Recipe ingredients

Here’s what you need to make these bars, plus some information on the role each ingredient plays in a successful baking result:

• Gluten free flour: Provides most of the structure of the bars. I recommend Better Batter’s classic gluten free flour blend without any additional xanthan gum, Nicole’s Best with 1 1/4 teaspoons xanthan gum added, or Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 gluten free baking flour with an additional 1/2 teaspoon gum since that blend has some, but not enough, binder to prevent crumbling.
• Baking powder: Responsible for the bars rising in the oven for a relatively open crumb.
• Baking soda: Provides some rise when it reacts with the acid in the molasses, but primarily helps the bars brown.
• Pumpkin pie spice – A mix of cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves and nutmeg, this warm fall spice blend is more responsible for the pumpkin flavor of these bars than the pumpkin itself.
• Sugar: Both white sugar and brown sugar sweeten and tenderize the bars, plus the brown sugar adds some moisture and depth of flavor.
• Molasses: We use unsulphured molasses here (I use Grandma’s brand) for depth of flavor and some color. Avoid using blackstrap molasses, which is just too bitter.
• Maple syrup: For sweetness, depth, and just the pure maple flavor, plus some added moisture.
• Oil: Neutral cooking oil adds no flavor but still tenderizes the alternative proteins in the flour by coating them and staying liquid even at room and refrigerator temperatures. Grapeseed, peanut, canola, avocado or vegetable oil all work well.
• Eggs: Add structure, help the bars rise, and make the crumb a bit more cakey.
• Vanilla extract: For depth of flavor, use good quality pure vanilla extract. You can also add some maple flavoring in its place, if you’d like more of that flavor.
• Pumpkin puree: A whole 15 ounce can of pumpkin puree adds color, some flavor and lots of moisture. Be sure you’re using pumpkin puree, which is made from one single ingredient (often a squash that isn’t pumpkin), not pumpkin pie filling, which has additional ingredients added to it.

Expert tips

Choose the right pan

These bars are best when baked in a 10-inch x 15-inch x 1-inch baking pan, often known as a jelly roll pan. I prefer light colored baking pans made from stainless steel or cast aluminum, since they bake slowly and evenly, and don’t attract extra heat which often leads to burning on the bottom.

If you don’t have a jelly roll pan, you can make these bars in a 9-inch x 13-inch x 2-inch casserole dish, or a cake pan of similar size. The baking time should be the same since the length is only increased by 1-inch, but the sides of your sheet pan pumpkin bars won’t be as clean if your casserole dish has sloped sides.

To make a half batch, reduce the yield in the recipe card to 6 bars and bake in an eighth sheet pan, which measures 10-inches x 7-inches x 1-inch, about half the size of a jelly roll pan. Begin checking for doneness after about 18 minutes of baking time.

Let the bars cool completely before frosting

Most frosting, including the cream cheese frosting in this recipe, is best when it’s cool, not warm. Be sure to let your bars cool completely in the pan before covering them with frosting, since the fat in the frosting will begin to melt at temperatures higher than about 82°F.

Ingredient substitutions

Dairy free

These pumpkin bars, without the frosting, are already gf and dairy free, since they’re made with oil, not butter. But the frosting is full of dairy (cream cheese, butter), so you can try Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese, which comes as close as I’ve ever tasted to regular cream cheese. Violife has a block-style dairy free cream cheese that comes closer in texture, but tastes less authentic.

Egg free

In place of the 2 eggs, try 1 “chia egg” each. That would mean a total of 2 tablespoons ground white chia seeds mixed with 4 tablespoons lukewarm water, allowed to sit until it gels.

Recipe variations

To add a little variety to these gluten free pumpkin bars, here are a few suggestions:

• Try sprinkling the top of the raw batter with about 2 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips or chopped nuts before baking; press down on the chips or nuts with a wet spatula to help them adhere;
• Replace the cream cheese frosting with a drizzle of a simple confectioners’ sugar glaze, like the one we use on gluten free pumpkin cinnamon rolls
• Slice the bars unfrosted, and then top each bar with some fresh homemade, lightly sweetened whipped cream and a dusting of ground cinnamon.

Storage instructions

These bars are so moist and tender that they won’t dry out for 2 days if you store them, wrapped or covered properly, at room temperature. If you’ve frosted them already, they should be refrigerated to prevent the cream cheese from spoiling.

You can store your bars, frosted or unfrosted, in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. I like to store leftovers cut into smaller pieces for quick snacking right from the fridge.

For longer storage, you can freeze the bars plain, sliced into squares or not, and then frost when you’re ready to serve. Wrap the plain bars very tightly before freezing, so they don’t get stale from freezer burn.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Bars Recipe with Cream Cheese Frosting

5 from 13 votes

By Nicole Hunn

Prep Time: 25 minutes mins

Cook Time: 28 minutes mins

Cooling time: 1 hour hr

Yield: 12 bars

SaveSaved Pin Print

These gluten free pumpkin bars are like a cross between a cake and a cookie or bar, with all the best flavors of fall.

Tell Google you trust GFOAS!

Add to Preferred Sources

Equipment

• Stand mixer or handheld mixer (for the frosting)

Save this recipe!

Get this sent to your inbox, plus get new recipes from us every week!

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Email *

Save

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

For the bars

• ▢ 2 ½ cups (350 g) 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 (100 g) granulated sugar
• ▢ ½ cup (109 g) packed light brown sugar
• ▢ ⅝ cup (140 g) neutral oil, (vegetable, canola, grapeseed, or peanut oil would all work well)
• ▢ 2 (100 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs, at room temperature, beaten
• ▢ ⅜ cup (126 g) pure maple syrup, at room temperature
• ▢ 2 tablespoons (42 g) unsulphured molasses, at room temperature
• ▢ 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 can (15 ounces) pure pumpkin puree, at room temperature

For the cream cheese frosting

• ▢ 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• ▢ 2 tablespoons (28 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ▢ 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ 1 ½ cups (173 g) 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 spice, 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.

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 1bar | Calories: 421kcal | Carbohydrates: 70g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 51mg | Sodium: 377mg | Potassium: 198mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 5865IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 71mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this? Leave a comment below!

Frosting options

The rich pumpkin flavor of these bars is complemented best with a sweet cream cheese frosting. Cream cheese frosting is like a buttercream frosting, but made with cream cheese in place of butter. I like to add a bit of room temperature butter to cream cheese frosting to make it a bit more stable at cool room temperature, though, since cream cheese is softer by nature.

Be sure to begin with cream cheese and butter at cool room temperature, and beat them together with a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for at least 3 minutes to incorporate plenty of air. That is how you make sure your frosting is light and fluffy.

More gluten free pumpkin recipes

If you’re seeking more gluten free pumpkin desserts for Thanksgiving or just to celebrate the season with fall desserts, here are a few more of my favorites:

• These gluten free pumpkin chocolate chip squares are basically pumpkin-flavored blondies, and my husband simply won’t let Thanksgiving happen without at least one batch.
• Don’t miss the smooth pumpkin custard filling of this classic gluten free pumpkin pie.
• The ultimate fall showstopper, this gluten free pumpkin roll looks much more difficult than it actually is, and dresses up any table. If you’ve been putting off learning to make a cake roll, now’s the time!