Pumpkin, pumpkin, who's got the pumpkin?

The answer......everyone this time of year!!!!  I love being able to get pumpkin for a decent price during Thanksgiving time.  Pumpkin bread has always been a favorite of mine and I wanted a recipe to call my own, so I went looking and found a recipe for pumpkin bars that had great reviews. I'm a total sucker for any recipe with "bar" in the title. I made my own substitutions and alterations and after several attempts came up with the one I stick with now.  These are delectable!!  It comes with a recipe for frosting.  The frosting definitely adds something special, but these bars are wonderful all by themselves.  You can also bake the batter in muffin tins for some great tasting muffins that freeze nicely!

Pumpkin Bars    
Ingredients:
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
15 oz. pumpkin
2 cups flour (I use 1/2 white & 1/2 whole wheat)
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp baking soda
frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Method:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2.  Mix eggs, sugar, oil & pumpkin until light and fluffy.
3.  Stir together remaining ingredients.
4.  Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture & mix until smooth.
5.  Spread into 13 X 10 pan (or 2 smaller pans)
6.  Bake 30 minutes & let cool
7.  Mix together frosting ingredients and spread over if desired.  It's fantastic without the frosting too!!
8.  Sprinkle a mixture of sugar, cinnamon & nutmeg over the top for a pretty finish

For printable version click here