Enjoy fall with all its beautiful leaves, cool crisp air, and yummy treats like these chewy Cinnamon Pumpkin Cookie Bars.
Melanie here from Garnish & Glaze and like many, I LOVE pumpkin. I could eat pumpkin All. DAY. LONG. Pumpkin everything! Pancakes, donuts, bread, cake, soup… Sadly, when I was pregnant with my first child, just thinking about pumpkin made me feel sick. I actually had a hard time eating any sweets at all. What a sad fall/winter that was… but probably better for my health. I was actually kind of proud of myself for not eating 3 treats a day anymore and told myself I’d keep it up. Unfortunately/fortunately I started to feel better and I was eating for two so yeah, I gave in to my old ways. I really love sweets and I gotta have my chocolate!
Can You Use Fresh Pumpkin Instead Of Canned Pumpkin?
Yes, it’s easy to make fresh pumpkin puree and it can be substituted for canned pumpkin.
Pumpkin cookies are usually soft and cakey, very different from the texture of a typical cookie; however, these bars are chewy like your favorite chocolate chip cookie.
What Makes Chocolate Chip Cookies Chewy?
High moisture content does; so the recipe, baking time, and temperature must be adjusted to retain moisture.
Binding the water in butter, eggs, and brown sugar (it contains molasses, which is 10 percent water) with flour slows its evaporation.
Pumpkin is often seen paired with chocolate but I decided to shake things up a bit. At this time of the year, Hershey sells cinnamon chips. They are like mini chocolate chips but mounds of sweet cinnamon that give a burst of fall flavor to any treat you throw them in. They make these bars sooo delicious! If you are a chocolate addict, I totally understand. A chocolate version of these would be just as fantastic. Pumpkin and chocolate is hard to resist!
And for extra pizzazz I added icing and I don’t regret it at all. No one objects to icing right?
Cinnamon Pumpkin Cookie Bars
Cinnamon Pumpkin Cookie Bars
Description
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup salted butter, melted
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/3 cup pumpkin puree, NOT pumpkin pie filling
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons cinnamon chips
For the icing:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 1-2 tablespoons cream, or milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9x9 inch baking pan.
- Mix together melted butter, sugars, pumpkin puree, and vanilla.
- In another bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until combined.
- Fold in the cinnamon chips.
- Spread the dough into the pan and bake for 25 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
- For the icing:
- Mix the powdered sugar vanilla and 1 tablespoon milk.
- Add more milk to get desired consistency.
- Place icing in a plastic baggie or piping bag, cut off tip and pipe over bars.
Notes
Nutrition
Recommended Products
Adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction
Enjoy more Pumpkin!
Wilma
Great flavor, but shouldn’t there be an egg or two in there? I put one egg in, it seemed somewhat crumbly. Maybe 2eggs? I have a very old recipe for bar cookies, I make it all the time,always perfect. For 8×8 pan, it takes one egg. Never crumbles.
Sweet Basil
I’m so sorry it turned out crumbly for you! Since this is a recipe from a contributing blogger, I just have to go with the recipe she has.
Paula B
Made these yesterday for supper club. They were simply pumpkin perfection!
Sweet Basil
Woop woop! And I want to be in a supper club! That sounds amazing!
Paula B
Thought I lost my recipe, going to make these again for the Thanksgiving cookie tray. (Some of us always have room for bars and cookies!) I may use dried cranberries nstead of the cinnamon chips. Also, both times I have made these I omitted the icing and simply dusted with confectioner’s sugar. I mean they have so much flavor it is no hardship to skip the icing.
Sweet Basil
So glad you love these cookies Paula! And great tip on the frosting!