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Easy Pumpkin Bars
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These Easy Pumpkin Bars are the ultimate Fall dessert! Soft, spiced, and topped with the dreamiest brown butter icing, these are the dessert equivalent of a cozy sweater. They’re ridiculously easy to make, stay tender for days, and that frosting? You’ll want to pour it over everything you bake this fall. This is the recipe I keep coming back to year after year because the flavor is spot-on, the texture is perfect, and it’s just the right balance of sweet and warm spice.
Ingredient Notes + Variations
This recipe uses simple pantry staples, but each one pulls its weight to create that perfect pumpkin bar flavor and texture. Here are few notes about some key ingredients:
- Chopped walnuts – Optional, but add great texture and a little crunch.
- Pumpkin puree – Use pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling, for the best flavor and control over sweetness.
- Greek yogurt or sour cream – Adds moisture and a slight tang to balance the sweetness.
- Browned butter – Adds a nutty, rich flavor to the icing that makes it unforgettable.
How to Make Pumpkin Bars
Baking is what Fall is all about and this is hands down the best pumpkin bar recipe I have ever made. For full recipe details including ingredients and measurements, see the recipe card down below.
1. Preheat Oven + Prep Pan
Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray a lightly colored half sheet pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
2. Mix the Wet Ingredients
combine all wet ingredients in a mixing bowl
whisk until smooth
Pro Tip: fresh pumpkin vs canned pumpkin– I prefer to use canned pumpkin when baking. Fresh pumpkin puree tends to have more moisture in it, but you can always soak up some of the liquid with a tea towel before adding to the batter mixture.
3. Add Dry Ingredients
stir in the flour until just combined + spread evenly in the prepared pan
4. Bake
bake for 15–20 minutes
5. Make Brown Butter Icing
melt butter until browned and nutty, then whisk in milk, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, and nuts if using
6. Frost + Cool
pour icing over warm bars
spread icing evenly + let cool before slicing
Tips for Success
- Use a light-colored pan to avoid over-browning.
- Don’t overmix the batter once you add the flour.
- Frost while the bars are still warm so the icing spreads like a dream.
- Browning the butter is worth the extra few minutes—it makes the flavor deeper and richer.
What to Serve with Pumpkin Bars
- Homemade Apple Cider – Cozy fall flavors that complement the warm spices.
- Crockpot Hot Chocolate – Because pumpkin and chocolate are best friends.
- Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream – Cold and creamy with warm bars is perfection.
These pumpkin bars are the dessert you’ll be asked to “make again” before you’ve even finished serving them. The printable recipe card is below. Have a great week, friends!
Easy Pumpkin Bars
These Pumpkin Bars are the ultimate Fall dessert! A simple and tender pumpkin spice cake, topped with warm brown butter icing that you pour over the top of the warm cake once it comes out of the oven.
Ingredients
for the cake-
- 1 cup canola oil or any neutral oil
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt or sour cream
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
for the icing-
- 1/2 cup salted butter
- 1/4 cup milk
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- pinch ground nutmeg
- 1 cup chopped walnuts optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray a lightly colored half sheet pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, pumpkin, yogurt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and vanilla extract until mostly smooth. A few small lumps of brown sugar are fine.
- Pour in flour and stir until just combined. Pour into prepared baking sheet and smooth the top as best as you can. Bake 15-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean after being inserted.
make the icing-
- Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. As it continues to cook, it should start to foam, smell nutty and you should see little brown specks appear. Remove from heat.
- Whisk in milk, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, and nuts if using. Pour hot icing over warm cake and spread to smooth the top.
- Let cake come to room temperature or cool at least 30 minutes before cutting and serving.
Notes
Storage + Make Ahead Directions
Store cooled bars in an airtight container at room temperature. These will stay fresh for 5-6 days…if they aren’t gone by then, ha! To Freeze– Good news! These freeze extremely well if you want to make them ahead or save some for later. Be sure to place parchment paper in between layers. Use a freezer-safe, airtight container or bag. These will stay fresh for 2 months in the freezer. Allow to thaw overnight. To Make Ahead– These bars actually taste better the next day as the flavors have time to meld. Just store them in an airtight container at room temperature.Nutrition
Calories: 323kcalCarbohydrates: 55gProtein: 3gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 31mgSodium: 167mgPotassium: 91mgSugar: 44gVitamin A: 670IUVitamin C: 0.6mgCalcium: 32mgIron: 1mg
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Variations
- Swap walnuts for pecans.
- Add a pinch of cloves for extra spice.
- Use cream cheese frosting instead of brown butter icing for a tangy twist.
More Delicious Pumpkin Recipes to Try
- Pumpkin Pecan Cobbler – My most raved-about fall dessert!
- Pumpkin Sugar Cookies – Soft, spiced, glazed, and melt-in-your-mouth good.
- Pumpkin Cheesecake Cake – An epic, total show stopping dessert!
- Pumpkin Cream Pie – Creamy, spiced, and a guaranteed crowd-pleaser.
- Pumpkin Cheesecake – Rich and creamy with that perfect fall spice twist.
If you make this recipe, I would really appreciate it if you would give it a star rating and leave your review in the comments! If you have a picture of your finished dish, post it on Instagram using the hashtag #laurenslatest and tagging me @laurens_latest.
I made these and they turned out well, just very thin.
Can I bake the half sheet recipe in a 9×13 pan so that the bars will be thicker?
Or does the batter need to spread out and be thin in order to cook correctly?
great
What size can of pumpkin should I use?
Tess, you can buy a 15 oz can but you only need 1 cup of it for this recipe. Ingredient amounts can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
DELISH!!!! Make these! They are super easy and fluffy and delicious. My favorite trio.
Hi Lauren, where did your scrummy pumpkin bars with the brown butter frosting go? I miss them! They were so good! ?
Thanks for sharing.
Going to make for church.
Will double for 9 x 13 pan.
Hi Lauren!
What happened to the pumpkin bar recipe you had with The browned butter icing?!
Can you freeze this after it cools?
Seriously the best pumpkin dessert I have ever made! Thank you!
THESE ARE AMAZING and I’m not even that into pumpkin stuff but was in the mood for something “fall-ish”. I’m way more of a chocolate girl, but I inhaled like five of these things when I first ate them. I followed the recipe and they were perfect! This is the easiest recipe too. Took like 10 minutes max to mix everything. They are dense and moist, and that glaze is delicious. I was little unsure when I added the flour to the batter. The batter never really got smooth and I was worried about over mixing. But that didn’t seem to matter at all! I cooked them for 16 minutes, as soon as the toothpick came out clean. I brought the leftovers to work so that I didn’t eat 20 entire pumpkin bars and they were a huge hit! Really great recipe!!
Oh my lord I just made these and they are perfection. The browned butter icing tastes wonderful and is a nice change from cream cheese frosting.
Can this be made in a 9×13? If so, can you tell me how to modify the recipe?
I would halve the recipe to make these pumpkin bars fit into a 9×13.
Recipe says 8×8 pan. Your reply to this gal asking if it can be made in a 9×13 pan – U said Yes just halve the recipe…Dont you mean double the recipe ??
These were so delicious!! That Brown butter icing really makes them stand apart from other pumpkin bar recipies. I got so many compliments when I brought them to work. Thank you for sharing!
Leah
Recipe was super easy to use. Absolutely delightful! The pumpkin bars were moist and just right. Will definitely make them again!
This is really great cake! I made it for my daughter’s teacher’s birthday and took enough for the whole class to eat. After school, I had a parent come up and say that her daughter, who won’t eat pumpkin things, loved the cake! I dropped the oil to 3/4 c. and upped the pumpkin to 1 1/4 c. for a little more pumpkin flavor, but otherwise, I followed the directions. Oh – I used parchment paper, and I needed more milk to make the glaze pour. It is on the sweet side with the icing, so be aware. I’m making it again right now, on my kids’ snow day, and I can’t wait. Thanks for this great recipe!
[…] Pumpkin Bars […]
These are amazing! I made them last night and brought them to work. Big hit!!!
This is my new favorite recipe!! The cake was so easy to make and had such a great texture. So light and tender. And the icing was just so delicious! The brown butter made such a difference! There were rave reviews all around and requests for seconds! The perfect cake for Fall!
Lauren, I made these for Canadian Thanksgiving and they are soooo good. Everyone loved it. The icing is to die for! They were so easy to make too. Thanks for creating these bars.
These are amazing and so easy. The best part is that I already had a majority of the ingredients in my pantry. I made these for a large pot luck gathering and they were snatched up almost immediately. The nice thing is that I was able to make them the night before and cover them up since the glaze hardens a bit. They were perfection. I can’t wait to make them again, and again, and again! Thank you Lauren!!!
Lauren, I love so many of your recipes, but this one is my FAV!!! I made these for a charity bake sale and totally regretted giving away the majority of the pan. Going to make them again soon. Oh and for the record, that frsoting/icing/glaze (whatever you want to call it) is THE BEST 🙂
Gah. These are TO DIE FOR. That frosting… oh my. I may or may not have had a spoonful before I put it on the bars. I need to send these to work with my husband tomorrow or I’ll eat the whole pan!
Looks delicious ?, can’t wait to try.
Hi.
Is there a alternative to the amount of sugar for diabetes
Yum! Thinking that this will be perfect to take for dessert to a bbq with friends this weekend. I am praying that it turns out as beautifully as yours! Do you think that I could make this a day ahead and keep it covered on the sheet pan?
Love this!! That brown butter icing looks great.
Thank you for a delicious looking way to put on more weight!! I didn’t know what a half pan was either. Thank you for clarifying that. Just a regular sheet pan around here. I’m in So.Cal. and I have a killer recipie for pumpkin bread that was sold by an order of Nuns in Hollywood. This was their main source of money for the year…so you know it’s good! Kary Perry is now trying to buy that convent. Anyhow, the recipie was published years ago in the LA Times. I’ll share if you ever want.
If you use pumpkin pie filling, I assume I just reduce the spices and sugar? Have you tried that?
You are amazing and this looks Ah-MAAAAAAAA-zing! Thank you for the beautiful tutorial as well!
What size pumpkin? What is the dimensions of the cookie sheet. Not familiar with half sheet
Can’t wait to try this
It’s 1 cup of pumpkin puree. Half sheet pan is 18x13x1.
You say to use a can of pumpkin. You didn’t mention if this is the large or small can but I am assuming you meant to say small can. Look forward to making this.
Recipe says 1 CUP, not can 🙂
I read the same thing! Thank you for the clarification! ?
Could I use gluten free flour , just diagnosed as celiac, which, I am not gonna lie, sucks
Yes, try Pamela’s gluten free flour! It’s the best one I’ve found.