Every once in a while, a recipe deserves a re-do. I originally posted this recipe in the Fall of 2008, just a few months into the life of my blog. I was trying to figure out my photography style. I was trying to figure out what a dang blog was. I was trying to find my voice on the internet. I was trying my hardest not to be a hot-mess.
I decided that this dish is just too good to suffer from hot-mess-ed-ness. Hot-mess-ed-ness is a real word (mostly because it’s a real thing that happens). The recipe has a mostly infallible list of ingredients that includes pumpkin and cream cheese. These are two great ingredients that in combination are utterly lovely and you know… festive! It has taken me almost four years to realize that these bars was missing a certain sort of… greatness. I’ve figured it out. As is the case in improving most things in life.. we’re going to need more crust. More dang crust!
Let’s do!
These bars start with a variation of shortbread crust. What’s so divine about this situation is that the crust is both a press-in bottom and a crumble topping.
It starts with great ingredients that include (but are not limited to): brown sugar, old-fashioned oats, and pecans.
All of the dry ingredients are tossed together in a bowl, and then we have to deal with the butter.
Dealing with butter is one of my very favorite pastimes.
I just use my fingers to bring this crust together. Quick fingers to smash and break up the butter into little flakes and pea-sized bits. This is as far as things should go.
Two cups (or so) of the shortbread crust are reserved, the rest is pressed into a square baking pan. It’s really simple (and incidentally, super satisfying).
A good chilling in the fridge will set the crust and crumb just right while the filling is made.
Cream cheese meets pumpkin! These things will become a thick and creamy spiced bar filling. There is a trick to this batter… there’s always a trick. Cream cheese is thicker than pumpkin. For this reason, cream cheese needs to be super soft and beat in the mixer prior to adding the pumpkin, sugar, and eggs. This will prevent the cream cheese from being frustratingly chunky.
Oh… and if the cream cheese should happen to get frustratingly chunky, the whisk attachment on a mixer works miracles.
Creamy filling topped with shortbread crumb topping. Nothing is wrong with this scene. Nothing at all…
Welcome to the land of the crunchy and the creamy. Welcome to the land of the festive and the spiced. These bars have some really good proportions. The crust to filling to topping ratio is spot on. They’re smooth and creamy with crunch from the pecans and a hearty oat crumble. I love to serve these bars cold. Pumpkin pie is totally best served cold, served with extra cold vanilla ice cream.
Ps. Another Fall staple: Vegan Pumpkin Walnut Bread. No softened butter or eggs necessary. It’s a secret weapon, for real.
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- 3/4 cups (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold and cut into small cubes
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg plus 1 large egg white
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon all-spice
- 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
- pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract.
- 9 roasted pecan halves for topping
Instructions
- Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8x8-inch square pan with butter or shortening. Line with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, and oats. Add cold butter and quickly but thoroughly break the butter up into the dry ingredients. When broken down, some butter pieces will be the size of small peas, others will be the size of oat flakes. Add the chopped pecans and toss to thoroughly combine.
- Remove about 1 1/2 (to 2 cup) of the mixture from the bowl and place in a small bowl in the refrigerator. This will be our crumble topping.
- Dump the remaining crust mixture into the prepared pan. Using your fingers, evenly press the crust into the bottom of the pans. Try to make sure that the crust has an even thickness across the pan. Place the pressed crust in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.
- To prepare the filling place cream cheese in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat cream cheese on medium speed for about 1 minute, until smooth and pliable. This will help the cream cheese be less chunky when combined with the pumpkin.
- Add pumpkin and sugar to the softened cream cheese and beat on medium speed. Stop the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl, ensuring that the pumpkin and cream cheese are thoroughly combined. If the cream cheese looks chunky, switch to the whisk attachment and beat on high speed until most of the cream cheese lumps are incorporated.
- On medium speed add the egg and egg white. Beat to combine (about 1 minute). Add the spices, salt, and vanilla extract. Beat to combine.
- Remove the pressed crust and loose crumb from the refrigerator. Pour the creamy pumpkin filling over the pressed crust. Sprinkle generously with crumb topping and top with pecan halves. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the center no longer jiggles. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before removing from the pan and slicing. I like to slice and serve these bars chilled.
- To store, wrap individual bars in plastic wrap and keep in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Lance
These bars turned out great. I usually roll my eyes when I read comments from people who change everything about the recipe. I did, however, change something, but honored the integrity of Joy’s recipe. Here’s what I did.
* Doubled the recipe and baked the bars in a 9″ by 13″ pan, so that I can freeze some of the bars for later.
* Used whole eggs. For a single batch, use two whole eggs; for a double batch, use four.
* Added a tad more kosher salt to the dough and to the filling.
* Because I doubled the recipe, the bars are a little thicker than if I baked ‘me in an 8″ by 8″ pan. So I increased the bake time to 35 minutes.
The bars are pretty fantastic. Thanks for the great recipe, Joy!
Rebecca
I have made these Pumpkin Pie Bars a few times and always with delicious results. They are full of flavour but not too sweet. Thanks, Joy! Trawling through your recipes, looking for inspiration is always a pleasure.
Meera
I must avoid eggs for health reasons. Any idea what would work as a replacement for eggs in this recipe? I’ve tried bob red mills’ egg replacer with not much luck — the filing wouldn’t set – increasing the baking time didn’t help with the setting.
Amber
We don’t eat eggs either. This recipe works well with a flax “egg” – 1 tablespoon ground flax seed and 3 tablespoons water (let it sit in a bowl for at least five minutes).
Trish Everett
How far in advance do you think these could be made, Joy?
joythebaker
You can make them a day before, like today for instance! (Sorry for the late response!)
Joanne
These look amazing! I’m planning to make it for a group of friends, can I just double the recipe for a 9 by 13 pan?
joythebaker
Hi Joanne! Yes just double the ingredients and you’ll be good to go with a 9×13!
Jennifer E.
Joy – I must tell you – I bake for my office every Sunday night (to bring treats in for Monday). They’ve come to expect goodies. I was going to bring in pumpkin biscuits (recipe from another site) but they were a huge failure. I woke up early this morning to bake your pumpkin pie bars and oh WOW, what a hit! People could not WAIT for me to put them out. I let them know what was coming and that they had to wait for them because they were cooling but once I put them out, they were DEVOURED. I will definitely make these again! Big Big HIT in my office!!
joythebaker
biggest compliment EVER!
Christine
hi joy! do you have a suggestion for a substitute for the pecans for those of us allergic to nuts? thank you! this looks delicious!
Prenota Ora
This site is really excellent. Congratulations: D
Judy
I also tried to print with no luck Is there a way to print, I sure would like to try this treat.
Rhonda Sittig
Hi Joy– Read your blog daily and I reposted these creamy bars on my own little blog– Hope that’s OK. I admire your sassy warm prose, your range of great recipes and your evident faith. Thank you for it all.
Amber
These were a hit! I did a double recipe and baked it in a 9×13. As a previous poster suggested, I doubled the filling and made the same amount of crust/crumble. I baked for about 35-40 minutes. The only change I made was to omit the egg and use flax seed and water instead. They are definitely better cold vs room temp.
Stefanie
Hi there! I made these and they were so, so DIVINE. Thank you!! I only had one issue – the pumpkin filling layer came out really thin, not thick like yours. I’m wondering if I messed up on the amount of cream cheese. It it 4 ounces (114 grams), or a little less than half a brick of cream cheese that needs to be used?
egpress
These are HEAVENLY!
I made them without the nuts for an event (you know, allergies and all) and substituted about 1/4cup of oats with oat bran, mostly for fun. I also cut them into much smaller slices – easy with a plastic knife.
I may have to make more crumble next time, I ended up munching on an awful lot just raw….oops! A simple, tasty fall recipe. Thanks!
arielle
I suffer from hot-mess-ed-ness a lot. Definatly a thing. I’m gonna have to start off my fall baking (eating) binge with these guys for sure.
Deidre
I made these last night, and they are CRAZY delicious! I brought them to school, and my classmates died and went to heaven. They remind me a bit of a really decadent date square, with pumpkin instead of dates. Great recipe!
GS
Hey Joy!
Thanks for the scrumptious recipe! I made an EGG-FREE version of these yesterday! Check it out! http://sweetlittlebrownies.wordpress.com/2012/12/08/morning-glory-muffins-and-chai/
Jen
I made these for my office for Thanksgiving and sent some with my husband’s office as well. They were a huge hit! The recipe was very easy to follow and the results were just delicious. Thanks!
robyn
made these for a friend’s baby shower yesterday and they were such a hit!
robyn
just made these! fab! (and not tricky-which to me is a big bonus!)
Stephanie
Joy, these were delicious! Thank you for this recipe. Like a few others here, I thought I had failed while they were baking–the crust didn’t seem to be crust-ing together properly. But once they came out of the oven and set a bit, they were delicious! I particularly loved them chilled. Would love to hear if anyone tried to bake the bottom crust just a little in advance of layering.
Nicole Jenkins
I just wanted to say Thank You Joy for this recipe. I made it for Thanksgiving and my 7yr old nephew helped with all of it and was so excited to help me in the kitchen and to contribute to the day. So thank you for your wonderful recipes and all your great words that go along with them. You are awesome!
Paleoliscious
This look amazing and the recipe is just a must-make, really. I will try making it gluten-free and diary-free, but do you have a recommendation about what to do if I cannot get my hands on some pumpkin pure? If I would just cook/bake and puree them, would be the same thing?
Esther
Just made these. Yum! I was really impressed with the ratio of crust to filling. I often end up doubling that part of a recipe because I always find the crusts too thin, not this time!
Heather D.
I made these this morning and my husband said that “these are probably the best thing I had ever made”. Thanks for te recipe!
Stephanie
Made this for Thanksgiving. It’s delicious. I typically cut the sugar down a bit when I bake from the original recipe. I did it with this recipe and I wish I didn’t. While it wasn’t as sweet as I wanted it was still really good and a huge hit.
Lana
I made this instead of pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving and it was a hit! Thank you Joy!
Jade
I need to make this immediately!!!
LMGirl
I made these for a Thanksgiving get-together today and they were a big hit. I don’t have a square pan, but my springform pan worked perfectly. Thanks for the recipe!
Chloe
Oh my word these look absolutely phenomenal and I can’t wait to try this recipe! I can just imagine how soft they are on the inside vs the crispy, spicy crunchy crumb mmmmm!
pinky
made them for a fall tea party without the nuts (added a touch more oats) and they were fabulous. i ended up hiding a few from the rest of my family and munched on them days after. taste particularly delicious with an accompanying hot toddy.
Carrie
These look awesome! Unfortunately, I’m allergic to pecans (all nuts, actually). Boooo, I know. So I was wondering what I could substitute for the pecans in this recipe.
Thanks a millie!
sarah
carrie, i’m allergic to nuts, too. i ended up substituting crushed graham crackers for the nuts in the crust, and the bars turned out great! you could taste a hint of the graham crackers and the crust was delicious!
Carrie
oh, sarah, how genius!! thank you so much for the reply! i’m excited to make these this weekend.
sarah
So glad you saw the reply! I did an exact substitution and they were sooo good. The texture of the graham crackers added something similar to what the nuts would have added, and the subtle graham flavor was killer.
Claire
These are fabulous. If you could take all the good things about a pumpkin pie and turn it into even something better, these bars would be it. Creamy pumpkin with plenty of flaky crisp in every bite to make your taste buds scream with excitement :) Thanks for the recipe Joy!
Zac
Very good, especially after being chilled in the refrigerator. Unfortunately, I only had quick oats; however, I sifted the dust out before adding them and it turned out fine.
Katie
Made these today and thought they were delicious! It seems mine are a little less dense than yours, not as sturdy… I’m wandering if this is a trick that the fridge can fix, so we’ll see tomorrow!
Thanks for this, Joy! I think I’ll post about them soon :)
Katie
http://thesecondserving.com/2012/11/19/pumpkin-pie-crumb-squares/
LOVE love love them. Bringing them to Thanksgiving! Thanks again!!
Lin in PA
Quadrupled the recipe and put it in 2 9 by 13 pans. They had to cook a lot longer, i guess since the oven was so full — also, I ended up with more crust than I needed…
On the plus side, I finally went from,”Oh, that looks delish” to actually making something. Thanks, Joy.
Indirect Libre
Oh hey, family. How’s it going? Happy Thanksgiving!
Nope, still haven’t gotten engaged to my live-in-boyfriend. Still in school. Not moving closer to home… Don’t own a television… But would anyone like some dessert?
Bam! Pumpkin Bars!
Yes, yes I am doing pretty well for myself now that you ask.
Alice
Mmm, delicious!
Baked it yesterday with my friends during our cooking-and-baking-together evening and it turned out to be just fabulous. Creamy, nutty, spicy, yummy! :)
Karen Sawyer
Can’t get the Creamy Pumpkin Pie Bars recipe to print. Any suggestions?
Katie @ Blonde Ambition
i need some shortbread crumb topping in my life riiiiight about now.
Janet
Wonderful. I’m trying to move toward veganism (is that a word?) after learning of the awfulness of the dairy industry. Thanks for making this an easy one to try.
Paula Pimenta
What will you use ti replace the cream cheese.
joythebaker
i wonder if a silken tofu might work!
Lalena
I had so much faith in these that I went ahead and made a triple batch the first time trying them. So, so happy that I did.
Rene
Made these tonight and the whole crew gave them a thumbs up! Super yummy, thank you. I didn’t have any more pecans so I used walnuts and they were still good, although I’m sure pecans are better — they’re my favorite (which is probably why I was out!).
Jessica
Is the texture similar to pumpkin pie? Or is it more like a pumpkin bar? I’m not in love with the texture of pumpkin pie, but thinking the cream cheese might make it better!
Kjerstiye
Thankyou! I made these (modified to GF- 2/3c oat flour, 1/3 c. sorghum flour + 1/3 c. brown rice) this afternoon for tea and they were delish!
Although, I did correct the recipe and add the 1/4 cup of coconut to the crumb top that you forgot. You’re welcome.
Elana
I wish I had seen this BEFORE I had made a batch of pumpkin pie bars from an unknown online recipe I found. They came awful and couldn’t bring them in to work (but not awful enough that I just let them sit in my fridge and picked at them over the last 4 days). Trying this next!
Alissa
For some reason I cannot print this recipe. Other recipes I could print but this one is printing blank. Need to print, this recipe looks like a keeper!
Rene
I had the same problem, so I copied the text and pasted it into word, then printed from there.
Beth
My daughter and I made these last night. We had to rush off to dance , so we prepared them and then baked them when we got home. I let them cool and put them in the fridge. I cut them into bars, and had to try one.
SO DELICIOUS!! My husband loved them too!!! Thanks for recipe!
Kat
Joy, I cannot wait to make these. They look amazing! I am also very excited to meet you in Boston!!!!
Lesley
Looks absolutely dynamite! I can’t wait to try the recipe.
belmontmedina
So after a bad day, i HAD to make these. Only I ran out of oatmeal after a quarter cup. They are just as delicious if you substitute in almond meal for the oats, although next time, I’d only use about 3/4 a cup of almond meal for the full cup of oats.
Hannah Jade
Oh boy – I’m trying to cut down on how much squash/pumpkin food I consume at the moment because it’s taking over my life. But last week I found a shop in London that sells Libby’s and I think these bars might have to get in my oven. I don’t think I can hold back.
Jessica
These are a must-bake for thanksgiving this year! SUPER excited!!
addie | culicurious
wow, this looks great. A perfect Thanksgiving recipe :)
Chrissy
These look heavenly!
adahliavolk.com
laura
can this recipe be doubled?
gigi
this is next on the cooking schedule…can’t wait.
Sarah Kyle
These look so scrumptious! Must try.
Carly
I’ve made multiple batches of your vegan pumpkin loaf this fall with all of my pureed pumpkin. I actually just took three loaves to my daughter’s school today for the staff. These bars look amazing and have given me something else to do with all that pumpkin!
Maggie @ A Bitchin' Kitchen
I made the original version of this recipe as one of the very first posts 3 years ago on my own blog! I love the original version, so I’m definitely going to have to try the new and improved one! My family loves them too – they were actually our one and only Thanksgiving dessert a couple years ago!
shuggies mom n taylor's gram
Your parents must be terrorists-cause you’re the BOMB! Love that realistic 8×8 pan. Mine looks just like that. Used! These bars will be good to take to work-a bunch of hungry nurses will devour them.
Anne
Just wanted to say, I’ve been enjoying your photo style recently. (Oh and those eggs…love the delicate spots on them) I’ll be making these pumpkin bars sometime soon I’m sure.
Theresa
These bars are AMAZING!!! I made them last night as a nice treat, and my husband went back for seconds. That’s not odd, but you could tell he really liked them! :-) Thanks for such a great recipe. I linked your recipe with commentary and pictures to my blog. You can check it out at http://www.thedeliciousbite.blogspot.com
Thanks for such a tasty recipe!!
MJ
Ooooh Weeee!
Heidi - Apples Under My Bed
This crust & filling and really just everything is appreciated. Deliciousness. Thank you.
Heidi xo
Christine
Prettyyy sure my coworkers thought I was having a personal moment when I laid eyes on this recipe. You never cease to get my taste buds excited!
Heidi
Print function doesn’t seem to be working for me – please help, as I definitely want to try this one out!
Kris
Do you think this could be adapted into a regular pie recipe? I’ve been tasked with making the Thanksgiving pumpkin pie this year and I want to make sure it’s great.
Annie @ Annie's City Kitchen
SO glad for this recipe! I love bringing treats for coworkers and lugging a pie on a city bus is not that easy. Bars are a lot easier to slice and transport. Wah hoo!
Vicki B
I’v been looking for a recipe to equal a memory made in 1970 at my grandmother’s table in Iowa. She made a batch of pumpkin pie bars with a crumbly oatmeal topping and I loved them. I also was amazed at the back porch which was also a refrigerator in the snowy cold freezing weather. Being a California native, it was rather mind boggling.
Liz
This sound absolutely amazing. I love the combination of crunchy and creamy, especially with a shortbread crust – I’m in heaven!
Dixya @ Food, Pleasure and Health
love the combination of pumpkin meeting cream cheese. Its such a velvety, creamy mouthfeel.
Natalie
Oh man. So making this soon! Looks delicious! Thanks, Joy!
Clara
Yes, please! I, too, adore the combo of cream cheese and pumpkin. Really, I just look fro any opportunity to eat cream cheese. xx
Heather
My sisters are going to love you so much when I make these for Thanksgiving!!! More crust is a BIG win.
Anamika
My mouth waters by just looking at the photographs! Can’t wait to try this! Thanks for sharing! :))
tracy {pale yellow}
glad you did a redo for this recipe and bring back into the spotlight. you can’t go wrong with a crumb topping and a creamy filling!
Sarah H B
I have made these at work before and they are amazing— but I am a complete and total believer in the Vegan Pumpkin/Cranberry/Pecan/Apple Everything bread you make. I make it all the time- and I love telling people it’s Vegan, because it is so moist and awesome.
Carrie
If you could also post how to hook up an IV straight from any pumpkin recipes directly into my body I’d be forever grateful. Thank you. These look amazing.
Bakerkat
Pumpkin and cream cheese I’m in heaven!
I’m glad you decided to redo this recipe. They look unbelievably good.
Lee
I have to take these into the office for Thanksgiving! Neither I nor most of my collegues are American, but pumkin and cream chesse totally overrides that!
Thank you!
paula
I love the way you write. the need of a thicker crust…so true.
Jamie @ green beans & grapefruit
These look so dang tasty- I must say that I’d choose these over lemon bars every time. I totally discriminate.
Christy
Please, oh please, tell me I can make this without eggs. And how?
Gretta
I remember you posting these way back when! And I made them – they were soooo delicious. I definitely am going to try the new version out too. Yummy.
heather bell
what a wonderful and original blog. seriously, I love it! I love your cookbook too. The stories are great and you are so real. Just great! Thsese look awesome!=) bellesbazaar-heather.blogspot.com
Amy
So convinced that my parents chose the wrong hemisphere to settle in! All these wonderful pumpkin desserts make me hunger for Northern shores. I shall have to conjure a little cool-weather magic here in Australia and whip up these amazing looking bars while shivering in the air-conditioning and watching Holiday Inn.
Mercedes@Satisfy My Sweet Tooth
These bars sound like such a wonderful variation on pumpkin desserts!
Ashley @ Wishes and Dishes
Gotta love oldies but goodies…and new and improved goodies, at that :) These look amazing!
Paulette
I’m allergic to wheat, but every now and then I cheat. This I would cheat for. Yum thanks Joy.
Leisa
OMG, these are the ULTIMATE combination of my two favourite things: pumpkin pie and my Mum’s date squares! I am so excited to make these! Thanks Joy ;)
Loretta
Yum! These look so fabulous! I can almost taste them!
Heather
Are all types of cream cheese interchangeable when baking? Brick, soft, or whipped…
joythebaker
for most baking recipes, I find the brick cream cheese to be the best and easiest to work with.
Margarita
i think i know what i’m bringing to the thanksgiving party! i absolutely love crusts that do not require too much hardwork or disk forming and flattening! thank you!
Abby
I’m loving that crust to filling to topping ratio, maximum deliciousness!
Janet
I’ve been making some of your recipes for a while now. Accidentally ran across your blog a few months back, bought your cookbook and love it all.
I’m non-dairy due to ear issues (milk does not do my body good) and I’ve found that most of your recipes are easily modified.
Thank you for having vegan recipes and non-dairy recipes.
I’ll replace the cream cheese with “better than cream cheese cream cheese.
Oh and we LOVE the Chai Spiced Snickerdoodles and the Marshmallow cookie squares. Humongous hit here at the house and the crew of the Portland Winterhawks (hockey team my son works for)
Again, thank you! You rock!
Adrianna from A Cozy Kitchen
Love a re-do! Life needs more re-dos, fareal. There are some early posts where I’m like, dang that looks awful, but it tasted really good! I’m into this.
Sophie
The food always looks so good! I will definitely have to give this recipe a try. I love pottering in the kitchen!
Keep up the good work! Xo
tariqata
I will be making these AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. And I know what I’ll be bringing to every holiday party between now and New Year’s, too.
However, if you have a suggestion for an alternative to the pecans, I would be incredibly grateful. I know that one of the people I want to make these bars for will love every part of them – except the deadly allergic reaction to the nuts. Do you think crushed pepitas would add a similar texture, even if they won”t have the yummy pecan flavour?
Archer
You made me curious about your fall 2008 pumpkin bars… So I searched for them in your search bar. You have lots of comments on them!
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar
Ummm…yes please! What an awesome idea!
Rachel (Two Healthy Plates)
The topping on these looks divine – yum!
Amy
These look amazing and the more crust the merrier, I always say. Your cookbook just arrived in the mail and it is on my nightstand, I have been reading it like a book. I guess I need to get it into the kitchen to get started baking!
The Life of Clare
These pumpkin bars look wonderful! Being Spring I’m not feeling so much like pumpkin but everyone keeps posting it and I feel like its callig me!
Kate
Wow there are so many good things going on here! Pumpkin meets cheesecake meets crisp. Can’t wait to try.
Caz
I cringe to think of some of the early things on my blog I need to do-over. I’m still in that early stage of working out this blog thing. These pumpkin pie bars look amazing. Hooray for second chances :)
Margherita
Re-dos are a great thing. There’s always time and there’s always the chance to improve what you have done before (at least on a blog…)
You just gave me inspiration to do the same and remake some of my oldest recipes!
mary fran | frannycakes
Tis the season for orange food! And this looks smashing. (Yes, smashing. Because ridc delish sounded silly).
And dealing with butter is one of life’s greatest pleasures :)
anna
aw my blog is still in the hot mess stage! which is kind of sad, because there are so many good recipes there whose entries don’t quite do them justice…maybe i’ll get around to redos once i’ve sharpened my skillzzz. meanwhile mmm pumpkin bars! also…’you know, festive…’ are you quoting proof? or am i just a nerd?
Serena
Joy, my husband was diagnosed with celiac disease and he asked me to undertake the gluten-free diet with him. It is with tearful eyes that I realize I will never try all of your recipes. You light up my life whenever you make a blog post. Your cinnamon bread was to die for. Every recipe I’ve ever made from you is amazing. I’ll miss you. Dearly. No… I’ll keep following you, but it will be painful. I have fresh, homemade pumpkin puree begging to be turned into this recipe. I bet it’s delicious. Thanks for being here.
joythebaker
you could use Cup 4 Cup Gluten Free Flour in this recipe, and most others on my blog! Much love to you and your husband!
Serena
I had no idea! Our doctor told us that baked goods are off the table because gluten free flours don’t work the same. I was *so* bummed that I didn’t do my own research. Thank you SO much!! I love you, Joy!
Kris
Serena- gluten-free baking is much more possible than you realize, there are tons of resources out there and you can substitute, as Joy noted. There is some learning on which flour blends you like better, but there are tons of possibilities. Check out Bob’s Red Mill, they have LOTS of GF options.
Lauren S.
Seems like docs should try to be better informed about these things. I was really bummed when I needed to go low carb for health reasons, and it would have been really nice if my doc had pointed me towards alternative flours. Good thing I did my own research. Like the other commenter Jen, I bake a lot and actually more than I used to. For gluten free baking, I’ve had pretty good results with almond flour (the baked goods are denser, but still tasty) and you can also use oat flour in many things, as long as you check that it isn’t processed in a facility that also processes wheat. Coconut flour is my least favorite and harder to work with, but that’s another option. And of course, there are gluten free flour mixes that they make now as Joy mentioned. There are actually a fair number of celiac blogs out there. I just wanted to share and say good luck!
Lynnette
What about using whipped cream cheese?
Jen
Serena,
My son and husband are gluten-free and I first thought my baking days were over! They have hardly been affected!!! I have done a lot of research about the various types of flours. I bake almost every day which I have had wonderful results! There are some lovely recipes out there! Good luck!!
Ellen W
Serena – I was diagnosed with celiac almost 2 years ago and it is possible to bake delicious food with gf flour. For me, once I weighed 1 cup of the gf flour blend I use (adapted from Cooking from Isaiah – wonderful gf and dairy free cookbook) I can then convert the measurements of conventional flour into weight and come up with good results most of the time. I have done this in the past with recipes from Joy’s website and cookbook with great results. Also check out Gluten Free Girl’s website. Most people are amazed when they find out the muffins, cake, cookies, etc I bake are gluten free.
Marcie
These bars look totally ridiculous in the best possible wy. I will be making them ASAP! I relate to the hot-mess-ed-ness of a new blog as I am two months into the throes of my own. Something tells me I will be re-doing plenty down the line. Thanks for the recipe!
Averie @ Averie Cooks
The land of the crunchy and the creamy looks like an amazing place to be! I love streusel/crumbly toppings of all kinds and I bet the texture with that, and the smooth pumpkin, is such a super awesome contrast. Mmmm, great job, Joy!
Mama Maria
Going to make these next weekend with my girls!
robyn
nothing wrong with a do-over. sound and look great!
ATasteOfMadness
Oh wow, this looks like little bars of heaven. I love it!
Britt
These bars look absolutely delicious, but then again I love love love pumpkin. The crumble topping looks just perfect, I must make these!
Chineka @ savorthebaking
I love pecan pie so I am definitely going to have to try this recipe. Thanks for this post.
Laura (Tutti Dolci)
I’m all for dealing with butter – in love with these bars!