Everybody loves a little festive fall pumpkin bite, so I put together these delights that fall somewhere between a sugar cookie, cake and a brownie. Not too hard, not too fluffy, not too dense, really just that All flavored with the classic taste of pumpkin and spice, with a nice dose of vanilla for oomph. Add a little glaze of warm brown butter and you really have a treat. I don’t know what else I can say but enjoy!
I use good old pumpkin pie spice here, but you can use all cinnamon or your own blend of spices.The simple icing here is effectively a poured sheet cake icing adapted with delicious brown butter. I love a little extra sweet on the top of a cookie bar, but a thick layer of fluffy buttercream takes it more into cake territory for me, so this is a great middle way. And everything is better with brown butter! The bars will keep in an airtight container for 3 days.
Ingredients
- For the Bars
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 teaspoons vanilla paste or extract
2 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- For the Glaze
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 cups plus 2 Tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
¼ cup milk
Pinch of salt
Directions
- For the Bars
- Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a 9 by 13 inch baking pan with non-stick foil or parchment with an overhang to easily lift the bars from the pan.
- Beat the butter and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer until light and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl a few times. Add the pumpkin and vanilla and beat for a few minutes, then add the eggs and beat until well combined, scraping down the bowl. Don’t worry if the mixture looks curdled. It will come right. Beat in the flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and salt until everything is well combined and no streaks of dry ingredients are visible, scraping down the bowl as needed. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan – it will be thick – and spread out to an even layer. I help this along with slightly damp clean hands to distribute evenly, then a wet offset palette knife to smooth it out.
- Bake for 20 minutes, until a tester comes out clean. Remove from the oven, make the glaze and pour it over while the bars are still hot, as below.
- For the Glaze
- Have all your ingredients ready to go (cut the butter into pieces), and when the bars come out of the oven, place the butter in a medium saucepan (light colored or stainless is best so you can see the butter as it browns). Heat over medium high heat, watching constantly, until the butter is melted. It will start to spit and hiss, then you will see brown speckles appear. Swirl the butter around to distribute the browned bits, and as soon as the butter has an even brown color and a nice nutty smell, remove the pan from the heat. Let the foaming butter subside, then add the confectioners’ sugar and whisk as much as you can, then pour in the milk (it will sizzle) and whisk until smooth. Whisk in a pinch of salt.
- Pour the icing over the top of the bars, then (wearing oven mitts), tilt the pan sideways and lengthwise to cover the surface of the bars with the icing. You can use the offset palette knife to move it along if you have to. Leave the bars to cool completely, then lift them from the pan using the foil and cut into squares.
Hi there. Maybe I just missed it, but I don’t see the pumpkin in the ingredient list
How much pumpkin? It’s left out of ingredient list. Thanks!
oops! 1 cup pumpkin puree. Corrected now!
oops! 1 cup pumpkin puree. Corrected now!