Gooey Pumpkin Bars

Gooey pumpkin pie meets yellow cake crust. Yep, it's true.

Fall is here and pumpkin time is in full effect! I sat on my deck this weekend in a sweatshirt and I can’t tell you how excited that made me. This also means that I can fully and unapologetically dive in to pumpkin recipes. I know it’s ridiculous, but it makes me so happy.

Fall is my favorite time of year, cooler temps, cozy clothes, comfort food, football, leaves changing and pumpkin everything. I’ll try to add in some other recipes over the next couple months, but for now you get my favorite pumpkin desserts.

I went back to the store this week and lo and behold- the pumpkin was restocked. So I added 8 cans to my cart. I thought that was being conservative and could have added more, but I felt the old lady behind me judging me.

Back home I went and I started immediately on my favorite and most requested pumpkin dessert. Simply put- Pumpkin Bars. These are no ordinary pumpkin bars though- these are cakey, gooey, nutmeggy( yeah, I said nutmeggy) and not overwhelming pumpkin flavor. PLUS- they are super easy and contain a box of cake mix which makes life so much easier.

Give these a try, they are my absolute favorite pumpkin dessert! Let me know what you think. What is your favorite pumpkin dessert or fall tradition?

Ingredients

Cake Layer

1 box yellow cake mix

1 egg

8 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling Layer

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 (15 ounce) can of pumpkin

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

8 tablespoons butter, melted

1 (16 ounce) box powdered sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking pan with non stick spray.

2. In a mixer, combine the cake mix, egg and melted butter. Mix together until well combined.

3. Pat the mixture and evenly spread into the baking pan. Set aside.

4. Filling: In the mixer, beat the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. If there are cream cheese lumps, put on a high speed for a short time. Careful because it can go everywhere though- not that I know from first hand knowledge or anything though.

5. Add the eggs, vanilla and butter, mix well together. Next, add the powdered sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix again until nice and smooth. Do some taste testing, add more powdered sugar if you want it sweeter or more cinnamon/nutmeg if you want more spice to it.

6. Pour the pumpkin mixture over the cake layer and spread evenly over the top.

7. Bake for 40-50 minutes. I check it at 40 minutes and then usually do another 5 minutes. It will still be wiggly when you pull it out of the oven. Let cool, then cut and serve. So good!!

I'll eat all of those, not even ashamed.

A little dab o' whip cream never hurt anyone