~Jaclyn~
So I absolutely hate using the word “moist,” and I know I’m not alone in this, but there is no other way to accurately describe how these cake bars taste – they are so moist and delicious! I even looked up synonyms to try and avoid using the word, but damp or humid just won’t cut it here. Now the reason these cake bars are so moist is because they are made with an entire can of pure pumpkin and half a cup of applesauce. Don’t worry though, these aren’t some kind of super healthy sneaky vegetable dessert, they have a full 1 1/2 cups of sugar and a whole stick of butter. The holidays are coming and there is no reason to be cutting down on sugar and butter, this is the time to embrace it.
I really don’t know if there is such a thing as cake bars, but that is exactly what these are. They are fluffy, soft, cake-like squares cut into bite-size bars. I brought a plate of these into work and they were all gone before 9AM – I think my coworkers may have thought it was pumpkin bread, but I’m not going to tell them they ate cake for breakfast. No frosting is needed to top this dessert because there are two cups worth of white chocolate chips spread throughout and on top. You can substitute milk chocolate or dark chocolate chips (maybe even a combo) instead of the white chocolate, but I thought the white chocolate was fall festive.
The bars are super simple to make – just your typical mixing the dry ingredients (flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt) before adding them to a mixture of wet ingredients (butter, applesauce, sugar, egg, vanilla, and pumpkin) then spreading into a pan and topping with white chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes and let cool in the pan before cutting into squares. It is important that you use pure pumpkin puree and not the prepared pumpkin pie filling, because the filling is already flavored and sweetened. And I could not for the life of me find pumpkin pie spice in my grocery store (seriously, it’s fall guys), so I just made my own using what I had at home (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves), so easy!
I hope you give these cake bars a try and bring them to your upcoming Halloween or holiday party. Or even bring as a dessert to brunch! Be sure to keep some at home because I guarantee you won’t be bringing any home with you. Cheers to the holidays and cake bars!
- 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 unsweetened applesauce
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree
- 2 cups white chocolate chips (reserve 1/3 cup for top of bars)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line a 9x13 inch nonstick pan with foil or parchment paper leaving an overhang on each long side so the bars can be easily pulled out of the pan.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
- Using a stand mixer, or a large bowl using a handheld electric mixer, cream together the butter, applesauce, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium-high speed until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Add the pumpkin puree and mix until combined. The mixture may look slightly curdled.
- Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, stirring just until combined. Fold in all but 1/3 cup of the white chocolate chips.
- Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and top with remaining white chocolate chips.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes. The edges will begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and will be golden brown and the center will look "puffy" and done. A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out with moist/dry crumbs.
- Let cool completely before lifting the bars out of the pan. Cut into squares and serve.
- The original and inspiration for this recipe can be found at: https://togetherasfamily.com/pumpkin-chocolate-chip-bars/
