Pumpkin pie bars taste like your favorite pumpkin pie, but in an easy to serve bar form! A buttery shortbread crust is topped with rich and smooth pumpkin pie filling.
Recipe summary
Flavor: Classic pumpkin pie in bar form, made with a buttery shortbread crust.
Pan size: 9x13
Yield: 24 squares
Similar to: No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars, Pumpkin Pasties
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Ingredients and substitutions
- Crust ingredients - Unsalted butter, all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and salt create a simple shortbread crust. Unsalted butter and salt can be substituted with salted butter if desired.
- Filling ingredients - Pumpkin puree, evaporated milk, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger, cloves, eggs, and vanilla extract create a classic pumpkin pie filling. Make sure you're purchasing pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. The only ingredient should be pumpkins. Pumpkin pie filling contains other ingredients like sugar and spices.
How to make Pumpkin Pie Bars
- Cream butter and sugar and then add remaining crust ingredients. Stir until moist and crumbly.
- Press crust mixture evenly into a parchment lined baking pan and bake at 425F for 15 minutes.
- Add filling mixture to par-cooked crust.
- Bake at 350F for 50-60 minutes or until it's mostly set and only jiggles a little.
Tips and tricks
Crust texture - Weigh your flour for best results. Too much flour results in a crumbly, dry, and bland crust. While your crust will look a bit crumbly in the bowl, it holds together easily when pressed into the pan.
Par-bake the crust - Don't skip the step of par-baking the crust. Pop it into the oven while preparing the filling and bake for 15 minutes. This helps prevent a soggy crust when the filling is added.
Mix filling until smooth - Mix your filling ingredients until fully incorporated and smooth. This ensures your bars come out perfectly baked with an even texture throughout.
Bake until mostly set - Bake your bars until there's a very slight jiggle in the center but it no longer looks like liquid. Test for doneness by giving the pan a very gentle shake. Does it look wet and loose? Your bars need more time. Rely more on the look of your bars than the time.
Cool completely - Allow your bars to cool to room temperature before transferring to the refrigerator to chill. I recommend chilling your bars for at least 1 hour before serving for best flavor and texture.
Top with whipped cream - Optionally, make a batch of homemade whipped cream, transfer to a piping bag, and add a dollop to each square just before serving.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, pumpkin pie bars can be made a day or two ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator until ready to serve. I recommend serving your bars within about two days for best flavor and texture.
Par-baking the crust helps prevent the crust from getting soggy once the filling is added. Skipping this step can cause your crust to turn out underbaked, soggy, and wet.
Give the pan an gentle nudge. If the center looks wet and loose, your bars need more time. If the filling looks mostly set with a slight jiggle, your bars are done. Your best bet is to rely on the look of your bars rather than sticking to a set baking time.
Yes, pumpkin pie bars need to be refrigerated until ready to serve.
Yes, pumpkin pie bars freeze well and can be frozen for up to three months in ideal conditions. Transfer to the refrigerator to thaw overnight before serving.
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📖 Recipe
Pumpkin Pie Bars
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (53 g) brown sugar
- 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Filling
- ¾ cup (149 g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (160 g) brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- ½ teaspoon cloves
- 4 large eggs
- 30 ounces (850 g) canned pumpkin puree
- 24 ounces (680 g) canned evaporated milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat oven to 425℉. Line a 9x13 pan with parchment with excess hanging over the edges for easy removal later. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat until creamed and fluffy, about a minute. Add flour and salt and slowly mix until combined. Mixture will look crumbly but holds together when pinched between two fingers. (If mixture is very dry and crumbly, too much flour was added. Add 1 tablespoon of milk and mix until dough comes together).
- Pour mixture into prepared 9x13 pan and press to the edges in an even layer.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
- Reduce oven heat to 350℉.
Filling
- While crust bakes, prepare filling.
- In a large bowl, add granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger, cloves, and eggs. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat until smooth and ingredients are fully incorporated.
- Add pumpkin puree, evaporated milk, and vanilla extract. Gently mix until ingredients are fully incorporated. Mixture will look thin, this is normal. Pour filling over par-baked crust.
- Bake for about 50 to 60 minutes, or until center looks a little jiggly but no longer liquid. To test for doneness, give the pan a nudge. If it looks wet and loose, your bars need more time. Baking time may vary based on your oven.
- Allow to cool completely to room temperature, then refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Pull bars from the pan using the excess parchment on the sides. Slice into squares and optionally, add a dollop of whipped cream just before serving.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- Storage: Pumpkin pie bars will keep for 4 days in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator, or up to 3 months in the freezer. To thaw, transfer to the refrigerator to thaw overnight before serving.
- Garnish: Add a dollop of whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon as an optional garnish.
- Make ahead: Bars can be made up to 2 days ahead of time and refrigerated until ready to serve.
- Serving size: I sliced my 9x13 pan into 24 two-inch squares. Bars can be sliced as large or small as you like depending on how you're serving them.
I made a cornstarch-water substitution for 3 of the eggs and only used 1 real egg (substitution for cost) and I replaced all of the spices with a pumpkin pie spice mix, then added 1 teaspoon extra cinnamon. I baked for a bit more than an hour (I forgot about it) and it was very liquid-y when I took it out, but it mostly solidified in the fridge! I cut it open this morning and the bottom was burnt (my bad) but it tasted delicious!!! I had it with cheesecake ice cream, thank you for this wonderful recipe!
Hi Kore, omitting most of the eggs is likely the reason the bars still looked very liquidy from the oven. I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed them after refrigeration!
I love these bars. There's no way you can only bake them for 50 to 60 minutes..My pumpkin pie won't bake in that time either. They're so delicious though. I make them for a friend of mine who hates pumpkin, I just told her they were sweet potato & she loves them.
Amazing! What a brilliant idea to make pumpkin pie in the form of bars!!