We think you’ll love the warm pumpkin scent wafting through your kitchen when you make these tasty Halloween pumpkin bars, they’re a fun treat for your kids to help you decorate this Halloween.
This recipe calls for pumpkin pie filling which unfortunately isn’t sold in Australia so instead, you can make your own pumpkin pie filling by mixing together:
- 1 ¼ cup of pureed pumpkin
- ¾ cup of sugar
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon flour
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 2 tablespoons water
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
Once you’ve got the pumpkin pie filling ready, these are the rest of the ingredients you’ll need:
- 2 cups white sugar
- 1 cup canola oil
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 tub (230g) Philadelphia cream cheese icing
- Yellow and red food dye
- ½ cup milk chocolate chips
- Candy corn/Halloween lollies and milk chocolate chips
Method:
- Preheat your oven to 175 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the pre-made pumpkin pie mixture, sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla. In a separate mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gradually add the dry mix to the wet pumpkin mix and combine together well. Once combined, stir in the pecans.
- Grease a large baking pan and pour in the mixture. Place the pan into the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Place the pan onto a cooling rack to cool.
- Scoop the cream cheese icing into a mixing bowl and stir through a couple of drops of the yellow and red food dye to create an orange colour. Take the frosting and using a spatula, frost the now cool pumpkin cake. Cut the bars into squares of your desired size, this recipe makes approx 35 bars.
- In a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips in a microwave and stir until they become smooth. Transfer the melted chocolate to a piping bag or you can make your own piping bag out of a resealable plastic sandwich bag and cut the tip off. You can decorate the pumpkin bars as desired, using any halloween confectionery you like and your kids can have some fun helping you decorate!
These treats are a fun way to celebrate Halloween and make the perfect lunchbox treat. Happy Halloween!
