Pumpkin Bars

this Recipe

It's the fall season and thoughts of apples and pumpkins always come to mind. They are two of the best ingredients around this time of year. The apples are new crop and those living near an apple orchard can go and get their own. Then, there are the pumpkin patches that have great pumpkins, small ones for pie and large ones for jack o' lanterns, if you want.

For many recipes made at this time of year, there is the great addition of spices like cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg to add to the flavor. These pumpkin bars are packed with flavor and really moist. They can be made with extras like walnuts and raisins, we have made them with and without and they are still great no matter which way you choose.

We top the bars off with a brown sugar icing which just send these bars over the top good. You don't have to add this, but we highly recommend it for the flavor.

Ingredients for Pumpkin Bars:

• Walnuts (optional)
• Raisins(optional)
• All-purpose flour
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Cinnamon
• Ginger
• Oil eggs
• Buttermilk
• Brown sugar
• White sugar
• Pumpkin puree

Prepping the raisins and nuts:

We are starting with the optional ingredients. These are raisins and nuts, soooooo good! If you decide to add these optional ingredients to the pumpkin bars, first you need to prep these extras.

For the raisins, we put ½ cup of raisins in a small saucepan with ½ cup of water. Bring the water to a boil on high, turn down to simmer and cover them. Simmer for about 5-7 minutes, or until they are nice and plump and a little water is still in the pan.

If you want to add walnuts, give them a chop and place on a small sheet pan and cook in a 350ºF oven for about 5-10 minutes. Watch them, they can burn. When they are nice and toasted, take them out of the oven to cool. These give a nice crunch to the bars.

Making the pumpkin bars:

First, you take all of the dry ingredients and whisk them together in a bowl. These delicious pumpkin bars have the flavor of cinnamon and ginger, two of the ingredients in our pumpkin pie. These spices give them a great flavor.

In a mixing bowl, add the wet ingredients, eggs, oil, and buttermilk. You just have to mix these for about a minute or two so that they are all combined.

Once the liquid ingredients are all combined, add both sugars and beat again until everything is incorporated.

Add the pumpkin puree to the mix and whip everything together until incorporated. It looks great with a lovely pumpkin color.

Now, it's time to add the dry ingredients to the mix. Just pour it in the bowl and again, mix till all incorporated, only about 1-2 minutes.

Now, it is time to add those optional ingredients, if you like. We love the flavor of the moist, plump raisins and crunchy nuts in these bars.

Optional raisins:

Put the raisins into a pan with ½ cup of water and bring to a boil over high heat, then, turn down to simmer, cover and cook for 5-8 minutes. The raisins will be plump and a little water will still be in the pan.

Optional walnuts:

Put about ½-3/4 cup of chopped walnuts on a small sheet pan. Cook at 350ºF for 5-10 minutes. Must keep an eye on them so they don't burn. You can use whatever nuts you like.

Adding the raisins and nuts:

This is an optional step, we happen to like it best with both raisins and walnuts in the mix, but you can put in whatever you want, or just leave them plain.

Pour the pumpkin mixture into a pan that has been greased and lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350ºF for 30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

You can eat these bars as is or top it with a brown sugar icing. Really adds flavor to them.

Now, when it is all cool, cut into 24 even sized squares and place on a small plate with a cup of coffee and tea. You could also just pick one up with your hand and eat it like that!

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