Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and my love of all things pumpkin is hardly waning. From yogurt to muffins, I relish this tasty flavor of Fall. If you're looking for a pumpkin pie alternative, these pumpkin-carrot bars are delish. The bit of cream cheese frosting adds a deceptive element of decadence.
Low in calories while remaining full of flavor, these pumpkin bars make a great dessert — perfect for potlucks (much easier to share with large groups than pies) and they're relatively guilt-free. They're high in vitamin A — and trust me you cannot even taste the shredded carrot — and a bar only contains 70 calories and less than two grams of fat. With nutritional stats like that, it's OK to go back for seconds.
Check out the recipe when you read more.
Modified from SparkPeople
Ingredients
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup Earth Balance (or other butter substitute)
2 eggs
2 large egg whites
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin pie filling
2/3 cup finely shredded carrot
Cream cheese topping:
4 ounces light cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon skim milk
Directions
- Pre-heat oven to 350° F. Spray a 15 x 10 jellyroll pan with cooking spray.
- In small bowl, whisk flour, pumpkin spice, baking powder, and baking soda.
- In larger bowl, use electric mixer to beat sugar, Earth Balance, and brown sugar until crumbly. Add eggs, egg whites, pumpkin pie filling, and carrots. Beat until well blended.
- Add flour mixture and mix until well blended. Spread onto greased pan.
- To prepare cream cheese topping: mix together cream cheese, sugar, and milk until thoroughly blended.
- Drop teaspoon-fulls of topping over pumpkin batter and swirl and cut mixture into batter with a butter knife.
- Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool in pan completely on wire rack before cutting into squares.
Makes 48 squares.
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All Saints
Great I needed this!
1What the heck is Earth Balance.
2wow these look delicious!
3Retro23, apparently Earth Balance is a kind of "buttery spread", according to google. I'd never heard of it either.
4Hey all,
Earth Balance is a type of margarine with no hydrogenated oils. It comes in both a tub or stick form, which is perfect for baking.
5Would 1 can pumpkin work or would it have to be pumpkin pie filling?
6Looks good.
7I'm making these this weekend! Thanks!
8These look amazing, I can't wait to make them!
9looks scrumptious!
10Ohh I want these NOW!
11Gee...a pumpkin recipes in a year when there's a shortage on the canned stuff. Thanks for the tease, Fit.
12http://www.wcbs880.com/There-s-a-Shortage-of-Pumpkin-Pie-Filling/5723262
I think I'll just use butter instead of Earth Balance. I can't stand margarine anything, I'd rather have the real thing like butter and just use a bit less of it.
13Yeah, the pumpkin shortage thing is weird. I was at the store today and they were totally out of canned pumpkin! Good thing I'm making shoofly pie this year instead of pumpkin.
14When I was at the grocery store over the weekend they had plenty of canned pumpkin. Cranberry suace on the other hand was almost nowhere to be found. It's so weird.
I have a can of pumpkin in my pantry so I didn't buy any at the store but hubby and I joked about how much my can of pumpkin would go for on ebay
15These look AMAZING!
Retro & Beth - You can find Earth Balance at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, and most likely at any other natural foods store. The good thing about it is that it's not really any more expensive than "normal" margarine.
16I want to make these!!
17Are you adding more spice mix to the can of pumpkin pie filling, or do you mean to use a can of regular pureed pumpkin?
18This is a great recipe. Really good to heat up in the mornings. YUM!
19I made these bars last night for a party, and they were moist and delicious, and not too sweet. I made a few modifications: 1) used a mix of whole wheat and white flours since I was out of WW pastry flour, 2) added ~1/4 tsp salt and used salted butter, 3) used canned pumpkin not pumpkin pie filling, 4) used a mix of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg instead of pumpkin pie spice, and 5) baked in a 9 x 13 pan (cooking time was closer to 30 mins). Next time I make them I'll probably use a little less baking soda since I could taste it a little bit, and I'll probably double the cream cheese frosting.
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