Hello September!  It now feels officially appropriate to eat pumpkin and apple flavored things.  To kick things off I made another Grandma specialty, Pumpkin Bars.  These bars are a delicious way to bring in the fall.  They’re a big crowd pleaser, so you’ll be glad to have a whole sheet pan!  If you really like cream cheese frosting you’ll want to double the frosting recipe, this makes just a thin layer over the sheet cake.

Pumpkin Bars

Serves about 30-40

• 1 (15oz) can pumpkin puree
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup oil
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp cloves

Preheat oven to 325°F.  Grease a large sheet pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, eggs, sugar, and oil; mix well.  Sift together the dry ingredients and mix into the wet ingredients.  Spread batter evenly in sheet pan.  Bake for about 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.  Allow to cool completely and then frost.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 (8oz) pkg 1/3 reduced fat cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2-3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth and well blended.  Add vanilla, cinnamon and half of the sugar, blend well.  taste and add more sugar as desired.  Spread over cooled cake.