Years ago I took these bars to a Halloween party at a friend's house and they won second place in her dessert bake off. While they are a little bit like pumpkin pie without the crust, the cream cheese icing gives them a flavor close to carrot cake. We love these as an easy dessert, and they are so quick to put together that even the kids could help.
Pumpkin Squares
Company's Coming Holiday Entertaining
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
14oz (398 ml) canned pumpkin
1 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt.
With an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugars. Add eggs one at a time and beat well. Stir in pumpkin. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until just combined. Pour into a greased 9x13 inch cake pan, smooth the top, and bake at 350 F for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.
Cream cheese icing
4 oz (125 g) cream cheese
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups of icing sugar
Beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add vanilla and about 1/2 cup of icing sugar at a time. If the icing is too thick, thin it with a little milk. Frost squares.
**These squares do not freeze well. Keep them in a sealed container in the fridge. Yummy!
