Healthy-ish pumpkin bars recipe with pumpkin puree and applesauce. This moist pumpkin cake is topped with a white chocolate drizzle and pecans.
Ingredients
2cupsall-purpose flour
1 ½teaspoonspumpkin pie spice
½teaspoonground cinnamon
2teaspoonsbaking powder
1teaspoonbaking soda
¼teaspoonsalt
4largeeggsroom temperature
½cupsugar
½cuplight brown sugar
15ouncecan of pumpkin puree
1teaspoonvanilla extract
1cupunsweetened applesauce
Topping
½cupwhite chocolate chips
½cuppecansfinely chopped
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish and set aside.
In a large bowl, add flour, pumpkin pie spice, ground cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk to combine.
Add eggs to a medium bowl and whisk until fully combined and frothy. Add sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin puree, vanilla extract and applesauce. Stir to incorporate.
Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients. Stir until fully combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake for 28-33 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Remove cake from the oven and place on a cooling rack until completely cooled.
For the topping: Add white chocolate chips to a small bowl and microwave for 30 seconds on 50% power. Stir and repeat this process until chocolate is smooth and fully melted. Transfer white chocolate to a small sandwich bag. Cut off one corner of the bag and drizzle onto cooled cake.
Immediately sprinkle finely chopped pecans over the white chocolate drizzle. Slice and enjoy!
Notes
Store cake bars in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
The bars are not overly sweet. If you’d like a sweeter treat, mix ½ cup white chocolate chips into the batter prior to pouring into the baking pan. Or increase both of the sugars to ⅔ cups each.
These bars are moist but hold together very well. They can simply be sliced and picked up to enjoy.
These would be a great addition to school lunch boxes, for fall bake sales, even added to the breakfast table during the holidays.
Swap out the white chocolate and pecans for your favorite cream cheese frosting and serve as a delicious Thanksgiving cake.