Pumpkin Bars

Earlier this week I had the grand idea to slowly wean myself off of sweets.  This is largely due to the fact that I ate nearly  half of a box of Fannie May chocolates in one sitting that spanned about five minutes.  On a side note, I feel like I need to add that I didn’t have even a bit of a stomachache after.  If that doesn’t impress you, well, I don’t know what will.

Anyway, after I saw the damage I’d done to that box of chocolates I decided that things needed to change.  I don’t typically like to eat that much sweets and I know it’s just a ring of fire where with each innocent mint meltaway I’ll be setting myself up for craving the next one even more.  So, I did what any other person trying to wean themselves off of sugar would do.

I made some pumpkin bars.

In my defense, they were not for me.  Neighbor dinner was last night and it’s just not a true neighbor dinner without some baked good.  Plus, I had a shit load of pumpkin in my pantry.  I only had two today.  So…progress?

I really loved making these bars because they don’t require a mixer.  If there’s anything I love in a recipe, it’s not having to use a mixer, because I’m lazy and really into not having to pull out my mixer and clean the two beaters.  Because obviously that requires so much effort.  Feel free to roll your eyes because I’m rolling mine with you.

These bars end up having a really nice cake-like texture, which makes them feel just a bit fancier than your usual blondie or bar cookie.  I didn’t do a cream cheese frosting, but that would be a great addition here.

Pumpkin Bars

Ingredients:

1 15 oz can pumpkin puree

4 eggs

1 cup oil

1 2/3 cup sugar

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.  Line the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish.  Combine the baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and flour in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until smooth.  Add the flour mixture and whisk until a batter forms.  Pour into the baking dish and bake for 30-35 minutes.  It may take longer depending on your oven.  Mine almost took around 40 minutes, but I think my oven is just running wonky.