Easy Pumpkin Bars Recipe

Easy Homemade Pumpkin Bars Recipe

Hello Everyone:)

I consider myself sweet tooth- always looking for something sweet at the end of every meal. When it comes to desserts, I have tons of favorites (no surprise!:) One of them was this delicious Pumpkin Bar. My family made Pumpkin Bars pretty much every Halloween and holiday seasons. This year is no different, my beloved in-laws made homemade Pumpkin Bars as our sweet treat after kids trick or treating, as always every bite was scrumptious. So, today's recipe was inspired by my in-laws pumpkin bars. It taste so yummy that I have to share this recipe to all of you. 

This is one of my family's favorite bars and I hope it will be your next favorite too. Indeed, this Pumpkin bars is perfect treat for everyone. A must-try recipe for sure! I hope you all excited as I am. If so, grab your favorite drink and all the ingredients needed. Lets get started, Shall we?

**Note: For this recipe I used store bought pumpkin and cream cheese icing. Feel free to use your own homemade icing recipe. Adjust the quantity for larger crowd. I made 24 little squares of this recipe. Enjoy baking and have fun!:)

Easy Homemade Pumpkin Bars Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups All-Purpose flour
1 can (15 ounces) solid -pack pumpkin
1 cup canola oil
1-2/3 cups sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

ICING -feel free to use your own cream cheese icing recipe. I used one store bought ( 16 oz Betty Crocker Creamy Cream Cheese Icing)

Directions:

1.) Preheat the oven to 350 
2.) In a bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until well blended. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt)
3.) Gradually add the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture and mix well. Pour into an ungreased 15x10x1 inches baking pan.
4.) Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until set. Cool completely
5.) Once the Pumkin Bars is cool completely. Spread the icing over bars. Store in refrigerator until served. Share this pumpkin bars to your family and friends. Enjoy!

It's super easy to make and taste delicious. A perfect bite of goodness indeed. Now, that holiday is fast approaching this quick and scrumptious pumpkin bars dessert for the whole family is a must-have. I personally love this recipe and perfect for holiday. Yum!

I hope this blog post inspire you to make this delicious Pumpkin Bars for your family and friends. As of this moment, I'm finishing my last bite of Pumpkin Bars.  It's so good!!:) Until next time everyone! Enjoy the rest of the week. I'll see you soon for more fun blog post. Stay gorgeous as always!:)

xoxo- Melgie

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Jack-O'-Lantern Experience

First Jack-O'-Lantern Experience

 A jack-o'-lantern is a carved pumpkin, turnip or beet, associated chiefly with the holiday of Hallowe'en, and was named after the phenomenon of strange light flickering over peat bogs, called will-o'-the-wisp or jack-o'-lantern. In a jack-o'-lantern, the top is cut off, and the inside flesh then scooped out; an image, usually a monstrous face, is carved out, and the lid replaced. It is typically seen during Halloween.

 The origin of Jack o' Lantern carving is uncertain. The carving of vegetables has been a common practice in many parts of the world, with Gourds being the earliest plant species domesticated by humans c. 10,000 years ago, primarily for their carving potential- ( source: wikipedia )

Trick-or-treating or guising is a customary practice for children on Halloween in many countries. Children in costumes travel from house to house in order to ask for treats such as candy (or, in some cultures, money) with the question "Trick or treat?". The "trick" is a (usually idle) threat to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given to them. ( source: wikipedia )

This is our first time to carved Pumpkin and I'm pretty excited about it, more than excited than my kiddies, I think..(wink). I made Easy Spaghetti for our dinner and my kids helped me make Iced Pumpkin Cookies for our yummy dessert. Pumpkin carving is really fun activities for the whole family, especially for kids. Awesome experience!!
Trick or treat is just around the corner with that being said, My kiddies are well prepared with their costumes. My daughter will gonna be Cinderella and my son will gonna be Power Ranger. I'm beyond exited to see them trick or treating this year, their both prepared and know what's trick or treat all about.:) I'm sure we gonna have fun on Halloween! How about you? Any plan for Halloween? Any carving ideas or tips wanna share. I'm more than happy to know.:)
Check out below our first carved pumpkins. Enjoy the rest of the week!  I'll see you in few days for more recipes.

Things you'll need:
Pumpkins
Carving tools
Trash Bag
Tea light- to light up the carved pumpkins at night
Stencil-  bhg.com- free printable pumpkin stencils

( My daughter's Pick-  BOO-tiful Kitty Cat! )

Directions:
1.) Take the bottom part of the pumpkin, use spoon to scrape the inside cavity of the pumpkin. Clean it really good make sure no seeds left.
2.) Using your stencil printed in the computer, trace it over your clean pumpkin. THAT'S IT!
Note: If carving for simple pumpkin face you don't have to use stencil. Whatever makes you feel  easy and comfortable..
3.) Follow the stencil line then start carving, start with the most difficult one like the eyes, tale, mouth and ears. Then do the rest slowly!

( My son's pick- SPOOKY Ghost )

4.) After done carving, wipe the carved pumpkins. Make sure that everything looks good. Wait for night time to come and light up the carved pumpkin using the tea light. I think its about time to grab some Iced Pumpkin Cookies.. wink:)

Kiddies super LOVED the carved Pumpkins-- Yay! that's what its all about
Making sweet unforgettable memories!
Happy Halloween Everyone! See you in few days for more exciting and fun recipes..

(xoxox- sweetcuisinera)

Iced Pumpkin Cookie Recipe

Iced Pumpkin Cookies

Let's get ready for Autumn! Shall we? Don't you get excited to those bright orange color popping everywhere, leaves color are changing, pumpkin carvings, Halloween,Thanksgiving and the smell of pumpkin pie all over the house. I DO!!! I'm in the mood for some pumpkins right now. C'mon lets hang out in my kitchen and bake some Iced Pumpkin cookies... Before we start mixing up ingredients for this delightful snack. I'm taking you back to the history of the Pumpkins, little bits and pieces of  information I gathered from internet..wink:)

"The word pumpkin originates from the word pepon (πέπων), which is Greek for “large melon". The French adapted this word to pompon, which the British changed to pumpion and later American colonists changed that to the word we use today, "pumpkin"Pumpkins, like other squash, are thought to have originated in North America. The oldest evidence, pumpkin-related seeds dating between 7000 and 5500 BC, were found in Mexico "(source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumpkin_cultivation)


"Pumpkins are popular at Halloween when they are carved into Jack-o'-lanterns. The practice was brought to the United States by Irish immigrants who originally carved turnips into Jack-o'-lanterns. In America, pumpkins were more plentiful and cheaper than turnips, and so came about the switch from turnips to pumpkins. "(source:http://homecooking.about.com/od/foodhistory/a/pumpkinhistory.htm)

I'm in-love with Pumpkin flavor, I remembered my first pumpkin pie and it was divine! This time of the year, pumpkins pretty popular and they are inexpensive... Perfect way to bake some sweet treat for the whole family to enjoy, The sweet thing about this, I got the easiest recipe to share with you! I found this recipe at Allrecipes.com , As you know Me!, I only use ingredient I have on hand, being said that, I omit few ingredients on the original source. The pumpkin cookie turn out really good to my family liking and the store bought cream cheese icing is just perfect addition. The perfect way to end our Chili dinner.. (wink)
Below is my simplified Ice Pumpkin Cookie recipe. Check this out and let me know what you think.:) C'mon lets start baking!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cup flour
1 cup  can pumpkin puree
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup softened butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla

 To Make Glaze: Combine 2 cups of confectioners' sugar, 3 tablespoon milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add milk as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency.

Directions:
1.) Preheat the oven to 350 degree. Mix the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Set aside;
2.) In a medium bowl cream the butter and sugar. Add the vanilla, pumpkin puree and egg, beat until creamy.
3.) Slowly add the dry ingredients onto the wet ingredients. Mix well. Put tablespoon of cookie batter onto sprayed cookie sheet, flatten slightly.
4.) Bake for 15 minutes. Let it cool and then iced the cookies.
5.) Share and Enjoy!

 

Notes
- I used the can pumpkin puree on this recipe, feel free to used homemade pumpkin puree if you have some.
-I used store bought cream cheese icing to ice the cookies but  I do have some recipe for homemade icing as well if you want to try. ( Posted below the Ingredients)
- cooking time varies depending on the oven your using, adjust the cooking time if needed.
- Enjoy and just have FUN at the kitchen.:)