Pumpkin Spice Bars with Maple Glaze

Packed with warm spices, oats, pumpkin, real maple syrup and plump raisins, this snack bar is the perfect treat for cozy fall days.

About Pumpkin Spice Bars with Maple Glaze:

This is a perfect treat to whip up in just a few minutes. Mix the wet ingredients- no stand mixer or beaters required, fold in the dry ingredients, pour into an 8 x 8 metal cake pan, bake. Cool for 30 minutes and drizzle with the maple glaze. I developed this recipe with the pantry in mind. There are no funky ingredients- just canned pumpkin, flour, spices, raisins, eggs, sugar and the star of the show: Vanilla maple syrup. Order Pine & Palm Kitchen Vanilla Maple Syrup HERE.

Ingredients in Pumpkin Spice Bars:

• flour
• old fashioned oats
• baking soda
• salt
• light brown sugar
• confectioner’s sugar
• pumpkin spice seasonings
• ginger
• allspice
• cinnamon
• vanilla paste or extract
• raisins
• eggs
• butter
• milk
• canned pumpkin purée, not pumpkin pie filling
• Vanilla maple syrup- regular maple syrup works as well
• OPTIONAL- pecans, walnuts, pepitas, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips

Equipment needed for this recipe:

• Whisk
• silicone spatula
• 8 x 8 metal cake/baking pan
• measuring spoons and cups- buy my nesting bowls HERE
• 2 mixing bowls
• parchment paper
• off-set spatula or large knife- but my favorite HERE.

More of my favorite pumpkin recipes to try:

Substitutions or additions to the recipe:

This is a very versatile snack bar. I added in golden raisins, but are some ideas to mix it up a bit:

Items to add: add in about 1/2 to 1 cup:

1. Chocolate chips
2. Dried cranberries
3. Toasted pepitas
4. Chopped walnuts or pecans
5. Butterscotch chips
6. Toffee chips
7. Espresso powder
8. chopped figs or dates

Pro-tips for a great bake:

1. Add the raisins into the wet ingredients and then work on measuring out your dry ingredients. This gives the raisins plenty of time to plump up in the batter.
2. Use only real maple syrup- not pancake syrup, which is nothing more than high fructose corn syrup and artificial flavorings.
3. Make certain your oven temp is set to 350 degrees.
4. Check how old your spices are- old spices will not develop the deep warm flavors you are looking for in this recipe. Check out my recent post on how to optimize your spice pantry.
5. Let this recipe cool about 30 minutes in the pan before removing. You can glaze at this point or wait to glaze once out of the pan. The bars can crumble if too warm when you remove them from the pan. Be patient.
6. Use canned pumpkin purée. Not pumpkin pie filling. I prefer Libby’s brand.

Pumpkin Spice Bars with Maple Glaze

Recipe by Meggen Arthur Wilson

Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

16

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

30

minutes

Calories

285

kcal

A simple snack bar made of your favorite fall flavors like maple, pumpkin, and warm spices.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (8 TBSP) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

• 1/2 cup plus 1 TBSP light brown sugar

• 1/2 cup pure vanilla maple syrup- see where to buy in the baking notes

• 2 large eggs

• 2 tsp vanilla paste or vanilla extract

• 1 cup pumpkin purée

• 1 cup golden raisins

• 2 cups old fashioned oats

• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

• 1/2 tsp baking soda

• 3/4 tsp kosher salt

• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1/4 tsp ground allspice

• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  

• For the Maple Glaze

• 2 TBSP milk

• 1 TBSP Vanilla Maple Syrup

• 1 cup confectioner’s sugar

• 1/4 tsp salt

Directions

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Lightly butter an 8 inch by 8 inch metal baking pan . Line with parchment paper, cut to fit the pan, and butter the parchment. Set aside.
• In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the butter until cooled and it begins to thicken. Add in the brown sugar and whisk until light and fluffy- about 1 minute. Add in the maple syrup and vanilla- whisk until well incorporated. Add In the two eggs and whisk again until the entire mixture is smooth. Fold in the pumpkin puree. Gently stir in the raisins and oats. Set the mixture aside.
• In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda and spices.
• Using a silicone scraper, fold the pumpkin mixture into the flour. DO not over-mix but stir until all the flour has been incorporated into the mixture. Fold the batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out cleans. Set on a wire rack to cool 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the bars from the pan and peel off the parchment paper.
• In a bowl, using a small whisk, mix the maple syrup, milk, salt and confectioners sugar until smooth. Pour the glaze over the cake. Let the cake cool completely and then slice into 16 pieces. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days or freeze any leftovers.

Notes

• Order vanilla maple syrup from Pine & palm Kitchen HERE. You can substitute real maple syrup as well.