{Healthier} Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

Kick off the fall season with these Healthier Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting that are moist, delicious and taste just like cake, but without any butter or refined sugar!

Wow I can’t believe it’s already September and you know what that means!  Boots, scarves and pumpkin EVERYTHING!  I was so excited to whip up my first pumpkin recipe of the season and oh were these bars delicious.  I mean they’re basically slices of heaven CAKE that are moist, delicious and a much healthier option than most pumpkin bars out there that are full of butter and refined sugar, but I promise these don’t sacrifice any flavor!

I sweetened these with a little maple syrup, but you really don’t need much because the combination of pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon and nutmeg make up for lack of sweetness.  I also added some Silk Almond Creamer (they recently just came out with their new pumpkin spice flavor YAY!) which not only added even more pumpkin flavor, but also made the frosting super creamy!

I’ve always been a fan of Silk Almond Creamers for my coffee, but did you know this plant-based creamer also makes a great addition to muffins, cake and even frosting?!  There are so many ways to get creative with this creamer outside of just putting it in your coffee and knowing it’s made by Silk makes me confident that this is a quality product.  The brand new packaging is great too and love that the creamers now come in bottles rather than cartons making it easy to store and re-use.

Oh and for a limited time only Silk has released this delicious Pumpkin Spice flavored creamer just in time for fall that makes the perfect addition to your coffee!  ALL of Silk’s Almond Creamers are vegan, dairy-free, and gluten-free with zero cholesterol or saturated fat and this pumpkin spice creamer seriously tastes amazing.   They are also verified by the Non-GMO Project so you can feel good about the product you are purchasing.  Not a fan of pumpkin spice?  Check out their other delicious flavors such as caramel, vanilla and hazelnut!

These bars are full of all my favorite fall spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg and pumpkin pie spice along with a whole can of pumpkin puree and sweetened with a little maple syrup.  The combination of these flavors just scream FALL and this recipe truly couldn’t be any easier to throw together!  Simply mix your dry ingredients and your wet ingredients in separate bowls, fold the two together then pour the batter into a prepared baking pan sprayed with a little oil.  Bake for 30 minutes, cool and top with cream cheese frosting and voila!  The easiest pumpkin muffins you’ll ever make.

For this recipe I used an 8×8-inch baking dish which yielded about 16 good size bars (trust me the serving size is much bigger than the photos show!), but you could easily make the servings smaller and cut about 25 pieces if sharing with a lot of people.

Now let’s talk about this cream cheese frosting!  It’s creamy, perfectly sweet and you can literally make it in under 5 minutes!  Yes it really is that simple and I promise you it’s the easiest thing you’ll make this season.  Just throw your softened cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer along with the vanilla and maple syrup mixing on high.  While it’s still mixing, add in your Silk pumpkin spice almond creamer one teaspoon at a time until the frosting is perfectly creamy (I used about two teaspoons, but you may want to use three or more if you like a thinner frosting).

Then once your pumpkin bars have cooled completely, spread the cream cheese frosting evenly overtop and sprinkle with a little extra pumpkin pie spice.  Slice into bars and enjoy!  See how simple??  After making these I brought them into work and received SO many requests for the recipe so I’m excited to share them with all of you!

As I said before, there are so many different ways you can use Silk’s Almond Creamers outside of just mixing them in with your coffee so get creative this season!  Try substituting the almond milk used in this Skinny Pumpkin Spice Mug Cake for Silk’s new pumpkin spice creamer for even more delicious flavor!  The possibilities are endless and I really hope you all enjoy these pumpkin bars as much as we did!

If you want to learn more about Silk Almond Creamers as well as ALL of Silk’s other delicious products, feel free to sign up for their exclusive newsletter here or you can easily find Silk products at your local grocery store!

Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

 

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Serves: 16 Servings

Ingredients

• 1½ cups whole wheat flour
• ½ cup almond flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• ½ tsp. cinnamon
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 4 eggs, lightly whisked
• ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
• ¼ cup Silk Almond Creamer (I used pumpkin spice)
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 1 (15 oz) can 100% pumpkin puree

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 to 3 tsp. Silk Almond Creamer (I used pumpkin spice)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin spice, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, coconut oil, Silk almond creamer, maple syrup and pumpkin puree and stir until well-combined.
4. Pour the wet ingredients in with the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.
5. Pour pumpkin mixture into a prepared 8x8-inch baking dish and bake in the oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
6. Let the pumpkin bars sit for 5 minutes then remove from pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.
7. While the bars are cooling, add cream cheese, maple syrup and vanilla extract to the bowl of your stand mixer (or you can use a hand mixer) and whip on high until smooth. Add the Silk Almond Creamer a teaspoon at a time until you have your desired creaminess.
8. Evenly spread cream cheese frosting over the bars once they have cooled completely, top with a little extra pumpkin pie spice and cut into 16 pieces. Enjoy!

Nutritional Information

Serving Size: 1 bar • Calories: 173 • Fat: 8.1 g • Saturated Fat: 3.9 g • Carbs: 20 g • Fiber: 2.7 g • Protein: 5.5 g • Sugar: 8.5 g • WW Points+: 7 • Smart Points: 5

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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.

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