#BookBirthday Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
It’s pumpkin time again and that means it’s the perfect time to listen to a book and bake some pumpkin bars with the gang! The recipe follows below and there’s a zany book suggestion that the whole family will enjoy. It’s for ages 9 to 12, but the whole family will enjoy it.
It’s a story that feels like those conversations at the table after everyone has had enough to eat and drink and life and the wacky ideas zing back and forth across the table.
The recipe below uses American measurements. (Someday, I’m going to make a German translation. )
If there is no canned pumpkin in your neighborhood, you can cook a butternut squash instead. (See directions below.) The bars are delicious however you do it.
Ingredients
1 can (16 oz.) pumpkin
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs lightly beaten
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
Beat pumpkin, sugar and oil. Add eggs and mix well. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, add to pumpkin mixture and beat until well blended.
Pour into greased 15″x10″x1″ baking pan (jelly roll pan). Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes.
Frosting: 1 pkg. (3 oz.) cream cheese, softened (6 T)
5 T. butter or margarine, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
3 to 4 tsp. milk
chopped walnuts (optional)
Beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add sugar, mix well. Add milk until frosting reaches desired spreading consistency. Frost cake. Sprinkle with nuts. Makes 20-24 servings.
Thanks to Debbie Clark for this much-loved recipe!!!
Bake butternut squash to make "canned pumpkin"
Cut open a butternut squash, scoop out the seeds and discard them. Place the squash, cut side down, in a 9 x 12 baking dish. Add about an inch of water. Bake at 350 F until tender when pierced with a fork. Plan for an hour, depending on the size of the squash, slightly less if you use convection.
Let cool. Discard water. Scoop out cooked squash. You need about 2 Cups for the recipe above. Puree it with a food processor. Let it drain well.
Note: If the squash wasn’t rock hard when you cut it up, it might have been a rainy gardening year. You can freeze the puree and pour off the water that separates out or you can cook it down on the stove until it gets as thick as tomato paste.
Under Pressure With a Squash is the perfect companion to those pumpkin bars . . .
The eleven-year-old Saffron royals–they’re twins–have their work cut out for them in this tale of dragon multiplication, cupid archers, and a magical squash submarine . . .
Perfect for 9 to 12 year-old readers with a taste for funny and exciting adventure. 🙂
The tiny robot on the cover signals that this audiobook was created with Madison of Google. It’s been lovingly edited by the author for your listening enjoyment and it’s now available in even more places!
Don’t let the baby dragons get out!
