Pumpkin Pie Dessert Bars
With a deliciously spiced pumpkin pie on the bottom and buttery swirled cake topping, these super EASY Pumpkin Pie Bars will be your favorite holiday dessert! Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, and any day is perfect for these fall-inspired sweets!
Just before we left for England in early November, I made this Pumpkin Pie Dessert Bars for my family. I was planning to post this earlier but because of the family emergency we had, everything, naturally, had to take the backseat.
Nonetheless, at the back of my mind, I haven’t forgotten about this truly delightful recipe and made sure to post this at least before Thanksgiving.
Besides, who says pumpkin desserts are only for Fall or Thanksgiving? I love pumpkin-based desserts so much, I don’t even mind having them during the hottest days of summer – so for me, every season is a good season for Pumpkins!!! Agree? 🙂
I discovered this super-easy and super-yummy dessert – and yes, it’s really super – in the cookbook made by the ladies of our church in Holland, Michigan.
I remember reading quite a few delicious-sounding recipes for fall there and thought it was about time I tried them out! It’s only been 10 years since I had a copy of that and I have barely scratched the surface when it comes to making the yummy recipes there – although I have tried quite a few which have become a staple in our household.
After trying this (I must confess I had a few slices!!!), I have been blaming myself for not making this years ago!! My kids totally loved these pie bars and had a few slices between them, too! Oh, well better late than never.
Doesn’t it look so good? I get sweet cravings every time I see this dessert!
The photos above and below are versions without the nuts added. The recipe below adds that option if you like a bit of crunch!
What are the ingredients to make yummy Pumpkin Pie Bars
(Scroll down for the recipe card for full instructions and to print the recipe.)
- 1 can (15 oz) solid-pack Pumpkin puree
- 1 can (12 oz) evaporated Milk
- 3 Eggs
- 1 cup Sugar
- 3 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 1 package (18 3/4 oz) Yellow Cake Mix
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
- 3/4 cup Butter, melted
How do you make these Pumpkin Pie Bars?
Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan. In a mixing bowl, combine the first five ingredients – pumpkin puree, evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, and pumpkin spice.
Mix all the ingredients until well-blended.
Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan.
Sprinkle with the dry cake mix and the chopped nuts, (if using). The nuts are optional.
Drizzle all over with butter. Using a butter knife make a swirly pattern on the cake.
Bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes or until a tester inserted near the center comes out clean. Serve warm with ice cream on top, if desired!
What I love is the ease of preparation, hardly any, really. It’s similar to a dump cake in a sense. The only major mixing involved is simply combining the pumpkin puree with the pie spice, sugar, milk and eggs.
After that, it’s really just spooning everything in the baking dish! I did swirl the topping a little bit to create a lovely texture and to make it look quite pretty as you can see above although pardon the late afternoon photo which, I think, did not do much justice to the pretty cake!
Easy-peasy deliciousness indeed!
Anyway, as you can see it is crazy easy that even my children can do this on their own. And it’s unbelievably DELISH!!!
So, if by chance you want to try a different dessert for Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year, I totally and absolutely recommend this!!!
Pumpkin Pie Dessert Bars
Ingredients
- 1 (15 oz) can solid-pack Pumpkin puree
- 1 (12 oz) can evaporated Milk
- 3 Eggs
- 1 cup Sugar
- 3 tsps Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 1 (18 3/4 oz) package Yellow Cake Mix or Spice Cake Mix
- ½ cup pecans or walnuts, coarsely chopped
- ¾ cup Butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan. In a mixing bowl, combine the first five ingredients – pumpkin puree, evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, and pumpkin spice.
- Mix well.
- Transfer to the prepared pan.
- Sprinkle with the dry cake mix and the chopped nuts, (if using).
- Drizzle all over with butter. Using a butter knife make a swirly pattern on the cake.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes or until a tester inserted near the center comes out clean. Serve warm with ice cream on top, if desired!
Nutrition
Last updated on October 16th, 2025 at 10:46 pm
Going to try these this weekend for a get together! Btw our family is from the states but we had the pleasure of staying in Manila for a couple weeks several years back while adopting our daughter Beautiful country and people!
Hope you like these bars! Glad you have a lovely time in the Philippines. Thanks for stopping by.
Just made this and the pumpkin part is holding together but kinda watery at the same time? Not sure why.
Sorry to hear that. That never happens to me and I’ve baked this many times already every fall. Perhaps it wasn’t baked long enough? Because oven heating and temperature varies the suggested time may have to be adjusted slightly perhaps a bit longer until the pumpkin portion has fully set. At any rate, if it holds shape and doesn’t disintegrate – just chill it completely (a few hours at least) before slicing and that should help firm it up. It’s a soft kind of bar and not hard at all though it holds its shape well. Hope that helps.
Do you need to refrigerate this after you make it??/
I usually refrigerate it after I’ve made it. Enjoy!
I made this with condensed milk and no sugar
Thanks for letting us know. That sounds good, too!
How can I make this low carb ?
I’m not sure how to do that – if you can find a yellow or spice cake that’s both gluten-free and sugar-free (or reduced-sugar at least) and maybe use sugar substitute but I don’t know if this would make it taste as delicious as the original dessert. Please bear in mind that even if you make homemade pumpkin puree for this – it still has carbs. Perhaps this dessert is not a good candidate for making it low-carb but you can try and hope it works.
can I use 2 round cake pans. instead like to make tonight
If you can manage to divide it well with the layers intact then no problem. Just adjust baking time.
I made these last night, they are easy and delicious…I love all your recipes
Aww. So glad you enjoyed these yummy pumpkin bars! Thank you so much for letting us know.
This sounds delicious AND easy… exactly what I was looking for! Silly question – are these more like bars; can they be eaten without a fork (like a brownie)?
Because of the pumpkin component it would be softer than a brownie so I would suggest eating with a fork. I promise, it is delicious!
Omg, this has become my husband’s favorite dessert. I have been making these pumpkin bars every week for the last month. It is so easy to bake, He said it’s like pumpkin pie, just so much better. It’s not too sweet. I added extra pecans, so I can get that crunch in every bite. When I make it for my parents, I don’t put nuts and it’s still very delicious. I’m making this for Thanksgiving. I better print out the recipe, I’m sure they will want a copy of it.
Abby, Thanks for the recipe.
Yay! So glad that you all enjoyed this! It’s absolutely delicious with or without the nuts! Thanks for letting us know.
The first picture looks like you added packed BROWN sugar??
There is brown sugar in the recipe for sure. But I always make it as written in the recipe. They’re all the same batch of photos – just some were cropped close-up. Hope that helps.
I found this recipe on Pinterest last week and decided to make it for Thanksgiving day which is tomorrow. I purchased all the ingredients and just now as I was reading off the recipe to start making it I read some of the comments someone asked you if that was brown sugar she saw in the picture in the bowl. You said you do use brown sugar, but the recipe says just one cup of sugar. So how much brown sugar do you use and how much white sugar do you use? Also, is it light brown sugar or dark brown sugar? Very confusing really wanted to make these for tomorrow but don’t wanna mess them up. Please let me know soon.
Thank you
Hi Nancy, it doesn’t matter what sugar you use. I usually use brown sugar but if you use white – it’s fine too. That’s why I simply mentioned sugar because there’s no need to distinguish. Hope that helps. Please refer to the photos on the step by step, if that helps. This will always come out delicious no matter what color sugar you use. Enjoy!
I made this for the 1st time to take to a friend’s for dinner last night. This was so easy to make & was delicious. My husband & the host’s hubby could not get enough lol! They each had 2 huge pieces & I left some for him to enjoy.
Yay! So glad to know this! It’s truly amazing. Thank you!