Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting (2024)

Pumpkin bars with no dairy and no egg? You bet!

We’ve been making dairy-free pumpkin bars for years now. Yes, even with delicious dairy-free cream cheese frosting!

Plus, our recipe is egg-free. No egg or egg replacer required. Great for food allergy families, great for anyone realizing they are plum out of eggs at the moment.

Per our usual, this recipe is also nut-free.

Plus, our friends have even made it gluten-free, review below.

Scroll on down for this easy and well-loved autumn recipe!

When we first baked homemade, dairy-free pumpkin bars back in 2009,

we used store-bought dairy-free cream cheese frosting.

Shortcuts are definitely an allergy mom’s best friend.

But now, I also like to make the cream cheese frosting homemade.

See our popular dairy-free cream cheese frosting recipe below!

It’s pretty easy with just 4 simple ingredients and so many dairy-free cream cheese brands to choose from these days.

Plus, it gets rave reviews from our readers. We love that!

I could not agree more.

Homemade frosting turns out so well that I even catch myself eating frosting off the spoon.

And I don’t typically like dairy-free cream cheese.

But hey, with all that added sugar, it tastes so normal.

Either way, homemade or store-bought, you’re going to love dairy-free cream cheese on these simple pumpkin bars.

DOES THIS RECIPE CALL FOR EGG REPLACER

Nope!

Not an egg or a replacer needed at all.

No flax egg. Not even an applesauce egg.

And despite that, it’s perfectly moist and delicious.

Just have your favorite dairy-free milk, butter, and cream cheese ready to go along with a few other pantry staples.

DOES THIS RECIPE USE PUMPKIN PUREE OR PUMPKIN PIE MIX

This recipe actually uses plain pumpkin puree.

Don’t use a can of pumpkin pie mix because that has spices and sugar added to it.

Then your pumpkin bars won’t turn out the best and will be quite sweet.

For these pumpkin bars, we use half a can of plain pumpkin puree and add our own sugar and spices…and everything nices. Ha ha.

That’s going to be brown sugar and cinnamon. Easy peasy!

DOES THIS RECIPE TAKE A WHOLE CAN OF PUMPKIN

Actually, no.

These pumpkin bars only take half of a small can of pumpkin.

A small can is about 15 ounces so this recipe only takes 7-8 ounces of pumpkin.

You can measure out about one cup of pumpkin puree.

Or just eyeball half a can like I do.

ELECTRIC MIXER OR MIX BY HAND

For these pumpkin bars, it’s best to make the cream cheese frosting in an electric mixer.

But then you simply hand mix the bar batter.

I actually love that because then I don’t have to clean between bars and icing making.

They each use their own mixing bowls.

And I save clean-up for later!

WHAT SIZE DISH FOR THESE PUMPKIN BARS

This recipe, when made in a 9×13″ baking dish, will make thin pumpkin bars.

Or you can make them in a 9×9″ baking dish for a thicker pumpkin cake.

Totally your choice.

Still make the same amount of frosting, though.

It will be the perfect amount either way.

READER REVIEWS

“Wow! This recipe is surprisingly amazing!!! I will definitely make this again!”

“We made these for Thanksgiving and they were a hit! So easy and yummy! We substituted gluten-free 1:1 flour and it worked great! We made both the thin and thick versions and loved both, but a little partial to the thicker ones. Thank you so much for a great recipe!!!”

“We absolutely love these pumpkin bars. But more importantly the frosting!!!!!! I’m loving all the new recipes for my dairy free kiddo because these actually taste good for the whole family!!! I currently have a batch in the oven for the big family Christmas tomorrow.”

We love your reviews, thank you!

Now here’s the recipe.

PUMPKIN BARS DAIRY EGG FREE RECIPE

Be sure to see our quick pumpkin bar video in this post to see the textures and process so you get it right every time.

INGREDIENTS

Dry Ingredients

1 cup flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Wet Ingredients

1/4 cup dairy-free milk
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar
1/2 of a 15 ounce can of pumpkin
1/4 cup melted coconut oil or vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9×13″ (for thin bars) or 9×9″ (for thicker cake) pan with dairy-free butter.

Combine 1/4 c. milk and 1/2 tsp. lemon juice or vinegar in a LARGE measuring cup. Let sit 5 minutes to make dairy-free buttermilk.

Whisk 1 c. flour, 1/3 c. brown sugar, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp. baking soda, 1 tsp. cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp. salt together in a separate bowl.

Add 1/2 of a 15 ounce can of plain pumpkin puree and 1/4 c. liquid oil to the buttermilk bowl.

Add dry mixture to wet mixture and stir well with a large spoon. Mixture will seem dry for cake batter.

Spread the batter evenly into prepared pan and bake for 15-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center. Baking time depends on what size dish you used.

Let cake cool while you make the frosting.

STORAGE

Stores well in the refrigerator for a few days.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING RECIPE DAIRY FREE

Mix in vanilla.

Gradually add powdered sugar, scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go.

If it seems too runny, feel free to add a little more powdered sugar one tablespoon at a time. Weather, choice of dairy-free butter, inside temperatures, and more can affect the outcome of the texture.

Mix well and frost the cooled cake.

OUR FAVORITE DAIRY-FREE INGREDIENTS

Since we often get asked, here are the dairy-free butters and cream cheese we like to use.

Plus, I’ll share one of our favorite vanilla extracts. I love real vanilla, not artificial.

As always, double check current labels and make sure these brands work for your allergies. And call companies, if need be, for manufacturing information.

dairy-free butter

dairy-free cream cheese

vanilla extract

MORE DAIRY-FREE PUMPKIN RECIPES

Because the pumpkin bars only take 1/2 of a small can of pumpkin puree,

here are some other dairy and egg free recipes you could use the rest of your pumpkin in!

• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Pumpkin Pancakes
• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Pumpkin Bread

We hope you enjoy these dairy and egg free pumpkin bars as much as we do.

Let us know!

This was originally posted in November 2009.