Bready or Not: Pumpkin Roll Bars
I am not a particularly adventurous baker.
Sure, I bake a lot, but I'm also frugal. I've had my share of failures that make me shy away from certain ingredients or techniques. I don't want to read over a recipe and think, "I have to buy a new pan? Where would I find that special sugar? How much does it cost?" I also want the end result to be either 1) healthy enough to keep around for me to eat, or freezable for portion sizes, or 2) portable for my husband to take to work.
Which brings me to the matter of pumpkin rolls.
Every holiday season, I see pumpkin rolls in magazines or on TV. They look delicious and beautiful, and the second I look at the recipe I go, "Um... I would so screw this up." There's something about flouring a towel (I don't think I even have the right kind!) and rolling it up that screams of imminent disaster.
I follow Six Sisters Stuff on Facebook because they tend to make a lot of food I like. When I saw their recipe for pumpkin roll BARS, I perked up like a cat hearing a can opener. Could I, at long last, attempt a pumpkin roll without all my inner alarm bells going off?
The answer is, "Yes," followed by, "OM NOM NOM."
My husband adores pumpkin pie, and he loved these bars. They taste like a pumpkin pie with the slightest touch of creaminess because of that thin cream cheese layer.
If you're not up for the challenge of rolling, give these bars a try!
Pumpkin Roll Bars
From Six Sisters Stuff
Ingredients:
Cake:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin
1/4 cup water
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Cream Cheese Filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
In a bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar until smooth. Beat in 2 eggs, pumpkin, 1 teaspoon of vanilla and water until well blended.
In a separate bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin/butter mixture and combine until well blended.
Spread about 2/3 of the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
In a bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese, 1 egg, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla until smooth. Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over the pumpkin batter. Dollop the remaining pumpkin batter over the cream cheese batter and spread out as evenly as possible. Use a table knife to swirl together the cream cheese and top layer of pumpkin batter.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the center of the pumpkin batter springs back when touched. Cool completely in pan, then cut into bars.
Serve cold.
OM NOM NOM.
Sure, I bake a lot, but I'm also frugal. I've had my share of failures that make me shy away from certain ingredients or techniques. I don't want to read over a recipe and think, "I have to buy a new pan? Where would I find that special sugar? How much does it cost?" I also want the end result to be either 1) healthy enough to keep around for me to eat, or freezable for portion sizes, or 2) portable for my husband to take to work.
Which brings me to the matter of pumpkin rolls.
Every holiday season, I see pumpkin rolls in magazines or on TV. They look delicious and beautiful, and the second I look at the recipe I go, "Um... I would so screw this up." There's something about flouring a towel (I don't think I even have the right kind!) and rolling it up that screams of imminent disaster.
I follow Six Sisters Stuff on Facebook because they tend to make a lot of food I like. When I saw their recipe for pumpkin roll BARS, I perked up like a cat hearing a can opener. Could I, at long last, attempt a pumpkin roll without all my inner alarm bells going off?
The answer is, "Yes," followed by, "OM NOM NOM."
My husband adores pumpkin pie, and he loved these bars. They taste like a pumpkin pie with the slightest touch of creaminess because of that thin cream cheese layer.
If you're not up for the challenge of rolling, give these bars a try!
Pumpkin Roll Bars
From Six Sisters Stuff
Ingredients:
Cake:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin
1/4 cup water
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Cream Cheese Filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
In a bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar until smooth. Beat in 2 eggs, pumpkin, 1 teaspoon of vanilla and water until well blended.
In a separate bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin/butter mixture and combine until well blended.
Spread about 2/3 of the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
In a bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese, 1 egg, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla until smooth. Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over the pumpkin batter. Dollop the remaining pumpkin batter over the cream cheese batter and spread out as evenly as possible. Use a table knife to swirl together the cream cheese and top layer of pumpkin batter.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the center of the pumpkin batter springs back when touched. Cool completely in pan, then cut into bars.
Serve cold.
OM NOM NOM.