Pumpkin brown butter maple bars

Name: Pumpkin Brown Butter Maple Bars
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1 cup brown butter; 3/4 cup brown sugar; 1/4 cup castor sugar; 3/4 cup pumpkin purée; 1/4 cup maple syrup; 2 eggs; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 1 drop almond extract; 1 tbsp fresh ginger (grated); 2 1/4 cup four; 1 tsp baking soda; 2 tsp baking powder; 1/2 tsp salt; 1/2 cup white chocolate chunks; 1/2 cup walnuts; 2 tbsp brown butter; 3/4 cup icing sugar; 1 tbsp milk; 1 tbsp maple syrup; 1 tsp vanilla

Fluffy and light pumpkin bars sweetened with maple syrup and brown butter, packed with walnuts & white chocolate chips. These bars are the perfect dessert recipe to make this fall that is warm, cozy, comforting and very easy to make.

If you are looking for a simple sweet treat that is a dessert but also is a snack and also hits all those boxes of a sweet treat this fall then this is the recipe for you. It is a very simple recipe that needs one bowl does not take long to bake. You can enjoy it warm but I prefer having it cold.

I’ll be honest, I started out to make pumpkin Blondies and as the recipe progressed I realised that I wasn’t feeling like a Blondie, I wanted something light and fluffy that was in between a cake and kind of a cookie so these pumpkin bars are everything that you could want in a fluffy pumpkin bread but also in a chewy pumpkin cookie we use pumpkin purée to make these pumpkin bars and I’ve used maple syrup to sweeten it. Which is so delicious and so yummy, a little brown sugar goes a long way.

These are the perfect travel sweet treat if you want to take dessert for a dinner party, or for a picnic or take it to the movies to watch with your friends on movie night. It is absolutely perfect to put it into a box and close it up the travel very easily you can save them as they are the perfect warm but they are also better cold, the flavors develop the next day so basically this is a winning recipe and you don’t need any more reasons to make it, let’s get to it.

What are pumpkin brown butter maple bars?

These pumpkin brown butter maple bars are basically a cross between a pumpkin bread and a pumpkin cookie they have the chewy edges of a cookie but the fluffy centre of the cake. It is light and airy like you would find in a pumpkin bread but they have cookie edges, the best of both worlds. I like cutting them into rectangles but you could cut them up into squares it’s completely up to you. They are filled with white chocolate chips and walnuts but that is subjective and the maple syrup just complements the brown butter perfectly in this recipe. Bars and squares are recipes that you could use subjectively, specifically for tea high tea, it is a snacking recipe as well as perfect for lunchbox ideas or to travel and take to a party which makes it very easy without doing any damage to the dessert.

What ingredients do you need to make this pumpkin brown butter maple bars?

Pumpkin purée –

I would recommend using pumpkin butter but pumpkin purée works perfectly as well. You can use homemade purée or store bought in a can.

Brown butter –

You can use melted butter but these bars are delicious with brown butter. Which adds a different layer of flavor to the bars once baked.

Brown sugar –

They not only add a caramel flavor to the bars but also give them a delicately autumn colored brown once baked. The brown sugar adds a chewy element to the bars.

Castor sugar –

The castor sugar helps give these bars a crunchy edge but you could use granulated sugar or any sugar you prefer. Coconut sugar is a good addition.

Maple syrup –

This adds moisture but mainly flavor. If you don’t have maple syrup you can use honey or agave syrup but maple really adds the best flavor to these bars.

Eggs –

To make these eggless, you can use yogurt or flaxseed eggs. Flaxseed eggs are 1 tbsp flaxseed powder mixed with 2 tbsp water.

Flour –

This recipe calls for all purpose flour, you can use maida, cake flour or gluten free flour mix to make these gluten free.

Pumpkin spice powder –

I prefer using my homemade pumpkin spice powder mixture but you can use a combination of cinnamon powder, clove powder, ginger powder and nutmeg powder if you don’t have pumpkin spice mix.

Cinnamon powder –

The additional cinnamon powder really adds a distinctive cinnamon flavor to the bars once baked.

Ginger –

Freshly grated ginger adds so much flavor into these bars, they are so delicious with it, do not skip it and make sure it is grated or a paste.

Add ons –

I’ve added white chocolate chunks and walnuts. You can add caramel/toffee chunks, chocolate chips, pecans, etc.

What equipment do you need to make these pumpkin brown butter maple bars?

We need a large mixing bowl to make the batter I have used a whisk and then moved to a spatula. Don’t make the mistake I made and use a large bowl as this is quite a large recipe but you can use a spatula all the way as we are not truly incorporating a lot of effort into the batter while making the mixture. Of course we need a chopping board and knife to chop up the white chocolate as well as the walnuts. To pipe the brown butter icing on top I used a piping bag but you could just as well spread it with the offset spatula or with a spoon. It’s completely up to you, I like to cut the bars with a serrated knife or a breadknife for clean edges. You can bake them in a 9 x 13 or a quarter sheet tray, the larger the tray you bake it in, the less of the cooking time. Alternatively, the smaller the tray you bake it in the thicker the bar and the longer cooking time so keep this in mind when you choose your tray, if you don’t have a large tray bake it in batches and it works fine.

How to make these pumpkin brown butter maple bars?

Start by preheating your oven to 180°C, line your quarter sheet tray with a little bit of butter and set it aside. In a large mixing bowl add your wet ingredients and whisk together until combined, we do not want to add air into it, we just want the ingredients combined. At this point switch to another spatula, followed by any add-ons as you like. I’ve added white chocolate chips and walnuts, fold together and transferred to the lined tray bake for 20 minutes until risen, dry to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Let it cool for 10 minutes.

While it is cooling let’s make the icing: mix all the ingredients together until smooth and combined, slice the pumpkin bars with a serrated knife and transfer the icing into a piping bag and pipe over each bar and transfer to a serving tray, serve as you like. These are so addictive, very filling and the perfect snack not to mention lunchbox treat to prepare this fall.

Serving and storing these pumpkin brown butter maple bars?

I like piping the icing over the bars once they are cut but you could spread the icing with a spoon or offset spatula. You could drizzle it over the top with a fork as well. There is no right or wrong way to do it, I would recommend not skipping the icing even though it is a little amount but a little goes a long way and it adds a depth of flavor as well. If you do not want to serve it with the icing you could dusted with a bit of powdered sugar and pumpkin spice or cinnamon powder, that works fine too. The next day, the flavors truly develop and the texture also is more tender. Serve it with black coffee or go all out and make a pumpkin spice latte. These bars are also delicious with a side of vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce if you want to make it into a plated dessert.

Once these bars are baked you can store them in air containers in the fridge for up to 1 week they can also be stored in the freezer in an air tight container for up to 1 month, when ready to eat them let it thaw at room temperature warm it in the microwave if you feel like and enjoy.

Looking for more pumpkin recipes?

Now that we have covered how to make these Pumpkin brown butter maple bars, you can have a look at the recipe video on my socials but let’s get to it.

If you try this recipe out, don’t forget to share it with me on instagram so I can see how it turned out. I’d love nothing more than to chat with you on your cooking/baking.