Description

Enjoy a little taste of autumn with these deliciously moist gluten-free pumpkin bars made with dairy-free cream cheese.

Ingredients

Scale

2 ¼ cups gluten-free flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon ginger
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup brown sugar, packed
⅓ cup sugar
½ cup avocado oil
½ cup applesauce
15 oz can pumpkin puree
3 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream Cheese Frosting

½ cup dairy-free butter, room temperature
8 oz dairy-free cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon sea salt
3 ½ cups powdered sugar

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Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 10 x 15″ baking pan.
Whisk together the gluten-free flour, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Set aside.
In another bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, sugar, avocado oil, and applesauce. Then mix in pumpkin puree, eggs, and vanilla.
Next, add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until combined.
Spread the batter evenly into the pan and bake for 30-35 minutes.
Let cool on a wire rack.

Cream cheese frosting:

In a large bowl, use a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and cream together the dairy-free butter and cream cheese. Mix in the vanilla and salt. Then, mix in the powdered sugar until thoroughly mixed.
Once the cake is completely cooled, spread with the cream cheese frosting. Place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Store covered in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.

Notes

Gluten-Free Flour: My favorite gluten-free & dairy-free flour blends to use are Pamela’s Gluten-Free 1:1 All-Purpose Flour and Better Batter. I’ve been using them both with great results. They are both a 1-1 substitute. If you use another gluten-free flour blend, be sure that it contains xanthan gum. If not, add 1/2 teaspoon of xanthan gum per cup of flour.

Pumpkin: You’ll want to use pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie mix. Any brand should work fine, but my favorite is Libby’s.

Dairy-Free Butter: Suggested brands are Country Crock Plant Based with Avocado Oil, Smart Balance, or Earth Balance.

Oil: I used avocado oil in this recipe. It has a light, neutral flavor. Melted refined coconut oil could also be used.

Cream Cheese: There are several brands of dairy-free cream cheese available that you could choose to make with this recipe. In my local grocery stores, I could only find these two brands: Kite Hill and Philadelphia Cream Cheese. You can read the difference between these two on my Caramel Dip post.

Keywords: gluten free pumpkin recipes, gluten free desserts, gluten free recipes, pumpkin bars, pumpkin squares