Pumpkin Dessert Bars

A pumpkin pie in bar form with a cake mix crust, pumpkin custard filling, and a cinnamon cake-mix crunch topping. These bars are perfectly soft, pumpkin-y, and comforting. They are best when served topped with vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, and a little sea salt.

Pumpkin Dessert Bars

For the crust:

1 (15.25 ounce) yellow cake mix, divided

1/2 cup salted butter, melted

1 egg

For the filling:

2 cups pumpkin puree

2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2/3 cup half and half

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

For the topping:

reserved 1 cup of cake mix

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup butter, softened

Grease only the bottom of a glass 9x13 pan. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Measure out 1 cup of the cake mix and set it aside for the cinnamon topping.

To make the crust, combine the remaining cake mix, 1/2 cup melted butter, and 1 egg together using a hand mixer. Press mixture evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan.

To make the filling, combine all of the filling ingredients together until smooth. Pour over crust.

To make the topping, stir the reserved cake mix, sugar, and cinnamon together. Cut the softened butter into the dry mixture until the crumbs resemble grains of rice. Sprinkle over the pumpkin filling.

Bake bars for 45-50 minutes or until a table knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely. Serve with vanilla ice cream, caramel ice cream topping, and a sprinkle of coarse sea salt.

Recipe Yield: 15 bars
Recipe Source: I found this recipe on a really old recipe card in my Mom's kitchen cabinet which gives recipe credit to someone named Angela Larsen; the recipe above is slightly adapted