Pumpkin Bars with Chai Spiced Frosting

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, so today I'm sharing one of my must-haves on the dinner table: Pumpkin dessert.

It's not Thanksgiving without a pumpkin dessert, right?! Whether it's pie, cookies, cake, bars, pudding, cupcakes, as long as it's pumpkin, I'm a happy girl.

So this recipe is a spin-off of a pumpkin bar recipe I found in my grandma's old church cookbook. I added a few little twists here and there and my version of the pumpkin bar was born! It should be noted that while I say pumpkin bar, it's really more of a cake.

One of the best parts of these bars is definitely the chai frosting. It's spicy and zingy and sweet and flavorful and just utterly delicious. (If you couldn't tell by now, I'm a big fan of chai!) I know that this chai mix has a lot of spices, so if you don't want to buy all of them, you can order a premade chai spice blend. You might have to grind them up as they might be in bigger pieces, but that's an option if you'd like!

This chai mix makes a ton! You can save it to add to your coffee, tea, oatmeal, honestly, anything you want!

Ingredients:

4 eggs

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of brown sugar

2 cups of pumpkin

¾ cup of unflavored oil

1 teaspoon of vanilla

2 cups of flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

2 teaspoons of baking powder

½ teaspoon of cinnamon

½ teaspoon of freshly ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon of salt

Frosting:

2 sticks of butter

¼ cup of heavy cream

3 cups of powdered sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla

2 teaspoons of chai spice

Chai Spice:

1 tablespoon of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of ground ginger

1 teaspoon of ground cardamom

½ teaspoon of ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon of allspice

A pinch of ground black pepper

½ teaspoon of ground clove

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Mix eggs, sugar, pumpkin, and oil together.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a pinch of salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined.

Bake in the oven for about 45-50 minutes. Let cool.

For the chai mix, add all the spices into a small bowl and stir together.

To make the frosting, whip together butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and chai mix. Slowly add in heavy cream and whip on high until frosting is light and fluffy.

Place a generous helping of frosting on top of the pumpkin bars and spread out with a spoon. I like to make large swoops and swirls to give the frosting some texture!

And there you have it! These bars are absolutely delicious and a must-have at my Thanksgiving table! The chai frosting is literally addicting; I couldn't get enough!

Happy Thanksgiving!

-Holly Michelle