Healthy T-Day Dessert: Pumpkin-Carrot Bars With Cream Cheese Frosting

November 21, 2009

Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and my love of all things pumpkin is hardly waning. From yogurt to muffins, I relish this tasty flavor of Fall. If you're looking for a pumpkin pie alternative, these pumpkin-carrot bars are delish. The bit of cream cheese frosting adds a deceptive element of decadence.

Low in calories while remaining full of flavor, these pumpkin bars make a great dessert — perfect for potlucks (much easier to share with large groups than pies) and they're relatively guilt-free. They're high in vitamin A — and trust me you cannot even taste the shredded carrot — and a bar only contains 70 calories and less than two grams of fat. With nutritional stats like that, it's OK to go back for seconds.

Check out the recipe when you read more.

Modified from SparkPeople

Pumpkin-Carrot Bars With Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup Earth Balance (or other butter substitute)
2 eggs
2 large egg whites
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin pie filling
2/3 cup finely shredded carrot

Cream cheese topping:
4 ounces light cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon skim milk

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350° F. Spray a 15 x 10 jellyroll pan with cooking spray.
In small bowl, whisk flour, pumpkin spice, baking powder, and baking soda.
In larger bowl, use electric mixer to beat sugar, Earth Balance, and brown sugar until crumbly. Add eggs, egg whites, pumpkin pie filling, and carrots. Beat until well blended.
Add flour mixture and mix until well blended. Spread onto greased pan.
To prepare cream cheese topping: mix together cream cheese, sugar, and milk until thoroughly blended.
Drop teaspoon-fulls of topping over pumpkin batter and swirl and cut mixture into batter with a butter knife.
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool in pan completely on wire rack before cutting into squares.

Makes 48 squares.

Looking for more healthy recipes? Then check out the Healthy Recipe Group — the name pretty much says it all.

31 Comments

quiltpixie 35 weeks 5 days

Looks great but gotta nix the sugars, will use Swerve instead and coconut oil for butter.\u00a0 May try to substitute almond flour or coconut flour for the wheat ... gonna have to experiment with this.\u00a0 thanks for sharing

beetique 1 year 31 weeks

Hey a tip for those of you that can't find pumpkin in a can. Go to a pumpkin farm or the store and buy a small pumpkin. Cut in 1/2 and scoop out the seeds. Then put in a microwave in a glass dish and cook on high for 15 minutes. Voila. Pumpkin.... and you can also use a butternut squash instead.

2 years 22 weeks

WOW! These are awesome! We had to freeze most of them to keep us from eating the entire pan! (also, they're good frozen!) My husband "shredded" the carrots, but not very fine, still, awesome!!! I also used 'I Can't Believe It's Not Butter' instead of the Earths Balance & it worked just fine

RunningOnCoffee 2 years 23 weeks

These look great, I want to try making them!

kangarue 2 years 28 weeks

These are super moist and delicious. I used butter instead of Earth Balance and canned pumpkin rather than pumpkin pie filling.

Texan Lobster 3 years 21 weeks

I made these bars last night for a party, and they were moist and delicious, and not too sweet. I made a few modifications: 1) used a mix of whole wheat and white flours since I was out of WW pastry flour, 2) added ~1/4 tsp salt and used salted butter, 3) used canned pumpkin not pumpkin pie filling, 4) used a mix of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg instead of pumpkin pie spice, and 5) baked in a 9 x 13 pan (cooking time was closer to 30 mins). Next time I make them I'll probably use a little less baking soda since I could taste it a little bit, and I'll probably double the cream cheese frosting.

3 years 24 weeks

This is a great recipe. Really good to heat up in the mornings. YUM!

littleGrey 3 years 25 weeks

Are you adding more spice mix to the can of pumpkin pie filling, or do you mean to use a can of regular pureed pumpkin?

Alexis613 3 years 25 weeks

I want to make these!!

chloe bella 3 years 25 weeks

These look AMAZING! Retro & Beth - You can find Earth Balance at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, and most likely at any other natural foods store. The good thing about it is that it's not really any more expensive than "normal" margarine.

Kimpossible 3 years 25 weeks

When I was at the grocery store over the weekend they had plenty of canned pumpkin. Cranberry suace on the other hand was almost nowhere to be found. It's so weird. I have a can of pumpkin in my pantry so I didn't buy any at the store but hubby and I joked about how much my can of pumpkin would go for on ebay ;-)

Spectra 3 years 25 weeks

Yeah, the pumpkin shortage thing is weird. I was at the store today and they were totally out of canned pumpkin! Good thing I'm making shoofly pie this year instead of pumpkin.

TammyO 3 years 25 weeks

I think I'll just use butter instead of Earth Balance. I can't stand margarine anything, I'd rather have the real thing like butter and just use a bit less of it.

chivasinstead 3 years 25 weeks

Gee...a pumpkin recipes in a year when there's a shortage on the canned stuff. Thanks for the tease, Fit. http://www.wcbs880.com/There-s-a-Shortage-of-Pumpkin-Pie-Filling/5723262