These pumpkin pie bars have a shortbread crust, creamy pumpkin filling, and are topped with whipped cream for a fun twist on classic pumpkin pie!
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Why You'll Love These Pumpkin Pie Bars!
- Pumpkin bars are small and sharable version of pumpkin pie that everyone will love!
- Shortbread crust is easier to work with than pie crust, so these pumpkin bars are super easy to make!
- The perfect addition to your Thanksgiving dessert table!
You might also like these pecan pie bars or this purple sweet potato pie!
Ingredient Notes
You just need a few simple ingredients to make the best homemade pumpkin pie bars!
Shortbread Crust - I like using a simple shortbread crust for the pumpkin bars, but you could also do a graham cracker crust instead (you can use the one from my key lime pie bars)!
Pumpkin Puree - I almost exclusively use Libby's Pumpkin because it really is the best of the best! A ton of people have run blind taste tests comparing different brands of pumpkin puree, and Libby's is always the winner! You can also make your own pumpkin puree!
Evaporated Milk - Please note that evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk are NOT the same thing!! If you can't find evaporated milk, you can substitute heavy cream.
Pumpkin Pie Spice - You can buy pumpkin pie spice at most grocery stores, or just make your own!
Maple Extract - This is optional, but I like adding a little maple extract to the pumpkin filling! It adds a lovely extra depth of fall flavor.
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
How to Make Pumpkin Pie Bars
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In a large bowl, cream together the softened butter and the powdered sugar.
Then add in the vanilla extract, flour, and salt and mix until the dough comes together into a ball.
Line a 9x9 inch square cake pan with parchment paper. To make a parchment sling, cut the parchment paper slightly smaller than the width of the cake pan and make sure it fits flatly in the bottom. Then lightly spray the bottom and sides of the pan with a vegetable oil based spray (I love Bakers Joy or Everbake). Place you parchment paper sling in the bottom of the pan and smooth it out so that it sticks to the pan spray (you can use metal binder clips to secure it to the pan). After baking you’ll be able to just slide the pumpkin bars right out of the pan!
Press the shortbread dough into your lined baking pan and smooth into an even layer. Poke a few holes in the dough with a fork to allow air to escape while baking.
Par-bake the crust at 350°F for 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let cool while you make the filling (the crust does not have to cool completely before filling).
Preheat the oven to 425°F.
In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree, eggs, sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, maple extract, and salt until fully combined.
Gradually stir in the evaporated milk until fully incorporated. The filling should be thin and very soupy in texture.
Carefully pour the filling into your par-baked shortbread crust.
Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes.
Reduce the temperature to 350°F and bake for another 25-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean (it's okay if the center still jiggles slightly).
Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature. Then transfer to the fridge and chill for at least 2 hours.
I love to top these pumpkin pie bars with homemade whipped cream and an extra sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice!
[Instead of topping the pumpkin bars with whipped cream, you could top them with Swiss meringue or serve with vanilla ice cream!]
Decorating Suggestions
This is optional, but you can make a little extra shortbread dough to make these cute little decorations! You'll just need:
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- ½ cup flour
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together the softened butter and powdered sugar until combined. Then fold in the flour and mix until the dough comes together.
- Lightly flour your surface then roll out the dough to about ¼ inch thick.
- Use your favorite fall impression cutters to cut dough into cute little designs (like pumpkins and leaves). Place the cutouts onto the lined pan.
- Place in the freezer to chill for 20-30 minutes before baking. This helps keep the designs intact!
- While the dough is chilling, preheat oven to 350°F.
- Bake at 350°F for 8-12 minutes or until fully cooked and just beginning to brown.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely to room temperature.
- Then use to garnish the pumpkin pie bars!
Recipe FAQ's
Store covered in the fridge for up to 3 days.
To get clean slices of these pumpkin bars, run a super sharp knife under hot water until the blade is warm, then wipe it dry. Then cut a single slice and repeat. It's a bit tedious to clean the knife before every cut, but you get perfect slices every time!
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
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Recipe Card
Pumpkin Pie Bars
Special Equipment
Ingredients
Shortbread Crust
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- pinch kosher salt
Pumpkin Filling
- 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon maple extract, optional
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
Top With
Instructions
Shortbread Crust
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a large bowl, cream together the softened butter and the powdered sugar. Then add in the vanilla extract, flour, and salt and mix until the dough comes together into a ball.
- Line a 9x9 inch square cake pan with parchment paper. To make a parchment sling, cut the parchment paper slightly smaller than the width of the cake pan and make sure it fits flatly in the bottom. Then lightly spray the bottom and sides of the pan with a vegetable oil based spray (I love Bakers Joy or Everbake). Place you parchment paper sling in the bottom of the pan and smooth it out so that it sticks to the pan spray (you can use metal binder clips to secure it to the pan). After baking you’ll be able to just slide the pumpkin bars right out of the pan!
- Press the shortbread dough into your lined baking pan and smooth into an even layer. Poke a few holes in the dough with a fork to allow air to escape while baking.
- Par-bake the crust at 350°F for 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let cool while you make the filling (the crust does not have to cool completely before filling).
Pumpkin Bars
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree, eggs, sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, maple extract, and salt until fully combined.
- Gradually stir in the evaporated milk until fully incorporated. The filling should be thin and very soupy in texture.
- Carefully pour the filling into your par-baked shortbread crust.
- Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes.
- Reduce the temperature to 350°F and bake for another 25-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean (it's okay if the center still jiggles slightly).
- Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature. Then transfer to the fridge and chill for at least 2 hours.
- I love to top these pumpkin pie bars with homemade whipped cream and an extra sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice!
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Krys says
I LOVE this idea with the shortbread crust! I usually do mini pies in mini muffin trays but it's so fiddly. Do you think this recipe would work in mini muffin silicone trays to skip the cutting bit at the end?
Kyleigh Sage says
I haven't tried it, but I don't see why it wouldn't work!
Rachel McMahon says
Would I double the crust ingredients for 9x13 or would I do 1 and 1/2 amount?
Kyleigh Sage says
I would do 1 1/2 for all the ingredients to convert to a 9x13 pan!