Harvest Spice Pumpkin Bars

A recipe from Gwinnett County School Nutrition

This delicious spice bar is a really special and a must for your Fall and Winter menu! Students enjoy the classic pumpkin pie flavor, moist texture and beautiful color. A great farm-to-school recipe to use with fresh pumpkins!

Harvest Spice Pumpkin Bar in paper baking cups.

Ingredients:

5 lbs + 8 oz Flour, whole wheat
3 tbsp + 1 tsp Baking soda
3 tbsp + 1 tsp Baking powder
2 tbsp + 2 tsp Salt, Kosher
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp
4 qt Slow Roasted Pumpkin Puree
1 qt Eggs, liquid
9 cup + 1/3 cup Sugar, granulated
3 lbs Butter, unsalted, melted
3 cup Sugar, powdered

Steps:

In a large mixing bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice blend. Whisk to blend evenly.
Using a large mixing bowl, stand mixer with whisk attachment or VCM combine the pumpkin puree, liquid eggs, sugar, and melted butter. Mix to blend evenly.
Add the flour mixture to pumpkin puree mixture and blend just until combined.

Take care not to over mix the batter. Over mixing will result in dense-tough bars.

Pour the batter into a 18" x 26" x 2 1/4" baking pan, lined with parchment paper and sprayed with pan spray.
Bake at 350°F until bars are baked through, approx. 25-30 minutes.
Allow bars to cool completely. Sprinkle lightly, almost dusting, with powdered sugar and cut each pan into 8x10 squares for service.
Serving is 1 square.