I know it’s not the usual time to share a pumpkin recipe but I shared it with a friend today and thought, why not? It is perfect for a cold winter day.

I grind wheat berries to make whole wheat flour for this recipe. I think you could use plain flour for this but it won’t have that toothy, chewy delicious texture that you get with whole wheat.

You’ll need 2 cups of whole wheat flour for this recipe which is about 1 1/2 cups of wheat berries.

The Bars
4 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar (or for a richer flavor, use Rapidura)
1 cup vegetable oil or you can use lard
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix) I use home-canned pumpkin that is well-drained or  2 cups of cooked, mashed sweet potatoes
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

The Cream Cheese Frosting
1 package (3 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

Directions for the Bars

Heat your oven to 350°F. Lightly grease bottom and sides of 15x10x1-inch pan with shortening or lard or coconut oil. 

Now, most people don’t have a 15x10x1 inch pan, so you can substitute a 9×13 inch pan…. but your bars will be thicker.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing.  I use a 15×10×3 inch half sheet cake pan and it works nicely.

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, granulated sugar, oil and pumpkin until smooth. I use a stand mixer on medium speed.

Stir in flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, ginger and cloves. Spread the batter in the prepared pan.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely in pan on cooling rack, about 2 hours.  If you are using a 9×13 pan you can increase the baking time to 30-35 minutes. Use the touch test to see if it’s done. If it springs back when lightly touched in the middle it’s done.

It is important to cool it completely so it won’t melt the cream cheese frosting.

Directions for the Cream Cheese Frosting

In a medium mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smooth. Gradually beat in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until smooth and spreadable.

Frost the bars…. Make a double recipe if you’re crazy about cream cheese! 

To give some color to the frosting, dust some nutmeg or even cocoa powder over the top. 

Refrigerate bars til firm, then cut into rectangular bars. Keep refrigerated.  If you want to freeze the bars, do so before you frost them. Allow them to defrost at room temperature, then frost before serving.