Recipe of the Week: Pumpkin Bars

I decided that I'd like to keep track of some of my favorite Weight Watchers friendly recipes here on this blog. I am no food blogger and a very amateur photographer but this is for me and if it helps other people get some ideas that's great. Just don't knock it! I tried these today and realized that I needed to put it on my blog but of course I didn't think to take pictures until they were already done. So I've written the blog as if there are pictures, and I'll enter them later. Again, don't knock it!

My first recipe is for Pumpkin Bars. I know, I know, I just said I need to limit my treats, but I said limit it to one a day. And frankly, I could eat one of these every day for about a month. And with the recipe making 24 bars, it would be pretty easy to do. But my kids really like these so I better freeze some so I actually get to enjoy them!

I first tried pumpkin bars when I flew to Dallas with Corey to meet his family. We were all playing a very controversial game of dominoes and his mom made these for us to eat while Corey's brother Josh pulled out stupid rules to make me lose at the last minute just because he couldn't bear placing second. 8 years ago. Still not over it. He has apparently forgotten.  Back to the bars. I love the mix of cream cheese and pumpkin and these bars were the perfect balance of both. However, with a cup of oil, 4 eggs and 2 cups of sugar, these bars are not the perfect balance for my new lifestyle. So I looked to lighten up and came up with these. Not to toot my own horn, but they are knock your socks off kind of good. And 3 Points Plus. With frosting! The perfect recipe for a dominoes rematch...

Start with a can of pumpkin and a spice cake mix. Dump both in a bowl and add a cup of water. Mix it really well.

Spread the batter on a jelly roll pan taking care to make it pretty on top because it's not going to change much when you bake it. Instead of using non-stick spray, I use non-stick aluminum foil. It's a little more pricey than regular foil and way more pricey than spraying your pan, but it is fabulous and totally worth it. Food does not stick to it and it doesn't do anything weird to your food either. No weird crusts or colors or unexplained slime. Just food. It also protects your pans so they look nice and pretty. It also lessens the amount of dishes I have to do. I hate doing dishes. And using non-stick foil is 0 Points Plus. Can you tell I like the stuff?

Moving on...

Bake your bars for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Check with a toothpick and when it comes out clean, they're done.

The hardest part may be to let these cool completely. Your house will smell so good. Just enjoy the smell and do some laundry or something. Then make the frosting.

The frosting is loosely based off of a Hungry Girl recipe. You'll need a tub of Fat Free Cool Whip,light cream cheese and powdered sugar. The real stuff. I don't love the aftertaste of artificial sweeteners. Start with a tablespoon and see if you want it to be more sweet or not. Totally a personal preference.

So mix the cream cheese and sugar together until it is really soft and nice to work with. My trick to fold in the Cool Whip is to take your rubber spatula and spread the cream cheese all around the bottom and sides of the bowl. It's not rocket science and shouldn't be perfect, just kind of spread it all out like it's going to give the Cool Whip and nice warm welcome when it joins the party in the bowl. Obviously, dump in that tub of Cool Whip and then gently fold it all together. As you scrape the sides of the bowl with each fold, the cream cheese is more gradually introduced and I feel it made it easier to incorporate than working with a big lump of cream cheese at the bottom of the bowl. But there are no rules. Fold until there aren't many lumps and the lumps you have are quite small. Maybe if you whip the cream cheese first it might be better, but that would mean getting out a mixer and dirtying another bowl AND beater and I just can't get myself to do that.

Now your frosting is done and ready to spread on your cooled pumpkin bars.

Spread it on all nice and even. Resist temptation to lick the spatula. Or give in. Not like I've ever done that... Cut into 24 bars. I used a pizza cutter licking wiping the blade between each cut. You could also use a plastic knife which is my tool of choice for cutting brownies. Try it if you haven't. It changed my life. For these, however, I liked the pizza cutter.

I haven't tried freezing these yet so I will edit when I have and let you know how it turns out.

Until then, enjoy!

Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
Serves 24      3 Points Plus (2 without frosting. But why would you not want the frosting?)
Ingredients:
Bars
1 - 15 oz can of pure pumpkin
1 - 15.25 oz spice cake mix
1 c water

Frosting
1 - 8 oz tub Fat Free Cool Whip, thawed
6 oz light cream cheese, room temperature
1 or 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a jellyroll pan with non-stick aluminum foil. Combine pumpkin, cake mix and water in a medium bowl and stir until well mixed. Pour batter into pan making sure to spread it evenly. Bake on center rack for 20 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely.
For the frosting: Mix sugar and cream cheese together until well mixed and cream cheese is soft and pliable. Gently fold in Cool Whip. Spread on cool bars. Cut into 24 squares, rectangles really, and serve. Win dominoes.