Pumpkin Bars

 

 

Up until Thanksgiving I had been without refined sugar for 4 weeks! I was going to definitely have some dessert on Thanksgiving... and turns out, the day after too (I'm weak!). But today that ends, until Christmas! These little beauties are sort of legal because they don't have refined sugar, they have sucanat! It's still sugar, yes, so you should enjoy in moderation. I have quite a bit left from Thanksgiving (I made two pans!), so I'm putting what I have left in the freezer for the boys for treats (and maybe I'll have something when I'm craving something sweet). I thought they were great and the boys really liked them! I made them to take to both Thanksgiving meals and I'm wondering if anyone knew they were made with whole wheat flour and sucanat. If so, no one told me! You of course can make them with all regular ingredients.

Pumpkin Bars
(adapted from this recipe)

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sucanat (If using regular sugar, I would use half brown sugar to give it a deeper taste. Oh and when I make them again for us, I'm going to lower the sugar amount some. It's just what I do. I like to see how low I can get!)
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking dish. In a large bowl cream butter and sugar together. Add spices and salt and mix. Next, add eggs and pumpkin puree and mix well. Last, add flour and mix just until combined. Fold in pecans. The batter will be thick. Spread batter into pan evenly and bake for 30-35 minutes. They should start to brown slightly on top and the edges should start to pull away from the pan. Let cool and cut into bars.