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If there was ever a recipe that screams fall, it’s these Brown Sugar Maple Pumpkin Butter Bars with Vanilla Espresso Glaze. Made with nutty browned butter, cinnamon, spiced pumpkin butter, and white chocolate. Then generously glazed with a sweet, thick, and creamy vanilla espresso glaze. There’s really nothing not to love about these autumn-spiced pumpkin bars. The true secret? Brown butter, brown sugar, and sweet pumpkin butter. They keep these bars incredibly flavorful, soft, gooey, and so delicious. These bars require so little effort to make. They’re salty-sweet, heavy on the pumpkin butter, and every last bite is truly delicious.
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Do you visit Trader Joe’s often? If you do, have you seen their Pumpkin Blondie Brownies? Well, it’s that sweet dessert that inspired me to make these bars.
To be honest, the name, Pumpkin Blondie Brownies, is what excited me most. It caught my attention and made me want to recreate the blondie brownies at home. But then I started working on them. I quickly realized that there was no way to make a pumpkin brownie blondie. It’s either one or the other.
And that’s when I scratched the original concept and made these.
And I LOVE these. They took me a while to perfect, but these are so GOOD.
Here are details
These are not your average pumpkin bar, which honestly, I can find a little boring. These are not boring. Think of them like a pumpkin latte with brown sugar syrup and a couple of espresso shots.
There’s also browned butter, spiced pumpkin butter, and white chocolate too. So much pumpkin flavor with the concentrated pumpkin butter.
Start out by browning salted butter in a saucepan on the stove. Browning the butter really adds a rich nutty flavor to these bars and makes them just a touch cozier. Perfect as we head into the cooler, shorter days of autumn. Once the butter is browned, remove it from the stove, and dump in all of the remaining ingredients.
Brown sugar, pumpkin butter, eggs, vanilla, flour, and spices (lots of cinnamon). Then stir in the white chocolate chips. Or go for semi-sweet/dark chocolate. Either is delicious!
This makes up the dough. Pretty simple.
Spread the dough out into a pan, then bake. As the bars bake away, you’ll have incredible wafts of cinnamon, pumpkin, and butter in the air. It’s the coziest smell, especially on a dreary cold day.
For the pumpkin butter, I used my 6 Ingredient Spiced Pumpkin Butter, but of course, you can use store-bought pumpkin butter too. Be sure to use pumpkin butter and not canned pumpkin puree.
I took inspiration from my pumpkin spice latte (do we need my easy homemade recipe?), and decided on a vanilla espresso glaze. It’s just some browned butter, powdered sugar, brewed espresso, and vanilla.
It’s thick, creamy, and adds the perfect amount of sweetness to each bar. The glaze seeps into every nook and cranny of the bars.
Complete perfection. Tip: bake these up and enjoy them while burning my pumpkin smash candle – oh so cozy!
Looking for other sweet fall recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Fluffy Pumpkin Butter Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Cinnamon Crunch Apple Butter Soft Pretzel Knots
Old Fashioned Caramel Apple Butter Cake with Chocolate Frosting
Cream Cheese Swirled Cinnamon Pumpkin Butter Bread
6 Ingredient Spiced Pumpkin Butter
Double the Streusel Apple Butter Bars
Homemade Slow Cooker Maple Apple Butter
Lastly, if you make these Brown Sugar Maple Pumpkin Butter Bars, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Brown Sugar Maple Pumpkin Butter Bars
Ingredients
- 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter
- 1 cup light or dark brown sugar
- 3/4 cup pumpkin butter
- 1/4 maple syrup
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup white chocolate chips or chunks
espresso glaze
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons brewed espresso or strong coffee
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 9×13 inch baking dish with parchment paper.2. Add the butter to a medium pot set over medium heat. Allow the butter to brown, until it smells toasted, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour into a large bowl. Let cool 5 minutes. Add the brown sugar, pumpkin butter, maple, eggs, and vanilla. Mix in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt, mixing until just combined. Fold in the white chocolate. Spread the dough out into the prepared dish.3. Bake for 25-30 minutes, just until set in the center. Let cool.4. Meanwhile, make the glaze. Add the butter to a small pot set over medium heat. Allow the butter to brown lightly until it smells toasted, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the powdered sugar, espresso, vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Drizzle the glaze over the bars. Let set for 5 minutes. Cut into bars, snack, and enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
Oh my god these are amazing!! My only problem is I can’t find pumpkin butter now that we are into spring. What recipe would you recommend for pumpkin butter? Thank you
Hey Deany,
Happy Monday!! Thanks a lot for making this recipe and your comment! I love to hear that it turned out well for you! I actually have a recipe for pumpkin butter:
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/6-ingredient-spiced-pumpkin-butter/
Xx
Not bars more like a cake/loaf. Glaze if following directions is not white and icing like but rather dark brown and syrup like. Delicious though.
Hi Olivia,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback! Yes, the icing is definitely not white, that color comes from the espresso:) Glad they were enjoyed! xx
For the maple syrup in this recipe, it doesn’t specify the type of measurement, is it 1/4 cup?
Hi Lindsay,
Yes, sorry about that! It’s 1/4 cup:) I hope you love this recipe! xx
This was a very big hit in my office! I am happy to say I also now have pumpkin butter in my fridge so will be looking for more recipes that call for it. I agree with many of the comments that this was more of a bread than a bar but the taste was great! I highly recommend this recipe.
Hi Jen,
Love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks so much for sharing your feedback! xT
Why is this cake? Next time I’m omitting the baking powder, there’s no way these can be considered “bars” they don’t look as pictured. It looks like cake.
Hi Linds,
Sorry to hear these did not turn out the way you would have liked them to. Please let me know if I can help in any way! xx
I made these just as the recipe instructed even after reading the reviews saying it was more of a cake and to reduce this and that, aside from using my own icing recipe as I’m not an espresso fan.
They were yummy and we loved them!
With that said, they were definitely not a bar… more like a cake. After the required baking time they were still not nearing being fully cooked as the knife was dripping when I tested it.
It is definitely more like a cake. A very yummy cake! Especially warmed up with milk before bed. Next time I will try baking for less time and maybe reducing the baking powder by 1/8-1/4 tsp.
All in all, delicious, just doesn’t look as pictured. Would love to try again to get more of a bar!
Hey Hanna! Thank you so so much for the feedback Hanna! I appreciate it! xT
The flavor is great but the texture is literal cake. I’ve made these 3x’s now and have tried tweaking flour, baking soda and powder and it always comes out a cake 🙁 maybe it’s because you bake at a much higher altitude?
Mine never come out gooey, more cake like?????
Hi Katy! Hmm I would maybe bake them a little less? Or add less flour? xT
I’ve made many of your dessert recipes and each one tops the next. I think this one is the most delicious recipe I’ve made. I’m not a huge fan of pumpkin flavor so I didn’t think I would like them. WRONG! I absolutely love them and so do my 3 children and anyone else who tried them. Even people, who like me, aren’t crazy for pumpkin flavoring. These bars are incredible!! Big hit.
Wow thank you so much Sue! xT
I made these three or four times last year and found the all the flavors such an amazing combination! Brown sugar, pumpkin, espresso, vanilla chips…so yum!
I have a question though…every time I made them they came out as more of a coffee cake consistency instead of a bar. You describe yours as gooey and they look like a dense bar…I’d love to achieve that, but am not sure why that isn’t happening for me. Any ideas?
Thank you so so much Heather! So glad you loved these pumpkin bars! xT
Looks so delicious! Where do you find pumpkin butter?
Hi there! I usually make my own, but I know that Trader Joe’s sells it as well! xT
I had to search for it. I live on the East Coast and have found it at Trader Joes, Stop N Shop, Kings and Shop Rite. Tieghan has a recipe linked to make it (which I didn’t notice before trying to locate it in a store) It looks simple.
AMAZING
so much fun making these- also made the pumpkin butter using your recipe as I was unable to find locally- smelled so divine and delicious over toast!
so many compliments on this recipe Tiegan! For those who aren’t typical pumpkin flavor type people- they were pleasantly surprised! Very moist and not overly sweet – the white chocolate is a nice sweetness – DEFINTELY making these bars again! SO good cold also!
Thank you so much! Hope you have a great fall season! 🙂 xT
Mine are currently in the oven, can’t wait to try these! If I make them in advance (day in advance) should I put the glaze on right away or wait until closer to serve time?
Hi Sarah! I would wait to put the glaze on right before serving! 🙂 xT
How do you store these bars? Do they need to be refrigerated?
Hi there! You can refrigerate them or leave them covered on the counter! xT
Hi, my bars came out more cake like and the glaze was brown not white, any tips? Thank you!
Hi there! I would add more powdered sugar if you’d like a whiter glaze! xT
mine came out dark too bc of the coffee but i did also add more white sugar and a pinch of cream also .delicious just the same!!
So good! I used Trader Joe’s pumpkin butter. I also wanted it more of a brownie texture vs. cakey so only used 1/2 tsp of baking powder per suggestions in other comments. Lastly instead of espresso in the glaze I used bourbon! Really really good!!!!
Thank you so so much for trying out the recipe! Have an amazing week! 🙂 xT