Pumpkin pie, pumpkin carving, pumpkin cake, pumpkin malts...I love pumpkins! Since this is the perfect time of year, yesterday I made pumpkin bars. And if I do say so myself, they turned out pretty darn good! I have to admit I haven't done a whole lot of baking over the years, since my aunt had a cookie & cake catering business, and my mom & sisters ran a bakery. Plus, I think the oven we have in our current apartment is from about 1953, and not the most conducive to baking. But since yesterday I had an unexpected day off from work, Ashley and I took advantage of it. We took our pumpkin bars out to Volga Lake and had a fall picnic. I was disappointed that a lot of the leaves had already fallen, but it was still a nice, relaxing way to spend the afternoon. Later we shared the bars with some grateful college students who had to stay on campus over fall break; they were a welcome treat for students who are getting a bit bored of the cafeteria's offerings.

Shelley, originally a friend of my sister, but now an "adopted Hilleshiem" and a very cool cat :), has recently created a baking/cooking blog. That, and of course my fetish for recipes, made me want to share one, too! So here is the recipe for the amazing pumpkin bars I made this weekend...............the secret to making these, or any kind of fruit bread that you want to be moist, is to not overmix the batter.

Pumpkin Bars by Wildflour Bakery

from the Walker Family Cookbook

1 15 oz. can pumpkin 1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. oil 2 tsp. baking powder

4 eggs 1 tsp. soda

2 c. flour 1/2 tsp. ginger

2 c. sugar 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

2 tsp. cinnamon

Combine ingredients & mix well. Bake for 30 minutes at 350°. Cool; frost with cream cheese frosting. (2 lbs. powdered sugar, 1 stick butter, 8 oz. cream cheese, 1/4 c. milk--mix well & increase/decrease milk amount to get the consistency you want).

Recipe Notes: The frosting makes a large batch, so I actually made just 1/2 batch. I also cut the cinnamon in half because I don't like my pumpkin stuff very "spicy". Also, these are usually made on a large jelly roll sheet which I don't have. I made them in a 9x13 pan, and that worked just fine, it was just more like cake.