Lovely low carb pumpkin bars topped with sweet cream cheese frosting. These frosted pumpkin cake bars are a delicious snack that all will enjoy.
When the weather got cooler and it began to feel like autumn, I started craving some pumpkin. However, all the grocery stores I shopped at were out of canned pumpkin.
I discovered that the canned pumpkin shortage was due to bad growing conditions in the state of Illinois where the Libby brand of pumpkins are grown. I figured I better stock up so I ordered a case of 12 organic cans of pumpkin online which was cheaper than going to one of the local nature food stores.
The grocery stores are hoping to have plenty of canned pumpkin back on the shelves for the holidays since the weather was better this year. I wish I had planted my own sugar pumpkins in the yard this year. Pumpkins will certainly be planted next year!
This is the first year that I’ve had trouble getting canned pumpkin. It’s amazing how much the weather in one state can have such a huge effect. Maybe the farms need to be a bit more spread out!
I chose to make the cake for my low carb pumpkin bars recipe in a jelly roll pan. This is because I’d like to make a pumpkin roll for Thanksgiving and wanted to see if this cake would work for that.
I think it would, but the pan would have to be lined with parchment or something nonstick so that the cake would be easier to take out of the pan and roll. I only sprayed the pan with oil and the cake did stick a little, but not a problem with the small squares that I cut it into.
I frosted the low carb pumpkin bars with a stevia sweetened cream cheese frosting, but the cake is moist and delicious as is. It’s also wonderful topped with stevia sweetened whipped cream.
The recipe for the cream cheese frosting I used is right below the cake recipe in this post. If you like spiced pumpkin, you are sure to love this one!
Do you love pumpkin? I sure do. Want some more low carb pumpkin recipes? Check out this collection!
Low Carb Pumpkin Bars Recipe
Low Carb Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
CAKE:
- 1 cup Carbquik (see Note)
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 cup Steviva Blend or 1 cup erythritol plus 1 teaspoon stevia extract
- 1 Tablespoon blackstrap molasses optional (for authentic flavor)
- 4 eggs , beaten
- 1 15- oz can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 teaspoon sugar-free vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup coconut oil
FROSTING:
- 2 8 oz packages cream cheese
- 3/4 teaspoon stevia glycerite
- 3 Tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon sugar free vanilla extract
Low Carb Sweeteners | Keto Sweetener Conversion Chart
Instructions
CAKE:
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Mix dry ingredients in large mixing bowl. Set aside.
- In medium bowl, mix together eggs, pumpkin, molasses, extract, and oil. Add to dry ingredients and mix well.
- Pour into greased jellyroll pan (15x10x1) and bake for about 25-30 minutes. Cool on rack.
- Cooled cake can be topped with whipped cream, frosted with cream cheese, or eaten as snack cake squares.
FROSTING:
- Beat cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Add stevia, heavy cream and vanilla, beat until light and fluffy.
Notes
Nutrition
Additional Info
- Net Carbs 3g
- % Carbs: 6.6%
- % Protein: 8.8%
- % Fat: 84.5%
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Note on Nutritional Information
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts as it has been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
Monique Stec says
November 20, 2017 at 10:45 amHi,
Can I use a 13×9 baking dish and if yes, how long is the baking time? Thanks.
Lisa says
November 20, 2017 at 8:39 pmIt’s hard to say. It will be a thicker cake so you’d likely need to bake for a longer time. So, I’d just keep an eye on it and use a toothpick or cake tester to determine doneness.
Elizabeth Martin says
April 22, 2017 at 7:17 pmI took a look at the recipe but it did not say how many serving the cake made?
Lisa says
April 22, 2017 at 8:41 pmIt’s like 20 bars so I added that.
Lena says
April 16, 2017 at 10:29 amHow many servings per recipe?
Lisa says
April 16, 2017 at 9:10 pmI got like 20 squares.
Theresa says
February 15, 2017 at 9:04 amHi I was under the impression that Stevia Blend was twice as sweet as sugar so you only need to use half as much. The 1 cup of stevia blend in the recipe seems like a lot, especially with the cream cheese frosting. Can you cut that down to half or use a splenda/stevia blend combo? Would this change the carb count?
Lisa says
February 15, 2017 at 3:55 pmIt depends on the blend you use. Pyure is twice as sweet as sugar, but blends like Sukrin:1 are a one to one replacement. If you are using something that is twice as sweet, you’ll want to use only half as much. Carb count varies little if you use the more concentrated blends.
Linda says
October 13, 2016 at 8:39 amWhat can be used instead of Xanthin gum?
Lisa says
October 13, 2016 at 10:25 amYou should be able to leave it out in this recipe. It just helps hold things together better.
Esther says
August 19, 2011 at 5:42 amI’m gluten intolerant… what is a good substitute for the carbquick?
Lisa says
August 20, 2011 at 9:06 pmI would try 1/2 cup coconut flour and increase the eggs to 6.
fooddreamer says
October 9, 2010 at 4:23 pmHow funny, I just made something similar on Thursday! I only posted them today because I had such a rotten few days and I just couldn’t spend the time on my blog. I swear I wasn’t copying you 😉