What better way to introduce the earthy sweet taste of pumpkin for the season then bringing with it a little bit of summer with a dreamy, toasted marshmallow topping.
Let’s start from the bottom and work our way up. I love anything with a graham cracker crust and that includes pairing it with the warm tastes of cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg mixed in with the soft texture of pumpkin puree.
I often look for desserts that have simple ingredients yet a complex layer of flavor. These pumpkin pie bars with marshmallow topping are just that. The pumpkin puree is mixed with eggs and the warm flavors of cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. It’s thick, so it presents almost more like a cake and definitely has a fair amount in every bite.
What makes this pumpkin bar unique is the layer of marshmallow topping that can be easily browned under your broiler or with the use of a food torch. Topped with a sweet gooeyness of the mini marshmallows is slightly reminiscence of pairing your sweet potatoes with marshmallow and who doesn’t love that?
Food torches come with a small canister of butane gas and have been around for a while now for cooking and baking. It’s often used for crème burlee, but they can be used for so much more. A decent one online costs around$15-$30.
How to Make Pumpkin Pie Bars
- Crush graham crackers.
- Make the graham cracker crust by mixing together graham cracker crumbs , sugar, salt, and melted butter.
- Press into baking pan.
- Bake in oven at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes.
- Whisk together pumpkin puree and heavy cream.
- Mix in egg, sugar, and vanilla.
- Stir in cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.
- Pour over graham cracker crust.
- Bake in 350 degree F oven for 80 minutes or until center is set and no longer jiggly.
- Pour mini marshmallows on top and broil in oven until golden brown.
Pumpkin Pie Bar Ingredients
Pumpkin: I like to buy pumpkin puree. Be sure the can says pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin pie filling often contains spices that are not needed for these bars. If you’re looking to make these bars with sweet potato, look for sweet potato puree or make your own sweet potato puree. If using sweet potato puree to make sweet potato bars, reduce the baking time to just 50 minutes.
Graham Crackers: Use the regular flavor graham crackers. If using a food processor, just simply break the rectangles in half before placing it in the food processor. Then, pulse the crackers until they are ground well. If you don’t have a food processor, simply place the graham crackers in a large zip lock bag and smash then with a heavy object or rolling pin.
Cream: I use heavy cream for these pumpkin bars.
Eggs: Help bind the ingredients together for the body of the bars.
Butter: Use unsalted butter. Melt in the microwave or in saucepan. Butter is a key ingredient to help hold all the dry ingredients together in the crust.
Spices: I use pumpkin pie spice and ground cinnamon.
Marshmallows: Use mini marshmallows or cut up regular size marshmallows if you can’t find the minis. The small size will allow the heat from the broiler or your torch to penetrate through the marshmallow and allow it to puff u under the golden top. Using a broiler under high heat in the oven, the marshmallows should become golden brown and toasted in 1-2 minutes.
Variations for Pumpkin Pie Bars
- sprinkle some mini chocolate chips in with the mini marshmallows
- make cream cheese frosting
- make a buttercream frosting
- use butterscotch chips
- drizzle with chocolate, caramel, hazelnut, or raspberry sauce
Other Recipes You’ll Love
- pumpkin bread
- pumpkin cupcakes
- pumpkin cake
- pumpkin dip
- pumpkin french toast bake
- pumpkin cornbread
- pumpkin cheesecake
Pumpkin Pie Bars with Marshmallow Topping
Ingredients
- 18 graham cracker sheets
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 10 tbsp unsalted butter melted
Pumpkin Filling
- 15 oz pumpkin puree
- 1½ cups heavy cream
- 3 tbsp granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- ½ tsp salt
- 16 oz mini marshmallows
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a food processor, pulse the graham cracker sheets into fine crumbs. This can also be done using a rolling pin and zip lock bag if a food processor is not available.
- Pulse in sugar, and salt.
- Pour in melted butter and pulse mixture until fully combined and moist.
- Press mixture into the bottom of the baking pan. Bake in oven for 10 minutes.
- To make the filling, mix together the pumpkin puree, heavy cream, sugar, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt until smooth and combined.
- Pour pumpkin filling on top of baked crust.
- Bake in oven for 80 minutes or until the center is set and no longer jiggly.
- Let cool slightly; about 20 minutes.
- Cover the top of the filling with mini marshmallows. Broil in oven on high for 1-2 minutes or until golden brown.
- Allow pumpkin bars to cool completely before slicing into 16 servings.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate and it’s accuracy is not guaranteed to be exact.
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