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Pumpkin Crunch Cake Bars

This recipe is so easy and delicious to make, you'll make pumpkin crunch cake for the whole season! The key is to make sure to try to spread the melted butter evenly over the whole cake. It's ok to have a few small dry cake-mix spots, but avoid large dry spots of cake mix.
Use what ever combination of dried nuts and fruit that you want! If you want to use pumpkin pie spice mix to replace all the individual dried spices (cinnamon, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, ground cloves), then use about 1 Tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice mix.
Total Time1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 12 servings
Calories: 515kcal

Ingredients

  • 15 oz. (425 g) package prepared dry cake mix (usually yellow or white cake mix)
  • 15 oz. (425 g) pumpkin puree
  • 14 oz (397 g) sweetened condensed milk (not to a be confused with evaporated milk)
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup (100 g) sugar
  • 2 teaspoons (10 ml) ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) ground ginger , optional
  • 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml) ground cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) salt
  • 1 cup (117 g) chopped pecans or walnuts
  • 1/2 cup (60. g) dried cranberries or raisins
  • 1 cup (227 g) melted butter (2 sticks or 1/2 lb.)
  • whipped topping or whipped cream (optional)

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).  Grease 9-inch x 13-inch pan.
    Greased 9x13 pan
  • In large bowl, combine 15 oz. pumpkin puree, 14 oz. sweetened condensed milk, 3 eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon optional ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves and 1/2 teaspoon salt in bowl until smooth until evenly combined.
    Mixing pumpkin mixture
  • Pour the pumpkin mixture into the prepared 9x13 pan.
    Pouring pumpkin mix in pan
  • Sprinkle 15 oz. of dry cake mix evenly over the wet pumpkin mixture.
    Sprinkling cake mix on top
  • Add 1 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts) and 1/2 cup cranberries (or raisins) on top.
    Adding nuts and dried fruit
  • Drizzle melted butter evenly over mixture. Try to cover as much of the dry spots of cake mix that you can.
    Drizzling butter on top
  • Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 55 minutes or until top is turning golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake.
    Baked pumpkin cake bars
  • Allow cake to completely cool. Cut into squares, add whipped topping or whipped cream and serve.
    Dolloping whipped topping on bar
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Baked Goods, Dessert, Holiday

Nutrition

Calories: 515kcal | Carbohydrates: 64g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 98mg | Sodium: 552mg | Potassium: 277mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 46g | Vitamin A: 6144IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 202mg | Iron: 2mg