Gluten Free Pumpkin Spice Bars

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and when I think of dessert for this holiday, there is always something made with pumpkin. I was looking for a gluten free dessert to make and I considered traditional pumpkin pie. I have had great success using crushed gluten free ginger snaps in place of graham crackers for the crust. But I came across a recipe for GF Harvest Pumpkin Spice Bars that looked tasty and were easy to make. The base for this recipe is Betty Crocker gluten free yellow cake mix and the end results in a moist, delicious pumpkin dessert, not overly sweet and with a nice amount of spice. No one will guess these are gluten free!

I made a few changes-I added chopped pecans to the batter and I used a 13x9 glass baking dish instead of 15x10. 

Pumpkin Spice Bars
     
1 box Betty Crocker® Gluten Free yellow cake mix                        
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)                        
1/2 cup butter, softened                        
1/4 cup water                        
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon                         
1/2  teaspoon ground ginger                         
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves                         
3 eggs                         
1  cup raisins  
1 cup chopped pecans 

Cream Cheese Icing

 

8 oz. mascarpone cheese

4 oz. Cream Cheese or Neufchatel cheese 

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Beat together with mixer until fluffy.

 

Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease bottom and sides of 13x9 inch pan with cooking spray. Beat all bar ingredients except raisins and pecans with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes. Stir in raisins and nuts. Spread evenly in pan.                           

Bake 30 minutes or until light brown. Cool completely in pan on cooling rack.                            

Spread with cream cheese icing.  Cut into squares and garnish each square with a pecan. Store in refrigerator.
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