Easy Keto Pumpkin Bars with cream cheese frosting that everyone will be begging for more, and you can make them in under 45 minutes. Keto pumpkin bars are a grain free pumpkin bar made with almond flour and a granulated sweetener instead of flour and sugar, baked in an 8 by 8 pan and topped with a keto cream cheese frosting.
It is pumpkin spice season, and this Keto pumpkin bar recipe is a must for everyone’s kitchen. I love all the pumpkin recipes so far on the blog, and I can’t say that this will be the last. The Keto cream cheese frosting is the key to this fabulous fall dessert.
Yesterday I made my lemon bars and these keto pumpkin bars to take to a family get-together. They were so easy and really only had two steps to make them. I’m sure you love those kinds of recipes when you are in the busy holiday season and trying to tackle so many things.
Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 10 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 25 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 35 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 12 bars, or 16 smaller ones
- ⚡ Calories: 241kcal per bar
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Warm pumpkin pie spice over a light almond flour cake, under a tangy cream cheese frosting
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, two bowls and a square pan, about like my lemon bars
Quick Answer
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease an 8 by 8 pan. In an electric mixer, beat the eggs, oil, granulated sweetener, pumpkin puree and vanilla until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, whisk the almond flour, salt, baking soda and pumpkin pie spice, then add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 25 minutes, then let it cool completely. Beat the cream cheese and butter together, add the confectioners sweetener and vanilla, spread the frosting over the cooled bars and cut.
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Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Almond flour, not almond meal. Finely ground blanched almond flour behaves like cake flour here. Almond meal still has the skins and a coarser grind, and it bakes into something gritty and heavy.
- Pumpkin puree is the moisture and the binder. Almond flour has no gluten to hold a crumb together, so the puree and the eggs are doing that job. Puree, never pie filling, which is already sweetened and spiced.
- Beating the wet ingredients until light matters. Air whipped into the eggs and pumpkin is the only lift this batter gets besides the baking soda, which is why the bars come out light instead of dense.
- Sweeteners are not interchangeable cup for cup. Start at a quarter cup and taste the batter. Erythritol reads cooler on the tongue than sugar, so the amount that tastes right to you may not match the amount on the label.
- Cool completely before frosting. Cream cheese frosting slides straight off a warm pan and melts into the surface instead of sitting on it.
- Cream cheese and butter both softened. If either one is cold you get lumps that no amount of beating will smooth out.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Really only two steps. Mix the bars, mix the frosting. That is the whole recipe.
- Keto friendly. Almond flour and a granulated sweetener instead of flour and sugar, so it fits a low carb table without tasting like a substitute.
- Great for a potluck. They travel in the pan and cut into neat squares when they are cold. I suggest you double the recipe and make two batches.
- Under 45 minutes. Ten minutes of work and 25 in the oven, which matters in a busy holiday season.
- It is the cream cheese frosting. That is the part people come back for, the same way they do on my mini pumpkin cheesecakes.
- Everything is pantry staples in the fall. If you already keep pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice around, you are most of the way there.
Key Ingredients
Nine ingredients for the bars and four for the frosting, and two of them are worth being fussy about. Quantities are in the recipe card below.
- Large Eggs. The freshest you have. They carry the structure in a grain free bake.
- Swerve. Granulated, and Swerve or Erythritol both work. You can find it at health food stores like Sprouts, Walmart and Whole Foods.
- pumpkin puree. Not pie filling. Pie filling is already sweetened and spiced and will throw the whole recipe off.
- Almond Flour. Not almond meal. Look for finely ground blanched almond flour.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice. Check it for freshness, since this is the entire flavor of the bar. You can also mix your own.
- Vanilla Extract. I use my homemade instant pot vanilla when I have it on hand.
- Cream Cheese and Butter. Both softened all the way to room temperature, or the frosting will be lumpy.
- Confectioners Sweetener. The powdered Swerve, sifted. Granulated will never dissolve into a frosting.
See the recipe card below for exact quantities and full instructions.
Variations & Substitutions
These are the extras I add depending on who is coming over.
- Chopped walnuts or chopped pecans stirred into the batter or scattered over the frosting.
- Lily’s sugar free chocolate chips to keep it keto with chocolate in it.
- Wilton sugar fall leaves on top if you are bringing them to a party.
- A sprinkle of Cinnamon or powdered sweetener over the frosting.
- Spice the frosting. You can add a teaspoon of Cinnamon to the frosting to give it a little more spice. It is a light and airy cake, and it is so good.
- Thick or thin. You can double the recipe and use a 9 by 13 pan for a thinner bar, or keep it in the 8 by 8 for a thick one. Line the pan with parchment paper if you want to lift the whole slab out to cut it.
How to Make Keto Pumpkin Bars
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease an 8 by 8 pan. Measure everything out first, this batter comes together fast.
- In an electric mixer, beat the eggs, oil, sweetener, pumpkin puree and vanilla extract until light and fluffy.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the almond flour, salt, baking soda and pumpkin pie spice, then add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix until combined.
- Pour the batter into the greased pan and spread it level. Bake for 25 minutes.
- Let the bars cool completely in the pan. Do not rush this part, warm bars will not hold frosting.
- Beat the cream cheese and butter in the mixer, add the confectioners sweetener and vanilla, then spread the frosting over the cooled bars and cut.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Taste the batter before it goes in the pan. Each sweetener is different. I would start with a quarter cup and taste, to see if more is needed. I was happy with the taste, but you may want to up it by a teaspoon or two.
- Cut 12 bars or 16. The nutritional value will change based on how many pieces you cut.
- Sift the confectioners sweetener. It clumps in the bag more than powdered sugar does.
- Use a hot dry knife for clean edges, wiping it between cuts.
- Keep them refrigerated. Cream cheese frosting means these live in the fridge, not on the counter.
- Line the pan with parchment paper when you want to lift the whole slab out before cutting.
Serving Ideas & Suggestions
Serve them cold from the refrigerator with coffee, or on a fall dessert table next to my pumpkin pull apart bread, mini pumpkin cheesecakes, pumpkin turnovers and a pumpkin protein smoothie for the people who are skipping dessert. They also sit well on an afternoon tea table with an iced chai latte with pumpkin cold foam.
If you are cooking your way through the season, there are more in my pumpkin recipes collection and my 16 easy pumpkin desserts roundup, including pumpkin spice magic bars, pumpkin cheesecake brownies, pumpkin scones, pumpkin cupcakes with toasted meringue, glazed chocolate chip pumpkin muffins, pumpkin creme brulee and cinnamon pumpkin spice cookies. For a savory keto breakfast the next morning, my keto egg muffins use the same kind of shortcut, and my homemade pumpkin pie spice covers all of it.
Keto Pumpkin Bar FAQs
Almond flour is probably the most widely used keto flour substitute. It is made simply from crushed almonds and is extremely low in carbs. Make sure you get finely ground, not almond meal.
I like to bake with Swerve and Erythritol. Swerve has powdered sugar, great for frosting, brown sugar, and granulated sugar, so you can match the one the recipe calls for.
Almost all health food grocery stores carry them, like Sprouts, Walmart, Whole Foods, or Amazon.
There are 10 grams of carbs in half a cup of pumpkin puree. It is considered keto approved.
Because of the cream cheese frosting they keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days. Let them sit out for a few minutes before serving so the frosting softens.
Yes. Freeze them unfrosted for the best texture, wrapped well, for up to three months, then thaw and frost. Frosted bars can be frozen too, laid flat on a tray until firm before you stack them.
Keto Pumpkin Bars
Ingredients
- 2 large Eggs
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup Swerve or Erythritol granulated sugar Favorite Keto Baking Sweetener
- 1 Cup Pumpkin Puree 15 oz can
- 1 1/4 cup Almond Flour Not Almond Meal
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 stick butter softened
- 2/3 cup sifted confectioners sugar (swerve)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In an electric mixer mix eggs, oil, sugar, pumpkin, and Vanilla Extract until light and fluffy.
- In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture.
- Pour batter into a 8 X 8 inch greased pan. Bake for 25 minutes. Let cool completely.
Frosting:
- Mix cream cheese and butter in electric mixer, add sweetener and vanilla. Spread Frosting on top and cut into bars.
Lily Lau says
Pumpkin with cheese? I’ve never tried it but sounds terrific! 🙂
Barb @ A Life in Balance says
Oh, my! This looks delicious! I love how easy it is. A friend of ours gave us a pumpkin roll at Thanksgiving that would take too much time for me to make.
Heather says
I bet the cream cheese makes it so moist. Gotta make this!
Clare says
They do look really yummy, especially with that frosting on the top!
Mitzi says
sounds delicious– can’t wait to try!
Heather M says
Oh I love pumpkin and these bars are so perfect for this time of year.
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