I recently found this great recipe, then played with it and adapted it to create a healthier dessert! It is very tasty!! Simple and sweet – and just a little nutty (which are some of the exact characteristics I strive for in my life). ;)
I love the crust part the best. But I also love the filling the best. The topping was also very, very good. And of course, I always love the fresh whipped cream the best. Oh, such a great combination of lots of yummy tastes. Try it for yourself and see which part you like best!
Pumpkin Pecan Pie Squares
I was trying to go for a dollop of whipped cream…
but I can’t quite do a dollop.
Anybody out there good at a dollop?
(I think it’s fun to say the word dollop.)
Pumpkin Pecan Pie Squares
- CRUST:
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- ½ cup oats
- ¼ cup sucanat
- ½ cup butter
- FILLING:
- ¾ cup sucanat
- 2 cups pumpkin
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon cloves
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- TOPPING:
- ½ cup pecans, chopped
- ¼ cup sucanat
- Whipped cream
- For Crust: Combine flour, oats, sucanat and butter. Mix until crumbly. Press on bottom of ungreased 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.
- For Filling: Combine sucanat, pumpkin, cream, eggs and spices in large bowl. Beat at medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes; pour over crust. Bake for 20 minutes.
- For Topping: Combine pecans and sucanat in small bowl. Sprinkle pecan topping over filling. Continue baking for 20 to 30 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.
- Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Top with whipped cream (just a dollop).
If you recall, I don’t usually like recipes with nuts in them. I surprised myself by liking the pecan topping.
See? Everyone likes to be nutty every now and then…
Donna says
Your dollop looks great to me! And the yummy treat under it!
Hmmm, pecans should be on sale soon…
where do you suppose the word dollop came from? :-)
Emily Kay says
I am SO making this today!!! It’s funny, I woke up this morning thinking I wanted to make something pumpkin-y today. Perfect timing:)
Sherry says
This sounds absolutely scrumptious! :D
Barbara says
Looks like a dollop to me!
My children love nuts of every kind, until I put them in something . . . so I grind the nuts and put them in and on lots of things. It’s not a total disguise – they know I grind the nuts and they eat them this way. I’ve found that it helps hold baked goods together better, and it adds a bit more nutrition, and a slightly nutty taste. Try it, you’ll like it!
Joelle says
Hey, I think I will try these for Thanksgiving. My hubby and I decided to take to the road this holiday all by ourselves (since all our family live on the other end of the country and airline tickets are SO expensive) and go to a few national parks, so we’re not having a “normal Thanksgiving dinnner”. I’m thinking of all sorts of on-the-go variations. So maybe this will make up for pumpkin pie… we are vegan vegetarian, so I will probably modify them, but I look forward to the result!
Wanda says
Ooooo la-lish! I want some right now.
looks so very yummy!
Thanks for sharing.
Melissa says
Thank You for sharing the recipe, I’ll be baking it for my family and our Sunday church meal tomorrow- It looks really delicious~ Melissa
Jo C says
Weird question. I made pumpkin muffins from a recipe I found (blog hoppin, don’t recall where) anyhoo I used pumpkin I made from scratch 2 years ago. I had baked this pumpkin, gutted first and whipped it till smooth, then put in baggies and immedietly froze.
All this to ask…my weird question…my muffins smelled straight up like ammonia (as in cat box gag smellin ammonia) not exactly what I was hoping for out of my recipe! There was nothing strange in this recipe either, typical pumpkin pie type spicing. Has this EVER happened to anyone before? I just bought a pumpkin prior to this fiasco thinking I would make more pumpkin puree to use more frequently (like less than 2 years) but want to know if I somehow processed it wrong to begin with? I know 2 years isn’t exactly FRESH, however I can’t believe it would make it smell like that. Anybody out there have any idea WHAT the heck could have went awry? (a rye…lol)Geepers, really looked forward to homeade pumpin peree, but right now I am kinda turned off by the whole from scratch pumpkin thing..eww!
Thanks so much for anybodys time here!
Jo
Laura says
Well phooey – that is weird that it happened like that! Sounds like somehow the pumpkin went bad, but that sure is strange since it was in the freezer!
Brenda says
Very strange!! Did you put it right in the freezer after you finished
making the puree? I just wonder if there was a way that the pumpkin
went bad before you put it in the freezer and you didn’t realize it.
Or, is is possible that your freezer lost power sometime in the last
2 years and perhaps it went bad then? Hopefully there aren’t other things
in there that went bad as well. I honestly think it is a fluke and wouldn’t
worry about making more pumpkin puree because I doubt it would happen
again. HAPPY BAKING! :-)
Crystal says
I’m not eating any highly refenied, white sugar, so these look yummy for Thanksgiving! I may try them out before then to make sure but they look great!
Faith Still says
Is sucanat just a healthier substitution for brown sugar? I am assuming brown sugar would work too. I have never bought sucanat but could probably find it at Strawberry Fields or The Food Coop. I really enjoy your blog.
Faith
LindseyforLaura@HHM says
Yes, thanks for asking! Here is a link that gives a bit more detail.
https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/the-most-nutritious-sweeteners
Lisa M says
Oh Laura this looks good! My GF son has asked me to make him pumpkin custard (pumpkin pie without the crust). I think we will try this instead. I will just grind up some oat to make an oat flour and replace it for the wheat flour.
Always like to make him some extra special things so that the holidays still feel special for him.
Cammie says
Thanks for the idea. I was just trying to figure out how I would make this GF. It looks so yummy!
Krisha says
that’s what I was just thinking – how can I make these GF w/o adding GF flour blend? I wonder if the oat flour will be too dry tho. I may add an egg to the crust.
Janet B says
I just took this out of the oven, and it smells wonderful :) Thank you for posting this recipe – I was inspired to bake our pumpkins and make pumpkin puree last weekend, then make this for today’s celebration. Happy Thanksgiving!
Alisha Sullivan says
sounds so good! So making this instead of pie!
Mary says
Was wondering if you could use anything in place of the heavy cream? I have all the other ingredients except that. Could you use almond milk?
LindseyforLaura@HHM says
That will work out fine. :)
Janet says
I am hoping you will add me to your email subscription list..I could not find it.
Thanks,
janet
[email protected]
Laura says
Here you go: http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=heavenlyhomemakers/PDxF&loc=en_US
Cammie says
Have you tried freezing these? Do they freeze well?
LindseyforLaura@HHM says
You could freeze them and they should hold up well.
Jennifer says
Yum! Made this tonight and the hubs has deemed it his new favorite fall dessert! We’ve made a lot of diet changes this year including grinding our own wheat. I use a lot of your recipes. We’ve loved a recipe for pumpkin dump cake the past few years and I really wanted a healthier version. Was nervous b/c it was so good but this was even better! Thanks!!!
Isaly says
So the crust bakes for about 55 minutes all together?
Laura says
Yep! :)
Nicole says
Would it be possible to cut down the sucanat in the filling? I know you’ve said to reduce sugar even in your recipes if you are trying to cut back. I just want to make sure the filling won’t end up wonky with less sugar.
Thanks!
Laura says
Yes, cutting down the sucanat in the filling would be just fine!
Jessica G says
FYI – I made this yesterday and accidentally added a cup of melted butter instead of a half cup of butter. It still turned out amazing. I just baked it a little longer before adding the filling. This will be a new fall favorite.