pumpkin butter crunch bars

So not being able to find canned pumpkin last week, what's the next best thing?
No, I'm not roasting a whole pumpkin and then pureeing it, as much as that sounds like a fun "little house on the prairie" moment, I will pass.
The next best thing was pumpkin butter!
The pumpkin butter at Trader Joe's is pretty good, a little too sweet for me, but it's ok.
It's MUCH better to bake with----
And it's cheap...let's go with that.

This creation came about after I asked on my Facebook page: pumpkin-chocolate chip cookies yeah or nay. And a lot of you said yeah BUT not cakey.
So off I set to create a "crunch-like" pumpkin cookie.
And one of you said pumpkin powder!  Where can I find pumpkin powder?
Oh yes indeed.
These pumpkin butter crunch bars are based on the VERY popular ginger crunch bars.
Do I even have to tell you how good they are?
No.
Let me put it to you this way: almost everything I create I give away to friends and family.
These were on the list to give to my doctor and his wife, who are total foodies btw (my doc makes
his own pasta BY HAND--no machine!).
When I dropped these bars off everyone in the office huddled around the plate like a buffalo stance, making those sounds of "ohhh and ahhh and whoa...".  Secretly?  I love, and I mean love to hear the resounding voices of people in love with my creations.  It's literally what drives me to create.
There were I think 12-15 bars on the plate?
In five minutes they were all gone.
Five!!

One bowl easy?  Meh, pretty much.

This could also be called pumpkin shortbread, if you doubled up the dough and made it thicker.

A little of this stuff goes a long way....it's strong.

Don't panic when the dough is crumbly, just go ahead and push it the pan!


Icing is strong too, so I only used half (see cook notes).

pumpkin butter crunch bars

from this recipe

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cookie base

9 TB unsalted butter, room temp

¼  cup granulated sugar

1 ¾ cup flour

1 ts baking powder

 giant pinch of sea salt

3 giant TB of pumpkin butter

icing

4 TB unsalted butter

2 TB golden syrup

1-2 TB pumpkin butter

½ cup powdered sugar

pinch of sea salt

cook notes:

I used an 8-inch tart pan with removable bottom. 

You could use another size tart pan with removable bottom.

For me, the icing makes a lot, I just wanted a little bit of icing, so I only used half and saved the rest of the icing for pumpkin scones!  It keeps perfectly in the fridge, covered, for a week.  I can’t remember how much pumpkin butter I used in the icing; it was either 1 or 2 TB.  So use 1 TB, taste it, and see how you feel and go from there.

I know a lot of you always ask is there a substitute for the golden syrup—no, I haven’t found one yet.  If you can please invest in buying a can of this, it’s really good and one can lasts a long time, plus I have the ginger crunch bars you can make with it!  It’s just such a great ingredient for frostings, icing, etc…

Butter and/or spray up a 8 or 9-inch rectangular tart pan with removable bottom.

You can use a stand mixer—I mixed by hand.  In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the pumpkin butter

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Mix the dry ingredients into the creamed butter mixture until well combined.

The dough will be very crumbly!  This is fine.

Turn the dough out onto the pan and spread it out, making sure to get into all the corners.   Stick the dough in the fridge for at least 15 minutes before baking.

When ready to bake preheat the oven to 375ºF.

Bake the dough for 18-20 minutes, until it’s light golden brown or if you want really crunchy then golden brown --  I did somewhere in between.

When the dough is almost done baking, make the icing by heating the butter and golden syrup over low heat in a small pan; add in the powdered sugar and pumpkin butter.  Keep stirring until it’s all smooth. Do NOT let this boil, take off heat when everything is nice and combined. 

Once the dough is done baking pour the icing over the top (I used about 1/2 of it).  When smoothing out the icing try not to let it get into the edges.  You want the edges to be seen as it gives a nice decorative appeal when it’s all cooled.

Let this sit for at least 30 minutes to let the icing harden up/set up. 

If your kitchen is hot, then pop in the fridge.

Use a sharp knife to slice into bars or squares.