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5 mg/ squareWeekend project

Pumpkin Bars with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Baked Elf Chef
House Kitchen
Adapted from best ever pumpkin bars (brown butter cream cheese frosting!) (Blue Bowl (Stephanie Simmons)) — rewritten with the infusion and dose worked in.
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baked by 0 elves

Ingredients · 24 squares · 120 mg total

Cake: 4 large eggs, room temperature¾ cup (158 g) granulated sugar¾ cup (165 g) light brown sugar1 cup (220 g) vegetable oilOne 15 oz can pumpkin purée (not pie filling)2 tbsp (20 g) maple syrup2 cups (260 g) all-purpose flour1½ tsp baking powder1 tsp baking soda1¾ tsp cinnamon¾ tsp nutmeg¼ tsp cloves⅛ tsp ginger⅛ tsp saltFrosting (this is where the dose lives): 4 tbsp (57 g) unsalted butter, for browning3 tbsp (43 g) infused unsalted butter — 120 mg THC total across this amount13 oz (367 g) full-fat cream cheese, room temperature2 to 2½ cups (230–287 g) powdered sugar, to taste1–2 tbsp milk, as needed½ tsp cinnamon2 tsp vanilla extractPinch of salt¼ cup pumpkin butter, optional, for swirling
Tweak This Recipe
Stoney says: start low, go slow — the forest isn't going anywhere. Wait 90 minutes before seconds.
Illustration of Pumpkin Bars with Brown Butter Cream Cheese FrostingILLUSTRATION

Steps

  1. Infused brown butter first, so it has time to cool. Melt the 4 tbsp plain butter in a light skillet over medium heat, stirring, until it foams, then turns golden with toasty flecks and smells nutty. Take it off the burner right away.
  2. Off the heat, stir in the 3 tbsp infused butter until melted and combined, scraping in every toasted speck. Pour into a small bowl and chill in the fridge until it's back to room temperature and thickened but not hard. Set it aside — none of this goes in the oven.
  3. Cake: Heat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Grease a 9×13 pan and line it with parchment.
  4. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, both sugars, oil, pumpkin and maple syrup until completely smooth.
  5. Add all the dry ingredients and stir just until combined, checking the bottom of the bowl for hidden dry pockets. A few lumps are fine; overmixing makes it tough.
  6. Pour into the pan, spread level, and bake 25–29 minutes, until a toothpick in the centre comes out with moist crumbs. Cool in the pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool completely — a flat, cool top is what lets you frost in an even layer.
  7. Frosting: Beat the room-temperature infused brown butter with the cream cheese on high for 1–2 minutes until smooth. Add half the powdered sugar and mix to combine, then the rest along with the cinnamon, vanilla, salt and a splash of milk if it needs loosening. Beat until completely creamy and uniform — scrape the bowl and beaters at least twice, because anything clinging to the sides is dose that isn't in the pan. (If your brown butter set up firm, beat the cream cheese in at the end instead to keep the frosting from going runny.)
  8. Return the cooled cake to the pan or set it on a board, and spread all of the frosting over it in one even layer, right to the edges. Use every scrap from the bowl — the total dose is calculated on the full batch of frosting. Swirl pumpkin butter over the top with the back of a spoon if using.
  9. Chill the slab 20–30 minutes to firm the frosting, then cut 4 across and 6 down for exactly 24 squares, wiping the knife between cuts so each square keeps its full frosting layer.
  10. Label it: store covered in the fridge for 3–4 days with a label reading "Pumpkin Bars, Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting — 24 squares, 5 mg THC each, 120 mg total. 21+ only. Made [date]." If these are going to a gathering, label the lid and put a second card next to the pan — frosted bars look exactly like the uninfused kind.