Duped by Good Marketing
November 25, 2012
Everyone knows that fresh baked is the best. But you also knows that sometimes, lack of time gets in the way. As does the lack of a household of people anxious to help you devour the latest caloric creation. So to appease my intense craving for pumpkin bars, I picked up the endcap impulse buy of Libby’s Pumpkin Bread kit. It had a can of Libby’s pumpkin in it, it couldn’t be that bad, right? So, so wrong. While the package made two small loaves and 12 cupcakes, the pumpkin bread was way too dense. And the frosting, well, it disintegrated into the bread overnight. Clever packaging 1, Sarah 0.
Definitely learned my lesson. Next time I’ll succumb to my own cravings, and simply freeze the extra, bring it to a neighbor or delight my colleagues with a treat. If I hadn’t been duped by the good marketing of Target and Libby’s, here’s the pumpkin bar recipe I would have made
Pumpkin Bars recipe courtesy of Patty Ronning as adapted by Paula Deen
Ingredients:
Bars:
4 eggs
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
15-ounce can pumpkin (I always use Libby’s)
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
Icing:
8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
½ cup butter or margarine, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth. Spread the batter into a greased 13 by 10-inch baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars.
To make the icing: Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again. Spread on cooled pumpkin bars.
