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Caramel Pumpkin Butter Bars

Caramel pumpkin butter bars with a tender golden shortbread base and a thick pumpkin-butter caramel filling. You’ll bake until the center is set, then top with flaky sea salt for a salty-sweet finish.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings: 16 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 360
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Shortbread base and crumble
  • 2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 0.75 cup powdered sugar
  • 0.25 cup cornstarch
  • 0.5 tsp cinnamon
  • 0.25 tsp salt
  • 1 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed
Pumpkin caramel filling
  • 0.75 cup pumpkin puree
  • 0.75 cup caramel sauce (thick)
  • 0.25 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 flaky sea salt for topping

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan

Method
 

Prep & preheat
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 9x13 pan with parchment for easy lifting.
Make the shortbread base
  1. Combine all-purpose flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt, then cut in the cold cubed butter until the mixture comes together as dough.
  2. Reserve 1 cup of dough for the crumble topping and press the remaining dough firmly into the prepared pan.
  3. Bake for 15 minutes, until the base is pale golden.
Mix the filling & assemble
  1. Whisk pumpkin puree, thick caramel sauce, heavy cream, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, and eggs until smooth.
  2. Pour the filling over the hot crust, then crumble the reserved dough evenly on top.
Bake, top, and cool
  1. Bake an additional 22–25 minutes at 350°F until the filling is set.
  2. Sprinkle flaky sea salt over the bars while warm, then cool completely before cutting.

Notes

For clean slices, cool completely to let the caramel-pumpkin filling fully set; for best texture, refrigerate uncovered until chilled, then cut. Store in the refrigerator up to 5 days. Freeze bars (wrap tightly) up to 2 months. For a lower-fat swap, use light cream and reduce caramel sauce to 1/2 cup while keeping the rest the same, but expect a slightly softer set.