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These Pecan Magic Pumpkin Bars are so easy to make it really is close to magical! The recipe is so easy anyone can make them, and everyone is going to want to eat them! Layers of ooey-gooey goodness from a cookie crust to pumpkin, butterscotch, toffee bits, pecans and more. This combination of ingredients makes an amazing bar that screams fall fun!

These are not the only easy bar recipes we have! If you are looking for some other fantastic dessert bars, you need to check out our Hawaiian Dream Bars, Pineapple Coconut Cherry Dream Bars, or maybe these Rhubarb Dream Bars!

Pecan Magic Pumpkin Bars stacked in three with more in the background and a bowl of pumpkin pie filling at the side.

These pumpkin bars differ from the cake-like pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting that you might have seen. These are nutty, crunchy, creamy, sweet and oh so good. If you are looking for a cake-like pumpkin treat, you may want to try our Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting; they are to die for too!

Helpful Items For This Recipe

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PYREX Glass Baking Dish

Electric Stand Mixer

Tiered Dessert Serving Tower

Pumpkin bars cut into squares with the middle one tilted outward.

Have you made magic bars before? They are extremely easy to make, and you can also make them your own if you have different ingredients at home that you would like to use up too.

What is in Pumpkin Bars?

Yes, you guessed, there is pumpkin! Actually, pumpkin pie filling, it super easy because it already has all the pumpkin pie spice mixed in. Really there are only a few other ingredients that you need to make this great pumpkin dessert, and all are easy to find at your local grocery store too!

Ingredients

For the crust:

Butter
Brown sugar
AP flour
Pumpkin pie spice
Sea salt

For the topping:

Pumpkin pie filling
Butterscotch chips
Toffee bits (Skor bar bits)
Pecans
Sweetened condensed milk

How to Make Pumpkin Bars

Ingredients plus brown sugar and butter in a bowl.

Adding dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture

The pumpkin mixture or pie filling with butterscotch, toffee bits, and pecans is a heavenly combination. Let me show you how these easy bars are so easily assembled.

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F. To make the squares easy to remove from the baking pan, line an 11 x 7 oven-safe dish or jelly roll pan with foil and spray it with cooking spray, then set it aside for the moment.

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the room temperature butter and brown sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. This should take about 2 minutes.

Next, add the dry ingredients, the all-purpose flour, pumpkin pie spice, and sea salt. Continue to mix until it is well combined and there are no dry patches in the mixture.

Press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking dish and place it in the preheated oven and allow it to bake for 15 minutes. The crust should be lightly browned.

Spread the pumpkin pie filling evenly over the top of the cooked bottom crust. Next, layer the butterscotch chips and toffee bits or Skor bar crumble over the pumpkin pie filling, then add the pecans. Finally, pour the sweetened condensed milk over the top.

Overhead of pumpkin bars in a foil lined pan.

Place the baking pan back into the preheated oven and bake for an additional 30-35 minutes. The top of the pan of squares should be browned on top.

Allow the bars to cool completely in the pan. Once cooled, cut them into bars using a shape knife. Store them in an air-tight container in the refrigerator or freeze them. Thaw before serving.

Can I Use Different Ingredients?

Holding a pumpkin bar with a bite taken.

The short answer is yes, of course you can! If you would prefer to use, say, chocolate chips rather than butterscotch chips, feel free. Chocolate and pumpkin make a great flavor combination.

You can even use pumpkin puree in place of pumpkin pie filling. A word of caution, though, remember pumpkin pie filling already has all those wonderful pumpkin spices mixed in. If you choose to use regular pumpkin puree, you will have to add all the pumpkin spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove to the puree yourself. Often times I have an extra cup of pumpkin lying around from other baking projects. This recipe is the perfect use for that extra cup!

Want to add a different nut? Sure! Walnuts would be wonderful in these bars too. Even almonds, macadamia nuts, brazil nuts, etc., would work. But to be honest, the flavor combination in this bar works really well, and we love it. Try it this way first, and then move on to make it your own if you like.

How to Freeze Pumpkin Bars

Horizontal platter with pumpkin bars stacked on it,

These pecan magic pumpkin bars freeze perfectly. Let me show you how easy they are to do. Because they are a bit sticky, ooey, gooey, there is just one extra step in freezing them.

Cut the pumpkin bars into the size that you want to freeze them, the recipe here calls for 15 squares but you can make them smaller too.
Place the pumpkin bars onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet with sides, larger than the one you initially used.
Place them into the freezer on the tray and freeze them until they are completely frozen, overnight works best.
Now, place the pumpkin bars into a container with a lid. Use the parchment paper again in the containter for the bottom. You can now layer them between parchment paper so they don’t stick together.
Cover the container with the lid and freezer for up to 3 months.
Thaw them on the counter and then enjoy them again.

Overhead close-up of Pecan Magic Pumpkin Bars with the middle one tilted out.

Pin it HERE!!

Pin it HERE!!