Low-fat Pumpkin Swirl Bars (or Cake)

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 16
• 2 cups flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 egg whites
• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
• 4 ounces cream cheese, light
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 350.
• 2 prepare pan - either a 10x15 jelly roll (for bars) or a 9x13 (for cake). i like to line my pans with parchment paper.
• 3 combine flour, spice, baking powder and soda in a bowl. set aside.
• 4 in a mixer, combine sugar, brown sugar and softened butter. add pumpkin, and then eggs and whites. add flour mixture; mix well. spread into prepared pan.
• 5 make cream cheese topping: blend cheese, 3 t. sugar and milk until smooth. drizzle across top of batter; then use a knife to zigzag through the batter and filling, creating a nice design.
• 6 bake according to your pan size: 10x15 pan 25-30 minutes, 9x13 pan 35 minutes. test with a knife (better than a toothpick test) to make sure the bars are completely done and not under-baked. i watch for the cake to puff up all over, even creating little cracks on the top, as an indicator that it is thoroughly baked. under-baked bars get gummy.