These Lightened Up Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Bars are an easy Fall dessert idea that tastes amazing! They’re full of pumpkin flavor and Autumn spices, but light on the calories so you can enjoy them guilt free!
Yes, you are in the right place.
I made something “light”.
Not to be confused with “diet”.
Because honestly your definition of diet is probably WAY different than my definition of diet.
I’m not going to get into semantics today…but this recipe starts with an Angel Food Cake Mix. And for anyone who has ever eaten Angel Food Cake, it’s basically like eating sugar air.
And sugar air is on my list of diet foods.
Sooooo…
And I went ahead and used 1/3 less fat cream cheese. Because really, why not?
And beyond making you skinny, these bars are totally delicious.
They start with a cake mix…so they’re simple too.
You guys totally want to marry me right now, don’t you?
How to Make These Lightened Up Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Bars
Start with your cream cheese…if you are opposed to lower fat cream cheese, please, by all means use regular.
Mix that with a little powdered sugar and a tablespoon of water and it will look kind of like this…
Then get your other stuff out.
Here’s the thing with a lot of my cake mix recipes…I try and be clear on this, but unless I specify “make according to package directions”, I just want you to use the DRY MIX.
That’s what is happening here. Just the dry mix, guys.
Mix all that stuff together (oh yeah and some cinnamon…I forgot to take a picture of that).
Spread it into a 9×13 pan sprayed with nonstick spray…
Then get your cream cheese mixture ready. Drizzle that all over the top of the batter and swirly-whirl it around.
Bake it up and let it cool.
Then eat.
And eat more, because the thing about diet food is you can eat twice as much.
I mean, right?
Lightened Up Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Bars
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Prep Time: 15 minutes -
Cook Time: 30 minutes
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Total Time: 45 minutes
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Yield: 24 Squares 1x -
Category: Dessert -
Method: Oven -
Cuisine: American
Description:
These Lightened Up Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Bars are an easy Fall dessert idea that tastes amazing! They’re full of pumpkin flavor and Autumn spices, but light on the calories so you can enjoy them guilt free!
Ingredients:
- 1 (8 oz) block 1/3 less fat cream cheese
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp water
- 1 (16 oz) package Angel Food Cake Mix
- 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 375°
- Spray a 9×13 pan with nonstick spray
- In your stand mixer combine cream cheese, powdered sugar and 1 Tbsp water mixing on medium high for 1-2 minutes until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
- In a large bowl combine box of dry cake mix, pumpkin, 3/4 cup water, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. Stir until smooth and combined.
- Spread pumpkin mixture into your prepared pan.
- Drizzle your cream cheese on top of the pumpkin mixture and swirl it in with a butter knife.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until center is set and toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool completely and cut into squares.
Notes:
Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Refrigerate if desired.
recipe adapted from tj’s test kitchen
Keywords:: pumpkin desserts, pumpkin blondies, pumpkin bars, pumpkin brownies, pumpkin cake, fall dessert idea, thanksgiving dessert
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It’s pretty much a rule that you should eat double the amount of diet food.
Also, sugar air can not possibly have calories.
Love this, Shelly! So pretty and perfect for fall! And I agree with Karly – double portions apply here.
Angel food and pumpkin sounds great together! I havent had angel food in ages…yum, now you have me wanting some! And it’s soooo pretty with the swirls of cream cheese, too 🙂
What a gorgeous pumpkin dessert! Love those cream cheese swirls…so so pretty.
Haha. Sugar air. I do love me some sugar air! These are so pretty. I’d never thought of angel food and pumpkin together. Sounds good!
I’m so excited about all these pumpkin treats!
Love the short list of ingredients for these! These would definitely be a crowd pleaser, I can tell!!
Sugar air. Is there a better kind of air? (No). Love these, Shelly.
I’m all about something that is lighter– it means I can eat more of it!
Your posts make me laugh/smile/giggle/grin/cackle/chuckle every day. Well every day that you post.
Have you tried these bars with the fully loaded cream cheese? Just wondering. I have this weird aversion to low fat no fat dairy. I’ll eat a Twinkie, no problem. But when I think of a reduced calorie dairy product I think to myself, “How did they do that? What dangerous chemical process did the food scientises use to alter that cheese in order to suck those calories and fat out?” I am such a weirdo! Anyway, these look really good, Thanks!
Angel food cake it is one of my favorites. I can’t believe I never mixed it with pumpkin. Awesome idea!
Sometimes “light” and “lightER” are just totally interchangeable. It happens! These look awesome.
Mmmm, I’m excited to try this one! Love me some angel food cake *and* pumpkin!
When I saw the title of the recipe I thought, Oh no, don’t go light on us that ruins the whole idea of dessert! I wish people in my house liked pumpkin-anything.
These look delicious! Will definitely try making them this weekend! Thanks !!
Oooh oohh I want these in my life!! Why can’t we be neighbors? I would totally taste test for you! 🙂
pretty and light. i’m totally in for a serving, or 5.
You do diets about the way I do them. 1/3 less fat means you just saved tons of fat and calories, so you are good!
I’m so going to make this for my next Hospice Pot Luck. As a widow, it is so nice to be able to not eat alone once a month. This will be perfect. I really appreciate your blog and your humor (kinda sick like mine — LOL) Thanks for doing a great job!
THanks so much for reading 🙂
omg- i printed it- cant wait to make them
thanks
Oh these are great! Perfect to bring to a fall get together!
Yes please– the fact that they’re lightened up makes them that much better!
This recipe is a perfect way to lighten up a fall delight — pumpkin! I thought I pinned this recipe from another baker back in June when I made it, but couldn’t find it anywhere. Thanks for the informative tutorial.
These look wonderful.
For me tho; I gotta use the regular cream cheese.
I do make my own spice recipe other wise the store bought sits in my cupboard for at least a year before it’s used again so by making yourself, it’s easy to make and can very easly mixed up just what you need when the time comes.
Pumpkin Pie Spice:
Substitutions: 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon + 1/4 tsp ground ginger + 1/8 tsp ground allspice + 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg = 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
ColleenB.
Sugar air is the perfect description!
Wow this looks wonderful and so easy – that’s the best way. I just mentioned in a previous post that I’d never been to your site but I don’t think I’ve been to this one before only your other one. Looks great!
You just made me happy with this recipe! YummmO!
Oh man. Such swirly goodness!
I made these last night exactly as written and they turned out AWESOME! Thanks for the delicious recipe! 🙂
What did I do wrong? 🙁 the cream cheese didnt sit on top of the batter, it sunk in. Did I not beat it long enough? I still swirled it but I’m afraid its not gonna come out right now.
maybe? how did they turn out? Did you add the water to the cream cheese? That tablespoon helps thin it out!
Mine sunk in too. Currently in the oven. I’ll update in 25 min. 🙂
Made these today and they are FANTASTIC and one of the most obscenely easy desserts I’ve ever made. Thanks so much!!
I just made these and they are delicious! I could not dribble the cream cheese mix on because it got too thick. I dropped it in spoonfuls and blended with a knife. It worked out but next time I am going to make the cream cheese mixture after I have the batter in the pan because it was soft and runny right after I made it, just thickened as it sat waiting for the cake to get mixed. Either way these bars won’t last long in my house!
If only I wasn’t already married…
Made this Saturday night, and the pan was 85% GONE on Sunday. I used full-fat cream cheese, and made my own “pumpkin pie spice” mixture. Loved the texture, very soufflé like. Yummy!
I made these last night! Delicious, and so easy. I used regular cream cheese and only needed to add additional water to get the desired drizzling consistency. I have to share this recipe!