Too moist Pumpkin Bars!

[Joslyn]

My first attempt to write an original recipe for Pumpkin Bars turned out “almost” perfect. Rose beautifully, no dome, nice texture, and flavor is excellent. Bars didn’t sink at all but are too moist. Baked at 350 F, checked at 40 minutes and toothpick came out clean. Any suggestions? Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, or light brown
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs
1/2 cup 1% buttermilk
15-ounce can 100% pumpkin puree
2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 13 by 9-inch baking pan and set aside.
2. Using an electric mixer at medium speed, cream oil, butter, and both sugars, until combined.
3. Beat in eggs, buttermilk, and pumpkin, until light and fluffy.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.
5. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and beat at low speed until thoroughly combined. Batter will be thick.
6. Spread batter into prepared baking pan. Bake for 35 to 42 minutes.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

My first attempt to write an original recipe for Pumpkin Bars turned out “almost” perfect. Rose beautifully, no dome, nice texture, and flavor is excellent. Bars didn’t sink at all but are too moist. Baked at 350 F, checked at 40 minutes and toothpick came out clean. Any suggestions? Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, or light brown
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs
1/2 cup 1% buttermilk
15-ounce can 100% pumpkin puree
2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 13 by 9-inch baking pan and set aside.
2. Using an electric mixer at medium speed, cream oil, butter, and both sugars, until combined.
3. Beat in eggs, buttermilk, and pumpkin, until light and fluffy.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.
5. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and beat at low speed until thoroughly combined. Batter will be thick.
6. Spread batter into prepared baking pan. Bake for 35 to 42 minutes.

Drain the pumpkin purée. Put it in a fine mesh strainer and said it over a bowl. Drain it for about an hour. Pumpkin contains a considerable amount of water. Whenever you make something like a pumpkin bread you have to drain the purée. So if you want to get rid of the excess moisture you need to drain the purée.

 

[Joslyn]

Thank you for the suggestion, I'll try that next time. Who would have thought someone would complain about a cake being too moist... LOL! Never had this problem with my Pumpkin Muffins recipe but it does have some whole wheat flour and wheat germ in the recipe.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Thank you for the suggestion, I'll try that next time. Who would have thought someone would complain about a cake being too moist... LOL! Never had this problem with my Pumpkin Muffins recipe but it does have some whole wheat flour and wheat germ in the recipe.

Ha ha cake too moist! That’s a first!

Yes, whole wheat flour is like a sponge!! In fact when baking bread with it, it requires 100% hydration. So you definitely won’t have any problems with soggy pumpkin bread or muffins.