Grandma Fullers Pumpkin Squares
Every first Sunday of the month, we have a potluck at church. There are always lots of good interesting foods brought to these gatherings. I often feel that I my dishes fall a little flat when compared to the other meal options that are brought. My boxed brownies just didn’t measure up to the Italian Cream Cheese cake that grandma Vineta brought. So I went on a hunt. A recipe hunt.
While at my moms house, I searched through all her recipe boxes for a stack of the “oldies, but goodies”, and I brought them home. (Promising fervently that I WOULD NOT lose the recipes!) This is the recipe for my grandma Fuller’s Pumpkin Bars. The paper in the picture above is written by my great grandma Fuller, (which, if anyone is interested, is my grandfather Martins mother). I don’t think I ever met grandma Fuller, but I made two of her recipes for this carry-in and they were both delicious. The lady could cook!
So here is what you will need for the pumpkin bars:
- 1/2 C. shortening
- 1 C. brown sugar
- 1 C. flour
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. nutmeg and ginger
- 2/3 C. pumpkin
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1/2 C. nuts ( I used pecans)
The directions were not long –
“beat all ingredients together, fold in nuts. Put in 13x9x2 pan. 350 oven bake 30 to 35 minutes or 20 to 25 minutes. more moist if baked at 20 or 25 minutes”
**I opted for 25 minutes and they were DONE. Maybe should have just gone with 20 minutes instead. And my top oven does cook a little hot, so that could have been a contributing factor.
Then the icing was made with orange juice. Here is what you need for it.
- 2 Tbs. butter
- 1 1/2 C. powdered sugar
- 1 Tbs. orange peel
- 2 Tbs. orange juice
“mix together and pour over bars while still warm”
** I punched some holes in the top of the bars so the icing could sink down into the bars and it worked out great. The icing is really tasty.
Needless to say, the pumpkin bars went over great. It was just chilly enough out that everyone wanted a fall desert and this one fit the bill perfectly. I also took grandma Fuller’s meatball recipe to the potluck, but that will have to be another post.
I hope you are all enjoying the starting of fall and eating the wonderful “fall food”. This is the beginning of the best part of the year!