Nutella Pumpkin Spice Bars

I find most of the recipes I use online, and that is always the first place that I look when I am finding a recipe to use up an ingredient. My husband and I often visit my Mom to help her with things around the house. Recently when we were there, I came across a Better Homes & Gardens magazine that had a fantastic muffin pictured on the cover. There were other great recipes in the magazine, and my mom said she had read it already, so I brought it home.

I can’t think of the last time I found a recipe in a magazine, but this recipe was one that I knew would be good. While pumpkin isn’t my favorite ingredient, I tried to make at least one pumpkin recipe per year. These, with Nutella, sounded fantastic. The recipe was pretty easy to assemble, although swirling chocolate/Nutella into batter can be a challenge. This time it went fairly well, as you heat up the Nutella in advance to make it more supple.

The batter for these bars is nice and smooth. Canned pumpkin is difficult to measure, so I measured it by weight. That’s a good tip for anything difficult to measure or is super sticky (peanut butter, etc.). Pour the batter in the pan, swirl with Nutella, then bake. I wasn’t sure how long to bake the bars; I opted for the longer time. Still, these bars are soft and cake-like, which is what I expect for most recipes with pumpkin. I do like the spice flavor of these, and combined with Nutella, make a very tasty bar cookie!

Nutella Pumpkin Spice Bars
1-1/3 cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ginger
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup canned pumpkin
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup Nutella

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9” x 13” pan with aluminum foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg; set aside. In a large mixer bowl, beat together the pumpkin, vegetable oil, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat on medium until smooth. With the mixer running on low, gradually add flour mixture, until the mixture is not lumpy.

Spoon the batter into the prepared baking pan, smoothing the top. Place the Nutella in a bowl and microwave for 30-60 seconds to soften. Drizzle the Nutella over the batter and then using a thin knife, swirl the Nutella into the pumpkin batter. 

Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a thin knife inserted into the batter comes out clean. Cool for at least an hour before removing from the pan and cutting into bars.

Recipe from Better Homes & Gardens, October 2025