PinterTest Kitchen November 2012: Pumpkin Bars Make Me Happy!

The PinterTest Kitchen was one rocking linky last month.
Jess hosts it, and so many people linked up so many great tests!

I have been looking forward to the next one all month.

I also have been looking forward to a reason to use this Pumpkin Butter they sell at Trader Joes.
Thankfully, Mel posted this AWESOME recipe last week, and it was the perfect excuse to make these suckers!

I just never know what to use it for.
Pumpkins turned into butter?
What could be better.

Oh yes. MORE BUTTER.
Like Butter-Butter.
And Butterfinger.

The Butterfinger bars are actually used for sustenance while making this recipe. They are totally optional, and not included in the actual bars. I highly recommend adding this to your process.

Also, get a few helpers if you can.
They are extra good at cleaning up the floors if you spill anything.

Here's the deal - my pictures of the steps are similar to Mel's.
And, also, I was having issues with the focus on my camera - which I discovered later was some weird setting on the viewfinder piece. So I took all of these pictures looking blurry through the camera.
Thankfully, they turned out semi-ok.

I also was staying at my parents for the night while they were out of town for my mom's birthday.
She redid her countertops a year or so ago, and they are kind of my fav.
Also, her kitchen has better lighting than mine.
And she has the best oven.
It was a good day to PinterTest.

Someone was REALLLLLLY hoping for a big mess on the floor.
She was standing by for immediate duty, should there be an incident.
There was no incident.

Another fun part of the PinterTest kitchen is it always falls on the first Thursday of the month.
Communion Sunday falls on the 4th Sunday.
So,  it's the perfect scheduling to make goodies, share them on Sunday, and link up on Thursday!

I had used the Trader Joes vanilla cake mix instead of a name brand yellow cake mix, so there was about 2.5 oz less of mix in my recipe. It was totally fine, but my bars were probably on the gooey-er side.

Which was not a problem for me. 

Also, I wasn't really sure how to get a good picture of the final product on a plate. 

That is a skill I'm going to need to work on a bit next month. 

Also,  remember, viewfinder was out of focus.

Final result?
A+++
I LOVED THESE.
And I am pretty sure everyone at church did too.
The pan came home empty.
And I am 100% certain I'll be making these again ASAP!

I don't know about you, but I feel a little OD'd on pumpkin things these days, but for some reason, these were PERFECT. Kind of like a pumpkin coffee cake. HEAVENLY.  Thanks for sharing the recipe, Mel!

Linking up with Jessica!

You should too!