↑

Crayons & Cravings

Food, Crafts, Family

  • Recipes
    • Appetizers
    • Beverages
    • Breakfast
    • Dessert
    • Main Dishes
    • Side Dishes
    • Snacks
  • Crafts
  • Family
    • Parenting
    • Home Life
    • Pets
  • DIY
    • DIY Gifts
    • DIY Bath & Body Products
  • About
    • About
    • Media Kit
    • Disclaimer
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclosure Policy
You are here: Home » Recipes » Harvest Spice Bars

Harvest Spice Bars

Dessert

Posts may contain affiliate links, meaning that I may earn a commission if you use a link provided.

Jump to Recipe
harvest spice bars pinterest image

These harvest spice bars with cream cheese are the perfect treat for fall. Made with spice cake mix and cream cheese, they are a sweet and delicious fall dessert recipe for you to enjoy.

harvest spice bars on plate

If you’re a fan of a good spice cake bars recipe, you’re really going to enjoy the taste of this one. The cream cheese added to these bars is pure heaven! You might even want to keep the pan to yourself.

Spice bars with cream cheese

I really love how easy this recipe is too. You mix together some ingredients, throw them in a pan, and then bake. If you’d like, you can even freeze these for later as they do freeze pretty well.

If you’re making these for a party, you might want to double this recipe as they will go quickly. They’re delicious and a real crowd-pleaser recipe. 

harvest spice bars on plate

Spice cake bars recipe

This is even a great recipe for if you’ve somehow ended up with lots of spice cake mix that you never ended up using (I can’t be the only one who does that, can I?). Instead of mixing up a cake, why not track down some recipes using spice cake mix? These cream cheese bars are a very delicious option.

Boxed spice cake mix recipes are pretty delicious when you just don’t want the cake. But if you want to make your own cake mix? You can do that too – the cake mix just makes it easier.

Ready for the harvest spice bars recipe? Let’s get to it!

Harvest spice bars ingredients

  • spice cake mix
  • unsalted sweet cream butter
  • eggs
  • cream cheese
  • pure vanilla extract
  • powdered sugar

Mixing Harvest Spice Bar Ingredients

How to make harvest spice bars

  1. PREPARE: Preheat the oven to 350F and add some parchment paper to the bottom of your favorite 9×13 baking dish.
  2. MIX DOUGH: Mix the cake mix, butter, and egg until well combined and then press into the bottom of your baking dish.
  3. MIX TOPPING: In another mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth and then beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in the butter and vanilla until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar until well combined.
  4. BAKE: Pour the topping over the crust and then bake for 50-60 minutes or until the edges are firm – the middle should still slightly jiggle.
  5. SERVE: Cool completely before cutting into 2-inch squares and enjoy!

harvest spice bars dough in pan

Can I use salted butter for this recipe?

I would not recommend it, no. The contents of the butter has an undetermined amount of salt that may change the taste profile of these spice bars. I always recommend using unsalted butter for baking.

What is the best way to soften cream cheese?

You definitely don’t want to skip out on making sure your cream cheese is nice and soft! If you’ve never tried to beat cream cheese that wasn’t first softened, it can be a real pain.

You can soften cream cheese one of two ways: leave it out for an hour prior to baking, or microwave it for about 10 seconds, until it’s softened enough to beat in your mixer. (This is the easiest way as I know I’m always forgetting to pull out the cream cheese to soften!)

How long will these spice bars last?

These will last about 3 days stored in an airtight container, left out on the counter or stored in the fridge.

Can I freeze them for later?

YES! You can put it in a plastic bag as a whole or cut them up and put them in individually. They will last for about a month in the freezer – perfect amount of time to bake ahead of time for holiday parties.

Check out these other fall dessert recipes!

  • Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread 
  • Apple Pie Cupcakes – stuffed with sweet apple pie filling!
  • Pumpkin Crisp
  • Apple Cider Bundt Cake
  • Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Cookies
  • Apple Cookies
harvest spice bars on plate

Harvest Spice Bars

These harvest spice bars with cream cheese are the perfect treat for fall. Made with spice cake mix and cream cheese, they are a sweet and delicious fall dessert recipe for you to enjoy.
4.55 from 24 votes

↑ Click stars to rate now!

Print Pin SaveSaved! Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour hour
Total Time: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes
Servings: 24 bars
Calories: 350kcal
Author: Jaclyn Shimmel
Prevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

Bottom Layer

  • 2 - 15.25 ounce boxes spice cake mix
  • 1 cup unsalted sweet cream butter, melted
  • 1 large egg

Top Layer

  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup unsalted sweet cream butter, melted
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 4 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350F. Line the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
  • In a large bowl, mix together the 2 bags of cake mix, butter, and egg until well combined.
  • Press the dough into the bottom of your baking dish.
  • In another large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth.
  • Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until combined.
  • Add the butter and vanilla and beat until combined.
  • Slowly add in the powdered sugar and mix until combined.
  • Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over the bottom layer.
  • Bake for 50-60 minutes or until the edges are firm, but the middle still slightly jiggles. Cool completely before cutting into 2-inch squares and enjoy!

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 350kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 63mg | Sodium: 392mg | Sugar: 34g

The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by a third party and intended to serve as an estimate only. The accuracy of nutritional information is not guaranteed.

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?Please rate the recipe and leave a comment on the blog or share on social media and tag @crayonsandcravings!

Pin for later!

harvest spice bars pinterest image

This recipe was shared on The Weekend Potluck and Meal Plan Monday!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Yummly
  • Email

By Jaclyn Shimmel | 10/23/2019
Filed Under: Dessert, Recipes Tagged With: Fall

« Mini Ghost Pizzas – Easy Halloween Dinner Idea
Instant Pot Apple Cider »

Comments

  1. Sharman says

    11/08/2019 at 2:28 pm

    Do you use 2 cake mixes or one? The ingredients say 2, but the directions say “the cake mix”. These bars sound very yummy!!! Spice cakes are so tasty.

    Reply
    • Jaclyn Shimmel says

      11/09/2019 at 8:59 am

      Yes, 2 boxes of spice cake mix. I will take a look at the directions to see if I can make it clearer — sorry about that!

      Reply
  2. Lynne Killingbeck says

    11/08/2019 at 3:30 pm

    Do those 2 layers really bake into the “4 layers” that it looks like in your picture? What size pan? A 9×13? This looks and sounds delicious. I think I will make these for my co-workers. (This way I get to indulge, but not have the entire pan to eat for myself). 😉 Thanks, Jaclyn!
    Lynne

    Reply
    • Jaclyn Shimmel says

      11/09/2019 at 9:10 am

      Yes, these bars are made in a 9 x 13 in baking pan. I can’t believe I left the size of the pan out of the recipe — thanks for pointing that out!

      Although the bars look like they have 4 layers, they really are made of just 2 layers: the bottom spice cake mix “crust” layer and the cream cheese mixture top layer. The top of the bars turn a nice golden brown and crisp up while the middle of the bars are more ooey-gooey. I hope this makes sense!!

      They are really tasty bars and perfect for Fall and Thanksgiving. I hope you & your co-workers enjoy them!

      Reply
      • Lynne K says

        11/10/2019 at 12:04 am

        Thank you so, so much Jaclyn! 😊

  3. Joy Panem says

    08/03/2021 at 8:53 am

    Thanks for sharing your recipe

    Reply
  4. Lizzy says

    09/03/2021 at 3:09 pm

    How many eggs do you use?

    Reply
    • Jaclyn Shimmel says

      09/04/2021 at 11:24 am

      The recipe calls for 3 eggs. You can see all the ingredients and instructions in the recipe card above.

      Reply
  5. Rhonda Hafendorfer says

    11/22/2022 at 6:30 am

    Hello,
    These sound delish!
    Making these for Thanksgiving. I have plenty of “extra large” eggs. Can I use these instead of large?

    Reply
    • Jaclyn Shimmel says

      11/22/2022 at 7:23 pm

      Yes, that shouldn’t be an issue.

      Reply
  6. Debbie says

    12/20/2022 at 9:22 pm

    I make these with the same ingredients but only use 1 box of spice cake in a 9×13 pan. At first I thought I misread the ingredients when it said 2 boxes of spice cake mix. Your recipe must have a much thicker crust?

    Reply
  7. Jaclyn Shimmel says

    12/21/2022 at 8:29 am

    How interesting! I suppose the only difference then is that the crust / bottom layer on mine would be thicker, as you mentioned.

    Reply
  8. Rebecca says

    04/19/2023 at 11:33 pm

    AMAZING…I mean really, need I say more!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Thanks so much for stopping by!
I am a NJ mom who loves to share easy recipes, fun crafts, DIY projects, and more. More About Me

Search the site:

As Featured In:

As featured in Buzzfeed, Yahoo!, Foodgawker, Red Tricycle, Elite Daily, Reader's Digest, Parade, Glamour, and MSN.


About | Privacy | Disclaimer | Media Kit

Copyright ©2023, Crayons & Cravings. All Rights Reserved. // Design by Pixel Me Designs