Pumpkin Butter Bar Cookies

 You know I love an easy recipe! I took one of my favorite recipes using a cake mix, and changed it up a bit for fall! Of course, I could make these all year long, because I love pumpkin. These are kind of like caramel pumpkin bars although there is no actual caramel in them. The secret ingredient is pumpkin butter from Trader Joe's. But if you can find pumpkin butter, I'm sure any kind would probably work.

 I went to Trader Joe's a few weeks ago, and they did not have this stuff in yet, since it is a seasonal item.  They said it should be here soon..so if your TJ's doesn't have it, check back. I had some in my pantry from last year, but I wanted to restock- since I really love this pumpkin butter. I'll be buying an extra few this year since they only have it during the fall.

Here is the recipe. Since I sort-of-kind-of made this one up....please bake at your own risk. {ha ha}

Pumpkin Butter Bars

1 yellow cake mix

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1/3 cup canola oil

2 eggs

Mix well. Spray your 9 by 13 glass pan and then pat 2/3rd of this mixture into the bottom of the pan. Reserve about 1/3 of the mixture for the top of the bars.

In a microwave safe dish mix:

1/2 cup TJ Pumpkin Butter (about 1/2 the jar)

1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz size and you really don't need the entire can, but if you use the entire can, you will have extra filling you can save for topping ice cream)

3/4 cup brown sugar

Microwave on high for 30 seconds, then stir. Continue to do this a few times until the mixture is well mixed. This goes on top of the crust. However, you will have some leftover. Save this for ice cream topping. You do not need to use all of it in your cookies.

Top this with "flattened blobs" of the cake mixture. Try to cover the top as much as possible, but some of the filling will still be showing.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. The edges will be a little bubbly. Allow to cool completely before eating.  Cut into bars and enjoy!