Thanksgiving Traditions with #cbias and #choosesmart #spon

#ChooseSmart at Smart and Final

Thanksgiving, over the past few years, has become a pretty special holiday.  As I moved out to California, and started a new life on the west coast with family states away, Thanksgiving would become the first holiday where new traditions would be started.

The first year of being out here, my SO and I just went out to eat.  We stopped by a nearby restaurant and had ourselves a nice turkey dinner, but I really struggled with Thanksgiving that year.  The homecook meal factor was really missing for me.

Last year, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do for Thanksgiving, and I didn’t make the decision until the morning of that I was going to make a nice meal for the two of us.  I dashed out to the store with a recipe in my head, and came home to prepare it that afternoon and evening.  Needless to say, there was no time to prepare a turkey, but the meal came out great: Ham, Green Bean Casserole, Cheesy Hashbrowns, Pumpkin Pie with Grandma’s Fruit Salad Recipe.

However, this year is going to be EVEN more special in that we are going to try to prepare our first Turkey together.  I’ve only watched others prepare a turkey, but this year, we officially decided it’s time I learn how to cook one.  I am nervous.  I am afraid it will come out dry, and I would appreciate ANY and ALL tips you have on making a Turkey =)

But, one of my favorite traditions when it comes to Thanksgiving is DESSERT!!! A dessert of mine that I have mastered, and my family back home always asked for were to make a batch of Pumpkin Bars, so that’s what I did.  I headed out to Smart and Final to pick up the ingredients I needed.  I made sure to #choosesmart.  Check out my  journey on Google+.

And then headed home to whip up this amazing recipe. Which will be shared in the Smart and Final social circular.

Ingredients Needed:

Ingredients for #choosesmart

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons baking power

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

4 beaten eggs

1 15 ounce can pumpkin

1 cup cooking oil

1/2 recipe cream cheese frosting:

1 8 ounce package cream cheese

1/2 cup butter or margarine

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 3/4 to 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

SECRET INGREDIENT: 8 oz container Cool Whip

Dry Ingredients Combined Together

The first step is to combine all of the dry ingredients together: flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and cloves.  Then stir in the eggs, pumpkin, and oil until combined.  Stir together then pour into an ungreased 15x10x1 inch baking pan.

Adding in the Pumpkin, Oil, and Eggs

Bake at 350 degrees in oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

Pumpkin Bars all ready to be baked!

While baking, grab the ingredients for the cream cheese frosting: Butter, Vanilla Extract, Cream Cheese, Powdered Sugar, and Cool Whip.

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients

With a mixer, blend together cream cheese, butter, and vanilla.  When this is mixed together, begin adding in the powdered sugar cup by cup.

Sifting in the Powdered Sugar

And then GRAB the secret ingredient.  The reason why I made this the icing on the cake, literally, was because I felt the cream cheese frosting wasn’t enough for the bars, so I thought to add in the cool whip.  I haven’t looked back since, and add it to EVERY batch.

The SECRET Ingredient

Take the pumpkin bars out of the oven, at the correct time, and let cool for 14 minutes, then top with the cream cheese frosting.

Out of the Oven

The End Result

To cool down, put bars in the fridge and SERVE up for dessert.  Because cool whip is added into this dessert, I always make sure to keep the bars in the fridge.

Bon Appetite!

Make sure to connect with our sponsor Smart and Final on Twitter and Facebook! And please share with me some of your favorite Thanksgiving Traditions and recipes.

Disclosure: I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Smart & Final #CBias  #SocialFabric.  All opinions are my own and it was an honor to share this Thanksgiving Recipe favorite of mine.