Creating the Perfect Playdate Snack with Pumpkin and Cool Whip Frosting #CoolWhipFrosting

Every year I wait in anticipation for Fall to arrive. No, it's not for the cooler weather. I wouldn't kid myself with that in Southern California (it's in the high 80s this week). I love Fall for the pumpkin! And as soon as canned pumpkin hits the shelves I hoard it so that I have an awesome supply to last the rest of the year.

And every year I try to test out a new pumpkin recipe to add to the list of recipes I know and love. I tried out pumpkin waffles the year I was pregnant with my son (in '08),  pumpkin muffins with maple honey cream cheese frosting the next year ('09), pumpkin cupcakes in 2012 (totally different than the muffins!), and pumpkin cream cheese bars last year.

It's All About the Frosting
In deciding what to try out this year I wanted something simple. Basic and tasty. And it had to be a crowd pleaser (not that the other years recipes weren't crowd pleasers). So off to the internet I went. And after a few minutes perusing Pinterest, Kraft recipes and my favorite recipe blogs I decided I'd tackle a pumpkin bar recipe.

Pumpkin bars not only need to be amazingly moist and tasty, they also need to be topped with an equally tasty frosting. Normally I would go with my go-to cream cheese buttercream but I thought this recipe might be better with a lighter, fluffier frosting. This is where Cool Whip's new Cool Whip Frosting came into play.

Gathering Ingredients

I headed out to Walmart to pick up a few key ingredients that we were out of at home (including the canned pumpkin) and checked out their selection of Cool Whip Frosting. Sadly I didn't see the cream cheese flavor I was hoping to grab but selected the vanilla flavor instead.

Since I love Cool Whip on my pumpkin pie I was sure my guests would love the Vanilla Cool Whip Frosting on the pumpkin bars. Cool Whip Frosting comes in 3 flavors perfect for any recipe:

• Vanilla
• Chocolate
• Cream Cheese

I also needed to grab some sugar and chocolate chips for some other baked goods I was also making. My kids are constantly requesting chocolate chip cookies so I decided to make some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies with the rest of the canned pumpkin I had left over. 

To read more about the fun I had at Wal-mart picking out my ingredients, check out my Cool Whip Frosting Google + Album. 

Delicious Playdate Snack
Every month I host a playgroup playdate at my home. I'm the organizer of a local meetup group and as organizer feel that having playdates at my home make new members feel more at ease about meeting everyone.

Along with the playdate fun, I always make a snack or breakfast treat for the kids and moms to enjoy as we chat, play, and have fun. For this everyday occasion I decided to make the pumpkin bars I was already eying. What kid doesn't love pumpkin and Cool Whip?

You can check out my Pumpkin Bars with Cool Whip Frosting recipe here.

Easy to Spread and Very Tasty
Once I made the pumpkin bars and let them cool completely (the hardest part about baking... the waiting) I trimmed off the uneven top and cut them into squares. Then I put them on my cake stand and frosted them with the Vanilla Cool Whip Frosting. Not only did it spread easily, it was also thick enough to cover each bar generously.

I loved the texture of the frosting and the flavor was absolutely amazing. Instead of the thinner density of Cool Whip, the Cool Whip Frosting was thicker. But still light, airy, and cool. And the taste of this frosting complimented the pumpkin perfectly. Silky smooth and not too sweet. 

Kid Tested Kid Approved
I topped each bar with a pecan and put them out for everyone to enjoy. Within 10 minutes, each guest had a pumpkin bar and were heading back to grab another. Now don't think I was starving my guests, they also had plenty of other snack options to choose from.

What I loved was how much the kids enjoyed this frosting. Of course my daughter ate only the frosting and asked for more but the other kids chowed down on the whole pumpkin bar. Most tossed the pecan aside and started right on top! Princess Elodie below dug in right away and even finished my daughter's later on. Now that's kid approved!

Indulgence for Mom
Once everyone had headed home and the kids went down for their naps, I couldn't help sneaking some more Cool Whip goodness for myself. Since I had a few scraps left from cutting off the top of the bars before cutting them, I was able to indulge in some more pumpkin goodness even after all of the bars were long gone.

This time I was able to put a bit more frosting on without any judging eyes (well... I'm sure my friends wouldn't judge me, they'd probably take more frosting for themselves leaving me with none left over!). And boy did it hit the spot. I grabbed a cup of coffee, some more scraps of pumpkin bar and enjoyed the perfect Fall treat as the kids napped.

I cannot wait to try the other Cool Whip Frosting flavors this holiday season! 

Cool Whip Frosting can be purchased at your local Wal-mart store. For more information, check out Cool Whip on Facebook. You can also check out the creative recipes others have made with Cool Whip Frosting by following the Collective Bias Kraft Cool Whip Frosting pinterest board. 

What would you enjoy with Cool Whip Frosting?

Disclaimer: I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Kraft Cool Whip. All opinions are my own. #CoolWhipFrosting #CBias #SocialFabric