Healthy Pumpkin Bars
These healthy pumpkin bars with oatmeal are gluten free and naturally sweetened with maple syrup. Add nuts, chocolate, or dried fruit mix-ins.
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes
Total: 40 minutes
Servings: 8 large or 16 small bars (1 8x8-inch pan)
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups old fashioned rolled oats or quick oats; do not use instant oatmeal
- ½ cup oat flour*
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder (I recommend aluminum-free)
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup pumpkin purée NOT pumpkin filling
- 1 cup milk of choice (skim, almond, soy, etc.)
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup (I like Grade B)
- 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter almond butter, or other nut butter of choice
- ½ cup desired mix-ins: chopped nuts dried cranberries, chocolate chips, diced apricots, coconut (I used 1/4 cup cranberries and 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat an 8x8-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the oats, oat flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, milk, egg, maple syrup, and peanut butter until smooth. Add the wet ingredients all at once to the dry ingredients, then gently stir by hand, just until combined. Fold in any desired mix-ins.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Bake until golden and set on top, dry at the edges, and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Let cool in the pan completely, then slice into bars.
Notes
- *To make your own oat flour, grind regular rolled oats in a food processor for 1-2 minutes, until they are pulverized to a flour-like consistency. You’ll need just over 1/2 cup rolled oats to yield 1/2 cup oat flour, but be sure to measure before adding it to the recipe!
- TO STORE: Leftover pumpkin oatmeal bars can be stored in the refrigerator for 1 week or at room temperature for 3 days.
- TO FREEZE: Pumpkin bars may be individually wrapped and frozen in a ziptop bag for up to 3 months. Let thaw in the refrigerator overnight (or on the counter for a few hours if you are in a hurry!).
Nutrition
Serving: 1(of 8) calculated with 1/2 cup dried cranberries as a mix-inCalories: 222kcalCarbohydrates: 38gProtein: 7gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 22mgPotassium: 344mgFiber: 4gSugar: 14gVitamin A: 3663IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 113mgIron: 2mg
