Leaves paint the ground.
Vivid orange, red, and yellow swirl through the sky, stirred by a cool Fall breeze.
Monet’s paintbrush.
(Hope you liked my little poem!)
Fall is by far my favorite time of year. Everything about it just seems so cozy: oversized sweaters, steamy mugs of hot cider, scarecrows and falling leaves. It’s the comfort food of seasons. Not to mention the actual comfort foods of Fall: roasted veggies, juicy apples, and—of course—pumpkin!
Topped with my favorite Healthy Cream Cheese Frosting.
If you could sum up “Fall” in a bar, this would be it. My first attempt at these bars was based on a (non-vegan) recipe I found online from Better Homes and Gardens. Sadly, that attempt turned out bland and dry. So for my second attempt, I went with my own intuition, adding ingredients I thought sounded good together and hoping for the best.
Oh they were delicious! These bars have a soft texture and the perfect balance of sweet to spice.
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars
(These can be gluten-free!)
- 1/2 cup spelt or white flour, oat flour, or Bob’s gf)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ener-g powder OR 1 tbsp ground flax (If necessary, you can omit completely)
- 3 tbsp brown sugar or agave (For a sugar-free version, you can use xylitol)
- pinch uncut stevia OR 2 more tbsp sugar
- 1/2 cup canned or cooked and pureed pumpkin
- 2 tbsp milk of choice
- 2 tbsp oil (Some readers say subbing applesauce is fine, but I haven’t tried)
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine dry ingredients, then add in wet. Spread into an oiled 7×5 pan (or double the recipe for an 8×8) and cook for 14-15 minutes. Note: You can sub agave for the sugar; they’ll just be fluffier and a bit more dense. Let the pan cool for at least ten minutes before cutting or frosting the squares. Also, the flavors seem to intensify and these taste even sweeter the next day.
View Pumpkin Bars Nutrition Facts
You can frost with the aforementioned Healthy Cream Cheese Frosting. Or you can opt to leave them plain. They are deliciously-sweet even when completely unfrosted! (Alternative topping ideas include: apple butter, peanut butter, coconut butter, etc.)
Do you like reading or writing poetry?
I actually do, which is surprising because I hated reading poetry when I was younger. I’d get so confused! But I’ve always loved writing freestyle poetry, where there are no rules—you get to throw in exactly the words you want, in exactly the order you want. Come to think of it, that’s how I create recipes, too!
Made these last night in what is probably record time. 20 minutes, from putting the first ingredients in the bowl to taking it out of the oven. (I like speed baking because I’m usually short on time.) Thank you for providing a recipe with such a quick bake time.
Also- mine turned out SUPER fluffy/cake-like (I followed the recipe exactly, using ener-g for egg.) Any suggestion to make them more brownie-like?
So yummy! I didnt make the frosting but we topped them with a dab of cool whip- my husband said they tasted just like pumpkin pie (I disagree, I despise pumpkin pie but LOVED these!)
Oh my goodness these might even top your blondies!
I doubled the recipe and used real eggs. I also added chocolate chips 🙂
These are unbelievably moist and the flavour is perfect. Wow. I cannot thank you enough! You are on my “Recommended Blogs” list on my blog 🙂
I made these yesterday – and everyone I’ve given one to so far loves them!! Thank you!! I can’t get over the wonderful texture of them – and the fact that they’re healthy – even better 🙂
Made today and turned out great! I love them! Will be making again VERY soon. Used 1/4 cup gfree oat flour, 1/4 cup of the Williams-Sonoma gfree flour Cup4Cup, coconut oil, almond milk, the ground flax, 4 Tbsp. brown sugar, 1 packet Nunaturals stevia, and everything else as written in the recipe. Even my 8 year old who does not like pumpkin at all liked them. Thanks, Katie!
Just made these and they turned out AMAZING!!!! I didn’t have any milk and so used water instead and the bars still came out unbelievably yummy! For the frosting I ended up crushing up walnuts, adding a bit of brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkling this mix over the bars about 5 minutes before they were done in the oven. The nut/sugar combo created a delicious coffee cake crumble on the pumpkin bars and made them even more delicious 🙂 ….now just to keep from eating the whole pan in one sitting lol
Just saw this recipe in link from SHAPE magazine. I knew from the ingredients it was your recipe – the credit proved it. Awesome!
Just made these! They are fantastic! I used agave, and they did end up coming out a little more fluffy and cake-like, but it was still delicious. I doubled the recipe, but halved the stevia, and it was perfectly sweet. Absolutely delicious. Next time I think I’m going to add some walnuts, and maybe some chocolate chips or dried fruit. So yummy! Thanks!
I just made these. I didn’t have any milk so I had to use unsweetened applesauce, also subbed the applesauce for the oil, and used 2 actual eggs. I also doubled the recipe and only did 3 Tbs of brown sugar and they turned out tasty and really fluffy, cake-like fluffy. Now I just need a cream cheese frosting! Yum! 🙂
I am so in love with these! I’ve made them a few times now and usually leave off the cream cheese icing so I can use them as a pre-workout snack and they are still delicious! Thank you so much for introducing me to coconut oil!
I’m currently tucking into this delicious recipe! And I’m having it with the healthy cream cheese frosting. I used Apple sauce instead of oil and eggs instead of egg substitute. It turned out amazing. I also added some raisins. Thank you for this wonderful recipe! 🙂
I made this recipe using an egg and Bob’s red mill gf all purpose baking flour. I baked it in a round cake pan. I made three batches to make three cakes. I made cream cheese frosting and made it as a birthday cake for a relative who is not gluten free. My family loved it and have been begging for the recipe!! Thanks for this awesome recipe!! I am so glad to have found your blog!!
It says under nutritional facts that its 80 calories per square and it makes 8 squares. is that using the 8×8 pan or using the 7×5?
Just made this recipe! It’s in the oven now. I added some rolled oats for a chewy texture, we’ll see how it turns out! Love your blog!
These were amazing! I’ve been looking for something vegan to bring to the family Thanksgiving dinner, and I know these will be a hit. I added some walnuts and your suggested frosting (yummy). I can’t wait to share them with the family. Thanks for the delicious recipe, I’ll be visiting your site again for more!
Just made these – thanks for the subs – I used ground flax with three tablespoons of warm water – and let it sit for a minute or two for the egg – I used applesauce instead of oil – and organic sugars because it’s all I had – I added ground ginger and cloves(? I think) and extra cinnamon – baked them longer than 15 minutes – more like 30 – I think I added more pumpkin than called for – turned out great!!!!! Topped with vanilla soy ice cream – love these