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 today, there soo good! i think i mite sub the oil for applesauce next time they were very moist wich is never a bad thing otherwise! but just mite try to c how it turns out, good recipe thank you!
They look lovely, I’ve been thinking of buying some pumpkins to cook with. Here in the UK we only buy them at Halloween to make Jack o’ Lantern!
What would be in the pumpkin pie spice mix? Nutmeg, ginger?
Thanks!
You can make homemade like this: 1/2 tsp cinn, 1/4 tsp ginger, 1/8 tsp allspice, and 1/8 tsp nutmeg
I am going to try this one. I bought some coconut butter for one of your recipes, but I don’t remember which one now. What is the difference between coconut butter and coconut oil. I am going to have to buy some coconut oil.
Thanks,
http://www.artisanafoods.com/faq#a1
They’re not the same. Use the oil for these bars, not the butter. (Or you can probably use another oil, like Canola.)
Hi, Katie … I also used a real egg and mine weren’t as fudgy, either. I will try again with flax egg (which I really like, BTW!).
I wonder if you could use coconut flour to make these gluten free and even higher in protein? Hmmm …
I wouldn’t use all coconut flour for ANY baked-good recipe. Coconut flour is crumbly and needs another flour as a binder.
Made these for the kid’s preschool potluck, they are AWESOME!! 🙂
Can I freeze leftovers?
I’ve never tried it. But if you do try it, I’d love to know if it works!
I haven’t made them yet, but I am thinking of substituting Pamela’s pancake and baking mix for the flour. I think I should leave out the baking powder if I do that. I have to have gluten free.
JUST made these! They’re currently in the oven. I did everything like you said EXCEPT I realized that I didn’t have any canned pumpkin (stupid me! lol) soooo I subbed it for this sweet potato spread stuff we had in the fridge!!!
Made these tonight to take to a scuba diving gathering tomorrow…my husband tried one and LOVED them!! Thanks for the delicious recipes!!!
Aw, thank YOU for trying them! 🙂
trying these with quinoa flour and lakanto. (its another amazing substitute for sugar. crazy expensive but worth it! 😉 )
I’m on a candida diet (sugar free) and i can still use lakanto! its amazing…
im baking these RIGHT NOW 😉
do you think they could make cookies too?
Sounds like a fun experiment… if you try them, let me know if it works!!
1 egg of choice (flax, chia, I used 1 tsp energ. If necessary, you can omit completely.)
I’m confused by this line. something missing?
thanks, Karen
Hi Karen,
I just used 1 tsp ener-g egg replacer. But I know not everyone has access to that product, so I gave other options such as flax egg or chia egg (if you google “flax egg” it’ll tell you how to make one. I’ve never actually done it).
I’ve tried over 50 of your recipes now and this has just made it into my top 5!
Egads these turned out great! I could eat the whole pan…
These bars are great! I made them for a pre-Thanksgiving party this weekend and they were a huge hit. Thanks for another great recipe.
These are so good. I use 1/4 C applesauce as my egg substitute and 1/4 C brown sugar as the only sweetener, and then I add in a handful of chocolate chips. And then I eat the entire batch for breakfast/lunch.
I subbed one of the tbsp of brown sugar for honey. And subbed gluten-free flour for the normal kind. I also used a regular egg. They turned out incredible!! But more like pumpkin bread. They are more cake-y than brownie-y (can you do that to the word “‘brownie”??). Anyway, I loved them ,but was wondering what I may have done differently that made it come out fluffier. Thanks!
Maybe because you used a real egg?
Haha I always want to do it to the words “chocolate-y” or “fudge-y.”