Healthy Pumpkin Bars
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It’s pumpkin season! For all you pumpkin lovers out there, here is a healthier pumpkin recipe you can add to your repertoire! These Healthy Pumpkin Bars are quite the hit at our house! They are just the right amount of sweet, come together in ONE bowl, have lots of good-for-you ingredients (like pumpkin, oats, and chia seeds!), and hold up well in lunch boxes.
These Healthy Pumpkin Bars have all the cozy fall flavors like cinnamon and pumpkin spice, which of course, gives me all the feels. Not to mention, they make your house smell amazing when they’re in the oven! I find them to be a satisfying snack or treat and one that I feel okay about giving my toddler. I actually have been having a hard time limiting how many I eat! They’re also nut-free, so I can send them to preschool in our toddler’s lunch box!
Though I’m more on Team Apple than Team Pumpkin when it comes to treats, I still enjoy pumpkin desserts. When looking for some pumpkin treats to make for our family, I found it hard to find any that didn’t contain a boatload of sugar. Enter me attempting to create a healthier pumpkin treat alternative.
It was a struggle to make something tasty because I realized that the pumpkin actually requires a bit more sugar than I would prefer to balance the flavor out. You’ll find that these bars have 1/4 cup of maple syrup (still significantly less than many pumpkin recipes), chocolate chips, as well as some unsweetened applesauce.
Ingredient Add-Ons
If you want to use something other than chocolate chips, here are some other additions you could try! You could also just add any of these ingredients to the original recipe!
- Raisins
- Hemp hearts
- Nuts – walnuts, pecan, pumpkin seeds
- Flaxseeds
- Craisins
- Cacao nibs
Why You’ll Love This Healthy Pumpkin Bar Recipe
Versatile – there are so many different additions/replacements for chocolate chips that you can try that would taste great while also adding nutritional value.
Simple to make: it only takes 10 minutes to prep! Mix the ingredients together, pour into a baking dish, and bake!
Low in added sugar: It is a treat that I feel good about eating myself and giving to my toddler.
We have been enjoying these Healthy Pumpkin Bars in our house this fall and we hope you do, too!
More Healthy(ish) Tasty Treats!
Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies With Coconut
Peanut Butter Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies
Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Vegan Apple Peanut Butter Cookies
Be sure to follow along on Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook for even more deliciousness!
Healthy Pumpkin Bars
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
- 1 egg
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 cup quick oats
- 1 cup flour, (I use unbleached wheat)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Spray 8×8 baking dish with vegetable oil spray and set aside.
- Combine coconut oil, egg, pumpkin puree, applesauce, maple syrup, and vanilla in a large bowl.
- Add the oats, flour, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, chia seeds, salt, and baking powder and stir to combine.
- Fold in chocolate chips.
- Pour batter into baking dish and smooth the top.
- Cook in the oven for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean.