These gluten-free Pumpkin Bars are the ultimate fall treat without the guilt. Tender and packed full of flavor–no one will know that they are lightened up.
Is it cake? Blondies? Breakfast bars? I guess these Gluten Free Pumpkin Bars are pretty much all of those things in one. They are somehow moist and tender like traditional cake, but they also have a dense fudge-like quality to them. I guess it doesn’t really matter what we call them as long as they’re delicious, right?
If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know I’m not much of a baker. So on the rare occasion that I share something baked, you know that I absolutely LOVE it. I’m thinking of you, Banana Walnut Crumble Muffins.
Something about the fall and cooler weather does give me more inspiration than usual to whip up something sweet. Plus, I had some canned pumpkin puree sitting in my pantry, so why not experiment? Well, it took me about 6 times to make these before I got it right, and now I can’t STOP making them. Perfectly spiced and not overly pumpkin-y, if you know what I mean. Jeff says it tastes like a hybrid of Pumpkin Pie and Pumpkin Cake. Yuuuum! Last night, as he pulled the last bar from the refrigerator, he said, “We need to have these around at all times.” I got the hint and made another batch today. 🙂
Because I like to make these for a variety of different purposes, I’ll provide you with some options for serving sizes, both with and without frosting. I mean, I won’t judge you if you eat them with the frosting for breakfast, but that’s a little too sweet for me in the morning. I actually like to make a batch and cover half in frosting and half without–some for breakfast, some for dessert in the same pan. But you do you!
WHy Gluten Free?
Well, there are multiple reasons for that. The first is that the almond flour and peanut butter powder give it a moister texture. I also love that you can taste tiny bits of almond throughout the bars.
A few years back, I gave up gluten for about a year and felt fantastic. I’ve been so bad about it lately, but I do want to get back to that way of eating some day. Or at least cut back on my gluten intake where I can. So here we go!
Choosing the right Ingredients
- Make sure you’re buying canned pumpkin puree and NOT pumpkin pie filling, which has a lot of sugar in it. Regular pumpkin puree is 0 SP, so we definitely want that one instead.
- After experimenting a lot, I find that organic pumpkin puree is the way to go. It is a bit thicker than non-organic ones I’ve tried (not sure why). Of course, go with what you have around, but non-organic purees might make your bars a bit more wet (not a bad thing!).
- I buy Almond Meal from Trader Joe’s because I like that it still has some texture to it. Some almond flours are very finely ground. That’s not a problem, but you might get a slightly different texture.
I’d love to hear from you if you make this recipe! It makes my day when you share your pics on Instagram and tag me (@litecravings). Don’t forget to use #litecravingsrecipes to make sure I see it. If I don’t get a chance to scroll through my tags quickly enough, I won’t see your post. I always make a point to look through the hashtags, though, so I’ll see it there!
Gluten Free Pumpkin Bars
Ingredients
FOR THE PUMPKIN BARS
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup powdered peanut butter like PB2 or PB Fit
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 cup almond meal or course almond flour
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
FOR THE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING (optional)
- 5 ounces 1/3 less fat cream cheese (or light cream cheese) at room temperature
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1-2 tbsp almond or nonfat milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together all bar ingredients except almond meal.
- Fold almond meal into the wet mixture until just combined. Pour into 8×8 inch pan, greased with cooking spray.
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle has just a tiny bit of batter clinging to it. Just like with a brownie batter, it's much better to slightly under cook these than over cook them.
- Let cool completely before cutting into 12 portions (2 cuts one way, 3 cuts the other way). In fact, it is best if you refrigerate them for at least an hour to let them set; the flavor and texture develops quite a bit the longer you do this. If you try to eat them straight out of the oven, they will crumble apart (still delicious, though!).
- If making the cream cheese frosting, simply whisk the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla together. Add in milk, a tbsp at a time, until you reach your desired consistency. Spread over cooled bars and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to let the frosting set.
Could you make muffins with this recpe?
I haven’t tried that yet, but I bet you could! They wouldn’t be as fluffy as regular muffins, but it would be a good way to portion everything out. Definitely check them around the 10-15 minute mark, though, instead of cooking for the full 20 mins. Let me know how it goes if you try it this way!
These pumpkin bars are so good! I haven’t put the cream cheese on the bars yet cause I’m waiting for them to cool, but I couldn’t wait and decided to try without the cream cheese. These are so delicious and awesome with a cup of coffee. I used regular all purpose flour instead of the almond flour cause I don’t need to watch gluten and the points remained the same. I also used regular 100% pumpkin instead of the organic (its what I had on hand). The bars are very moist and it has the texture of a moist brownie, but not overly moist probably cause I used regular flour, but they still turned out moist and delicious! Thank you for the awesome recipe. I will try another bar later once the cream cheese frosting is applied and cooled. I think I found my go to fall recipe.
LOVE these with coffee myself! I’m so happy to hear that the recipe turned out well for you. We have been making these once a week. 🙂
These are so amazing and taste so indulgent!! I skipped the frosting and used some lite cool whip on top – I felt like I was eating the best pumpkin pie! Thank you for this delicious recipe!
So glad you liked it!