I love when fall arrives and all the pumpkin goodies are in full effect. I wanted to make a pumpkin bar, but without tons of fat and processed flour. My healthy pumpkin bar doesn’t have any of that, and its also gluten-free and can be dairy-free, and it still came out moist and delicious. Truth be told, it doesn’t taste healthy at all! We all love these bars. The cream cheese icing really makes it amazing, so I like to use the real thing.
For a sugar-free alternative, you’re welcome to try your own icing modification. For a sugar-free icing sugar, you can blend together xylitol and cornstarch. Another option would be whipping up chilled full fat coconut milk into whipped coconut cream and adding some stevia or sugar to sweeten.
When deciding on what flour to use, I chose a 50/50 ratio of oat flour to almond flour. I decided against using all almond flour, as I thought the final result might be too wet. If you are grain-free and need to do an almond flour version, I recommend cutting down on either the pumpkin or applesauce, preferably the applesauce. For another modification, you could also try subbing out 1/2 cup of the oat flour for whey protein powder if you choose.
But like I said, I really really like these just the way that they are, and if you have no allergies or restrictions, I recommend trying it as below. I think you’re going to LOVE them!
- 2 eggs
- 4 egg whites (or ½ cup egg substitute)
- ⅓ cup sucanat or coconut palm sugar (or another type of raw brown sugar)
- ½ cup stevia for baking (or ½ cup favorite sugar-free substitute)
- ¼ cup oil (I used safflower, could use coconut oil, avocado, vegetable)
- ⅔ cup unsweetened applesauce (2 snack packs)
- 1⅔ cups canned pumpkin (1 x 398ml or 14oz can)
- 1 cup oat flour
- 1 cup almond flour or meal
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- 2 Tbsp butter (for dairy free use vegan margarine) *room temp
- 3 Tbsp light or regular cream cheese (for dairy free use Toffuti Cream Cheese or Daiya Cream Cheese Style Spread)) *room temp
- 2 cups icing (confectioners) sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 Tbsp+ milk of choice (just enough for the icing to come together)
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F, and spray a 9 x 11" pan with cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, add in all the wet ingredients (everything from eggs through to pumpkin). Mix until blended.
- Next, add in all your dry ingredients to the same bowl (oat flour through to nutmeg). Mix until combined.
- Pour into pan and bake for approx 40-45 minutes until a toothpick comes clean. It might also begin to crack on top and separate from the pan a little. NOTE: Cooking time may vary (depending on the size of pan you use, and flour used).
- Cool the bars completely.
- Whip together the icing ingredients in a mixer. Whip until light and fluffy. Spread icing on cooled bars, and cut into squares.
- Keep bars stored in the fridge covered. They also freeze great!
Calories: 93 Fat: 5.4 g Carbs: 10.6 g Fiber: 2.6 g Sugar: 3 g Sodium: 158 mg Protein: 2.8 g