These soft and flavorful oatmeal pumpkin bars are made with a combination of quick oats and oat flour. Pumpkin, maple syrup, and the appropriate spices all contribute to a healthy, handheld bar that you could eat for breakfast or dessert!
I recently made these as an excuse to 1) eat chocolate, and 2) utilize what remained in an open container of pumpkin hiding in the back of my fridge. I get so happy when I can beat it to its moldy punch!
What developed from my efforts was a recipe I knew I wanted to get on the blog as soon as possible!
I like pumpkin's nutritional profile. Low calorie, low-fat, low sugar, high fiber, TONS o' beta carotene.
Pumpkin is also what makes these bars moist, flavorful, and chewy.
If you have a leftover can hiding in the back of your fridge, this recipe is a great way to use it up. The amazing texture, along with the pumpkin pie flavors and the added chocolate really take them over the top.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Quick oats - You can use rolled oats, but I prefer the quick for their ability to blend in better.
- Oat flour
- Baking powder
- Sea salt
- Spices - Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves; all dried
- Canned pumpkin puree
- Oil - I've used grapeseed and olive with good results; melted coconut oil and butter should both work as well.
- Maple syrup - Runny honey will also work!
- Egg
- Milk of your choice
- Chopped chocolate
Recipe steps
In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients (oats, flour, baking powder, salt, and spices). Separately, mix the pumpkin, oil, syrup, egg, and milk.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture and stir until combined. You can also stir in half of the chocolate at this time or save it all for the top.
Pour the mix into a well-oiled 8 x 8 inch baking dish and bake for 15-20 minutes.
Recipe notes
Be careful not to overbake these, as they will be dry. Check them at 15 minutes, and only bake them until a knife comes out clean.
If you prefer cookies, you might peek at my Soft Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies! They're made with buckwheat flour.
Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pumpkin Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup quick oats
- ½ cup oat flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- ¾ cup pumpkin puree
- 3 Tablespoons oil I use grapeseed oil
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup milk of your choice
- 1/4-1/3 cup chopped chocolate or chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix dry ingredients (oats, flour, spice, salt, baking powder) in a small bowl.
- Mix wet ingredients (pumpkin, oil, syrup, egg, milk) in a medium bowl.
- Pour dry mix into the wet ingredients, along with about half of the chocolate, and mix until well combined.
- Spread the batter into a well-oiled 8 x 8 baking dish.
- Sprinkle the remaining chocolate on top.
- Bake 15-20 minutes until a knife comes out clean.
Notes
Nutrition
If you have a chance to try this recipe, please leave a star rating and a comment below letting me know how you liked it!
Ike
Just finished a batch of these!
I used whole milk and honey where the recipie gave options. I also used Bobs Red Mill buckwheat flour and the texture came out great. Lastly, I included the dash of stevia powder.
These aren't sweet but they are tastey. Im going to include 2 tablespoons of sugar in my next ch to see if that satisfies the sweet tooths in the house.
Lauren
That's great Ike, thanks for your comment!
Miz Helen
Great Bars, these look delicious. Thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday this week. Hope you are having a great day and come back soon!
Miz Helen
Michele
Pretty good, I used coconut flour as I didn’t read the recipe properly before I went to the grocery store which may have sweetened them up a little. Would be great warm with a generous dollop of vanilla yoghurt.