Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bars
Sweet pumpkin filling baked between layers of almond oatmeal crumble for delicious and seasonal vegan and gluten-free Pumpkin Bars.
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Growing up my parents did a great job of establishing traditions.
My earliest memories begin with these traditions. From sitting around my the table as my Dad carved eyes into an oversized Jack-O-Lantern to digging through our dress up clothes to assemble one awesome pirate costume, October will always be remembered as a very magical time in my childhood. Later on, after the Jack-O-Lantern had rotted and the Halloween candy eaten, we continued through the holiday months with traditions of building gingerbread houses, baking mad amounts of Christmas cookies, and gathering relatives to decorate the tree with popcorn and homemade ornaments. My heart hurts a little with nostalgia knowing that holidays will never be quite the same. The spooky goblin handing out candy is just my next door neighbor and the first snowfall just means it’s time to put on heavy boots and pull out the snow shovel.
But like I’ve said so many times before, I have a second chance to relish in the magic through the eyes of my children. And that’s exactly what I’ll do.
As Eden wraps up her 2nd year this holiday season seems like the perfect time to begin some of our own traditions. I can’t wait to show her what happens when we put a candle behind the face of the hallowed out pumpkin, or what it means to dress up and go “trick or treating”. I can’t wait to start our own traditions of making gingerbread houses and decorating the Christmas tree and cuddling up in our pjs and watching “Frosty the Snowman” on Youtube. Over and over again.
Our Autumnal traditions began yesterday with an annual trip to the pumpkin patch with my mom, sisters, nieces, and now nephews. The morning was spent finding our way out of a corn maze, taking a tractor ride around the farm, followed by a hay ride out into the pumpkin patch and ended with two very excited albeit exhausted children.
When we got home I put Eden down for her “nap”. From the living room I listened to her talk out loud about pumpkins, corn mazes, and hay rides, presumably to her stuffed animals, for a good 30 minutes before she settled into some quiet reading.
As an adult I realize that practicing traditions takes deliberation and dedication and I am so grateful that I learned the importance of taking the time and establishing these rituals. My parents did well and now the torch is passed on to me. I hope I can give Eden and Nash all the magic that was given me.
We enjoyed these Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bars with our lunch on the farm – I brought them in lieu of the farm’s apple cider doughnuts that I thought might tempt Eden. A date-sweetened pumpkin pie filling in between two layers of cinnamon oat crumble beats out doughnuts any most days.
Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bars
Ingredients
Pumpkin Date Filling
- 1 cup packed medjool dates, pitted
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- zest of 1 large orange, about 2 teaspoons
Oat Crumble
- 2 1/2 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup almond meal
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375. Spray an 8x8 baking pan and set aside.
- Soak the pitted dates for 30 minutes. Drain and place in a food processor along with the remaining pumpkin filling ingredients. Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Set aside.
- For the oat crumble combine oats, almond meal, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Stir together. In a smaller bowl whisk combine coconut oil and maple syrup. Add the coconut oil/syrup mixture to the oats and stir to combine.
- Pour half of the oat crumble on the bottom of the prepared baking sheet and press down. top with the pumpkin filling, smoothing even with a spatula. Finish by sprinkling the remaining oat crumble evenly over the top. Press down lightly.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until crumb is golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool completely before slicing into 16 even pieces.
Hi, I’m Sarah. I’m a 14-year (and counting) vegan, professionally trained photographer, former pastry chef, founder of My Darling Vegan, and author of the 
Katrina says
I made these the other day. Not bad . I would cut back on the cloves and orange zest and use a whole can of pumpkin, It didn’t have a strong enough pumpkin flavor for our liking. the zest and cloves over powered the pumpkin. I will make some changes and let you know how it turns out.
Michelle says
Can i use steel cut oats rather than rolled oats
Sarah says
I imagine if you were to use steel cut oats, you may need to cook them a little first. I’m not sure they would get fully cooked in the oven. You would also have to adjust the liquid ingredients a bit but I’m not really sure how much as I’ve never tried it.
Nikki says
Can these be frozen? Do they thaw well? They look delish! Thank you
Sarah says
I haven’t tried freezing them, but that should be fine.
Danielle Buck says
Have you made this with apple?! Fresh or canned? What do you think would work best. I did however LOVE this with pumpkin, amazing. Everyone at work loved it too. My kid was not a fan of the pumpkin though. I Think apple would suit her better. Thaaks for the yum in my tum!
Sarah says
Apple would be great, although I haven’t tried it myself. I would use canned and puree it a bit so that it’s similar consistency to the pumpkin.
Sabrina says
Update….
Well I made them they are indeed tasty but I have a question on texture, should they be soft to the point they don’t hold their shape as a bar?I had trouble taking them out of my pirex 8×8 baking dish . They seem so soft and the topping was not that crunchy ? I cooked them in a convection oven. Would that have made a difference?
Thanks
Sabrina
Sabrina says
I’m heading for to the store to make these! I’ll let you know how they turn out!
Jessica Oberhauser says
These are absolutely amazing! My 2 year old agrees with me too! I could eat these for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack! Strangely enough, these almost taste like apple crisp to me. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Katie says
I went hunting for a recipe to use up some pumpkin puree and found this recipe. Finally got a chance to make them yesterday and wow! They are absolutely delicious! Even my sister, who isn’t a fan of pumpkin, loved them. I didn’t have quite enough maple syrup and had to substitute about 1/4 cup of honey, but I could still taste the maple. My substitution might have led to the trouble I had getting it out of the pan, but after freezing them overnight it was easy to pop them right out! I have a feeling this is something I will be making quite often to take to parties this fall.
lori says
Wow, these are so delicious! Too good, in fact. I can’t stop eating them! 🙂
Lindsay says
Can I omit the almond meal?
Sarah says
You would have to replace it with something else like ap flour or another nut flour.
Nicole says
Sorry if this is a dumb question…but quick cooking or old fashioned oats?
Sarah says
I don’t think it would matter but I used old fashioned.
Jade says
Hello! I was really excited to find a link to your page, but saddened, because there doesn’t seem to be a recipe for the Gluten Free Pumpkin Date Bars. (maybe I’m having some issues loading the page….?) Is the recipe something you could possibly email me?
Thank you!
Sarah says
What recipe are you finding? I’ve had other people have a similar issue but when I double check it, I see the correct recipe. I’m talking with the people who developed the plugin to see if they can explain this. I’ll email you the correct recipe, but if you have a chance can you tell me what you do see? Thanks!
Kay says
1/2 what of coconut oil?
Kamber says
These look delicious! I can’t wait to try them. It looks like you left off the measurement for the coconut oil. I assume it is 1/2 cup. Is that right? Thanks so much!
Sarah says
Oops and thank you! Yes it’s cup and I will fix it right now.
Meredith Feisel says
Wait, it was suppose to be a cup of coconut oil?
Sarah says
1/2 cup
Katia says
These are so good! I had to use half almond flour and half oat flour. The crumble fell off a bit. Is there anything I can add to keep the crumble together a bit more so it’s not so messy? I also used about 1/4 syrup instead of 1/2 so maybe that’s the issue but I don’t want them to be super sweet.
Caitlin says
when i look back on my childhood, my most favorite memories are the traditions my family kept year after year (and some still going strong). i always think about having children and the traditions we would start and the ones we would continue to do with my parents. although some traditions can be unnecessary and stifling (see: religion), family traditions that celebrate the seasons and time together is magical and important <3