My Toffee Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookie Bar recipe seems to be the hit of the season so far on the blog. I’ve had quite a few questions about how to make the bars oil-free, so I figured it was a good opportunity to play around with the recipe. Pumpkin naturally lends moisture to baked goods and I’m happy to say it worked well as an oil replacement in this recipe. I’m also guessing the same amount of mashed banana might work too, but when in pumpkin season…#pumpkinallthethings! I added some pumpkin pie spices to enhance the pumpkin flavour. The result is a much lighter and softer/cake-y bar compared to the original recipe, but the upshot is that these feel light enough for a morning snack. Or at least I sure hope so because I’ve been nibbling away at them each morning when I try to decide what to make for my actual breakfast.
I know some of you also asked about a nut-free option, so I tried a couple versions subbing the almond flour. I didn’t create anything worthy of sharing yet (my trials using oat flour + arrowroot powder and sorghum flour were both drier than I would have liked). Maybe I would have better luck adapting the original recipe with coconut oil? Be sure to leave a comment and let us know if you had any success. I’ll also let you know if I test a nut-free version worth sharing!
My favourite way to enjoy these pumpkin bars is to spread some vegan butter on top (similar to how I love freshly baked muffins!). I guess that defeats the whole oil-free thing, but it sure is tasty. They would also be awesome with my Lightened Up Pecan Pumpkin Butter. I stashed a bunch of the squares in the freezer and found that they freeze well too.
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Pumpkin Oatmeal Anytime Squares
Yield
9-12 squares
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Soft and muffin-like in texture, these oil-free pumpkin oatmeal bars are light enough for breakfast and all your snacking needs.
Ingredients
- 1 flax egg: (1 tablespoon ground flax mixed with 3 tablespoons water)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened canned pumpkin purée
- 3/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt or pink Himalayan sea salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3/4 cup gluten-free rolled oats, ground into a flour (Or use 3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon oat flour)
- 3/4 cup gluten-free rolled oats
- 3/4 cup almond flour (not almond meal)
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder (for enhanced binding)
- 1/2 cup pecan halves, chopped
- 2 tablespoons mini non-dairy chocolate chips, for garnish
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper.
- Mix flax egg in a small bowl or mug and set aside to thicken for about 5 minutes.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the pumpkin and sugar with electric beaters until combined.
- Pour in the flax egg and vanilla extract and beat until combined.
- Add the baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg and beat again.
- Finally add in the oat flour, rolled oats, almond flour, arrowroot flour, and pecans. Beat until combined.
- Spoon dough into prepared pan and spread out until smooth and even. The dough will be very sticky, but this is normal. I like to cover the dough with a piece of parchment paper and roll it with a pastry roller. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top and press down.
- Bake for 15-19 minutes (I baked for 18 minutes), until lightly golden and firm to the touch. Be sure not to overbake.
- Place pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Then, lift out and place square directly on cooling rack for another 10-20 minutes, until cool. Slice and enjoy! The bars will crumble slightly if sliced warm, but they firm up nicely when cooled.
Tip:
Tips: 1) Instead of coconut sugar, you can try using Sucanat or natural cane sugar. Also, if you'd like a less sweet square you can try reducing the sugar a bit. 2) To make the freshly ground oat flour, add 3/4 cup rolled oats into a high speed blender. Blend on high until a fine flour forms. You can also simply use store-bought oat flour (3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon should do it).
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
Hello Autumn – this looks fabulous – I am off to try something similar but using sweet potato!!
All things pumpkin is right! I have been trying to perfect a pumpkin chocolate chip recipe this season, and I haven’t gotten on exactly right yet. Pumpkin pecan is on the blog! These look like my kind of mid week grab and go breakfast!
Ok, you can bet that I will most definitely be making these! Perhaps a little baking project for when I’m off visiting my mum for Thanksgiving this weekend. Thanks Ange! :)
Thanks for the recipe, Angela. My husband has been wanting “something pumpkin” since the weather started changing. I surprised him with these when he got home last night. He was like a little kid, he was so excited :) Thanks again for sharing your healthy, creative recipes. And congrats on mommyhood!!!
I cannot wait to try these! Love, Love, Love your recipes :)
Yum yum yum! I forgot to comment on them but I made the Toffee squares the weekend after you posted them and they were DELICIOUS. Definitely light enough for an AM snack! Thanks for sharing and major kudos to you for keeping up with the blog AND a newborn! You rock, Angela.
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I’m going to do a pumpkin soup tonight and now i believe I definitely need to leave a piece pumpkin for this!!
Fashion&Chocolate
Super excited for these! I’ve just printed the recipe and am going to make a double batch for our Victoria, BC, trip this weekend! We are running in a marathon so we need healthy food and healthy snacks! :)
Mandy Dugas from MandysHealthyLife.com
Just made these. WOW, they are sooo delicious. Thank you!
Mmm… This is one recipe I’m super eager to try. I love that there is no oil- thanks for figuring that out for us! I’ve been following a vegan diet for 3 months now, but haven’t baked with a flax egg yet. Another first! :-)
hi- just made these, they are in the oven baking. The recipe calls for Arrowroot powder, but the directions do not indicate when to add. I assume it was with the flour and other dry ingredients, but I am just guessing…
Can’t wait to try them, they look amazing!
They just came out of the oven. I baked at 325 on convect, in a 9″ square (that’s all I had!) for 15 minutes and were too dry. Boo! I’ll have to try again! They have great flavor, though!!
Hey Samantha,
Sorry about forgetting the arrowroot powder – it’s in there now!
As for the dryness, I’m so sorry that happened to you. I have a new oven so I will be sure to verify the temperature is accurate. Ours werent dry and I tested them a few times so Im really not sure why that would’ve happened. Did you change anything to the recipe? I know that baking in a 9-inch pan would make the bars more thin, so you might need to simply bake for less time since there is more surface area. Hope this helps!
Hi Angela,
Yes, I followed the directions exactly. The only thing I did was bake in a 9″ pan, so tried to reduce the baking time. I guess 15 min was too long! I’m going to try again this evening with less time since I only have a 9″ pan (I’m going to go get an 8″ but can’t run to the store right away). I’ll report back!
Thanks,
Samantha
I think I may have found part of the problem. I think I used almond meal the first time and oat flour the second time. I will have to find the right kind called for in the recipe. I did bake them for 10 min this time and that helped a lot! Thank you for a great recipe!!
ok, good to know. :) I do think almond flour would make them less dry since almond meal is more coarse and my trials with all oat flour didnt turn out very well. Hope the third time is a charm!
Thank you Angela for the incredible oil-free dessert and seasonal recipe!
I just made a double batch of these and I LOVE THEM!
They are my new favorite pumpkin dish / favorite bar / favorite dessert / favorite everything! I am guessing I had better buy some more almond meal, because I’ll have to make more tomorrow!
Thank you for the delicious treats! And congratulations on little Adriana, I hope she is enjoying some too!!!
Hi Angela!
I made this recipe last night and had a few questions. First, the instructions don’t list when to add the arrowroot powder. I added it when combining the flours before mixing into the wet ingredients. Is that what you did? Also, mine turned out quite dry and crumbly after baking for only 17 minutes. Do you have any suggestions to how to prevent this?
Thank you!
Hey Sarah,
Sorry about that! I added it into the directions.
It sounds like the bars were baked too long- I don’t know if our ovens are different temps, but I would think that it would be solved by baking less time. Ours weren’t dry and I made them a few times. Our oven is new so I will have to test the temp just to be sure! Hope they are still enjoyed :)
They certainly were enjoyed, my co-workers loved them! I am going to make a second batch for Thanksgiving this weekend, but I’ll try taking them out a little bit earlier. The dough definitely was sticky when like you said, so that must be the case. Thank you for the advice and have a wonderful first Thanksgiving with baby :)
Hey! Love the recipe :) What’s your opinion on soaking grains (for recipes like these). Do you have any experience with that? I’m always open and receiving to trying new, healthy ideas!
Hi Deanna, I try to soak grains when I can (such as overnight oats!), but I must admit, I have not thought to do it with a baked granola type bar.
These look so delicious! I’m going to try them soon. Look perfect for a nice fall day :)
I’m going to give this a go using soaked prunes instead of sugar! Also making your Lightened up Pumpkin Butter for gifts this year! Thanks for the great ideas:)
Great idea! I’ve been thinking about making some gluten-free, vegan pumpkin blondies, but they can be so fatty and sugary. I’d feel much better about having these around instead. Thanks for the recipe!
Oh, I think I’m making these instead of dinner tonight (don’t tell my husband) :-)
My terrible holiday habit is eating cookies for breakfast. (At Christmas, when I’m surrounded.) I love, not only the sweet, but the crunchy and the ease-of-grabbing. Do you think this idea could be adapted to crunchy cookies instead of chewy bars?
The addition of the pecans is perfect. I can’t get enough of the almost maple-y flavour they add. These would be great to have on hand for cdn thanksgiving this weekend! Loving all of the square recipes.