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.
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)
I find that ground flax triggers my IBS. What can I use as a substitute for the flax “egg” in this and many vegan baking recipes?
Hi Talia, A chia egg might work (either 1 tbsp ground chia + 3-4 tbsp water OR 1 tbsp chia seeds + 3-4 tbsp water), but it would depend on the recipe. Trial and error, most of the time.
I just finished the last bite of the pumpkin-oatmeal square.. hm hm hm so yummy! Also a great hit with anybody i let try, which wasn’t that many ’cause i wasn’t willing to share.. oops.. :)
guess i have to make it again, i have pumpkin puree leftover…
Wow, tasty one :)
Just made this recipe – wonderful!! Thank you, Angela!! (Btw, yours is one of the few cookbooks I own, and I love it!) I’m GF by necessity but not vegan, and used standard ingredients I had on hand, and this still turned out beautifully. SUPER tasty!! I used a chicken egg instead of flax egg, regular sugar instead of coconut, standard salt instead of sea salt, Mama’s Almond Blend GF flour instead of pure almond flour, cornstarch instead of arrowroot powder, and regular chocolate chips instead of dairy-free.
I had a hard time deciding what to make with my little guy this morning – this recipe or the PSL Pudding cake. We chose this one because we figured it would last longer in the house (that cake looks like I’d just take a spoon to it and go nuts). Oh my, was I wrong. I give these 2-3 days, tops. Perfect recipe as is!
Did not turn out! No flavour, very crumbly! I scooped some one and put pumpkin puree on top and it make it slightly better. First recipe from oh she glows that hasn’t worked :( so sad.
Turned out perfectly, they’re gorgeous! I added in some ginger and a tsp of blackstrap molasses so they’re a bit like gingerbread squares. Thank you Angela x
Yum!!!!!!! I subbed with what I had at home – used cashew meal instead of almond meal and cornstarch instead of arrowroot and put pepitas on top instead of choco. (And since I’m not vegan/didn’t have parchment paper I buttered the pan and they came out no problem.)
Just wrote my own review of this recipe!
http://hannahclaudia.blogspot.com/2014/10/review-ohsheglows-pumpkin-oatmeal.html
This is my stand-by recipe every time i have leftover pumpkin puree, it’s absolutely delicious and one of my favourite OSG’s recipes. I decrease the sugar to 1/2 a cup and I use chia eggs in my recipe instead of flax and it never fails. I recommend everyone to try this, I can’t imagine anyone not liking it!
These sound so good :)
Do you know if cashew meal would work in place of almond flour?
Thanks!
Dana
organicowlblog.com
Just made these with my kids, nut-free for lunches but not gluten-free. I added 3tbsp coconut oil and used 3/4 cups whole wheat flour and a tsp of baking powder instead of the almond flour and arrowroot powder, and skipped the pecans (should have used pumpkin seeds!). A big YUM from everyone inluding Dad. Thanks for the great ideas!!! Your trail mix cookies are a weekly staple here too for after school snacks.
I made these for a Halloween work party and they were a HIT!!!
Just made these but decided to add coconut oil cause I was worried they’d be to dry. I could not find almond flour so used quinoa instead and with the added oil it turned out ok. No dry but a bit crumbly, but still delicious! I find them a bit to sweet but will sure make these again and adjust sugar to my taste ;)
Anxious to try – sound delicious. FYI – I don’t use any type of granulated sugars when I bake. I usully replace with maple syrup and turn out great everytime !!!
Yummers! Ate these while they were still slightly warm and loved ’em (so did the guy, even though he doesn’t always love pumpkin things)! And, I’d even “messed up” the recipe. Experienced a brain bubble and threw in the WHOLE can of pumpkin (an extra cup and a quarter- whoops!). Took about 11 mins longer to firm up (but we’d also swapped in whole wheat flour for the almond flour since we didn’t have any). Thanks for a delicious treat!
Brought these to a bible study, and everyone wanted the recipe! I was happy to send them to your website! Thanks!
Made these last nights and followed swaps posted by another reviewer (chicken egg for flax egg, cornstarch for arrowroot, regular sugar for coconut sugar) and they turned out fantastic! I reduced the sugar by 1/4 cup and may reduce it even further next time (as I like mildly sweet baked goods); the chocolate chips add a nice bit of sweetness.
Would it be possible to make these without almond flour?? Could i substitute whole wheat flour instead? Please help! Thank you:)
Hey Angela! I’ve baked these twice so far, and they are so so yummy! Thanks so much for the recipe, never knew baked goods could be so guilt free!!