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Home » Recipes » Baking Recipes

The Best Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars (V + GF)

Published: Nov 4, 2023 · Modified: Sep 28, 2024 by Simply Fresh Foodie · This post may contain affiliate links · 2 Comments

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These vegan pumpkin chocolate chip oatmeal bars are the perfect healthy snack. Made with simple ingredients, these chocolate chip pumpkin bars are as easy as they are delicious. Best served with a cup of coffee!

vegan pumpkin chocolate chip oat bars
pumpkin chocolate chip oatmeal bars

These healthy pumpkin oat bars are the dream. Spiced pumpkin flavour, melty chocolate chips and a lovely texture from rolled oats, this sweet treat is the cosy snack you've been looking for. 

Packed with healthy ingredients, these granola bars are a great addition to your baking roster and a great way to take advantage of pumpkin season. They also make the perfect breakfast for a slow weekend morning and are also gluten-free when made with coconut flour and gluten-free oats. 

The best part is that they also make a healthy-ish dessert option. They're: 

  • A tasty way to incorporate veggies, thanks to pumpkin puree
  • Made without any refined sugar, thanks to coconut sugar
  • Gluten-free, thanks to a combo of oat flour and coconut flour (as long as you use certified gluten-free oats)
  • 100% vegan-friendly

Making Your Own Pumpkin Puree

While canned pumpkin might make this recipe easier, it's not strictly necessary. It's perfectly fine to make your own pumpkin puree, which is easier than you might expect. 

If you're doing lots of pumpkin-themed baking, feel free to make a big batch, using some for this recipe at saving the rest for later. You can even eat it alone as a side, with a bit of salt and spice added for flavour. 

To make your own pumpkin puree: 

  • Pour a bag of frozen pumpkin chunks into a colander or steamer basket
  • Fill a large pot with about ½ - 1 inch of boiling water
  • Steam the pumpkin by placing the colander or steamer basket into the pot
  • Turn the heat to high, and cover the bot (and colander/basket) with a lid
  • Steam for about 10-15 minutes, until all pumpkin is defrosted and soft
  • Remove the pumpkin from the pot, letting it sit in the colander or steamer basket for a few minutes, so any excess water can drain away
  • Blend steamed pumpkin until smooth

Making Your Own Oat Flour

You’ll also see that this recipe calls for oat flour. Again, this is super simple to make yourself. 

All you need to do is put your oats in a blender, and blend until they’ve become a fine powdery flour. We recommend doing this as the very first step so that you can have all your ingredients ready to go as you bake these oatmeal bars.

What You Need to Make This Recipe

vegan pumpkin chocolate chip oatmeal bars on baking sheet

Dry ingredients

  • Coconut sugar: If you don't have coconut sugar, brown sugar will work 
  • Oat flour: This recipe is best made with oat flour - to make it yourself, simply blend oats in a high-speed blender until powdery. 
  • Oats: Rolled oats work best for this recipe. In a pinch, you can use quick oats, but note that they'll be less textured. 
  • Coconut flour: Coconut flour keeps these gluten-free, but feel free to swap for all-purpose flour or a 50/50 mix of all-purpose and whole wheat flour. Using only whole wheat flour will make these bars too dry and is not recommended. 
  • Baking powder: Baking powder is a must, so make sure you have this on hand. 
  • Pumpkin pie spice/ mixed spice: Pumpkin or mixed spice adds a delicious autumn flavour. If you don't have either of these, you can use a 50/50 mix of cinnamon and ground nutmeg. 
  • Pinch of sea salt: A small pinch of salt adds complexity - don't leave it out!
  • Vegan chocolate chips: If you're not vegan, you can use any milk or dark chocolate chips. 

Wet ingredients

  • Pumpkin puree: This is essential. See notes on making it yourself above. 
  • Coconut oil: Coconut oil tastes great in these bars, but if you don't have it you can use any neutral-tasting oil (not olive oil) or melted butter instead. 
  • Vanilla extract: Vanilla adds a hint of flavour and is highly recommended but not 100% essential. 
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Chocolate chip pumpkin oatmeal bars on a baking tray.

The Best Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars (V + GF)


5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 2 reviews

  • Author: Simply Fresh Foodie
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 12 squares 1x
  • Diet: Vegan
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Description

These vegan pumpkin chocolate chip oatmeal bars are the perfect healthy snack. Made with simple ingredients, these chocolate chip pumpkin bars are as easy as they are delicious. Best served with a cup of coffee!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 cup coconut sugar
  • ½ cup pumpkin puree, canned or homemade (see notes above)
  • ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup oat flour, see notes above for how to make
  • ½ cup rolled oats
  • ¼ cup coconut flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice/mixed spice
  • 1 pinch of sea salt
  • ½-¾ cup chocolate chips

Instructions

  1. If you don't already have oat flour, blend 1 cup of oats to make oat flour.
  2. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, mix coconut sugar, pumpkin puree, coconut oil, and vanilla.
  4. Once well combined, add in oat flour, oats, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and sea salt.
  5. Finally, stir through chocolate chips until they're evenly distributed. The batter should look somewhat crumbly but still stick together. If you find that your batter is too dry, add a little extra pumpkin puree.
  6. Line a 20x20 centimetre (8x8 inches) square baking pan/baking dish with parchment paper.
  7. Spoon batter into the pan, pressing it down as you do to distribute it in an even layer. We recommend using the back of a metal spoon to press the batter into an even layer. Top with a few extra chocolate chips if desired. 
  8. Bake for 30 minutes, and remove from oven. Let cool at room temperature, ensuring the bars have cooled completely before slicing into squares. These oatmeal pumpkin bars will stay good for up to a week when kept in an airtight container. (Pro tip: they also taste great re-heated and topped with a drizzle of peanut butter or almond butter!)
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Category: Dessert, Snack
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American

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Comments

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  1. Jacqui says

    November 21, 2021 at 4:04 pm

    Amazing recipe, easy to follow! I love that they are not only vegan, but gluten free also.

    Reply
    • Simply Fresh Foodie says

      February 23, 2022 at 8:07 am

      Thanks Jacqui! So happy to hear. I love that you loved this recipe 🙂

      Reply

Simply Fresh Foodie is a cooking blog dedicated to making cooking healthy, fun, and easy! Sharing recipes that centre around simplicity, vegetarian cooking and starting the day on the right foot, Simply Fresh Foodie hopes to bring more of the good stuff into your life. Whether you’re fully plant-based or simply looking to add a few new easy recipes to your repertoire, we hope you find what you’re looking for.

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