Made these healthy pumpkin bars 3 times in a week. First batch was gone in less than 24 hours – bars are that good! Second batch went as fast. Third one lived long enough to photograph.

I don’t cook a ton with pumpkin, so when I do the end result better be worth my time. These bars are easy, moist, a little bit crumbly and super filling thanks to almonds and oatmeal. After you eat one or two you won’t be hungry for a while.

I do foresee some questions and comments.:)

Can I Substitute Sugar with Honey?

I used 1/2 cup of cane sugar for a reason that a can of pumpkin puree adds a lot of moisture to the recipe. In fact, so much you don’t need any oil. That’s fantastic, however if you add liquid sweetener like honey or maple syrup, batter will become even more runny and will require more dry ingredients to absorb them. Which throws off teh recipe completely.

You can use coconut sugar as well. The above mentioned sugars are as good as honey, in my opinion. There is a lot of information about healthy types of sugars you can google but we won’t get into that right now.

Short answer is “no”.

Can I Use Different Flour?

OK. Think of baking as a science. It’s like “a chemical lab” where formulas do matter. My mom could never bake because she never followed a recipe. That’s the main reason she “can’t bake”. For pumpkin bars to turn out properly please use almond flour and oat flour a.k.a ground oatmeal. Both are widely available and affordable.

How to Make Healthy Pumpkin Bars

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line square baking dish with unbleached parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs for 10 seconds. Add pumpkin puree, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, vanilla, baking soda and salt; whisk until well combined.
Add almond and oat flours, whisk until well mixed. Add chocolate chips and give a few stirs with a spatula.
Transfer to previously prepared baking dish and level with spatula. Bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and let cool for a couple hours or completely. Cut into 16 squares and enjoy!