“What did you do as a child that created timelessness that made you forget time? There lies the myth to live by.”
I figure one pumpkin recipe is a must for the start of each fall, so here you go! A [basically] raw dessert that’s packed full of spice, oats, pumpkin and chocolate—how can one go wrong here?! Ya can’t.
I have been seeing this meme a lot lately about how blogs go on and on in the intro about their personal life when all you want is the damn recipe…this hit hard for me because that’s exactly what I do! Anyways…I’ll try to make these intros short and sweet, but I mean, I also love to spill my thoughts here, so you get what you get!
Back to the excitement of these bars! If you haven’t caught on yet, my entire world changed 8 months ago when little O was born! Do I have less time to do things? Sure. Am I always running after him now and making sure he doesn’t eat the dog food? Of course. Do I love every dang second with this guy? Hell yes! Even though my life is quite different now that I have this wild boy, I didn’t want to just STOP baking. I want him to be that kid whose mom makes the best dessert that his friends get excited about coming over for! Duh. But now I need to do things at DOUBLE SPEED. His naps are becoming less and less as he gets older and his ability to just stay in one spot is nonexistent! Which is why I’m about #quickbaking for us parents!
These bars take 5-10 minutes to throw together, or if you have a baby who is trying to eat all of the dirt in your potted plants, it may take you about 20. From there, throw these babies into the oven for about 25 minutes and BAM! you’ve got the gooiest, perfectly sweet lovely little snacks.
Super allergen friendly if that’s something you’re worried about, too! Gluten free, vegan (if you think honey isn’t vegan, sub that for agave or maple syrup!), nut free! They aren’t over-the-top sweet which is my jam these days, they have the PERFECT flavor of pumpkin, of spices, of chocolate—honestly, they blow all other pumpkin desserts and snacks out of the water!
ingredients
Oats—12 oz, or 4 C
Baking Powder—1 tsp
Cinnamon—2 tsp (heaping)
Nutmeg—1 tsp
Ginger—1 tsp
Cloves—½ tsp
Salt—1 tsp
Pumpkin purée—8.5 oz, or 1 C
Banana, mashed—1 small, or ½ large, about 3.5 oz
Coconut Oil, melted—2.75 oz, or 1/3 C
Honey—4 oz, or 1/3 C
Chocolate Chips—8 oz, or 1 C
process
Preheat your oven to 350˚F
In a large bowl, combine your oats, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger and salt
Mix to combine
Mix in the pumpkin purée and mashed banana
Add the melted oil
Fold in the chocolate chips
Put into an 8” x 8” baking pan
Bake for 22-25 minutes, until the center looks set
Allow to cool either at room temperature or in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes
Cut into squares, I did 16 for this batch
Store in a sealed container in the fridge!
Bon Appétit!