Flourless Pumpkin Bars
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Indulge this holiday season with these healthy and gluten free Flourless Pumpkin Bars! So moist and comforting, this easy fall treat is perfectly spiced and finished with a sweet maple glaze.
The more pumpkin treats, the better! That’s what I always say. Especially when they’re healthy, sweet, and made with easy ingredients.
I’ve completely fallen for these naturally gluten and dairy free Flourless Pumpkin Bars. Not only are they made in one bowl, but the ingredients are super simple and perfect for those who aren’t looking to over do it with the holiday desserts. They also freeze well so you can enjoy them all season long or bring them along on a trip to the pumpkin patch.
Speaking of healthy pumpkin recipes, I think you’ll also get a kick out of my pumpkin pie overnight oats and creamy pumpkin hummus. Because who says you can’t eat pumpkin for every meal?
Recipe features
- No flour needed! These bars are completely flourless, gluten free, dairy free, and paleo (without the glaze).
- Each bite is super smooth and moist without needing any oil.
- A healthy fall treat that tastes like pumpkin pie filling!
Ingredient notes:
- Pumpkin – The canned stuff! Make sure it’s plain pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling.
- Almond butter – Creamy, all natural almond butter is best!
- Egg – Most flourless recipes call for an egg to help bind everything together. A flax egg, mashed banana, or ¼ cup of applesauce may work as a vegan replacement, but I haven’t tried it myself.
- Sugar – The natural sweetness from maple syrup and coconut sugar add the right amount of sweetness. These give the pumpkin bars the best flavors but you can use agave syrup, honey, and white sugar instead.
- Pumpkin pie spice – Use store-bought or make your own. All you need is ground cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and ginger. Keep it in your cupboard to use in pumpkin cakes, pies, and more!
- Maple glaze – This sweet decoration is made with maple syrup and powdered sugar. Keep the pumpkin bars paleo by drizzling maple syrup on top and omitting the sugar.
Step-by-step instructions
Step 1: Make the batter, then bake. Whisk the wet ingredients together in a bowl before adding the sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and baking soda. Pour the batter into a prepared dish and bake.
Step 2: Let them cool. When the bars are set, take them out of the oven and let them cool completely before removing them from the dish.
Step 3: Make the maple glaze. Whisk the maple syrup and powdered sugar together in a small bowl. Drizzle it on top of the cooled bars, then cut into small squares and enjoy!
Expert tips and FAQs
- Is the glaze too thick? Stir in ½ teaspoon of syrup to thin it out.
- Is the glaze too thin? Add 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar at a time until it’s as thick as you like.
- For faster cooling, place the baking dish with the freshly baked bars in the fridge.
- Mix fun add ins into the batter like chocolate chips, dried fruit, chopped pecans or walnuts, or shredded coconut.
Can they be made vegan?
The egg is the only ingredient you need to replace to make the flourless pumpkin bars vegan. Try swapping it for a flax egg, mashed banana, or ¼ cup of applesauce.
What else can you use to decorate them?
Top the bars with maple glaze or plain maple syrup, more pumpkin pie spice, whipped cream (or coconut whip), shredded coconut, chopped nuts, or maple tahini syrup.
Storage
- Refrigerator – The bars store well in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Freezer – Freeze the finished bars in a layer on a baking sheet. When they’re frozen solid, transfer them to an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.
More Paleo treats
If you made this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and star rating below. Thanks!
Flourless Pumpkin Bars
Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup pumpkin
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup almond butter, creamy
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp coconut sugar, or use cane sugar or brown sugar
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
for the glaze:
- 1 tbsp maple syrup, or more as needed
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper, leaving a 1" overhang for easy removal; set aside.
- Next, whisk the pumpkin, egg, almond butter, maple syrup, and vanilla together in a large bowl. Then, add the sugar, pumpkin spice spice and baking soda and stir until the mixture it smooth.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Place it into the oven and bake the bars for 30-35 minutes or until the center has set.
- Remove them from the oven and transfer the dish onto a cooling rack. Let the bars cool at room temperature for at least 20 minutes, then transfer them to the refrigerator. Allow the bars to cool completely before slicing (see notes below).
- Before serving, make the maple glaze: whisk maple syrup and powdered sugar together, then drizzle it over the bars.
- Slice into 9 large or 16 small bars and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Note: This post was originally published in September 2015. It was updated with new text and photos in September 2021.
So delicious!!
Thanks Angela! Glad you enjoyed the bars!
Delicious! But a word of caution…don’t use sunflower seed butter as a substitution for almond butter. My bars turned a horrendous shade of green. And sure enough…I researched afterwards and the baking soda causes a (harmless) reaction with the sunbutter and, well, turns the bars green.
This is good to know! Thanks for the tip. I’m glad you still liked the bars 🙂
I should have really paid attention to the “raw” part of this recipe because I followed the instructions and couldn’t figure out why the bars felt mushy and undercooked, even though I had them in the oven an extra 10 minutes. While the taste was really good – the texture was a tiny bit off putting. I love the fact that these are healthy but if you’re not a fan of moist and (sortof) mushy pumpkin, then maybe skip out on this one!
Can I make this as muffins?
Hmm unfortunately I don’t think that would work
My only problem with these bars is stoping eating them…oh well!!! I made a couple of minor changes: 2 eggs, double the spices and vanilla…I like lots…I omitted the sugar. 2nd bake I used cashew butter and it turned out yummy too. I did add room temp. 2 T cream cheese and extra maple syrup to taste to the glaze and some vanilla. When I gave a sample to a friend, she liked the bars but said the glaze was scary good! The combo is a winner and thanks for a creative recipe.
Love these modifications, and I’m so happy you like the bars!
I substituted the sugar and maple syrup with monkfruit and added pecans and it was great! I didn’t make the frosting. Highly recommend… one of my husbands favorite no sugar recipes!
I’m so happy you both enjoy them!
Made these for a friend who’s gluten free, dairy free and has an egg allergy! She loved them! Switched out maple syrup with honey since my maple syrup may contain wheat and milk and switched the egg with apple sauce!
I’m really excited about these. My kitchen smells amazing!! I subbed out the almond butter for sunflower butter which I whipped in the food processor to make smooth & creamy. I doubled the recipe and baked 40 mins. Perfect.
These sound delicious. Mashed sweet potato should work in place of the pumpkin, I’d think? Wanna bring them to a family gathering and “Sweet potato bars” sound less like fall…(I personally don’t care, I bake pumpkin bread all year long! Cinnamon and nutmeg for the win! : ) : )
Yes, I think mashed sweet potato should work just fine!
Yes, it worked beautifully! I just now put some in the oven, this time pumpkin with some added dark choc chips. ❤️
I cooked then for 45 minutes and weren’t done!
Yes I must’ve not cooked long enough cause they fell right apart. But I was worried they were burning! Otherwise they have great flavor!