When is the last time you found a safe treat for you to enjoy? It has probably been a while, right? The Grain-Free Pumpkin Bars are an example of a snack I wish I could find in a café or restaurant for us folks with food allergies and sensitivities!
Today I introduce to you one of my dream treats, and I hope you will try it along with the Grain-Free Pumpkin Tarts and Grain-Free Pumpkin Cookies!
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Grain-Free Pumpkin Bars
When I’m busy with work, or out and about, gosh I often wish I could easily grab a snack somewhere. The reality is that it’s not possible! There’s just always something I can’t or shouldn’t eat in everything—even the healthier meals and desserts!
If you too have reduced or eliminated grains in your life, this might be a treat for you to bake. It’s also gluten-free, vegan, nut-free and allergen-friendly.
Hope you try the Grain-Free Pumpkin Bars—tarts and the cookies!
How-To Video
What to Expect
The Grain-Free Pumpkin Bars are amazing if you like oat granola bars but can’t eat them. If you love snacks with lots of bits and texture—these will be perfect for you!
Keep in mind these can be customized with ingredients you have on hand! If you don’t have raisins, consider replacing them with chopped dates.
Overview
This recipe includes a few preparation steps:
Mill the seeds into a fine flour
Mix the ingredients
Shape the dough
Add toppings
Bake
Cool, slice and enjoy!
Tips
Bake your bar mixture on the middle oven rack to ensure proper distribution of heat!
Alternatives
If you’re not allergic to nuts consider making the bars with nuts. Almond meal/flour would be a great alternative to tiger nut flour.
If pumpkin is not your thing but you would like to try the bars, try making the recipe with your favourite squash or even sweet potatoes.
Organic Ingredients
These bars are a great example of a recipe that can benefit from using the best organic baking ingredients. Organic raw seeds, coconut, raisins, coconut palm sugar, maple syrup, the flours, etc. are so much better purchased organically when possible.
Thing is if you follow a grain-free, gluten-free, and mostly plant-based lifestyle is most likely because you do appreciate nutrition or you have a health condition that benefits from consuming the best ingredients when possible.
Useful Tools
- Baking Sheet/Cookie Sheet
- Spatula
- Spoon(s)
- Measuring Cups/Spoons
- Unbleached Parchment Paper
- Mixing Bowls
- Blender/Spice Grinder
- Sifter
- Large knife
Previous Recipe
If you haven’t checked it out yet, the Grain-Free Pumpkin Cookies recipe was the previous allergen-friendly creation on Fresh is Real!
They’re the cookies that used the pumpkin tart filling from the Grain-Free Pumpkin Tarts recipe. One can reserve a little for these bars as well!
Grain-Free Pumpkin Tarts
If you love grain-free dessert recipes, please make sure to check out the Grain-Free Pumpkin Tarts that are made with the same combination of ingredients!
PrintGrain-Free Pumpkin Bars
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 bars 1x
- Category: Desserts, Snacks
- Method: Oven-Baked
- Cuisine: Grain-Free, Gluten-Free, Vegan, Nut-Free, Allergen-Friendly
Description
The perfect Grain-Free Pumpkin Bars for a quick snack or healthy treat! These bars includes a lot of nutritious ingredients that are gluten-free, vegan, nut-free, and allergen-friendly.
To make these bars, you will need some organic pumpkin purée or 1/4 cup of the tart filling from the Grain-Free Pumpkin Tarts recipe.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup tiger nut flour, sifted*
- 3/4 cup raw sunflower seed flour (or combo sunflower/pumpkin seeds)**
- 1/4 cup coconut palm sugar
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, softened
- 1/4 cup flaxseed meal
- 1/4 cup water, room temperature***
- 1/2 teaspoon fine ground sea salt
- 1/4 cup Grain-Free Pumpkin Tart filling or canned pumpkin purée (or homemade)****
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (plus extra for top)
- 1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds (plus extra for top)
- 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds (plus extra for top)
- 2 tablespoons hemp seeds (optional)
Useful Tools
- Baking Sheet/Cookie Sheet
- Spatula
- Spoon(s)
- Measuring Cups/Spoons
- Unbleached Parchment Paper
- Mixing Bowls
- Blender/Spice Grinder
- Sifter
- Large knife
Instructions
Before you begin, please watch this helpful video.
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350° F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Step 2
To make the bars, it’s simple, to a large bowl mix the first 9 ingredients together until smooth and then add in the raisins, coconut, seeds and mix a little more until well combined.
Step 3
Transfer the bar mixture onto your lined baking sheet and pat down and shape into a rectangle (approx. 8×10-in by 3/4-in thick). You can add some extra coconut and seeds to the top of the bars if you wish. See how-to video.
Step 4
Bake the bars for 25 minutes, on the middle rack, until edges are golden.
Step 5
Remove the bars from the oven and cool on baking sheet for 10-20 minutes then on a wire rack until completely cooled. You can cut it into 8 bars once cooled on the baking sheet before transferring them to the wire rack or once completely cooled on a cutting board.
Step 6
Enjoy your bars fresh or refrigerated! You can store them in a glass container in the refrigerator for a week or freeze them for longer.
Notes
*If you don’t have allergies to nuts, you can use almond meal/flour for this recipe as an alternative to tiger nut flour. In a pinch, you could test the recipe to include more pumpkin and sunflower seed flour instead of tiger nut flour.
**To make the seed flour, use spice/coffee grinder, dry container blender or a grain mill. The seeds for the flour don’t need to be soaked.
*** If you happen to cook your pumpkin, squash or sweet potato in a pot with a little water, reserve the cooking water for the bars.
**** Fresh is always best, but organic canned purée will work equally well for this recipe.