Healthy Pumpkin Bars are made without flour or refined sugar, and are surprisingly light and fluffy! They are one of my favorite grain-free desserts for the Fall, and once you taste them, I think you’ll fall in love with them, too.
Inspired by my Paleo Banana Snack Cake, this recipe uses almond butter instead of flour. It’s amazing how when you pair it with eggs and a little honey, it becomes quite cake-like!
Ingredients You’ll Need
What’s in healthy pumpkin bars?
- Almond butter
- Pumpkin puree
- Eggs
- Honey
- Pumpkin pie spice
If you don’t have almond butter on hand, cashew butter also makes a similar substitute. I’ve tested this recipe using peanut butter, and the results aren’t quite as delicious, because the peanut flavor competes with the pumpkin flavor too much.
For best results, I recommend using a “raw” or non-roasted nut butter, for the most mild flavor.
How to Make Pumpkin Bars
1. Mix. Combine the almond butter, pumpkin, honey, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt in a large bowl, and stir until very smooth.
Once the batter is mixed, add in the vinegar and stir again. You’ll notice that lighter swirls will start to appear as you mix, and that is the reaction between the baking soda and vinegar.
This will help the bars rise even better, and will help to avoid an aftertaste from the baking soda.
2. Bake. Pour the mixture into a lined or greased 8-inch pan, and bake at 350ºF for 35 to 40 minutes.
When the pumpkin bars are done, the center should rise, without jiggling in the middle when you shake the pan.
3. Slice. Let the bars cool completely in the pan, then slice into squares and serve right away.
These pumpkin bars are lightly sweet on their own, but I like topping them with a quick maple pecan glaze for an extra-special dessert. To make it, you just need to blend a few ingredients together!
This glaze is naturally sweetened and will NOT set like one made with powdered sugar, so it’s best to drizzle it over the bars right as you serve them, with a few chopped pecans on top.
They taste so impressive this way!
Pro Tip: For an even deeper flavor, swap the water in the Maple Pecan Glaze for black coffee. The maple coffee flavor is also excellent on these healthy pumpkin bars.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I swap the sweetener? This recipe should work well with a 1/2 cup of maple syrup to replace the honey. II’ve also tested it with 2/3 cup of coconut sugar, but the texture changes slightly when you swap a liquid sweetener for a granulated one.
I don’t work with zero calorie sweeteners, so I don’t know how this will work with a sweetener like stevia.
Can I make this vegan? Try my Vegan & Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bars recipe, for an egg-free recipe that is already tested for you.
Or try my Vegan Pumpkin Muffins, if you prefer to work with oat flour.
Can I make pumpkin puree from scratch? Check out my how to cook pumpkin tutorial, for the easiest way to make pumpkin puree at home!
More Pumpkin Recipes
Looking for more pumpkin inspiration? Try these!
- Pumpkin Ice Cream
- Vegan Pumpkin Donuts
- Oat Flour Pumpkin Bread
- Pumpkin Overnight Oats
- Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Pumpkin Spice Latte
Healthy Pumpkin Bars
Ingredients
Pumpkin Bars
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup almond butter
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Maple Pecan Glaze
- 3/4 cup pecans , plus extra chopped for serving
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- 1/4 cup water (or coffee)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin, almond butter, honey, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and baking soda, and stir until very smooth.
- Add the vinegar into the batter, and stir again. The batter will have lighter swirls in it, from the baking soda reacting to the vinegar. This will help the bars rise and remove any baking soda flavor in the final bars, so keep stirring until the batter looks uniform. Pour into a greased 8-inch baking dish, lined with parchment paper for easy removal later.
- Bake at 350ºF for about 35 minutes, until the bars rise in the center and don't jiggle when you shake the pan. Cool completely, then slice and serve.
- To make the optional Maple Pecan Glaze, combine the pecans, maple syrup, coconut oil, water, vanilla, and salt. Blend until very smooth, scraping down the blender as needed. You can add a tablespoon of water, as needed, to help it blend. Pour the glaze over the bars, and serve right away with chopped pecans on top.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
If you try these healthy pumpkin bars soon, please leave a star rating and comment below letting me know how you like them!
—
Reader Feedback: Which Fall dessert would you like to see next?
SaveSaveSaveSave
Did you melt the coconut oil before mixing it?
Made these for midnight snack, they are that quick and easy to make. One can of pumpkin is 1 1/2 cups so tripling this recipe and using a 9×13 pan is a no brainer! Also, these remind me of gingerbread, I think next time I will use those spices instead of pumpkin pie spice and see if this recipe could work for grainfree gingerbread! Thanks!
These are one of the best pumpkin bars I’ve made!! Love that it’s nice and fluffy!
Wow, I can’t get over how almond butter bakes up so much like a regular baked good, except maybe even better. Sooo good! My hubby is torturing himself by waiting to have a piece with his morning coffee. I had one now and I’m saving one for breakfast. I had some leftover caramel glaze that I used on top and that just put it over the top. I can’t even feel guilty (except for the glaze!) with the good ingredients. Definitely making this again!
Yeah, I just cut mine into 6 pieces. Treating it like a piece of cake and cakes needs to be a bit bigger.
Did I gush enough?
Just made this and it is perfect! The texture is bread-like even without any flour. I made it exactly as directed using the individual spices. I did not, however, care for the maple glaze. I will continue to look for an alternative nondairy glaze recipe to top this delicious dessert.
Looks so good! Any suggestions to an alternative to using nut butter? Thanks!
Any chance you could sub almond paste for almond butter? Just have that and not the butter…
I love your recipes, im going to make this one .
Im Just wondering , can i make my own pumpkin purê and freeze? Since i dont find in can in my country .
Thanks
Any chance you have nutrition information?
Was wondering if you could use peanut butter instead of almond butter. Can only find honey almond butter.
Would replacing the honey with applesauce work? I also need to leave out the vanilla extract. Trying to do 100% no sugar, flour, wheat, alcohol, or any kind of sweeteners…
our oven is not working! do you think this recipe would work well on a waffle iron?
They might be a little fragile, but I think that would work! Let us know how it goes for you!
Made them as waffles tonight & they were absolutely delicious!! Thabk you so much for such a wonderful recipe ☺️
Thank you so much for this recipe! I added vanilla protein powder. I have already made them twice! I didn’t make the icing.
Fabulous recipe!!!! My kids love them. Thanks for the great recipe 🙂
I make these all the time for about 3 years now. They are the best!!! Sometimes I add walnuts, sometimes I don’t. Thank you for making such wonderful recipes and sharing them. You are awesome.
These are the best bars ever! I even traveled overseas with them as my airline snack. Think I have made at least three batches.
I make these pumpkin bars every week to have in the morning with tea. I don’t add the frosting. They are wonderful plain. I have been grain free for a few years now, and really have a difficult time finding good recipes for baking. This one is definitely at the top. Wonderful texture and flavor!
Made these today…. Amazing!!! Thanks for the recipe
Hi! I have left myself to last for Thanksgiving and would like to have at least one acceptable treat to enjoy on Thanksgiving day tomorrow. I don’t know if you will read this by then or not but I thought I’d try. I do not have any almond butter :(. But I have lots of bananas that need to be used up. How do you think it would turn out if I did pumpkin and banana sans the nut butter? If you suggest that it wouldn’t do well the only other option I have is some organic peanut butter. I’m not that much of a baker so I’d love to hear what you think!
Thank you!
Annmarie
Unforunately, I don’t think banana would make a good sub for almond butter. Almond butter really dries up with baking, more similar to flour, and gives these bars structure. I’m afraid they’d be really moist and egg-y with banana. Peanut butter would give you the right texture, but will change the flavor a lot– more like peanut butter-flavored pumpkin bars. If you’re okay with that, go for it!
This is my fifth time making this recipe in just three months. I don’t make sweets too often because I LOOOOVE them and will eat AAAALLLLL of them before I have the chance to give them away! Anyway, I LOVE these. I always do healing teaspoons for the pumpkin pie spice and it’s turned out great; never overwhelming. I have doubled the recipe and it increases my bake time by ten minutes. Turns out just as moist and just takes longer to cool. Also, the maple pecan glaze is a must. I sort of eyeball things but mostly stick to the portions. It whips up in my vitamix so well! I’ve considered freezing it and serving it as a dairy-free ice cream. Have you tried this?? Thanks for this DELICIOUS recipe and helping me satisfy my sweet tooth without gaining 20 lbs just by looking at it!
We have successfully substituted monkfuit extract for the honey, making it keto friendly! Love these bars. We also like to add chopped walnuts or pecans and lily’s chocolate chips or another sugar-free brand of chips. Yum!
I just made these for the first time and they’re delicious! Thank you—I love a good pumpkin recipe and this is definitely a keeper!
Great bars!! We make them often. Do you know the carb count for these?
I just made these and oh my goodness! I just let them cool down enough so I could get two bars out of the pan. One for me and the other for my husband who is absolutely in love with your recipes Megan! I didn’t make any icing – they are so perfect straight out of the pan. I used maple syrup instead of honey, but otherwise I followed the recipe. I can’t wait to make these again and to share the recipe with friends.
These are delicious; however, I wanted to make mine a little less moist, so I took out 1 tbsp pumpkin and baked 10 more mins. It worked!
I have gestational diabetes, but I love desserts and all things fall/pumpkin, so I’m super excited about this low-carb pumpkin recipe that also has protein! I’ll admit I haven’t actually made it as-written yet, but I did do a modified version as a small 2-serving microwave cake (kind of like a mug cake, but I cooked it in a 3×3 pyrex dish) and it turned out pretty great. I used: 1 large egg, 1/4 cup pumpkin, 2 Tbsp almond butter, 2 Tbsp honey, 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice, and 1/2 tsp baking soda. My almond butter had salt added, so I left out the salt. Whisk all the ingredients together, pour into small dish, and microwave for 3.5-4 minutes. Perfect snack with a great balance of carbs & protein!
My batter was very liquid. They are cooking now. I cannot imagine them solidifying. ????
I did everything exact.
These were delicious! So easy to make too! My 13 month old only napped for 30 minutes today, and I was able to make everything in that time. Husband, Momma and toddler approved :). Look forward to trying more of your recipes 🙂
Oh that glaze! Just sampled it off my spatula and it is delicious and sweet. My pecan-hating husband even likes it.
The squares are currently cooling and the glaze is now thickening up in the fridge. My family is coming for dinner tonight and this is going to be the perfect pumpkin dessert! Love your recipes!!!
Thanks
They were delicious! Light and fluffy. I will definitely be making these again!
I have made these several times and I use Agave in place of honey. These come out wonderful! I was thinking of making .them chocolately by adding unsweetened cocoa powder. Your thoughts on this addition and how much would I need to use?
I love this recipe! Subbing maple syrup for honey tastes great too. I am going to make it again for dessert tonight! Thank you!
Is it possible to make it without honey? Just to omit it without any substitute?
Fantastic! This couldn’t be easier to make and the batch didn’t even last long enough to make the maple glaze. My 14 y.o. helped me make the recipe with a dubious expression on his face. After a careful sniff and tentative bite, that expression changed to sheer delight and a 20 out of 10 rating on his food meter. 🙂 Thank you so much for such a great alternative to the box brownies he has been addicted to recently.
Yummy! I’ve made this several times now and my family loves it. I tripled the recipe (but only used 2/3 c honey) and baked it in a 9×13 pan. I only keep peanut butter on hand, and boy is it delicious in this recipe. Thanks for developing this one.
Just made these on the 1st snowy day in New Jersey and they are delicious! I didn’t even put the maple glaze on yet! Megan I Love your recipes. Definitely making these for Thanksgiving
I used 1/3 cup maple syrup in place of honey and it came out great! Thanks for the recipe.
I had a big pie pumpkin ready for something so I made a double batch. Seems to have come out just fine in an 8”x10” pan. I cleaned out my pantry and found a bunch of baking cocoa so I threw in enough to make the batter look chocolatey. It was about 1/3 cup.
I just pulled the pan out of the oven and they look and smell fabulous. I’ll follow up after the taste test.
I doubled the pumpkin purée to 1 cup and halved the almond butter to 1/4 cup. This lightened up the fat content and was yummy. It take a little longer to cook completely, about 35 minutes.
I thought honey has lots of sugar?
Hi Megan! We love this recipe so much in our house. It never lasts, but in prepping for the school year to start I am going to try to freeze them. I am thinking of trying to do a massive amount of muffin baking to freeze and these are just such a wonderful treat too!
Could these be made with Stevia or Stevia Erythritol mix?
These bars are the absolute bestest bars ever! I don’t eat Paleo but my daughter does, I’m going to make because there so delicious and I’m trying to stay away from boxed and Cartoned baked good! Superb!!!!! Thanks!
Amazing! Halved the recipe as I am only baking for me hahaha! Going to make a cream cheese frosting and enjoy for the week!
I haven’t tried these yet, but that for the substation suggestions. My daughter recently has become extremely sensitive to all nuts and nut butters, so the sunflower substitute be given a try!
Such a great, quick recipe, perfect every time. Also very toddler-friendly!
Hi!
That looks super delicious and tempting. Healthy and gluten free… super excited to try it….
This is my go-to fall recipe year after year. It takes less than 10 min to make (minus baking time) and is a hit with EVERYONE – gluten-free fans and gluten-full fans alike. Instead of the glaze I add about 1/3 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips. Half mixed into the batter and half on top of batter before placing in the oven. So good!
Hi, thanks for such a great recipe. I’m planning to make these tomorrow and was curious to know if this recipe doubles well, also, what size pan you would recommend for a double batch. Thanks!
I have never used the glaze for this recipe and feel like they are fine just as they are for a perfect fall treat! I always make a double batch and use a 9×13 pan with the same amount of cooking time. I have used honey as the sweetener until tonight. I didn’t have any honey on hand so I used maple syrup. I really like them with the maple syrup- maybe even more than the honey! It seems to give the bars a nice sweet taste that isn’t over powering. The maple flavor goes really well with everything and makes a great cohesive flavor of these bars!
Oh my gosh, I made these with the glaze to go with Thanksgiving dinner and they’re delicious!
I substituted walnuts for the pecans in the glaze since I was out of pecans and it worked out great!
This is definitely a keeper for me and I will be making them more often than for Thanksgiving.