Today I threw caution to the wind and decided to get back into the kitchen, regardless of finger pain. I have to be honest… I’ve been going through serious withdrawal! I kept vacillating on cooking/baking because I’m being so cautious with moving my finger but I can’t do it anymore! So after my workout, taxing to school, doc appointment and walk with the dog I got to it. And I cooked and baked until I had to leave to pick my daughter up and I have to tell you – it felt so good! I felt like myself, finally!
To celebrate the first full day of fall that meant apple and pumpkin cooking in my kitchen. I made my muffin pan mini apple pies because my family wouldn’t let up on how good they were (a big ol’ hint for me to make more) and these pumpkin bars. I wanted a nice moist bar without added butter and less sugar than the typical bar recipes. I wanted these for breakfast to-go ideas and for after-school snacking. They are just perfect and totally portable.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup of unbleached all-purpose flour (I used King Arthur)
1/4 cup of whole wheat flour (King Arthur brand is my choice)
1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed
1/8 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt (I used sea salt)
2 eggs, room temperature
1 heaping cup of pumpkin puree
1/2 cup of light brown sugar
1/4 cup of Greek yogurt (I used Cabot Greek vanilla)
1/4 cup of almond milk (unsweetened)
1 tablespoon of coconut oil
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract or paste
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and spray your pan (8×8 pan) with baking spray with flour. Set aside.
In a bowl, mix the flours, cinnamon, flax, nutmeg, powder, soda and salt together. Set that aside. In your stand mixer with paddle attached, blend the eggs, pumpkin, brown sugar, Greek yogurt, almond milk, coconut oil and vanilla until blended. Then add your dry mixture to the wet and blend until just incorporated. Scrape the sides down well and blend for another few seconds. Then pour into your prepared pan. Again, I used an 8×8 glass pan. I baked the bars for 30-32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted came out clean. Remove and let cool prior to slicing. Then slice into 9 bars. Enjoy!
— Knead to Cook
Moving these to the top of pumpkin recipes to make this fall. Yum!
Regan, They are really good! Perfect with a cup of tea or coffee. Hey did you get the honey?
I think I “knead” these too! Just found your site on FoodGawker and I’m super excited! I have pumpkin left over from my weekend extravaganza and I think I need a healthier recipe to use it up! These look moist and amazing! Do you think unsweetened soy milk would be okay? I don’t usually buy almond.
Absolutely!!! I’m so happy you found me 🙂 oxox
Hey Robin!
These look so good! I want to try them! I was wondering as a vegan what you could use as a yogurt substitute? Maybe more almond milk?
Thanks!!!
Hi! This looks like something I definitely want to try. My husband is undergoing chemo and I’m looking for healthy protein bars I can make for him. I like that all the ingredients re things I have in my kitchen but I’m wondering if you know the nutritional breakdown. That would be helpful.
Thanks for sharing!
Rosemary
I don’t but you can plug it into any website that calculates calories etc. If you need assistance, write me back and I’ll happily do it for you 🙂