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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.

healthy pumpkin bars stacked on plate

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

healthy pumpkin bar ingredients

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.

pumpkin bar ingredients mixed in glass bowl

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.

vinegar mixed into batter and poured into pan

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.

baked pumpkin bars in the pan and sliced

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!

maple pecan glaze on top of pumpkin bar

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!

plain pumpkin bar eaten on black plate

More Pumpkin Recipes

Looking for more pumpkin inspiration? Try these!

healthy pumpkin bars stacked on plate

Healthy Pumpkin Bars

4.88 from 171 votes
Healthy Pumpkin Bars are naturally gluten-free, made without flour or refined sugar! They are amazingly light and fluffy, using simple, real food ingredients.
prep10 mins cook35 mins total45 mins
Servings:9

Ingredients
  

Pumpkin Bars

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.
    pumpkin bar ingredients mixed in glass bowl
  • 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.
    vinegar mixed into batter and poured into pan
  • 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.
    baked pumpkin bars in the pan and sliced
  • 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 information is for 1 of 9 bars. This information is automatically calculated, and is just an estimate, not a guarantee. For a lower-calorie treat, slice the bars into 16 squares instead.
If you don't have pumpkin pie spice, use 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg and 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves to replace the 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice.
For a vegan, grain-free recipe, try my Vegan & Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bars.
 

Nutrition

Calories: 147kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 41mg | Sodium: 142mg | Potassium: 156mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 2177IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 61mg | Iron: 1mg
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: healthy pumpkin bars

If you try these healthy pumpkin bars soon, please leave a star rating and comment below letting me know how you like them!

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Megan Gilmore leaning on her white countertop.

Megan Gilmore

Hi, I’m Megan. A former fast food junkie turned best-selling cookbook author. I create healthy recipes made with simple ingredients to make your life easier.

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Comments

  1. Excellent recipe! Tastes like a real pumpkin bar! My husband is diabetic so I try to lessen the sweetness in the glaze. It’s great without it! I have a question.
    Does 147 calories for 1/9 I include the glaze?

  2. I have made this recipe with the glaze for Thanksgiving and it was a hit! This year we have some vegan folks. Do you think it would work with a flax or chia egg?

  3. These. Were. Amazing! I placed chopped pecans and dark chocolate chips on top before baking. Honestly, they didn’t need any extra flavor and next time I probably won’t add the chocolate chips (I’ll probably keep pecans bc I love the crunch). These were wonderfully Devine and everyone in my family loved them- whether they had dietary restrictions or not.

    1. No, the almond butter acts as the flour and oil for this recipe, so I don’t think applesauce will give you the same structure.

  4. I made this tonight and followed the recipe with a few minor exceptions. I used baking powder, put the batter in a silicone cupcake mold, and baked them in the air fryer for 12 minutes because that is what I had on hand. I added the coffee to the glaze and had such a hard time containing myself from eating all the cupcakes!

    I loved this recipe. It is incredibly easy and extra delicious. I’ll be baking it on repeat!

  5. These are delicious. I love how simple and light they are. I triple the recipe so I can use up the entire can of pumpkin. I do not put the topping on but I bet it’s delicious! Thank you.

  6. These are SO GOOD!!! I don’t even make the Maple Glaze and everyone loves them. I mix the pecans that would have been in the glaze into the batter. These are one of our favorites of all time!