Pumpkin Gingerbread Snack Bars
Try this Pumpkin Gingerbread Snack Bars recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Pumpkin Gingerbread Snack Bars recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 cup pumpkin purã©e
- 1/3 cup blackstrap molasses
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar (or granulated sugar of choice)
- 1 + 1/2 cups gluten-free rolled oats
- 3/4 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour (i used pamela's bra see note)
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- heaping 1/3 cup dried cranberries.
- 2 tablespoons raw cashew butter
- 1 tablespoon agave nectar
- 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil melted
- pinch of cinnamon to taste
- Carbohydrate 7.77502176649851 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 5.00735341669239 g
- Fiber 0.355272494885036 g
- Protein 0.69813000001477 g
- Saturated Fat 3.26220950000386 g
- Serving Size 1 1 -12 bar (28g)
- Sodium 61.8004666750047 mg
- Sugar 7.41974927161348 g
- Trans Fat 0.27784750000426 g
- Calories 77 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-inch square pan with 2 pieces of parchment paper, one going each way.
- In a medium pot over medium heat, stir together the pumpkin, molasses, sugar, and oil. Heat until melted and combined. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
- In a blender or food processor, add the rolled oats. Blend on the lowest speed (or pulse, if using a processor) until roughly chopped. You don't want to pulverize it into a flour - the goal here is to keep a coarse texture, with some large pieces of oats and some smaller ones.
- In a large bowl, stir together the dry ingredients (oats, flour, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and cranberries).
- Scoop the wet ingredients over the dry and stir well until combined. The mixture will be very sticky and heavy. Totally normal...swear.
- Scoop the dough into the prepared square pan. Since the dough is so sticky and dense, it's challenging to spread out smoothly. I placed a piece of parchment paper on top of the dough and pressed down on it with my hands, trying to spread it out evenly as I went. It takes a bit of time, so don't worry! After pressing it as smoothly as I could, I placed a pastry roller on top of the parchment and rolled it smooth while pressing in the edges with my fingers.
- Bake in the oven, uncovered, for 22-25 minutes (I baked 23) until firm to the touch. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before lifting out the square and cooling it on a cooling rack for another 30 minutes. Slice into 10-12 bars.
- For the glaze (optional): In a small bowl stir together all the glaze ingredients until combined. Add the glaze into a plastic bag and snip off the corner so you can "pipe" it on the bars. Or simply spread the bars with the cashew mixture using a knife. Your call.
Baking dense, heavy doughs without gluten requires managing moisture differently than standard wheat-based recipes. This formula relies on rolled oats pulsed to a coarse texture in a food processor, which maintains structural integrity without turning into a fine flour. Without that mechanical step, the bars lack adequate binding and crumble under the knife.
Adapting for Dietary Preferences
Blackstrap molasses provides the characteristic deep bitterness required for gingerbread, balanced by coconut sugar. For alternative dietary needs, standard granulated sugar works at a one-to-one ratio, though the molasses profile should remain untouched. Raw cashew butter mixed with agave nectar creates a viable dairy-free glaze alternative when thinned with an extra half-tablespoon of melted coconut oil.
Managing Sticky Dough
The batter is exceptionally tacky. Pressing it directly into an eight-inch square pan lined with two perpendicular strips of parchment paper prevents tearing during extraction. Lay a secondary sheet of parchment across the top of the dough before using a pastry roller. This technique allows even distribution without tearing the surface. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 22 to 25 minutes until the center feels firm. Cool completely on a wire rack for 30 minutes before slicing into 10 distinct portions to prevent breakage.
