My nut-free Paleo Pumpkin Bars are super easy to throw together and fabulous for your Halloween and Thanksgiving celebrations. We love them so much that we make them all year round. That’s because I’m a total pumpkin-a-holic!
I love all things pumpkin and squash, including these velvety nut-free Paleo Pumpkin Bars. Baking with the odd shaped, brightly colored vegetables known as winter squash is one of my favorite things! Pumpkin itself is a type of winter squash, and I use a variety of winter squash in my pumpkin recipes.
For these Paleo Pumpkin Bars I chose roasted acorn squash. You could just as easily select sugar pumpkin, a smaller, denser, tastier version of the more ubiquitous pumpkins used for jack-o’-lanterns. These Paleo Pumpkin Bars would also be great with other types of squash such as kabocha, butternut, buttercup, carnival, or delicata.
If you’re wondering how to choose a winter squash or pumpkin, look for deep saturated colors and make sure the skin is thick and clean. You don’t want to buy winter squash with dents, scuffs or cracks. Finally, check that the squash has a hard, cork-like stem.
I am often asked if canned pumpkin will work in my pumpkin recipes. For these Paleo Pumpkin Bars it will substantially change the recipe and you will need to alter your baking time quite a bit, and possibly make other changes to the recipe as well.
Fresh roasted pumpkin or another type of fresh roasted winter squash will get you the results you’re looking for with this recipe! To help you out, I have prepared a simple tutorial called How To Roast a Pumpkin in 10 Easy Steps.
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Paleo Pumpkin Bars
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup coconut flour
- ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup fresh roasted pumpkin, or winter squash, will not work with canned pumpkin
- ⅓ cup honey
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- ½ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a food processor, combine coconut flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon
- Pulse in eggs, pumpkin, honey, and oil until well combined
- Stir in half of the chocolate chips by hand
- Transfer batter to an 8 x 8 inch baking dish, sprinkle remaining chocolate chips over top
- Bake at 350°F for 20-30 minutes
- Cool and serve
I love the combination of chocolate and pumpkin and so have used chocolate chips in this gluten-free pumpkin bar recipe. If you don’t like chocolate, you can simply omit it or use raisins instead.
If cooking with fresh roasted pumpkin is not your thing, try my paleo pumpkin recipes that use canned pumpkin!
Jean says
I made these last night and they came out great. I added slightly more cinnamon than required and shook a few sprinkles of nutmeg. Also upped the chocolate chunkage a little.
The only thing I found off was the cook time. After 25 minutes mine were still very wet-looking, so I left them in an additional 15 minutes. They would have probably been done at 35 minutes, as mine were a little browned on the bottom (not burned, though, just pleasantly browned and golden on top).
I don’t recall instructions for greasing the pan, but I did and I’m glad. They’re a bit sticky.
When warm I agree with a previous reviewer who said they wre custard-like. I put them in the fridge overnight and the next day they were much more “bar-like” and the textural difference between the chocolate chunks and the soft pumpkin bar is delightful.
Overall a very quick and easy dessert to whip up (I cooked the pumpkin the day prior) and yummy. My husband wanted to eat all of them. We’re not paleo but still found this recipe to be a keeper.
Racheal says
I made these twice and each time they turned out wet your’s look a lot drier than mine. What could I be doing wrong? I don’t have a food processor could that be it.
Jean says
I didn’t use a food processor either. I had to cook them for 40 minutes. Also I found storing in the fridge improves their texture.
Cassy says
I made these tonight and all I can say is you should have some sort of disclaimer saying you should make a double batch!! My kids and I almost devoured the entire thing! I subbed flax for the eggs and it was still amazing!! This is my new favourite treat for sure, I will be making this LOTS! Thanks for sharing!! :)
Rebecca Kendrick says
I just submitted a comment about eggs, as my son is allergic to egg whites. You put flax in to substitute for the egg? How did that work and how much did you use? Thanks so much!
Leah says
I use canned pumpkin for your recipes. No problems. Thank you for all you do. I especially appreciate the coconut flour recipes of late. Blessings.
cazza says
Would butternut squash also work in this recipe?
Elana says
Yes :-)
Kristin Simmon-Lowman says
I did not love these. Typically I love the coconut flour but between the lack of pumpkin taste (coconut over powered it) and rubbery consistency, my husband and I both said we would not make these again. I do love the zucchini chocolate bread from here though!! Will try her old pumpkin bars with almond flour next time.
Sofia says
Were can i get the nutritional facts and calories?
Thanks
Elana says
Sofia, for more on that please go here:
https://elanaspantry.com/nutrition-information/
Have a great day!
Elana
Becca says
Awesome, followed the recipe exactly, save for homemade butternut squash puree, not pumpkin. Wonderful blondie-like squares resulted!
Suzanne Burnell says
I love this recipe! I sprinkled some coconut on top before popping into the oven. The mix of pumpkin and chocolate tastes delicious. A hit at our little dinner party last night. Thanks!
Also made Rosemary Olive bread from the book and plan to transform the loaf into crackers.
Thanks for these great recipes, Elana.
Liane says
I’m on a special diet right now to help get rid of parasites. I can have coconut flour, but cannot have any sweeteners except stevia. I can also only have berries and apples as far as fruit goes. Any ideas for substituting the honey in this recipe? Applesauce perhaps?
Elana says
Liane, here’s a link to my Candida Diets Recipes page:
https://elanaspantry.com/diets/candida/
Enjoy!
Elana
Tara says
I used 1 teaspoon NOW liquid stevia in place of the honey and it turned out fine.