Maple Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Bars are a delectable gluten free breakfast or snack recipe that's healthy, filling, and delicious!
Recently I decided to give my ultra-popular Maple Cinnamon Oatmeal Breakfast Bars a fall spin and ended up with Maple Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Bars. Here’s what you need to know about these soft and dense oatmeal bars that make the most perfect breakfast or snack:
They’re healthy, easy to make, and taste like lightly sweetened spiced pumpkin cake.
We typically eat an entire pan in less than 48 hours!
Watch How to Make Them
Healthy Make-Ahead Breakfast Option
I can’t tell you how much smoother our mornings go when I have a pre-made breakfast like oatmeal breakfast bars ready to go.
Like a bowl of oatmeal in bar form, these fall-inspired bars are healthy, filling, and oh-so satisfying. I love that I can simply pop one on a plate and put it in front of my kids for breakfast before school. It’s quick and easy during a time that can feel the exact opposite!
These oatmeal bars are incredible warm out of the oven but keep perfectly in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can even individually wrap the bars in saran wrap and freeze them.
Pick a weekend day to bake a batch or two then enjoy less-stress mornings all week long.
Let’s bake
How to Make This Recipe
This is a 1-bowl recipe so start by whisking up the wet ingredients in a large one. That includes pumpkin puree, an egg, milk (any kind – I use unsweetened almond milk,) coconut oil, vanilla, and pure maple syrup.
Next stir in the dry ingredients including gluten-free oats, oat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, chia seeds, and pumpkin pie spice.
I make oat flour from gluten-free oats in my food processor – just process for a minute or two until the oats are finely ground. If you already have oat flour on hand, you can use a scant cup in the recipe instead.
Pour the mixture into a nonstick sprayed 8×8 baking pan then bake for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees.
Check on the bars at the 25 minute mark – if the edges are already turning golden brown, place a piece of foil on top which will allow the center to bake through before the sides brown too much.
As I mentioned, these bars are killerrrr warm but also keep super well in the fridge to slice and eat all week long.
Warm, cold – it doesn’t matter, you are going to LOVE these perfectly sweet and spiced pumpkin oatmeal bars — enjoy!
More Easy Breakfast Recipes
- Baked Oatmeal Cups
- Gluten Free Breakfast Bombs
- Blueberry Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
- Maple Cinnamon Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
- Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
- Mini Egg Bites
- High Protein Overnight Oats
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2-1/2 cups gluten free old fashioned oats, divided
- 1 cup milk, any kind, I use unsweetened almond milk
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup, not pancake syrup
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 Tablespoons chia seeds
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup pecan halves, chopped (optional)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees then spray an 8x8" baking pan with nonstick spray and set aside.
- Add 1 cup old fashioned oats to a food processor or blender then process until oats have turned into flour. Set aside. (Alternatively you could use a scant cup oat flour.)
- Add milk, pumpkin puree, maple syrup, coconut oil, egg, and vanilla to a large bowl then whisk to combine. Add remaining 1-1/2 cups oats, oat flour, chia seeds, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt then stir to combine. Fold in chopped pecans then pour batter into prepared baking pan.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the center has set. Check on the bars at the 25 minute mark - if the edges are browning too quickly, place a piece of foil on top of the baking pan. Cool before slicing into bars then store in the refrigerator, or individually wrap bars in saran wrap and freeze.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
Here are the nutrition facts I came up with after entering the recipe into MyFitness Pal:
cutting into 9 pieces:
Calories:245
total fat: 12.8g
saturated 5.9
trans 0
polyunsaturated 1.4g
monounsaturated 1.3g
cholesterol 20.7
sodium 155.3
carbs 30.4
fiber 3.6g
sugar 1.4
net carbs 26.8
protein 4.8g
vitamin d 1.1%
calcium 9.5%
Iron 7.9%
potassium 109.1 mg
vitamin A 28.9%
Vitamin C .5%
Hello Kristin, Can I use regular old fashioned oats for this recipe? Also, can I leave the chia seeds out? Thank you…Art
Hi Art! You can use regular / non GF oats if you don’t need to eat gluten free. The chia seeds soak up quite a bit of liquid so if you remove those, I’d also reduce the amount of milk in the recipe to maybe 1/2 cup or so?
I needed a recipe to use up some leftover pumpkin puree from another recipe, so I threw these together with stuff I had in the pantry… delicious! My husband loves them, too! We’ll definitely make them again. I added more spice, since I love it, and used extra-dark maple syrup for an intense maple-y flavor. Turned out wonderful! Next time I’m going to add dried cranberries and maybe some chocolate chips!
I’m so, so glad you loved them, Libbie! The chocolate chips sound like an incredible idea!
I used to love your site. Now there are so many ads I can’t find anything. Frustrating
I’m so sorry to hear that, Chris. I am constantly working to maximize reader experience while making an income, as all my site content is (and always will be) free. Please know that the number of ads I display on my site is something I think about and tweak often!
I’ve been making these for breakfast for the past month! Love them. They freeze well too.
Here’s how I made them vegan:
I’ve used both 3 tablespoons and aquafaba (water from chick pea can) and Bob’s egg substitute and both worked perfectly. I also cut the sugar down by a third. I’m able to use some brown sugar as long as I replaced the lost liquid with milk. (I use soy.) A chia egg might also work great since we already have chia here.
Since I can’t have ginger, I use cardamom and make my own mix. I recommend it! For this recipe: 1tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp cardamom, 1/4 tsp allspice.
I’m so glad you’re able to make these your own, Leah! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
What is the nutritional info on the maple pumpkin bars
Hi Kathy! I don’t currently have nutritional information for my recipes at this time.
Love this recipe! I gave some out to my adult kids and now they’re begging me to make more. Such a great grab and go breakfast! Thank you!
Oh my gosh, I love hearing that!! Never too old to enjoy Mom’s cooking (and baking). Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
I left out the chia seeds. Pretty bland taste.I’ll need to add more pumpkin spice next time.
Thank you for your feedback, Brenda!
I made these and subbed applesauce and sliced apples for the pumpkin….so delicious. My family ate the whole dish in 1 day. Its Even better cold.
Sounds awesome, Carey! So glad you were able to make it your own – thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
This was very good! I adjusted a little by taking the flour oats out of the blender and mixing all wet ingredients in the blender then filled a bowl with all the dry ingredients and added some unsweetened coconut and raisins. It was delicious. ????
So glad you were able to make this recipe your own, Laurie! Sounds delicious!!
I’m sure this is probably me…but does step 3 say oat flour but there is no oat flour in the ingredients list?
I made them with no oat flour and they were great. Just wondering what the oat flour was referring to.
I’ve got my gazillionth batch in the oven as we speak. Smells like heaven! I think I reviewed this years ago but thought it deserved another 5 stars!
Awww, I so appreciate that, Katherine!! So glad it’s a staple for you!!!
These are amazing! I subbed all purpose flour for the oat flour to make things easier since I’m not GF, and I subbed honey for maple syrup. The texture was seriously amazing and I may have eaten the whole pan in one day. ???? One of the yummiest things I’ve baked in a while. Thank you for the recipe!
I can relate – it’s hard to stop with these bars!! So glad you enjoyed, Shelby!