Recently I decided to give my uber 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 perfect breakfast or snack: they’re healthy, easy to make, and taste like sweet, spiced pumpkin cake.
We ate an entire pan in 24 hours.
SO INTO IT!
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We’ve finally gotten into a good rhythm with getting the boys up and ready in the morning and, long story short, Ben is in charge of breakfast…which commences at 6:45am. Woof. Even longer story short, nobody hates mornings more then Ben. NOBODY. That said, he really appreciates when I have breakfast bars sliced and waiting in the fridge so he can slap a couple onto plates then stand sleep while the boys have at ’em.
Now fall officially kicks off next weekend and, although it was a sweltering 90 degrees here today, these bars were a great way to kick off the new season. Syrup, spice, and everything nice!? Ahem. It’s definitely too hot for Easy Pumpkin Spice Lattes but it’s never the wrong time for these bars which you can prep on the weekend and enjoy all week long. They’re INSANE warm from the oven but again, keep perfectly in the fridge. You can even individually wrap the bars in saran wrap and freeze.
Onward!
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. None of that pancake syrup, ya’ hear?! I buy organic maple syrup at Costco and it’s just fab.
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. Hey, warm, cold – it doesn’t matter, you are going to LOVE these perfectly sweet and spiced pumpkin oatmeal bars! Enjoy!
More Easy Breakfast Recipes
- Blueberry Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
- Maple Cinnamon Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
- Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
- Mini Egg Bites
- High Protein Overnight Oats
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Maple Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
Description
Maple Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Bars are a delectable gluten-free breakfast or snack recipe that's flavored with pumpkin pie spice and pure maple syrup. Healthy, easy, and delicious.
Ingredients
- 2-1/2 cups gluten-free old fashioned oats, divided
- 1 cup milk, any kind (I used 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, roughly 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.
- Leave a comment and star rating if you loved the recipe! Thank you for considering!
Notes
- I recommend GF Harvest gluten-free oats >
This recipe is courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com.
[…] 8. Maple Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Bars […]
I think it needs a bit more pie spice which I will add next time and I used light olive oil for heart health and it worked fine. Thank you very tasty.
Wow, these are so easy and delicious! I wanted to bake something less sweet and this was perfect. Just the right amount of sweet but the pumpkin-y spice shines through. Thank you!
How can this recipe be vegan with an egg?
The V is for vegetarian, not vegan.
What type of oil can I sub for the coconut oil?
Hi Julie! I haven’t tried these bars with any other oil except coconut so I can’t give a recommendation on that!
Idea for your next oat bar creation: peanut butter (or nut butter)!! I was out of pecans so I added a few peanuts. Game changer!
YUM!! Peanuts are so underrated – I add them to my salads all the time. So good!
Hi there. Would there be a good substitute for canned pumpkin that would still work consistency-wise? I’m currently outside the US and I’m not sure how easy it would be to get canned pumpkin where I am. Or should just roast some butternut squash (in coconut oil) and then mash it? Please and thank you!
That could work! The taste would be a little different of course, but as long as the moisture level is similar to canned pumpkin it should be ok!
I live outside of the US and steam local pumpkin all the time for pumpkin recipes. The color isn’t nearly as nice (kind of a pukey green) but it works!
OmGee! Just took these out of the oven. Divine. Only one problem. I’m going to want to eat more than one. Thanks Kristen!
Oh I know the feeling! I’m a two bar minimum kind of gal myself! ;)
These are so delicious and moist! My 3 year old went crazy for them! (I told him it’s “pumpkin cake” because he *thinks* he doesn’t like oatmeal, haha).
Love these breakfast bars. I’m trying to figure out how many WW points they are as I plan to make them again.
I don’t have pumpkin pie spice; could you substitute cinnamon?
Sure!
My husband is diabetic and the nutritional information that should be accompanying any of your recipes is MISSING from ALL of them. The recipes are useless sans the nutritional information. How about adding it to your website offerings? Hmmmm??
How b*tchy is this comment? I don’t know how you put up with this kind of stuff. Not hard for her to copy and paste all the ingredients into another website to get nutritional info but no no, you, provider of free recipes, should have done this for her. Yeesh.
Anyways. Just made these. DELISH! Thanks
Kristin have you ever made a double batch of these goodies in a 13×9 pan? It would save some time since I make these so often. Time? Temperature? Thanks!!!
Made these this weekend. So good! I’m declaring them my favorite of your oatmeal breakfast bar recipes, but I’m a fan of anything pumpkin! The kids gobbled them up, too.
Yeah!! So glad to hear it, Cari!
[…] At the very top of the week, I opened that first can of pumpkin and got my fall (okay, regular) apron on. I turned this pumpkin zucchini chocolate chip loaf into muffins, and baked up mini squares of these pumpkin maple chia oat bars. […]
Reporting back after making these bars not once, but twice! They are delicious ? looking forward to eating them for breakfast this week
Delish! Just made some this morning with my 3 year old, and she agrees on the delish part. I subbed apple sauce for the coconut oil (because I didn’t have enough) and also made 12 muffins (because I don’t have an 8×8!). Definitely a keeper!
Can the maple syrup be swapped with something else? Maple in baked goods tastes like coffee to me and I don’t like coffee.
You could try honey or maybe coconut sugar?
Um, these are delicious! I didn’t have any chia seeds so I added a tad bit more oats but I think next time I’ll stick to the original amount. They don’t hold together very well but that maybe because of the extra oats. Have you tried these in muffin form? I’m thinking they would be perfect for the freezer when my new baby comes!
These bars look so delicious! I have been wanting to bake something so I need to make these over the weekend. Love when you have GF recipes that are easily DF as well :) thank you