Spoonful of Sugar Free

Registered Dietitian

Grain-Free Pumpkin Pie Bars with Creamy Frosting

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Happy December 1st!

I’m very excited for this Christmas season. My house has already been decorated with cinnamon-scented candles, stuffed snowmen, pictures of Santa, and, of course, the Christmas tree. Now I’m ready to start on the Advent Calendar!

For me, the flavors of pumpkin and cinnamon are not limited to Thanksgiving. I love them all year round. Especially during the Christmas season.

Already tired of Pumpkin and Pumpkin Pie?

Go buy a can of pumpkin anyway. Make this recipe. You will love it.

You can thank me later. After you’ve devoured this:

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Grain-Free Pumpkin Pie Bars with Creamy Frosting

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Yield: 8 large bars

Serving Size: 1 bar

Calories per serving: 67 calories per bar (count does not include frosti

Grain-Free Pumpkin Pie Bars with Creamy Frosting

~This recipe was inspired by my Grain-Free Pumpkin Spice Bread, Healthy Pumpkin Pie, and Cinnamon Whipped Cream. Grain-Free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, Gluten-Free, and Sugar-Free.

Ingredients

  • Pumpkin Bar Ingredients:
  • 1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin
  • 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground ginger, 1/4 tsp cloves, 1/4 tsp nutmeg (or 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice)
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup coconut flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 cup nondairy milk (like almond milk) or water
  • Sweeteners*
  • Coconut Cream Frosting Ingredients:
  • 1 can full-fat coconut milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

  1. Pumpkin Bar Directions:
  2. Preheat oven to 350*.
  3. Mix the dry ingredients together and then the wet.
  4. Mix the dry and wet together and spread mix in a greased 8? square baking dish.
  5. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the edges are browned and a toothpick comes out clean.
  6. Let cool completely before frosting.
  7. Coconut Cream Frosting Directions:
  8. Place your can of coconut milk in the fridge and leave overnight. Open the milk the next morning, and do not shake. The top of the can should be thick, scoop this out. About halfway through you should reach a point where the cream turns to water. Do not scoop out the water.
  9. Whip the vanilla into the cream until well-combined and fluffy.
  10. Spread on bars, cut into squares, and enjoy!
  11. (Make sure to keep the bars refrigerated because the coconut cream will melt in hot temperatures)

Notes

*Sweetener ideas: When I make this for myself, I leave sweeteners out. When baking for others, I suggest adding a sweetener. The following are some options. 1. Blend five dates (or more depending on your sweet tooth) with the milk until completely smooth. Then use the milk as specified above. 2. Use 1/2 teaspoon white stevia powder or liquid stevia drops.

https://www.spoonfulofsugarfree.com/2011/12/01/grain-free-pumpkin-bars-with-creamy-frosting/


The bar itself is very tasty, but the cream on top really makes it fantastic. It’s like pumpkin pie in a portable form! Easier to make than pumpkin pie, too, because you don’t have to make a crust. It’s creamy and dense, sweet and spicy, and very flavorful. It makes a great breakfast bar or snack, and a great gift for the holidays. Make up a batch of these to give to co-workers, neighbors, or friends.

Health Benefits:

  • Cinnamon: Studies have shown that it can help lower LDL cholesterol, help regulate blood sugar levels, has anti-clotting effect on blood, and it can boost cognitive function and memory.
  • Coconut: Coconut is widely misunderstood because of it’s high fat content; however, coconut’s saturated fat is made up of medium-chain fatty acids. These medium-chains are easy to absorb and digest, and are converted quickly into energy. This means that the body has no opportunity to store the medium-chain as fat. Coconut is also a great source of dietary fiber with a whopping 5 grams per oz!
  • Pumpkin: One cup of pumpkin has 7 grams fiber, 2650 IU Vitamin A, 564 mg potassium. It also boasts a truckload of antioxidants like Alpha-carotene and Beta-carotene.

THOUGHT-PROVOKING, MIND-PRODDING QUESTION OF THE DAY:

Are you as excited for the holidays as I am?

What are your thoughts on baked-goods as gifts?

Personally, they are my go-to gift. There’s nothing like baking a batch of cookies or Pumpkin Spice Latte Granola, and then decorating it with a bow to give to friends.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. If I exchanged the 1/4 cup milk for 1/4 cup of coconut oil, would the end product be moister? And may I substitute the baking powder for baking soda?

    • Hi Jaime,

      They are very moist as is, and I really don’t think the oil is necessary. You can try subbing a couple tablespoons of oil for water to start with, if you would like. Baking soda has a very strong taste and doesn’t work quite like baking powder, so I don’t know exactly how that would turn out. If you can, I would stick to baking powder.

      Hope this helps!

  7. “Tired of pumpkin and pumpkin pie?”

    Does this even exist?! Lol.
    These look really delicious! And I love December 1st. My house smells of christmas wreaths, cinnamon, fireside, or pine tree. I love the smell when it’s a little chilly outside and you drink cocoa. It just sets the mood!

  8. Yummo, these look a treat – I really have to give the whipped coconut milk a try, off to the shops today! Bet my little man would love it too 🙂

  21. I might have to try these.

    Are they moist? (I might skip the icing for the first batch just to get the whole taste.

    What are the nutrition stats on them? Would love to know that.
    I think these would pair well with a bowl of yogurt and an avocado-salad.

    • They’re very moist, Sasha. You can skip the icing, but it is so good that I would recommend at least making it on the side. Here are the stats for just the bar alone (w/o frosting):

      If you cut the pan into 8 pieces it will be: 70 calories, 2g fat, 9g carb, 4g fiber, 2g sugar, 3g protein, 167% vitamin A (using stevia-sweetening method). It adds an extra 20 calories, 4 carbs, and 4g sugar using the date-sweetening method (using 6 dates).

      Hope this helps! Let me know how they turn out!

  22. this recipe looks great. if i substitued the coconut flour for almond flour would it make the bars abit dry? or is there any other flour to substitue for that is wheat and gluten free?

  23. Those bars along with the fluffy topping look out of this world! I am making these soon…

    By coconut flour, do you just mean raw dehydrated coconut flakes?

    For the coconut frosting, can I sub regular whole milk for the coconut milk?

    If not, what brand of canned coconut milk would you recommend?

    Thanks!

    • Hello Beth,

      Coconut Flour is an actual flour, not dehydrated coconut. You can usually find it in the “gluten-free flour” section. If you want to sub milk for coconut milk, I would recommend making a whipped cream instead of the coconut cream. You can find directions on whipped cream at this site: http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/cooking/ht/whippedcream.htm

      For the coconut cream, I recommend Thai Kitchen brand (not the low-fat version. Just the regular kind). Hope this helps! Enjoy and let me know how they turn out!

  24. Those look SO GOOD!!! And I have everything on this ingredient list in my kitchen right now. I just made your protein cookies and LOVE them, so I can’t wait to try this! 😀

  25. alex,
    i love all your receipes! i tried this one, and i have no idea why, it didn’t cook up way after an hour. do you think it’sbecause i used water? 🙂 in stead of milk?

    • Hmmmm…that is very strange because I have made this recipe atleast 3 times and they have all been fine. Did you follow the recipe adding the eggs etc? We must get to the bottom of this!

      • i agree. i always use eggs as binders.. question: have you used water before tho? maybe it’s the water in place of milk i used…

      • i think its the water. i know you use water alot, but ive noticed the amt of water in yr other receipes is much less than in this receipe. honestly, it was more than 1.5 hrs to 2 hrs and the darn thing still wont’ cook! it was delicious tho, burp.

  26. ps: i got so fed up after 1.5 hrs at least that i just gave up and ate it. but this was weird, unlike all the other receipes i tried from you, this refused to set or cook up… water ?

  28. I tried these today. Pumpkin pie without the crust — yum! I wish I had added a sweetener (I will next time), but they were still great without one. Thank you!

  29. wish I would have found your blog before! I’ve been sugar,dairy,wheat free going on 3 years! I’m looking forward to trying some of your recipes!

  30. wonderful recpie thank you so much im going to make this today
    with the coconut milk,i put it in the fridge as soon as i get home with it. then i can use it in any style of cooking now to open it i turn it upside down open it up pour the coconut water in a jar then place it in a bowl cut side down for all the juice to run out place back in fridge get ingredients ready put bowl and beeters in freezer then take the bowl with the can in it open it up again on the top so you have a tube and take your knife and scrape around take a spoon or what ever you can get your hands on and push the cream through into the bowl

  31. What about the calories? And nutrition value? Do you know what the numbers are? I dont eat or buy or make things unless I can look at some sort of label.
    Thanks

    • Karen,

      I updated the recipe to include calorie information. 1 large bar is about 67 calories (not including frosting). With the frosting, it adds an extra 50 calories. There are 2g fat, 8g carbs, 4g fiber, and 3g protein. 167% daily value vitamin A.

      • Thank you (-: I found your link through a relative on FB. Shes have G.Bypass surgery to help her loos weight. I find portion control and restricted label reading and just making smart choices and a lot of DR. OZ. Thanks again for info I appreciate it.

  32. I live in Australia and you can not get pumpkin in a can. How much fresh
    Pumpkin should I use and so
    I
    Boil it or steam it first to soften it?
    Thanks Stace
    Ps I love your blog!

  33. Hi, new to the site…..lovely recipes…was going to attempt the pumpkin bars tonight, but couldn’t find coconut flour…is pea flour bad or should I have done whole wheat!

    Thnx 🙂

    • Lila,

      Coconut flour is really difficult to replace. I’ve never worked with pea flour, but I am honestly not sure flavor would react badly with the bars. Let me know if you tried it, though!

  34. Alex you are a lifesaver ! I’ve been sugar free for over a year. I’m not a real sweets person but after 12 months of seriously nothing that could be a “dessert”, I wanted something still sugar free for my birthday! I’m so happy I stumbled upon these. No one else in my family is sugar free and they even thought they were nice. And because they’re so nutritious and light I took one without icing and put on some peanut butter for breakfast this morning! It totally felt like a sugar laden, high calorie dessert but it wasn’t. This is so awesome !

  35. This looks amazing!!! I have a little fella who is allergic to egg. Just wondering if you have tried this with a commercial egg replacer or chia/water?

    • Diane,

      I really don’t know how the coconut flour would react with the egg replacer. I have never really had success making a coconut flour recipe without eggs, sorry. I would try the chia gel before the commercial replacer, though, if you want to try it.

  36. These look absolutely INCREDIBLE! I’m so excited about finding your blog…I’m 100% gluten, dairy, and sugar free and LOVING it! It’s hard coming up with different recipes though…that’s not a problem after finding this gold mine! 🙂 Thanks so much for all of the delish ideas…can’t wait to start trying these out!!

  37. I am not sold on the coconut flour yet. It’s so expensive, I’d rather have the carbs than pay almost 20 dollars extra for 5 lbs vs. wheat flour at $3-5 a bag. So, how would these work with wheat flour?? Any idea?

    • Hi Ashley,

      So sorry for the delay in response, your comment was lost in my spam box! If you’re still interested, wheat flour probably wouldn’t work too well as a substitute in this recipe because coconut flour absorbs moisture really well and is hard to substitute. If you want to play with it a bit, I would suggest decreasing the amount of liquid. I can’t vouch for how this would work, though, because I’ve never tried it. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help!

  38. i calculated the calorie count

    1 can pumpkin = 200 calories
    2 eggs= 145 calories
    1/4 cup of coconut flour = 495 calories
    1/4 cup of almond milk = 10 calories

    total = 850 calories
    divided by 8 bars = 106 calories each
    I’m not sure how you arrived at 67 calories each

  40. I love these bars! Thank you for sharing the recipe. I do add a blend sweeteners, stevia, xylitol and erythritol.

  41. I can’t have eggs – could I use flax egg or chia egg? Anyone have any luck with that. I’m very excited about your recipes but I’ve had so many fails on things because of no eggs!

  43. Have you any idea how many calories in each slice ? These look amazing but I’m on a calorie counting diet ! I know , but it’s the only way to control my weight

    • Hi Irene,

      I’ve never calculated it before. Calorie count has a free recipe calculator you may want to try!

  45. Hi!! I followed the recipe and it’s still mushy consistency after 45 minutes should I leave for longer in the oven u til it hardens or is more dense???! Thanks-Megan

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