I'm a sucker for a good pumpkin bar in the fall. I love how it makes the whole house smell....well and it's a little gratifying when the neighbors come over because the smell wafts clean out the windows, spilling into the streets. Okay, well that may be romanticism but you get the idea.
This is my take on a bar that is light and tasty, with those sharp tastes of cinnamon and ginger, softened by a coconut yogurt cream topping. I'll take this one as a hit since both of my teenagers devoured the pan. Yay, win! No sugar, no grain. Gotta love it! (just a note, I did make one that is nut free, because my oldest healed from a nut allergy, but I still don't take chances)
Recipe:
2 cups pumpkin
1 cup melted coconut oil
4 eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup agave
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup almond meal
1/4 cup coconut flour
Simply mix the wet with the wet, the dry with the dry, then fold together. Coconut flour can dry out the mixture very quickly, so be sure to have a pan ready and swing it into the oven quickly! 350° for 35 minutes roughly. It will be slightly spongy on top, not moist
Glaze
3 single serve containers of coconut milk yogurt (you will have to drip this the day before. To do this, open the container, and pour it on top of a bowl in which you have laid a dishtowel or cheesecloth) The liquid drips out making it thick like cream cheese.
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1 teaspoon ginger
3 Tablespoons orange juice concentrate
3 Tablespoons lemon juice squeezed fresh
1 teaspoon vanilla
Blend blend blend. Refrigerate until the bars are done and spread on time once they have cooled, though my family likes them warm, so we don't wait. We let that glaze drip all down the sides!
*If you tolerate dairy, you can substitute the yogurt for cream cheese if you like more of that original taste of a traditional pumpkin bar, just reducing the sugar and eliminating grain from your diet.
