Healthy Pumpkin Pie Bars
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Healthy Pumpkin Pie Bars are the best healthy pumpkin dessert! A fun twist on a classic fall favorite! Paleo friendly and gluten-free.
We love all things pumpkin around here. From Pumpkin Chicken Chili to Healthy Pumpkin Cheesecakes, we will add pumpkin to pretty much anything.
We even rounded up these 30+ Healthy Pumpkin Recipes, because you really can’t have too much pumpkin.
These taste just like the classic pumpkin pie while being paleo, gluten-free, grain-free, and lower in sugar. This is a delicious, healthy dessert bar that will be a great addition to your holiday parties alongside Apple Pie Bars and Pecan Pie Bars!
Note: This recipe is a bit more involved than compared to our other recipes – but it’s well worth the extra time! I think you’re going to love them!
liz’s top tips for healthy pumpkin bar
- We love to provide you with substitutions for recipes, but sadly, this just isn’t one where you can make substitutions. If you make these bars as is, you’ll wind up with perfect gluten-free, paleo, healthier pumpkin pie bars – but if you make swaps, you may wind up with a mess!
- If you don’t have all the spices, substitute pumpkin pie spice for the spices.
Ingredients
We recommend making these in a metal 8×8 baking pan.
Substitutions
You guys know we love to provide you with substitutions for recipes, but sadly – this just isn’t one where you can make substitutions. If you make these bars as is you’ll wind up with perfect gluten-free, paleo, healthier pumpkin pie bars – but if you make swaps you may wind up with a mess!
Baking pan: This recipe was tested in both glass and metal baking dishes. Metal conducts heat far better than glass so it got done quicker. You’ll also notice some cracking if you bake it past the just set stage. This is fine and doesn’t affect the flavor at all.
Flour: I don’t recommend other flours for the crust, especially coconut flour. The crust is a tried and true formula of almond and tapioca. The tapioca provides a binder along with the egg. We tested this with coconut flour and the bars fell flat.
Eggs: You can’t substitute eggs in this recipe. They are essential for the taste and texture. If you need an egg free pumpkin bar – check out this Vegan Pumpkin Pie Bar Recipe.
Ghee: Ghee was used for flavor. We don’t recommend coconut oil for a swap for two reasons – you don’t get that cookie flavor if you use it, and it also is really greasy. Grass fed butter, regular butter (if not paleo) are all fine subs for the ghee.
Maple Syrup: We haven’t tried substituting maple syrup for honey, but I think it might work. I can’t be sure without testing it!
Coconut Sugar: The coconut sugar is swappable 1:1 with brown sugar if not paleo.
Doubling the recipe: I haven’t tried doubling this recipe but I’m sure it would work in a 9×13 pan.
Spices: You can replace the spices with 1 tablespoon of regular pumpkin pie spice. Read our post Is Thrive Market Worth It to find out why we love them for spices!
Making into a Pie: I haven’t tried making these bars into an actual pie. I don’t know how it would turn out. We recommend this Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie recipe for a whole pumpkin pie!
How to make this healthy pumpkin bar recipe:
- In a large bowl, stir all of the crust ingredients together with a fork until a thick dough forms.
- Press the dough into the parchment paper lined baking dish with a spatula and bake at 350° for 10 minutes.
- Whisk together filling ingredients until smooth.
- Pour the filling into the partially baked crust and bake for 40-45 minutes or until no longer jiggly. Cool completely then cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 7-8 hours or over night.
Serving Instructions
These Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bars are best made 24 hours in advance of when you have to serve them. They need a few hours to cool and set.
Serving: We recommend serving these chilled with whipped cream, powdered sugar, or a dusting of cinnamon. You can also add all three for a delicious treat 🙂 Feel free to sub in dairy free if necessary. These bars are also great plain!
Serving Size: I divided this into 9 pumpkin pie bars, but you can also cut them into 16 if you’d prefer smaller pumpkin pie bars.
Storage options:
Healthy Pumpkin Bars should be stored in the fridge. I keep them in the baking dish with plastic wrap pressed to the tops to avoid a film. They will last in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Heating: If you like warm pumpkin pie just heat in the microwave for 20-30 seconds.
Freezer: I haven’t tried freezing these pumpkin bars but I think they would freeze well in an airtight container. Just thaw before enjoying.
We hope you love these pumpkin bars just as much as we did!
Other healthy dessert recipes:
If you’re looking for other healthy desserts check out these 55 Healthy Christmas Recipes or 30 Healthy Holiday Desserts. If you’re searching for other Holiday Recipes – check out these Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes!
Healthy Pumpkin Pie Bars
Ingredients
Crust
- ¼ cup ghee melted and cooled
- 1 egg
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 tablespoon tapioca flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Filling
- 15 ounces pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie filling
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon all spice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Spray an 8×8 baking dish with cooking spray or line with parchment paper. We recommend a glass or light aluminum pan over dark nonstick pan to prevent the crust from getting brown while baking.
- Mix all of the crust ingredients together with a fork. The mixture will be a smooth dough, but a little looser than traditional dough.
- Moisten your hands with water and spread it out into the pan.
- Bake the crust for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool while you prepare the filling.
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together all ingredients until smooth. Pour into the parbaked crust and bake for 40-45 minutes or until no longer jiggly.
- Cool completely then cover with plastic wrap. You want the plastic wrap to touch the top of the pie bars and make a nice seal. This helps a skin not to form on your pie.
- Refrigerate for 7-8 hours or over night.
- Serve chilled with coconut whipped cream, powdered sugar and a dust of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice.
- Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
These aren’t dairy a free. Ghee and eggs constitute dairy products. Thought you’d like to make the correction. They look wonderful though.
Eggs are not considered a dairy product, but you are right – ghee does contain dairy. I have updated the post to reflect this. Apologies for miswriting!
THESE ARE AMAZING!! I subbed regular flour for the tapioca flour and worked fine for me. I always am a bit nervous for baking, that it won’t all come together perfectly. So if you’re a nervous baker, know these will turn out delicious and wonderful. Thank you Liz.
Dangerously good!
These pumpkin pie bars are delicious😋. Better than pumpkin pie.
I made these for Thanksgiving 2021 and can’t wait to make them again this year!!!
A Thanksgiving must!
I was skeptical make these (and feed them to my husband) but they came out awesome and were easy to make. Definitely a keeper!
So happy you both enjoyed them!
These were amazing! I made them for Thanksgiving and everyone loved them! Awesome recipe!
Thank you so much, Jeanne!
The pumpkin bars were so delicious and easy to make. They will definitely be a go to for dessert again.
So happy you liked them!
So delicious! Made these tonight and they were enjoyed by all. Really wasn’t hard to make at all. I worried at first I should bake the crust more but decided to follow the instructions and they turned out amazing. I used parchment and was able to pull it at out of the pan and slice and show off those beautiful layers. Not too sweet, great consistency, and tasted so much better than pumpkin pie.
So glad you liked them! Thank you so much!!
What does someone use if they have a nut allergy and can’t do the almond flour?
Unfortunately you can’t substitute it. I wrote this in the post: I don’t recommend other flours for the crust, especially coconut flour. The crust is a tried and true formula of almond and tapioca. The tapioca provides a binder along with the egg. We tested this with coconut flour and the bars fell flat.
These were AMAZING!! I may or may not had eaten them in one sitting 😂
So happy you liked them, Abby! Thank you!
Absolutely loved these!!! I am so intimidated by baking and they were super easy!! Can’t wait to serve them at thanksgiving!
So happy you liked them, Melissa! Thank you so much for giving them a try!
We have almond and coconut allergies in our home. Can I just sub with wheat flour and reg sugar? Also, what can I sub for tapioca flour? We don’t usually have that, but I can get it if really necessary. Thank you! This looks so good!
Hi Christie – there is no substitution for tapioca flour. It’s necessary for the crust. I can’t recommend any other ways to adjust this – I’m sorry!
So so so soooooo good! I can’t recommend enough! I was going to take them to work to share but I ended up having to make another batch because my family ate them all that night. I can’t wait to make these again for thanksgiving.
So glad you liked them, Erica! Thank you so much!!
These are so yummy and easy to make! I am not very confident in my baking abilities but these were so easy! I shared them with my co-workers and everyone loved them!
Glad you liked them, Suzie! Thank you!!
These pumpkin pie bars were absolutely delicious. As the substitutions suggested, I used regular butter rather than ghee in the crust, and it came out great. Tasted just like pumpkin pie; would definitely make again!
So glad you liked them, Kerri!! Thank you so much!!
I don’t have tapioca flour but I do have tapioca starch. Would that be a suitable substitute?
Tapioca flour and starch are the same thing! Feel free to substitute.
So delicious! My non-sweets eating husband devoured these and asked where the recipe came from and if I could make them again! Love how they only require a handful of ingredients.
Thank you so much, Priscilla!! So glad your husband enjoyed them 🙂 Thanks for the most beautiful photos for these!