I love pumpkin and chocolate together, and these Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars are the perfect combination. They are thick and chewy and sweet and I love that they are low in fat.
A couple of months ago I bought several cans of pumpkin (hello, pumpkin in June? #foodbloggerproblems). And they weren’t even on sale! You should have seen the store clerk’s face. She picked up the cans of pumpkin to scan them, then looks are me, then back at the pumpkin. I just smiled know that I had big plans for these big beautiful cans, and this recipe is plan number one.
This recipe is my take on a recipe for oatmeal chocolate chip bars that I’ve had for a while. I swapped out the fat (melted butter) for canned pumpkin. I love that they taste super chocolately and decadent but they are so much better for you than you’d think!
There have been some comments that these bars turn out dry. This has never happened to me and here’s what I believe the reason is: In the recipe I use ROLLED OATS. This is NOT the quick cooking oats. Be sure that you are always using exactly what is called for in the recipe, or it’s possible, likely even that your finished product will not be the same.
Quick Cooking Oats look like THIS. They are made to cook quickly are therefore absorb a lot more liquid when baking. You want to use the Old Fashioned Rolled Oats in baking. They are not processed the same and therefore are the best for cooking. Hope this helps to explain! (affiliate links above).
Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars Recipe:
Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 2 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 15- ounce can pure pumpkin not pumpkin pie filling
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla
- 1 1/4 cups chocolate chips divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13"x9" baking dish with cooking spray.
- In a stand mixer or a large bowl, stir flour, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, salt, baking soda and baking powder on low speed until combined.
- Stir in oats until combined.
- Stir in pumpkin, eggs and vanilla until combined.
- Stir in 1 cup of chocolate chips until combined.
- Spread batter into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips.
- Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Here’s another favorite pumpkin dessert:
Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
For more tasty pumpkin recipes, try these:
- Pumpkin Pie Baked French Toast
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
- Caramel Stuffed Spiced Pumpkin Muffins
I wanted more pumpkin flavor!