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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.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Here’s another favorite pumpkin dessert:
Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
For more tasty pumpkin recipes, try these:
Love these! So easy to make, easier then my own recipe and very tasteful! Reading some of the reviews I wonder why some didn’t like them or wanted to add oil or butter as they were already perfectly moist and delicious. I’m thinking it may have been the flour they used or bad baking powder as that can make a huge difference. Any way. We love these!
Those suggestions are both very possible. The oats make a difference as well. Thanks for your feedback – happy to hear that you enjoy them!
These bars are very dense and rather dry. I added a quarter stick of butter, it needed more. I like the idea of oatmeal in the bars, but somehow this recipe doesn’t ask for a redo.
Hi Ann, Adding butter changing the recipe and therefore the results. It really work great as is and doesn’t need additional ingrediets. Unfortunately, your 1 star review is based off of your own changes to the recipe.
I wish someone had proofread this recipe, as there is no shortening ir any kind – which was, I’m certain, an omission. I did everything just as instructed, It looked perfect coming out of the oven, was quite easy to cut, but when I put a square in my mouth it was dry as a bone! And right then I remembered – no coconut oil, no butter, nothing. Going to a function tomorrow and now I’ll have to stop at a supermarket or bakery. Terrible waste of some top-shelf chocolate chips.
So I
Hi Lily – There certainly wasn’t an omission and the recipe is great as written. The pumpkin puree actually acts in place of the fat to make them moist, and every time I’ve made them I’ve gotten rave reviews. Maybe you overmixed? That would definitely make them more dense. Or, is it possible that you used the wrong type of oats?
I wanted mine a bit more crumbly….but otherwise great flavor. I added 1 cup of walnuts and used white chocolate chips (only 1 cup) instead of the chocolate chips. Will play around with adding chia seed, date sugar etc. to boost health.
Love the feedback Laura! Thanks for the for stopping by.
K.
Why can’t you use pumpkin pie filling instead of puree? What will it do to the results?
Pumpkin pie filling has other things added, like sugar and spices. Pumpkin pie filling is just pure pumpkin, making it the best choice.
I wanted more pumpkin flavor!