As I type up this post, I’m sad I don’t have one of these bars to snack on right now after having a doctor come to our house to draw blood then blew my vein. I’ve never even said ‘blew a vein’ before today. So yeah, an oat bar sounds quite comforting right now. I’ve never had someone blow my vein before, which sounds weird say in the first place, but he definitely did. The area around my vein blew up like a golf ball and felt like a goose egg you get when you run into a wall as a child. I ran into so many walls as a child. I know you’re not surprised. Luckily I had nurses on my side on instagram to let me know I wasn’t dying and it was just simply blood pooling into my body and bruising. Are you hungry yet?
Great! Let’s talk about oat bars instead of blood! I had a woman yell at me on instagram the other day for sharing a recipe with oats because it’s not paleo and my name is paleomg, which I totally get. And luckily I have thousands of other paleo recipes to choose from. But I started adding oats back into my diet after 8 years of not eating them and I personally feel great! Which means I want to share those recipes here, as well. They may not be strictly paleo, but they are absolutely delicious. And the best part about being an adult human is that you get to decide what you eat and what you don’t eat. So if oats don’t work for you, then don’t eat this recipe. How simple is that?!
But wait, let’s go back to the doctor stuff, minus the blood. We had a doc this morning come to the house because we are officially growing up and getting life insurance. A few months back, at the start of Covid, my friend told me this really heartbreaking story about one of her family friends passing away out of nowhere. I know, you hate reading this blog post by now for so many reasons, but bear with me. The husband left behind a wife and children who were completely blindsided. So sad and I hope she’s doing ok through this. Seriously. But being the selfish person I am, I immediately wondered what it would look like if that happened to either of us. We don’t have kids in the mix, but you still want to make sure your spouse is fine if your soul decides to leave this earth earlier than planned. So we started to put a plan in place to get our life insurance going. We are officially adults. Who knew being an adult was so lame? Fun, but so lame. Anywho, I’m going to go bake my feelings.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oat Bars
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 8 bars 1x
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree, mashed
- 1 cup runny nut butter (almond, cashew, sunflower seed, or other preference)*
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups gluten free old fashioned oats
- 3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch of salt
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8×8 glass baking dish.
- In a large bowl, whisk/mix together pumpkin puree, nut butter, eggs, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Then fold in oats, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt. Lastly, fold in chocolate chips.
- Pour mixture into the grease baking dish, spread out evenly, then place in the oven to bake for 40 minutes, until cooked through in the middle. Then cut into bars and serve up! They are DELIGHTFUL when served warm!
Notes
*If it is a dry almond butter or other seed butter, the oat bars can get a bit dry after baking
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You May Also Like:
How I Make My Husband’s Oatmeal
Pumpkin Spice Baked Granola Bars
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This looks so delish, it literally made my mouth water. I am glad you are sharing this. I don’t get why people get so hung up on things like it not being strictly paleo. It seems selfish. What about other people that do like oats and are not strict about certain foods? Nobody is forcing you to make this recipe if you don’t like oats.
Hi Liz (and Juli)! For me, the challenge is that this blog is named Paleomg, and I have followed since the beginning because it was paleo. (And Juli is hilarious, major plus). It’s a matter of brand promise and expectations, not selfishness. I eat paleo to control a digestive issue, and I have looked to this blog for resources. However, at least one new recipe a week for awhile now has not been paleo. From a branding point of view, using the name Paleomg and sharing more non-paleo recipes is disappointing those of us who look here for paleo. Now there is no easy way to sort the recipes to filter out ones that are not paleo, making it time consuming. I’m so glad Juli is finding more foods that work for her. And as pain in the ass as it is, I think it would ultimately be helpful for Juli to rebrand to accurately represent her evolving offerings and attract like-minded eaters like yourself, perhaps emphasizing her personal dietary journey to find her healthiest options. This could also encompass her newer line of exercise videos and clothing and lifestyle themes. This blog has moved way beyond Paleomg (congratulations!) and is more wide ranging, driven by Juli’s personality. If the branding aligns with the content it will be more powerful, and “this is not paleo” comments will no longer be an issue.
that’s exactly how i feel. the people who get upset are just thinking about themselves instead of the others who might really enjoy the other types of recipes I share!
I’ve followed you for many years and personally love that you’ve started branching out and sharing recipes beyond just the paleo world!! Can’t wait to give these a try. Look like a great sunday morning breakfast. 🙂
thanks for the love, Sofie!! branching out is way more fun!
How do you store them? I just made them and they are so yummy!!
I keep them in the fridge because they don’t have any preservatives or stabilizers then just reheat in the microwave before serving!
Would a flaxseed egg work with these bars?
i haven’t tried the recipe that way so I can’t say for sure!
Have you ever had them turn green on the inside? Mine did but I also used sunflower butter so I’m thinking that may be why. They still taste amazing!
that is due to using sunflower seed butter. the sunflower seed butter reacts with the baking soda to cause them to turn green. nothing bad is going on when it comes to the baked good itself, it’s just a chemical reaction that changes the color.
Made these exactly as the recipe said (used cashew butter), and they were great taste-wise. Juli – they were a little dry for my personal preference (i really like a moist bar – ew hate that word though!). Do you think if I made these again but added a couple tbsp of almond milk it would result in a less dry bar, or would that totally F things up. I am a horrible baker so I usually follow things exactly as written and try to not modify or it turns into a train wreck lol.
it could have to do with the nut butter you used. if it’s not a very oily nut butter or dry, the bars can come out dry. but you could definitely add a little bit of almond milk to the batter to combat that!
Hey, would this be a healthy alternative for a snack? My husband has just found out he has high blood pressure and high glucosamine- trying to replace gross grocery store preservative filled options.
Thanks!!!
I really don’t know much about the best diet practices for high blood pressure and high glucosamine so I would talk to your doctor about that
Made these exactly according to the recipe and they are so delicious!! Not too sweet, which I love. The texture is amazing and cake-like. I am always looking for healthier desserts for my kids and they lovvvvvvvvved this. Thanks Juli!!!
yay!! so glad you liked the recipe!!
Hi Juli,
Made these little gems a couple of days ago and because they were SO devine and I have No self control I gifted the rest to a friend. Not five minutes after giving them to her I found she and her parents hovered around the kitchen counter polishing them off at 9am. I am baking my second batch now so here we go again…..😜
hahahaha that’s awesome!! so glad you all like them!!
Has anyone made these with runny peanut butter? That is what I have on hand!
i have and it’s great with that!