I know what you’re thinking. What the f*ck Juli. It’s the second day you’ve posted something sweet AND something pumpkin…where the hell is the real food?? Where is the originality?? I know, I get it. BUT in my defense, I had to use up my leftover pumpkin from yesterday’s waffles. Leave no food behind. It’s an act. Like the law kind of act. Look it up. So to make sure I didn’t get in trouble with the law, I made pumpkin pie bars. CAN YOU SAY OMG?! I can!
I want to talk about some random stuff:
Like the murdered squirrel outside my house. Don’t worry, he was murdered by his own kind, so it was a fair fight. That sounds real bad. BUT he’s been run over prooooobably 256 times, been rained on, been snowed on, probably been stepped on, and well, he smells like legitimate hell. Like, I have to hold my breath while getting out of the car.
Facebook messaging. And chat. I despise both. Mostly because I never check my messages then I look like a real asshole when I don’t write back.
Dark chocolate. I’m having a real love-hate relationship with it right. I bought a little tiny 80% bar last week and now it’s all I’m thinking about. I hate how Whole Foods has the chocolate bars in the check out isle. I stare at them for probably 5 minutes while moving slowly through the line, going through an insanely obsessive internal battle on whether or not to buy one. I’ve stayed strong so far…but I’m leaving for Whole Foods in probably 5 minutes. Sh*t.
And I need to mention the fact that I drank wine two nights in a row over the weekend. Friday night was awesome because I was home by myself, so I poured myself a glass of chardonnay, ate a steak, then proceeded on to make brownie batter ice cream. I didn’t know that’s what I was making, but it worked out that way. Bomb Friday night. THEN Laura and I thought it was a good idea to drink some wine before we called a cab to go out on Saturday. Wellllll, turns out wine makes you sleepy. And that’s what we did. Me on the couch, her on the floor. What’s up with me drinking wine? So weird.
Pumpkin Pie Bars
- Yield: 6 1x
Ingredients
For the crust
- 6 dates, pits removed
- 1 cup almond butter
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch of salt
For the filling
- 1 (14oz) can pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup canned coconut milk
- 1/4 cup coconut butter, melted to be just a bit soft
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
- 3 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon allspice
- 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/16 teaspoon ground cloves (don’t measure, just splash)
- pinch of salt
For the toppings
- 1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 2 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- First we will make the crust. Add your dates and almond butter to a food processor and pulse until it breaks down together.
- Then add your 2 eggs, honey, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and salt and puree until smooth.
- Grease an 8×8 glass baking dish with some coconut oil and pour in your crush. Use a spoon to smooth off the surface and level out all over.
- Place in oven to bake for 12-15 minutes or until crust is firm and cooked through when you poke it with a toothpick. Then let cool.
- While your crust is baking, make your filling ingredients.
- Add your pumpkin puree along with all other ingredients and puree until completely smooth. Coconut butter should be incorporated in, not chunky.
- When your crust is cool, top it off with your pumpkin puree filling and smooth evenly through.
- Last but not least, make your topping.
- Add 2 tablespoons of coconut oil to a small skillet to heat under medium heat. Then add your chopped pecans.
- These will burn easily so be careful.
- While constantly mixing the pecasn, add your maple syrup, cinnamon, and a bit of salt and continue to stir until pecans have roasted a bit. About 3-4 minutes.
- Pour pecans on top of pumpkin puree filling.
- Set in freezer to cool for 20+ minutes.
- Cut and serve. Keep in fridge or freezer to keep intact and from melting.
You just sit around and come up with recipes to tempt me into over-indulging in paleo treats, don’t you?
Dear 21 DSD please, PLEASE be over soon ! (day 18 today !). Looks amazing !
amen.
currently doing a Whole30 and this is going to be my celebration at the end! this looks AMAZEBALLS!
These look amazing! One question, though. My husband is allergic to eggs. Is there anything that I could substitute for the eggs?
You may be able to use a banana of flax seed meal. i’ve heard of people using both
My husband surprised me with these today. Yes, he is awesome 🙂 Anyway, he forgot to put the eggs in the crust and it was so yummy anyway! It was just like a crust rather than cakey. So, I think you could just completely omit them and it will be delicious.
YEEEEEESSSSSSSSS!!!!! :0
Would it be ok to use the pumpkin pie spice I have on hand instead of buying each spice individually?
absolutely!!!
Just closed my eyes and imagined doing snow (er pumpkin snow?) angels in a big pan of these. Is that strange?
OK, I have the coconut cream concentrate and it’s intimidating the hell out of me. It’s in two layers in the jar; one solid white on the bottom, and a clear liquid layer on top. And I can’t seem to get it to incorporate. The bottom layer is hard and chunky when broken up. Do I heat it slightly to soften it so it will mix better? Is it like almond butter that just needs to be stirred before use because it always seperates out? I’m dying to try some of these recipes that use cococut cream concentrate but I can’t figure out how to use the stuff! Save me from my ignorance (and the concentrate – it’s just sitting in m pantry mocking me!)!
there’s an instructional video on the TT site that you bought it from!! that’s helpful! I usually dump some of the oil, then heat it up in a saucepan with water boiling around it then mix!
HI There!!
Juli, Love your blog!
I make coconut butter. It will always be hard at temp below 66 or thereabouts.
I keep mine in a small pot that’s halfway filled with water and when I need to use it, if it’s hard, I turn the stove on to a low flame. In about 5 or 10 minutes it will all start to melt. I never pour any of the clear oil out. That helps to keep the coconut butter soft and smooth as you use it up, since it becomes condensed.
Make sure to keep stirring the butter as it melts and don’t keep it on the flame for too long or it will start browning on the bottom. Which is OK too. Just adds a carmel-y flavor.
I make about 5 different flavors and they are so creamy they pour like syrup. Best eaten when hot!
Hope this helps
My kid keeps asking me for paleo candy. I’m gonna shove this in front of him and watch him stuff his face in delight. And then I’m gonna do the same. Thank you for another drool-worthy recipe.
My mouth is going to have a party later when I make this.. p.s. I made my mother in law a few of your sweets this weekend because she wants to try paleo and she proceeded to put butter and sugar on all of them.. It made me mad. I was like “seriously, you just ruined that and your thighs are gonna pay” I loved the zucchini chocolate bread/cake.. HOLY COW.