These healthy pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting are soo easy to make and well worth the wait. They are gluten free, low in calories, and great for most diet plans. You can have these pumpkin bars for breakfast, mid-day snack or even dessert.
Note: Most of my recipes do not contain sugar, I use honey, applesauce, maple syrup or agave nectar and sometimes stevia so please don’t expect yours to turn out sweet. I say this because I get a lot of comments that my recipes are not sweet enough.
You can always add more sweetener to your recipes when making them but that will increase your calorie and sugar intake.
What Makes These Pumpkin Bars Healthy
Low-calorie – each of these delicious pumpkin bars comes with only 64 calories even with the cream cheese frosting which makes it great for almost all diet plans.
Gluten-free – if your gluten sensitive, you wont have to worry when devouring these bad boys because every ingredient on the list below is 100% gluten-free.
Low-sugar – each bar has only 4.8g of sugar all of which are from natural sources such as honey and maple syrup so if you’re on a no-sugar diet, it’s safe to have these.
Easy to make – you can have these bars ready to serve in just under an hour if you prepare the cream cheese frosting and set it in the fridge before making your pumpkin bars.
Healthy Pumpkin Bars With Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients for 12 medium sized servings | Total time: 50 minutes
Pumpkin Bars
- 3/4 cup of pure pumpkin puree
- 1 cup of almond milk (unsweetened)
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups of oat flour
- 1/2 tablespoon of dried raisins
- 1 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon of ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg (I prefer freshly grated)
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1/4 cup of pure maple syrup
Cream Cheese Filling
- 8 ounces of cream cheese (fat-free | I use Horizon Organic)
- 1 egg yolk (room temp)
- 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons of honey
How To Make These Delicious Pumpkin Bars
Start by making your cream cheese frosting and letting it cool in the fridge before baking your pumpkin bars. To start, whisk the cream cheese until it is soft and fluffy. Add in the egg yolk, vanilla extract, applesauce, and continue to beat on medium-high speed until well combined.
For the pumpkin bars, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper or lightly coat with a cooking spray. (I use avocado oil cooking spray)
Next, grab a large mixing bowl and combine the dry ingredients (oat flour, cinnamon, raisins, salt, baking powder, ginger and nutmeg.
In another bowl, whisk the milk, egg, vanilla, pumpkin, and maple syrup until well combined. Now pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and using a rubber spatula, begin to fold gently until mixed well.
Finally, transfer the batter into the baking pan and and smooth the top with your spatula. Bake for 20-25 minutes or insert a toothpick and if it comes out clean, it means your bars are done.
Turn off the oven and let the pumpkin bars sit for about 10 minutes before removing it and letting it cool completely on your kitchen counter. Once cooled, cover with cream cheese frosting and cut into squares.
Healthy Pumpkin Bars Nutrition Facts
Each pumpkin bar has | 64 calories | 1.5g total fat | 0.4g saturated fat | 31mg cholesterol | 24mg sodium | 10.9g total carbs | 1.3g dietary fiber | 4.8g total sugars | 2.2g protein | 3mcg vitamin D | 47mg calcium | 1mg iron | 137mg potassium | These facts are based on a 2000-calorie diet.
How To Store Leftover Pumpkin Bars
You can keep these pumpkin bars on your kitchen counter during the fall for 2-3 days because the weather is much cooler but trust me, they won’t last that long cause they are delicious.
You can also transfer them into a plastic container with a lid and store in the fridge for up to 5 days. For freezing, wrap these bad boys up in cling films before putting them into a freezer safe container and freeze for up to a month.
Want More Healthy Pumpkin Recipes?
- Low Calorie Pumpkin Pancakes
- Low Calorie Pumpkin Bread
- Healthy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Healthy Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Conclusion
I hope you try these healthy pumpkin bars and if you do, let me know your thoughts in the comments below. You can find me on Pinterest, Flipboard, Threads, & Facebook for more awesome healthy low-calorie recipes. Until next time, stay awesome.
