The Best Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars

Why You’ll Fall For These Chewy Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars

• Soft and chewy. I love including feel-good ingredients like gluten-free oats in my fall baking recipes! Not only does it make treats like these pumpkin chocolate chip bars a little more hearty, but they’re also ridiculously soft, moist, and chewy.
• Sweetened without sugar. Unsweetened applesauce and a hint of real maple syrup make these pumpkin bars just sweet enough without refined or added sugar.
• Easy to make. This chocolate chip pumpkin bars recipe is a perfect fall dessert, and even kids can get in on the fun of making them. Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl, the wet ingredients in another, mix, and bake!

Ingredients You’ll Need to Make This Recipe

Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe, and you’ll find the printable recipe with amounts in the recipe card after the post.

• Oats – The best oats for these bars are old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick oats or steel cut oats). I use the gluten-free oats from Bob’s Red Mill brand.
• Gluten-Free Flour – In my opinion, 1:1 gluten-free baking flour gives you the same taste and texture as regular all-purpose flour in this recipe! The brands I always come back to are Bob’s Red Mill, Cup 4 Cup, and King Arthur. Any of these will work great here.
• Pumpkin Puree – I like to use organic pumpkin puree. Make sure you’re using 100% pure canned or homemade pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling. They are NOT the same product.
• Apple Sauce – Natural and unsweetened applesauce (without the cinnamon). We’ll be adding our own spices.
• Leavening Agents – Baking Soda, baking powder, and salt help these bars rise and get fluffy.
• Pumpkin Pie Spice – Choose your favorite brand of pumpkin pie spice from the store (I often buy the McCormick brand), or make it yourself with 1 ¾ teaspoons ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, and ¼ teaspoon ground cloves.
• Maple Syrup – Our natural sweetener in these bars. Make sure you’re using pure maple syrup and not artificially flavored syrup or pancake syrup. You can swap this for honey, agave, or another liquid sweetener if you’d prefer.
• Vanilla Extract – Substitute an equal amount of vanilla paste if needed.
• Chocolate Chips – Dark chocolate, semi-sweet, or mini chips, it’s up to you! You could also make these bars with butterscotch chips or toffee morsels.

How to Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars in 3 Steps

These are different from pumpkin pie bars. They’re more like oatmeal cookie bars, or blondies, packed with pumpkin and chocolate. You’re going to love how easy they are to make!

1. Mix the wet and dry ingredients separately. Whisk together your oats, flour, leavening, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. In a separate bowl, mix the pumpkin, maple syrup, vanilla, and applesauce.
2. Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture. Stir that together and then fold in the chocolate chips.
3. Bake! Transfer the mixture to a greased and lined 9×9-inch baking dish. Bake these bars for 20-25 minutes at 350ºF until they’re golden on top and a tester comes out clean. Cool for a few minutes before serving, or cool the bars completely to store them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Storage and Freezing

• Store at room temperature. Wait until the bars have cooled and then store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
• Freeze. These pumpkin chocolate chip bars freeze well! Make sure that they are cool, and separate any layers with parchment paper so they don’t stick together. Then freeze them in an air-tight container or freezer storage bag for up to 6 months.

More Pumpkin Recipes You’ll Love

• Flourless Pumpkin Brownies
• Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes
• No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake
• Pumpkin Dump Cake
• Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread