Vegan Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars

Vegan chocolate chip pumpkin bars are full of perfectly spiced pumpkin and loaded with chocolate chips. Healthy, gluten free and naturally sweet!

Hey hi hello! Happy Monday. How was your weekend? Ours was lovely – my little brother came up from Columbus last minute, so we got to see him, which is always great. Other than that we relaxed and also worked a lot, mostly on blog stuff but on some other fun things too, which I’m excited to share with you Thursday!

But today, we’ve got important vegan chocolate chip pumpkin bar business to get into.

Do you guys have any like, staple recipes that you just never lose your obsession for? A few months ago, I made these banana chocolate chip bars, and I immediately fell in love with that base bar recipe. I knew I’d need to make approximately 17 million versions of it with other yummy flavors added, and they NEVER disappoint.

So far I’ve got:

• Chocolate chip cookie gooey bars
• Raspberry banana
• Peanut butter chocolate chip buckeye

All rich, fudgy, and perfectly gooey. There’s something about bar recipes that gets me every time. First of all, they couldn’t be easier. Throw everything in one bowl, then in a square pan, and you’re ready. No portioning out dough, letting layers cool, nada. I love that about bars, in addition to the fact that they’re just damn delicious, of course.

So today, as is only right on an October day, we’re talking about pumpkin! Hope you all aren’t tired of it yet. And if you are, sorry not sorry, because these vegan chocolate chip pumpkin bars are too good not to share.

Ingredients for vegan chocolate chip pumpkin bars

• Chickpeas: you’ll use drained and rinsed canned chickpeas for the base of the bars, which provides tons of nutrition and a super rich and gooey texture.
• Nondairy milk: milk brings the batter together. I use unsweetened almond milk for neutral flavor, but any nondairy milk should work.
• Medjool dates: you’ll blend the dates with hot water to make a paste, which naturally sweetens the bars.
• Pumpkin puree: pumpkin keeps the bars soft and gooey.
• Buckwheat flour: buckwheat helps to bring the batter together and gives gooey, chewy texture.
• Pumpkin pie spice: the warming spices bring out the fall pumpkin flavor.
• Vegan chocolate chips: I like the PASCHA unsweetened chips or Lily’s stevia-sweetened chips, but use any vegan chocolate chips you like.

Tips for making vegan chocolate chip pumpkin bars

• Use a nonstick or parchment-lined square pan. I use an 8 inch silicone pan which makes it very easy to remove the bars after baking. I highly recommend a silicone pan or lining with parchment paper so that the bars don’t stick.
• Let them cool completely. Make sure to let the bars cool in the pan for at least 1 hour after baking. They’re pretty soft, so they’ll firm up a lot as they cool. If you try to remove and cut them too soon, they may fall apart.

These vegan chocolate chip pumpkin bars are the perfect balance of warming spice and rich chocolate flavors. Such a simple but ooey, gooey, rich dessert to throw together for any fun fall occasion! Or just for a random Monday.

Xo,

Sara