These bars are moist, soft, and loaded with chocolate chunks and pumpkin spice flavors. Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Bars taste just like Fall and will get you ready for the change of weather.
I always look forward to the fall when I can make all of the pumpkin recipes. I also love making these easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies that are gluten-free and dairy-free as well.
Ingredients needed to make these pumpkin bars
- All-purpose gluten-free flour
- Pumpkin pie spice
- I’ve used both store-bought pumpkin pie spice and my homemade pumpkin pie spice mix, but honestly, it’s way cheaper to just make your own and it only takes a few seconds!
- Cinnamon
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Butter
- Applesauce
- You can use any applesauce – I’ve used both sweetened and unsweetened applesauce, both still make delicious pumpkin bars, but I prefer using unsweetened applesauce. If you have any extra apples at home, try making this homemade Instant Pot Applesauce recipe. It’s super easy to make and the applesauce tastes so fresh!
- Granulated sugar
- Light brown sugar
- 1 Egg
- Vanilla extract
- Pumpkin puree
- Gluten-free chocolate chunks or chips
- For this recipe, I used the Enjoy Life semi-sweet Mega Chunks
How to make Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Bars
1. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 9×13” baking dish.
2. In a small mixing bowl, mix together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream together the butter, applesauce, granulated sugar and brown sugar on medium speed until smooth. Next, beat in the egg and vanilla until combined.
Then add the pumpkin puree and mix until combined. See the next for how the mixture should look – you’ll see some butter that is not completely incorporated, but don’t worry – this is how it should look!
4. Mix in the dry ingredients slowly until combined. The mixture should now look uniform.
5. Fold in chocolate chunks, then spread batter evenly in the prepared baking pan and bake for 30-40 minutes or until the edges start to pull away from the pan and a wood toothpick comes out clean/with moist crumbs.
6. Let cool for 30 minutes before cutting into squares and enjoying.
How do I store these pumpkin bars?
Cover with a lid or plastic wrap at room temperature for 3-4 days.
Let me know what you think in the comments below!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Bars
Ingredients
- 2 ⅓ all-purpose gluten-free flour
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup plant butter or coconut oil
- ½ cup applesauce
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 15 ounce can of pumpkin puree
- 2 cups gluten-free chocolate chunks or chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13” baking pan and set aside.
- In a small mixing bowl, mix together flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter, applesauce, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium speed until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla until combined, then add pumpkin puree and mix until combined. See the photos above for how the mixture should look- it's normal to see small pieces of butter in the mixture.
- Mix in the dry ingredients slowly until combined. The mixture should now look uniform.
- Fold in chocolate chunks, then spread batter evenly in the prepared baking pan and bake for 30-40 minutes until the edges start to pull away from the pan and a wood toothpick comes out clean/with moist crumbs.
- Let cool for 30 minutes before cutting into squares.
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