These Vegan Pumpkin Bars are slices of moist pumpkin pie spice cake topped with a delicious dairy-free vanilla frosting.
They are the best fall dessert for vegan Thanksgiving or simply to serve as a tea cake in Autumn.
I love the fall season, all the pumpkin spice flavors are so wonderful and this vegan pumpkin bars is perfect for pumpkin lovers.
It’s also the easiest vegan pumpkin cake I’ve ever made. It bakes in less than 25 minutes, and the moist, fluffy pumpkin bars are even better than my vegan pumpkin bread.
It’s probably the vegan vanilla frosting that makes all the difference, or simply the fact that they are thin, spongier, and fluffier than regular cake. So, let me take you through this easy fall pumpkin recipe.
Ingredients and Substitutions
All you need to make pumpkin bars are a few wholesome ingredients:
- Ground Flaxseeds – This works as an egg replacer and binds the ingredients together.
- Lukewarm Water – To activate the flax egg.
- All-Purpose Flour – or white spelt. The recipe doesn’t work with almond flour or oat flour.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda – To five it some rise.
- Pumpkin Puree – I am using pure canned pumpkin puree, which is 100% made from a blend of different pumpkins. This is not the same as pumpkin pie filling that is sweetened. In canned pumpkin puree, there’s no added oil or sugar, and that’s what you need for this pumpkin bar recipe.
- Soft Brown Sugar – Or coconut sugar, both work as well.
- Light Olive Oil or canola oil or eventually melted coconut oil, but preferably an oil with no strong flavor to enjoy the best pumpkin spice flavors.
- Almond Milk or any non-dairy milk you love, like oat milk, soy milk, or coconut milk.
- Vanilla Extract for taste.
- Cinnamon. Ginger, Allspice, Nutmeg – The mix of spices gives the bars the best fall flavors.
- Vegan Vanilla Frosting – This frosting recipe is very simple and basically made from vegan butter, powdered sugar, a splash of plant-based milk, and vanilla extract.
How To Make Vegan Pumpkin Bars
These vegan pumpkin bars also called vegan pumpkin cake bars are super simply to put together.
The tricky part is to get a jelly roll pan or any rectangle pan close to a 10 inches x 15 inches in size.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a 10-inch x 15-inch jelly roll pan with parchment paper. Lightly oil paper with cooking oil spray. Set it aside.
- In a small bowl, stir the ground flaxseeds and lukewarm water. Set aside for about 10 minutes until it looks thick and like an egg texture.
- In another large bowl, add the remaining wet ingredients: pumpkin puree, oil, vanilla extract, almond milk, and the flax egg made in step one (photo 1).
- Whisk to bring all the liquid ingredients together into a smooth liquid mixture (photo 2).
- Add the pumpkin spices, coconut sugar (or brown sugar), baking powder, baking soda, and salt (photo 3).
- Whisk until a thick orange mixture forms (photo 4).
- Sift in the flour, and stir into the wet ingredients using a silicone spatula (photo 5).
- Stir until the batter is well combined and thick (photo 6).
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan (photo 7) and spread it to an even thickness (photo 8).
- Bake in the center rack of the oven for 20 to 30 minutes at 350°F (180°C) until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bars comes out clean.
- Cool completely at room temperature on a wire rack before decorating.
Frosting Pumpkin Bars
Pumpkin bars are normally frosted with a cream cheese frosting.
Here, I am using my classic vegan vanilla frosting to frost the bars. You can use the recipe, swapping half the vegan butter for the same amount of softened vegan cream cheese.
- Once the frosting is done, spread it using a flat spatula.
- Let the frosting rest before slicing it.
Allergy Swaps
Below are some options to make this fall recipe with different ingredients if needed.
- Nut-Free – Swap the almond milk for oat milk or soy milk.
- Gluten-Free – I didn’t try all-purpose gluten-free flour for this recipe. Usually, the recipe comes out dense and gummy if you use only gluten-free flour. Instead, I recommend using 3/4 of gluten-free all-purpose flour with 1/4 of almond flour. But again, this is a suggestion, and the result might be very different as all gluten-free flours are not equal.
- Flax Meal – You can replace the ground flaxseeds with the same amount of ground chia seeds or cornstarch.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are my answers to your most frequent questions about this pumpkin bar recipe.
Yes, both are the same things and means 100% pure pumpkin puree with no additives.
Yes, it’s made just from pumpkins.
More Pumpkin Recipes
If you like vegan desserts with pumpkin, you’ll love these:
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Vegan Pumpkin Bars
Ingredients
- 15 oz Pumpkin Puree - equivalent to one can
- 3 tablespoons Flaxmeal
- 6 tablespoons Lukewarm Water
- 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ¾ teaspoon Salt
- ¾ cup Soft Brown Sugar - or coconut sugar
- ⅔ cup Light Olive Oil - or canola oil
- ⅓ cup Almond Milk
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
Pumpkin Spices
- 1 ½ teaspoon Cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon Fresh Ginger
- ½ teaspoon Allspice
- ¼ teaspoon Nutmeg
Frosting
- 2 batches Vegan Frosting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line with parchment paper a 10-inch x 15-inch jelly roll pan (25 cm x 38 cm) and slightly oil it with cooking oil spray.
- In a mixing bowl, stir flax meal with lukewarm water. Set aside until it looks jiggly and thick.
- In another bowl, whisk almond milk, oil, pumpkin puree, vanilla extract, and the prepared flax egg.
- Whisk in coconut sugar or brown sugar, pumpkin spices, baking powder, salt, and baking soda until it forms a thick orange pumpkin mixture.
- Sift in the flour and stir with a silicone spatula until just incorporated.
- Pour in a single even layer onto the prepared pan and bake for 20-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool completely at room temperature on a wire rack before frosting.
- Frost with two batches of my vegan vanilla frosting.
- Cut into bars or squares and serve them with a pinch of cinnamon.
Storage
- Store leftovers in an airtight cake box in the fridge for up to 4 days. Freeze for up to 1 month in an airtight container and thaw in the fridge the day before.
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