Can I share with you my favorite Thanksgiving-ish dessert? They're pumpkin crumb bars, and they're as delicious as they look.
A special fall dessert, just for you
Is it really that time already? THAT time!? The time for turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, gravy, cranberry sauce, fluffy dinner rolls and PUMPKIN PIE?
You guys, this is really happening - one of my very favorite times of year. For all of the reasons mentioned above, plus a few more.
I mean, most of us go all year craving all of the things. There are many July's and March's where I've whipped up a batch of stuffing like whoa.
Because it's stuffing and why in the world would we limit it to just once a year? That would literally be a sin.
But either way, I spend weeks thinking about Thanksgiving food and all of the fun and craziness that comes along with it.
Because yes, we do travel back to the mitten for Thanksgiving and it's the hubs birthday, so there are always crazy things going on, but it's something we look forward to each and every year.
How to make pumpkin crumb bars
So has anyone ever asked you what your favorite Thanksgiving food is?? I get that question a lot.
And also people wonder if I make a really extravagant meal with something different and unique every year. Well I tell ya what. 1) It is just so incredibly mean to expect someone - ANYONE - to pick their favorite Thanksgiving food.
There are so many deliciously amazing things about each and every dish prepared and they just can't be compared to each other. You get what I'm sayin', right? 2) My family likes to keep things really traditional for the meal, because again, we only make the whole spread once a year, so I don't play around too much with our staples.
However, I am proud that I convinced my dad to try a Brussels sprout last year, and he wasn't totally turned off by it.
But what you should know, is that if there is anything pumpkin related on the table at Thanksgiving, I will eat it.
Yes, I am one of those people who are mildly obsessed with everything pumpkin. It's another one of those things that I will eat year-round. Because why deprive?
So with that in mind, I decided to do some baking over the weekend, and came up with a pretty darn fabulous Pumpkin Crunch Bar recipe.
As in fabulous, I mean YUM.
So yummy that I brought a container of them to work yesterday and POOF, they were gone in seconds, and my co-workers asked for more. {Yes, I made them more.}
And, I featured them in one of my baking classes this week. Double win! I mean, you can't go wrong with a thick crust made of oats, a lil butter, brown sugar and honey.
Then, a insanely thick layer of pumpkin, spices, eggs and a splash of condensed milk, all topped with crumbles of that delicious crust I just told you alllll about. It's like pumpkin custard sandwiched between oatey-buttery-molassesey goodness.
When I get text messages that say "I want more pumpkin bars", things are looking upppp in lyfe.
Pumpkin Crunch Bars for the win!
Thankful not only for these pumpkin bars.
So I know Thanksgiving is all about giving thanks and feeling grateful, and I want you all to know that I do feel so grateful.
Not only for these pumpkin bars, and for all of the delicious food I'll be cooking and consuming next week, but for all of the great people and surroundings in life that give it great meaning.
Sometimes you just have to stop and say that to yourself, amiright?
And of course I didn't forget... that I'm super thankful for YOU. My readers and food-loving friends.
You are tha reason I keep coming back to this space to share my favorite goodies. No jokes.
PrintPumpkin Crumb Bars
A layer of oat crumble, a layer of pumpkin pie filling and another layer of oat crumble, baked to perfection!
- Prep Time: 1 hr
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Total Time: 1 hr 40 mins
- Yield: 12 Bars 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups white whole wheat, oat or almond flour
- 1 ¼ cups old fashioned rolled oats
- ½ teaspoon coarse salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Ice cold water (optional)
- ½ cup fat free sweetened condensed milk
- ½ cup low fat evaporated milk
- 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, oats, salt and baking soda. Stir in the brown sugar and mix until no clumps remain. Stir vanilla into melted butter and pour mixture over dry ingredients. Using a spoon, stir mixture until evenly moistened. If it is too dry, add 1 tablespoon of ice water at a time until it has a formed consistency. Sprinkle half of the crumb mixture into the bottom of a greased 8×8 baking dish and gently press into an even layer. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together milks, pumpkin, eggs and pumpkin pie spice until well blended. Pour mixture over crumb crust in baking dish and spread into an even layer. Sprinkle top evenly with remaining crumb mixture. Bake in preheated oven 25-30 minutes, until lightly golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool at room temperature. Once cool, cover and refrigerate 30 minutes to 1 hour, then remove and cut into squares. Store in airtight container in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 229
- Sugar: 29 g
- Sodium: 129 mg
- Fat: 5 g
- Saturated Fat: 3 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 1 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 43 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 6 g
- Cholesterol: 41 mg
Keywords: crumb topping, healthy, canned pumpkin, easy, whole wheat, holiday, seasonal, simple
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