Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars
Like a marriage of pumpkin pie and a granola bar – the base is buttery-crisp brown sugar and oats, the middle is a creamy blend of pumpkin, cinnamon, and vanilla, and the top features crisp granola and dark chocolate. Great for breakfast, brunch, midday snacking, and dessert!
These pumpkin-chocolate chip bars are equal parts creamy and crunchy. You will love how the topping and base are like a crunchy granola bar and the filling is like creamy pumpkin pie. It’s the perfect pairing of flavors and textures.
This recipe for pumpkin-chocolate chip bars could feed a crowd if you want. That’s great news if you’re serving the bars at a gathering! BUT if you’re not, these are great to stash for yourself. Since this recipe makes a lot of bars (12 to 24 bars, depending on how you cut them), you can keep them on hand for breakfast, snacking, and dessert. The bars will last up to one week in the fridge and up to 3 months in the freezer. You don’t even have to thaw them before eating!
What kind of oats do you need for these pumpkin-chocolate chip bars? I prefer the quick-cooking oats here. But, truth is, I used about 75% quick-cooking oats and the rest were regular oats. Why? Because I emptied the container of quick-cooking oats and supplemented with regular! You can use one or the other, or both, like I did.
What kind of chocolate chips should you use in these pumpkin-chocolate chip bars? This recipe calls for either dark chocolate chips or semisweet chocolate chips, but you can use whatever you have/prefer. Bittersweet chocolate works, as do milk and white chocolate chips.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars
Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- 3/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 cups quick-cooking oats
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 15- ounce can pure pumpkin, not pie filling
- 14- ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup dark or semisweet chocolate chips
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9×13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar together until blended. Beat in the oats, flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix until crumbly. Set about 1 cup of the mixture aside and press the remaining mixture into the prepared pan.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, cinnamon, and vanilla. Pour the mixture over the crust and tilt the pan to make an even layer. Top with the remaining oatmeal crumble.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Top with the chocolate chips and bake for 10 to 15 more minutes, until the pumpkin mixture is set (a knife will come out clean).
- Cool completely (about 1 to 2 hours) before slicing into bars. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or the freezer for up to 3 months.