These Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Bars are moist, fluffy and covered in a tangy "cream cheese" frosting. They're warmly spiced and slightly denser than pumpkin cake. They come together in one bowl and are refined sugar free too. They make a great shareable dessert for Thanksgiving!
How to make this recipe
Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.
- Mix together all the ingredients in a glass mixing bowl.
Tip: Make sure to use a measuring jug to measure out the exact amount of plant-based milk!
- Transfer the batter into a square baking tin.
Tip: Make sure to line the baking tin with greased baking paper - this will make removing the bars from the tin so much easier!
- Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- Leave to cool before applying the frosting.
- Use a knife (or palette knife for frosting) to spread the frosting over the top.
- Slice into bars.
Substitutions you can make
- You can use any type of oil: coconut oil, olive oil or vegetable oil.
- You can use any type of plant-based milk: almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, cashew milk, oat milk etc.
- You can use any type of liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup, date syrup etc.
- You can replace the ground almonds with ground walnuts.
- For a nut-free version: replace the ground almonds with ground sunflower seeds, use a nut-free plant-based milk and use a coconut cream-based cream cheese frosting instead.
- You can use plain flour, wholemeal (whole wheat) flour or spelt flour instead of the gluten-free flour if you're not gluten-free.
- You can use either shop-bought pumpkin purée or make our own.
- The pumpkin purée can be replaced with sweet potato or butternut squash purée.
- The mixed spice (pumpkin pie spice) and ginger can be omitted.
Ingredients you can decorate them with
- Chopped dried cranberries.
- Chopped pecans.
How long do these Pumpkin Bars keep for?
These Pumpkin Bars do taste best when fresh, but keep covered in the fridge for up to a few days.
More vegan desserts
- Coconut Macaroons
- Lemon Bars
- Strawberry Trifle
- Strawberry Shortcake
- Lemon Pudding
- Pumpkin Loaf Cake
- Coffee Cake
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I'd really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Watch how to make this recipe
Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Bars
These Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Bars are moist, fluffy and covered in a tangy "cream cheese" frosting. They're warmly spiced and slightly denser than pumpkin cake.
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Servings: 16 bars
Calories: 204kcal
Ingredients
For the bars:
- 60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
- 150 ml (⅔ cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
- 225 g (1 cup) pumpkin purée
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar * (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- 8 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) **
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
- 4 teaspoons baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 2 teaspoons mixed spice to taste (pumpkin pie spice, or a mixture of nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon)
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
For the frosting***:
- 100 g (⅔ cup) raw cashew nuts soaked in cold water overnight or in hot water for 15 minutes
- 6 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
For the bars:
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave (skip this step if not using any other oil).
- Once melted, add the milk to the same bowl along with the pumpkin purée, vinegar, maple syrup, vanilla, salt and ground almonds.
- Sift in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, mixed spice and ground ginger.
- Mix well, adding a splash more milk if looking too dry .
- Transfer the mixture into a square baking tin lined with baking paper (I used a 23cm/9inch square baking tin).
- Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- Leave to cool before applying the frosting.
For the frosting:
- Drain the soaked cashews and add to a food processor or blender with the maple syrup and lemon juice.
- Whizz until completely smooth, adding some plant-based milk or water to thin out if necessary.
- Spread frosting over the top of the cake.
- Slice into 16 squares.
- Tastes best when fresh, but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days.
Video
Notes
*The acidity of the vinegar reacts with the alkali bicarbonate of soda to make the bread fluffy. If you can't get hold of vinegar, substitute it with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.
**You can alternatively use almond flour.
***You can alternatively use this coconut cream-based cream cheese frosting.
Nutrition Facts
Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Bars
Amount Per Serving
Calories 204
Calories from Fat 108
% Daily Value*
Fat 12g18%
Saturated Fat 4g20%
Sodium 33mg1%
Potassium 213mg6%
Carbohydrates 24g8%
Fiber 3g12%
Sugar 12g13%
Protein 4g8%
Vitamin A 2189IU44%
Vitamin C 2mg2%
Calcium 107mg11%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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Upset baker
I’ve made this recipe twice now. We baked it for 45 minutes both times and it still turned out like goop. Something in this recipe does not result in a cake like texture. It’s more like a giant pan of mush. I even rebaked it the next day for 20 minutes and it was still goopy. Probably too much oil
Rhian Williams
I'm sorry to hear that happened and thank you for sharing your feedback. Did you make any substitutions and what type of gluten-free flour did you use? And did you use the correct amount of baking powder?