Name: No Bake Pumpkin Cookie Dough Bars
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 105 min
Ingredients: 1/2 cup almond butter; 1/2 cup pumpkin purée; 1/2 cup maple syrup; 1/4 cup + 2 teaspoons coconut oil (softened); 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice; 1 3/4 cups almond flour; 1/2 cup + 2/3 cup chocolate chips; Sea salt

You already know I love a good no bake recipe. And a good edible cookie dough recipe. So really, it should be no surprise that these No Bake Pumpkin Cookie Dough Bars were bound to appear at some point.

Like all of my recipes, what I love most about this recipe is how simple it is. It utilizes just a few common ingredients that you likely already have at home, or can easily find at most stores. And, if you don’t have the ingredients listed, nearly every ingredient I mention can be substituted for an equally delicious final product.

These bars literally taste like you’re eating chocolate chip pumpkin cookie dough before putting the dough in the oven to bake. Except, of course, that they’re totally safe to eat. And, that they have a thin, delicious layer of chocolate on top to make them even more satisfying. Add a sprinkle of sea salt on top of that and I promise you’ll love!

Because these bars are made with such simple ingredients too, they pack a ton of nutrients into a simple, no bake dessert. From the almond butter, coconut oil and almond flour, these guys get plenty of healthy fats. Plus, pumpkin is a great way to get some vitamin A and potassium. Your desserts don’t always need to be nutrient dense, but when they are, it’s an added benefit in my book.

Oh and by the way! Don’t let the total time of this recipe scare you – of the 1 hour and 45 minutes total that these take to make, 1 hour and 30 minutes of those are when the bars are just hanging in the freezer. You only have 15 minutes of active time!

Mix Ingredients Together

Line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, add almond butter, pumpkin purée, maple syrup, 1/4 cup softened coconut oil and pumpkin pie spice. Mix thoroughly until well combined.

Add in almond flour and mix well until mixture is smooth. The consistency should be similar to cookie dough. Fold in 1/2 cup chocolate chips.

Freeze and Pour Chocolate

Spoon mixture into parchment-lined pan, using a spoon or spatula to spread evenly. Place in the freezer to harden for about 20-30 minutes.

In a small bowl, add remaining 2/3 cup chocolate chips and 2 teaspoons coconut oil. Heat in the microwave for 90 seconds, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted and smooth.

Pour melted chocolate over cookie dough mixture in pan. Spread the chocolate evenly over the dough by slightly shaking the pan or using a spatula. Sprinkle with sea salt and place pan back in the freezer for at least 1 hour.

Cut into Squares

Let thaw slightly and cut into 9 squares. Store in the freezer.

Notes

Almond butter: If you don’t have almond butter, almost any nut or seed butter will work. I recommend using cashew butter if you can find it. Peanut butter will work, but will also give these more of a peanut butter flavor (not necessarily a bad thing!). To make these nut free, use sunflower seed butter instead.
Pumpkin purée: I used canned pumpkin here. If you can’t find any, you can make your own by roasting a whole sugar pumpkin, letting it cool and then puréeing it in a food processor (sounds harder than it is, I promise!). Or, you can omit the pumpkin flavor totally and not use it. In this case, you won’t need as much almond flour to hold the mixture together, so make sure to add that in slowly.
Maple syrup: Honey can be easily swapped 1:1 for maple syrup.
Coconut oil: The coconut oil in this recipe is a must. In the cookie dough, because coconut oil hardens when frozen, it helps to hold the texture together. In the chocolate layer on top, coconut oil helps to thin out the melted chocolate, making it easier to spread.
Pumpkin pie spice: Also a must to seriously heighten that pumpkin flavor! Feel free to use just 1 teaspoon if you don’t want the pumpkin flavor to be as strong.
Almond flour: I don’t typically bake with almond flour, but used it here because it can be eaten raw. Fun fact in case you don’t already know (it took me way too long to realize this, yikes): regular all-purpose flour can not be eaten raw. If you want to use all-purpose flour, you’ll want to bake in the oven for about 10 minutes first to kill any potential bacteria. Or, you can also use oat flour here. To make oat flour, simply grind oats into a flour-like consistency using a powerful food processor or blender. The oats will add a nice boost of filling fiber, too!