These chewy pumpkin chocolate chip oatmeal bars come together in 1 mixing bowl. They’re egg free, vegan if using dairy-free chocolate chips, and gluten free if using certified gluten-free oats. The addition of chocolate chips makes them taste like dessert—a delicious & healthy way to satisfy your pumpkin cravings!
Though my website focuses on traditional baking and dessert recipes, I test and bake healthy recipes all the time. It’s usually what we eat/snack on during the week, then we save the indulgent goodies for the weekend… like mini cinnamon sugar pumpkin muffins and apple cinnamon babka. I just made another loaf—cannot get enough!
A version of today’s recipe has lived on my website for years, but it was never a favorite. These pumpkin chocolate chip oatmeal bars are new and improved. They’re vegan, gluten free, and flavored with pumpkin, spices, maple, and vanilla. And best of all, by pulsing the oats into a finer cut, they hold their shape MUCH better than the previous version.
Here’s Why You’ll Love Them
- Healthy way to get your pumpkin spice fix
- Soft-baked and extra chewy
- No added refined sugar (excludes the chocolate chips)
- A great place to use your homemade pumpkin pie spice
- Everything comes together in 1 bowl
- Customizable—instead of chocolate chips, use nuts or dried cranberries
- Freeze beautifully
Plus, they’re adult and toddler approved. They’re like a bar version of my healthy pumpkin oatmeal cookies or pumpkin baked oatmeal cups, both of which are equally flavorful and wholesome. (And delicious!)
One reader, Jackie, commented: “Love love love! I followed this recipe exactly, except I swapped coconut sugar for light brown sugar. These are such a simple, delish, guilt-free autumn snack. While they were in the oven, we could smell the delicious spices—yum! ★★★★★”
Overview: How to Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars
- Whether you use whole oats or quick oats, pulse them in a food processor first. Gently breaking the oats down helps guarantee the bars hold together. I do this with my healthy berry streusel bars and it makes all the difference—tight, compact bars.
- Place the oats in a big mixing bowl, then stir in the remaining ingredients. Yes, it’s that easy. The recipe below is a careful mix of ingredients to ensure best taste and texture. I don’t recommend making any substitutions other than the options listed.
- Press tightly into a lined 8-inch or 9-inch square baking pan.
- Bake.
- Cool, then cut into squares.
The bars take about 25–30 minutes to bake. Remove them from the oven, then cool completely. I usually cool them on the counter for 30 minutes, then place the whole pan in the refrigerator for 1–2 hours to speed it up.
What’s the Texture Like?
Following the recipe, bake time, and cooling instructions below, the bars are like a soft oatmeal bar—a firmer version of baked oatmeal.
On another note, do you like KIND bars? I have a homemade pumpkin spice version on my website called Pumpkin Seed Cranberry Snack Bars. I LOVE them because of all the varying textures: chewy, crunchy, chunky!
Are These Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars Healthy?
“Healthy” is a relative term. In my eyes, these are perfectly healthy pumpkin bars. They’re made with whole foods like pumpkin, applesauce, and fiber-filled oats, plus there’s no white flour or butter. However, they may be too sugary for someone who needs to watch their sugar intake and they’re obviously not ideal for anyone allergic to oats.
When it comes to labeling recipes as healthy, use the best judgment for YOU.
- I’m unsure of the nutritional information for these, but feel free to calculate it yourself using an online calculator and the exact products/brands you use.
See more of my egg free baking recipes and gluten free recipes. If your sweet tooth is calling, here are more of my favorite healthy dessert recipes and gluten free dessert recipes!
More Healthy Favorites
- Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars
- Breakfast Cookies
- Whole Wheat Banana Bread
- Pumpkin Granola & Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins
- Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal Cups
- Maple Vanilla Baked Pears
- No-Bake Chocolate Fudge Oat Bars
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours (includes cooling)
- Yield: 16 bars
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These pumpkin chocolate chip oatmeal bars are soft and chewy with satisfying pumpkin flavor. Using a food processor or blender to break down the oats (step 2) ensures the bars hold their shape. I don’t recommend any ingredient substitutions other than those listed in the recipe & recipe notes.
Ingredients
- 3 cups (255g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats or quick oats (not instant)*
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon store-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice*
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (226g) fresh or canned pumpkin puree
- 1/3 cup (80g) unsweetened applesauce*
- 1/3 cup (70g) coconut oil, melted
- 1/3 cup (80ml) pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup (45g) coconut sugar (or packed light or dark brown sugar)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup (135g) semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus a few to press into the top
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch or 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the sides to lift the bars out (makes cutting easier!). Set aside.
- Pulse the oats in a food processor or blender until they’re slightly broken up. (For whole oats, about 10 pulses. For quick oats, about 5-6 pulses.) Pour into a large bowl and add the remaining ingredients. With a rubber spatula or large spoon, stir together until combined. Mixture/dough will be very heavy and thick.
- Spoon mixture into prepared pan. Using the back of a flat spatula or a spoon, spread and press it tightly down into the pan. Make sure it’s flat and very compact, which helps guarantee the bars hold their shape. Dot a few chocolate chips into the top—this is optional and only for looks! I usually use about 1-2 Tablespoons on top.
- Bake for 25-28 minutes or until the edges are very lightly browned and the center appears set. Avoid over-baking, which dries the bars out.
- Remove from the oven and cool in the pan at room temperature for 30-60 minutes. After that, place the pan in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours until chilled.
- Remove bars from the pan using the overhang on the sides then cut into squares.
- Cover leftover bars tightly and store at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Freeze squares in single layers between sheets of parchment paper in a freezer-friendly container for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 8-inch Square Baking Pan or 9-inch Square Baking Pan | Food Processor or Blender | Glass Mixing Bowls | Rubber Spatula or Wooden Spoon
- Oats: If needed, use certified gluten free oats to ensure the bars are gluten free.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: You can find pumpkin pie spice in the baking aisle of most grocery stores or make your own homemade pumpkin pie spice. If you don’t have either and want to use individual spices, use 1/4 teaspoon each: ground ginger, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, and ground allspice. This is in addition to the 1 teaspoon of cinnamon—you will still add that to the dough.
- Applesauce: If needed, you can replace the applesauce with the same amount of mashed banana. Or you can use 1 egg or even use a flax egg substitute. Flax egg = mix 1 Tbsp ground flax with 3 Tbsp warm water and let it sit for 10 minutes while it “gels” up. Use the “flax gel” as a replacement for the applesauce/egg.
- Chocolate Chips: You can skip the chocolate chips or replace with white chocolate chips, chopped nuts, or dried cranberries. Or use a combination of any of those add-ins.
- Vegan: Use dairy-free chocolate chips to ensure the bars are vegan.
Reader Comments and Reviews
How would you adjust the baking time for a 9-inch square pan?
Hi Marilyn, The bake time is the same for an 8 or 9 inch pan. They usually take 25-28 minutes but keep you eye on them and bake until the edges are very lightly browned and the center appears set.
Hi
Can I toast oatmeal before starting?
Thank you for adding to my life
Hi Reid, we can’t see why not. Let us know what you try!
My family and I love this bar!
I used my Vitamix to make oat almost looks like flour. The texture and flavor was really good. I am trying to make healthy snack for my family, this kind of bar is perfect! Thank you for the delicious recipe. I am glad you put metric on the recipes!
My husband and I didn’t like the taste or texture of these bars. I won’t make them again. No fault of Sally’s but I guess our palates are used to more sugary treats.
I have a ton of apples from going apple picking. Do you think that shredded apples could be added as a mix in vs the chocolate chips? If so, should I try and get moisture out of the shredded apple? Thanks!
Hi Chelsea, you can certainly give that a try, blotting out as much moisture as possible like you mention. You may need to tinker with the dry ingredients a bit to account for the added moisture from the apples. Let us know what you try!
I love making these bars but don’t have any pumpkin or applesauce on hand. Is there a suitable nut-free substitute for the pumpkin?
Ho Joanna, if you don’t have pumpkin, you may enjoy some of these other oatmeal bars!
Just made these! Super easy GF option. Very tasty!
These were amazing! I only had half the amount of coconut oil needed so I used avocado oil for the remainder and no issues! I also doubled all spice amounts as that’s something my mom taught me with anything pumpkin related and I think it’s always the best choice! These were amazing! Will be making quite a few times this fall!
Love these! I used banana instead of applesauce (love pumpkin banana). Would I be able to add chia seeds?
Hi Jennifer, absolutely! You could start with a tablespoon or two and adjust up or down to your liking.
Love these! I’m going to make again next week and add some dried fruit instead of choc chips just to see. So great warmed up, topped with some peanut butter and berries
I made these bars last night and they were a huge hit!!!! I did add more chocolate chips, the whole bag, than what it called for because we are huge chocolate chip lovers and we always use Ghirardelli chocolate chips, but it worked out amazingly! The spices are just right and with the applesauce, very complimentary to the pumpkin. A great combination of fall! Thank you for this amazing recipe. This is going to be a fall staple in my kitchen!
These were really really good!! Made them with 1 egg instead of applesauce, as was suggested for substitutions. Also swapped out 1/4 cup of the chocolate chips with 1/4 of shredded, unsweetened coconut. I didn’t add the 1/4 cup of coconut sugar and the sweetness level was perfect for our taste. Everyone in my family loved these bars! Thank you!
Just because I was curious I calculated the nutrition info for these as I am trying to limit excess calories but these are only 145 calories each
I had no maple syrup so I used mrs butter worth’s sugar free pancake syrup and they are still awesome
Made these a few days ago – it’s really really good! Chewy, soft and I like the chocolate chips in the recipe. Definitely a keeper!
Loved it! Made this for family, friends, and coworkers. Rave reviews and I was asked for the recipe. Thanks Sally!!
I really liked these. I did add pumpkin seeds, flax seeds and sesame seeds. Another one of your wonderful recipes
I was all set to make these. Started getting ingredients out on the counter. And then I realized that I didn’t have old-fashioned oats… only instant oats and steel-cut oats. But, I decided to press on and use a mix of 160g steel cut oats and 80g instant oats (I did not pulse these).
The bars turned out great — the steel cut oats give them a nice chewy texture. Everybody in the family enjoyed them!
Love love love!
I followed this recipe exactly — except I swapped coconut sugar for light brown sugar.
These are such a simple, delish, guilt free autumn snack. While they were in the oven we could smell the delicious spices — yumm!
This is probably one of my favorite recipes now!!
So good! Had to sneak a taste before putting them in the fridge and I wasn’t sorry!
Just made these today, so delicious! Great recipe, thank you!
Love, love, love these! I used sugar-free chocolate chips and Lakanto monk fruit sweetener instead of the sugar. I still used maple syrup because nothing can sub for pure maple syrup. I highly recommend making these. Follow the instructions and they will be beautiful and so yummy!
So delicious! Followed recipe exactly. Flavorful and moist. Love how fast this went into the oven!
Delicious! Just the healthy treat I needed! I added cinnamon chips, dark chocolate and pumpkin seeds. The pumpkin seeds added a great crunch. Not lacking in flavor but I do use Vietnamese cinnamon. I didn’t have coconut sugar so I used maple sugar. Anytime someone is coming to your house to visit, bake these! The house smelled sooo good for ages!
Super easy to make and delicious! This one is definitely a keeper 🙂
Tried these for the first time yesterday and they came out perfectly! I’ve never made oatmeal bars before, and really enjoyed pulsing down the oats in the food processor. The rest of the process was so easy to assemble and bake. They taste healthy yet still indulgent enough to satisfy. And bring on ALL the pumpkin this time of year haha 🙂
Agreed! Love that these are healthy but also satisfy that pumpkin craving 😉 So glad you enjoyed these, Nikki!
These are great! I made them the first time for my family tonight, everyone loved them! I used more spice than the recipe calls for and added cinnamon chips. We’ll make these again for sure!
Sally, this recipe is absolutely fantastic! You’re so amazing at what you do.
Will you please come out with a no bake pumpkin cheesecake recipe? That would be amazing
Hi Sara, We are so happy you enjoyed this recipe! Stay tuned later this fall for a pumpkin no bake cheesecake 😉
Made these exactly as written except I doubled the recipe & used eggs as I didn’t have apple sauce. Very yummy but a little bland, I would add more spices next time. Overall, simple and healthy and a great way to receive the health benefits of pumpkin without the pumpkin flavour being overwhelming (in fact, the pumpkin is barely detectable).
Can you sub a different oil for coconut oil?
I suggest using melted butter instead of another oil.
I used whole milk yogurt instead, and that worked, too
I just made these today. Really,really nice . Well liked by the family. I didn’t have maple syrup so used liquid honey. I will definitely make these again. I see what you mean by pulsing the oats. Nice texture .