Pumpkin and Pecan Bars

It’s very fall like here today and I wanted to do something pumpkin-related, but I knew that making a full pan of pumpkin bars would be too much for me. I would need to take some into work tomorrow. At this particular work site, we have a great diversity among the employees, including a variety of food tolerances and preferences. If I was going to take something into work, I wanted to please as many people as possible.

This recipe is (from what little I know about various eating plans) vegan and vegetarian friendly, gluten-free, low fat, high in fiber and has very little (if any?) cholesterol.

Having said all that, I LOVE these bars. I was licking the spoon and I don’t readily do that. The finished bars are even more luscious. I have a feeling I will be making a lot of these.

Ingredients (makes 16 bars):

4 Tablespoons ground flax seed

12 Tablespoons water

2 cups oat flour (just pulse some oatmeal in the food processor for about 30 seconds and boom--oat flour)

1 cup rolled oats

2 cups chopped pecans

1 stick (1/2 cup) 100% vegetable oil margarine (Earth Balance® is good), melted and slightly cooled

¼ cup brown sugar

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)

4 ounces silken tofu, drained

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

Maple syrup as garnish

Directions:

In a small bowl, mix together the ground flax seed and water. Stir and let sit for at least 15 minutes. This mixture acts as your eggs.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13 by 9 pan with vegetable oil cooking spray and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the oat flour, oats, pecans, melted margarine, ¼ cup brown sugar, ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon cinnamon. Mix with a fork until combined. Put ¾ of this mixture into the bottom of your baking dish and press down to make a thin crust. Set the remainder aside to use as your topping.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin, tofu, flax seed mixture, vanilla, granulated sugar, 2 Tablespoons brown sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Mix with an electric mixer until smooth. Spoon gently over the crust in your baking dish and smooth the top to cover the whole base of the pan. Bake, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes. Sprinkle the remaining oat mixture over the top and bake for 20 minutes more. Remove and let cool before cutting into squares and drizzling maple syrup over each square.