These Pumpkin Protein Bars are healthy homemade protein bars flavored with pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spices. These Fall protein bars are also vegan, dairy-free, and gluten-free, packed with 12 grams of plant-based protein.
I love making homemade protein bar recipes, like my Gluten-Free Protein Bars, Cookie Dough Protein Bars or Protein Cereal Bars. They are so much tastier, cheaper and you can create an amazing range of flavors.
Here’s my Fall protein bar version, a pumpkin protein bar made with pumpkin puree and delicious pumpkin pie spices. Let’s see how you can make these delicious vegan protein bars at home.
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Pumpkin Protein Bars
Ingredients
- ½ cup Peanut Butter (Unsalted) - fresh drippy, no added sugar, no added oil (note 1)
- ⅓ cup Pumpkin Puree
- 4 tablespoons Maple Syrup - (note 2)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ⅔ cup Vanilla Protein Powder - (note 3)
- ⅓ cup Homemade Oat Flour - (note 4)
- 2 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spices - (note 5)
Coating
- ⅓ cup Vegan White Chocolate Chips - adjust to taste
- ½ teaspoon Coconut Oil
Instructions
- Line a 9×5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper lightly oiled with cooking oil spray. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, pour the peanut butter, pumpkin puree, maple syrup, and vanilla. Stir with a rubber spatula until smooth and consistent.
- Fold in all the dry ingredients: protein powder, oat flour, and pumpkin pie spices.
- Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, form a firm dough, I like to squeeze the dough by hands and see if it stick well together. If too crumble, I squeeze in 1-2 teaspoon of water. If too sticky or wet, add a few teaspoons of oat flour, stir and wait a few minutes before adding more, as it takes time for the oat flour fiber to bind with the liquid.
- When the dough, is soft and easy to handle – not too sticky- press the dough into the loaf pan and smoothen the top with a spatula.
- In a small bowl, microwave white chocolate chips and coconut oil, by 30 second burst at 600W. Stir between each burst, and stop when fully melted and shiny. Pour over the bar and tilt the pan to evenly spread the melted white chocolate.
- Freeze the loaf pan for 8-12 minutes or until the white chocolate is half-set. It makes it easier to cut into bars and prevents the chocolate layer from cracking.
- Cut into 8 bars. freeze again a few mintues to fully harden the white chocolate layer
Notes
Nutrition
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
They are naturally:
- Gluten-free
- Vegan
- Dairy-free
- No-bake protein bars
Ingredients and Substitutions
All you need to make homemade pumpkin protein bars this fall are:
- Peanut Butter – Fresh, natural peanut butter without added sugar or added vegetable oil works best. You can also use natural almond butter or sunflower seed butter for a nut-free option.
- Pumpkin Puree – I am using pure canned pumpkin puree. It’s a bit less wet than homemade pumpkin puree, so if you don’t have canned pumpkin puree, you can dry our homemade puree on a piece of absorbent paper to prevent too much liquid in the recipe.
- Maple Syrup or any liquid sweetener you love, including sugar-free monk fruit sweetener, agave syrup, or coconut nectar.
- Oat Flour or almond flour.
- Vanilla Protein Powder – I am using peanut protein powder or pea protein powder for this recipe. Depending on the source of protein, your bar may be softer or dryer.
- Vanilla Extract – Use only if your protein powder is unflavored or the vanilla flavor can be overpowering.
- Pumpkin Pie Spices – you cna make your own by stirring ground cinnamon, allspice, and ginger.
How To Make Pumpkin Protein Bars
This homemade protein bar recipe is the easiest ever.
Storage Instructions
These pumpkin protein bars store very well in an airtight box in the fridge for about 4 to 5 days. You can also freeze the bars for later and thaw in the fridge the day before. If it’s hot where you live, don’t keep them too long at room temperature or they soften very fast.
Allergy Swaps
Below are some swap ideas to make this recipe, even if you have food allergies to the ingredients used in this homemade pumpkin bar recipe.
- Gluten-Free – Pick a certified oat flour or use almond flour instead.
- Sugar-Free – The recipe works with sugar-free maple syrup made of monk fruit. Don’t use sugar-free pancake syrup that is made of water and won’t firm up the bars. Also, keep in mind that sugar-free syrups are high in fiber and give a different texture.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are the answers to your most frequent questions about this recipe:
Follow my tutorial on how to make oat flour for this recipe.
It’s a very simple process made of rolled oats or quick oats, blended in a blender for 30 seconds.
Yes, you can skip it but the bars will be very soft.
You can also use any vegan chocolate you like including dark chocolate or vegan milk chocolate chips.
Also, if you can’t find vegan white chocolate chips in store, use my vegan white chocolate recipe to cover the bar.
Yes, you can make your own pumpkin puree for this recipe but often, it’s a bit more wet.
So you may like to pat dry the puree in absorbent paper before using in this protein bar recipe.
More Pumpkin Recipes
You may like to try some of the vegan pumpkin recipes below:
More Protein Recipes
Below are some more protein bar recipes for you to try:
Can I use zucchini instead of pumpkim?
No sorry, it won’t work!
Can I just melt dark chocolate with out the coconut oil? I just want a drizzle. They are very soft any ideas how to firm them up. Followed your recipe exactly minus the white chocolate
Sure! It’s a soft protein bar, the chocolate top layer is holding the bar shape.
This was protein bar was a hit! I used vegan chocolate chips instead because I could not find any vegan white chocolate and I used liquid allulose to lower the sugar content. The substitutes worked out well. Thanks for this recipe!
Thank you so much! I am so glad to hear liquid allulose work so well here.
I absolutely love your recipes! I have a question though – can I substitute the protein powder for something else? I can’t stand the texture that it goes to when the protein is added. Thank you 🙂
I haven’t tried something else here. It’s the reason why the bar hold so well as the powder absorb the liquid in the bar. Powdered peanut butter or powdered almond butter could have a similar property but it will add a almond/peanut flavor that might hide the pumpkin flavor as well.
Delicious! A big hit.
Thank you
Soooo delicious and easy to make! Thank you!
Hi there- silly simple question-how much salt? It’s not listed in ingredients but says to add in instructions. Thanks!
I updated the post for you, salt is optional too.