Vegan Protein Pumpkin Bars
Up to ten grams of protein per pumpkin bar
If you are looking to buff up your protein intake these Vegan Protein Pumpkin Bars are for you. A tasty treat for the whole family. With up to ten grams of protein per bar. It is hard to tell that vegan plant protein is even in these wonderful bars. No one will even know. They are so deliciously moist and not over sweet. Pumpkin is not just for the holidays anymore so break these out for the whole year.
Types of protein for the Vegan Protein Pumpkin Bars
Choosing a plant based protein is totally a preference of choice. I find that most plant based proteins are very sweet and some have too much texture for me. Especially if I cook with it, because I don’t want to have it either too sweet or have strange textures in my food. I have had some that get way too mushy when used in cooking as well.
I have four brands that I really love KOS, Epic Protein, Earth Monkey and Emerald Earth raw pumpkin seed protein powder. They all have special qualities about them that I love. They are all NoN GMO and all are organic, all but the Earth Monkey. Earth Monkey is not certified organic but is all natural and rated #2 for having the least amount of metals in their product. Plus, it is loaded with probiotics and they donate 10% of their packaging cost towards removing plastics from our oceans. Huge kudos to them!
If I want a Vegan Protein Pumpkin Bar that has less sugar in it I use Emerald Earth and Epic Protein brand. Emerald Earth had no sugar and compounded with 25grams of protein per serving. That’s a lot of protein and a bang for your buck with 3 pounds of raw pumpkin seed powder. With a large amino acid profile. Big thumbs up here! It’s great for cooking too! Epic Protein only has 5% sugar so it is great if your not looking for all that sugar. Plus again a ton of protein with a big whomping 26grams. If you are looking for a monk fruit sweetener than Earth Monkey and KOS are ideal. Although KOS has a very large healthy ingredient and vitamin and mineral profile.
Making the Vegan Protein Pumpkin Bars
I love how quick and easy these Vegan Protein Pumpkin Bars are to make. There are three recommendations though. For one, make sure your butter is at room temperature. This helps so much because it is so much easier to incorporate into the flour mixture. The second advice is to decide how sweet you want your bars to be. If you use a protein powder that is sweetened then use half the sugar in the flour mixture. If you are using a non sweetened protein powder then use the full amount of sugar for the flour mixture for the recipe. It is all a matter of how sweet you like your bars.
The third advice is choosing the pumpkin filling. I like to use the pumpkin pie filling already pre-mixed in a can. It really does taste more like the traditional pumpkin pie. Although, you can use pumpkin puree. If your diabetic this is a good choice because theres no sugar added to it like the prepared pumpkin pie filling in a can. With the puree you can add as much sugar or the type of sweetener that you like in it. Plus a little pumpkin pie spice is always good. These Vegan Protein Pumpkin Bars are so quick and easy I hope you enjoy them as much as we do.
Vegan Protein Pumpkin Bars
Equipment
- 2 medium sized mixing bowls
- Large mixing spoon
- 8×8 inch oven baking dish
- measuring cups and measuring spoons
- fork
Ingredients
Protein Pumpkin Bar Pastry
- 1 cup Oat Flour
- ½ cup Plant Based Protein Powder
- ½ cup Coconut Sugar half if your using a sweetened protein powder
- ½ cup Melted Vegan Butter room temperature
- ½ tsp Baking Powder
- ½ tsp Baking Soda
- ¼ tsp Sea Salt
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 2 dashes Ground Clove
- 1 Tbsp Organic Vegetable Oil to coat the 8×8 baking dish
Bar Filling
- 1 15oz can Prepared Pumpkin Pie Mix if you are using pumpkin puree add 3 Tbsp of sugar, ¾ tsp of pumpkin pie spice and ½ tsp of cinnamon
- 1 Flax Egg 2½ Tbsp water and 1 Tbsp ground flax (soak for 5 minutes)
- 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°
- Make your flax egg. In a cup mix together 2½ Tbsp water and 1 Tbsp of ground flaxseed. Set aside and it will start to congeal.
- Next mix together in a medium to large bowl the oat flour, protein powder, baking soda, baking powder, sea salt, cinnamon and ground clove.
- Add in the butter to the flour mixture. Chop it into the flour mixture with a fork. Do not mix together just chop and break up the butter into little granules into the flour. It should look crumbly when done.
- Prepare the baking dish with coating the surface of the dish with 1 Tbsp organic vegetable oil.
- Take half of the flour crumbles and put them in the prepared 8×8 baking dish. Spread it out evenly in the dish and press it flat to the dish creating a crust.
- Next in another mixing bowl prepare the pumpkin bar filling.
- Mix together the 15oz can of pumpkin pie mixture, the flaxseed egg and the vanilla extract. Stir together until well mixed.
- Add the pumpkin bar filling on top of the crumble crust prepared in the baking dish. Spread it out evenly and smooth it out with the back of a spoon.
- Next add the rest of the flour crumble mixture to the top of the bars. Spread it out evenly but do not press into the pumpkin mixture. Keep it loose on top.
- When done put it in the preheated 375° oven and cook for 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
- For cutting purposes it is best to cut into 9 squares when cooled. They keep their shape better after cooling. Use a sharp knife when cutting. This helps a lot!