Pumpkin Pie Bars

 When planning for Thanksgiving and trying to eat healthy, I wanted taste but I didn't want to throw away all of my hard work. I also wanted to keep eating as clean as I could. I love pumpkin and pumpkin pie. I actually bought all of the ingredients to make a pumpkin pie but I couldn't find it within myself to use the condensed milk. And then I was going to improvise but then I realized the kids don't really eat the crust and even if I made an almond crust, they probably wouldn't eat it and I didn't need it. 
The pumpkin pie bars were amazing. I will continue to make these for  guiltless treat and whenever I have the urge to eat pumpkin. 

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup water
• 1 medium banana, ripe- the riper the more sweet the bars are
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbs honey- you can add more if you want them more sweet
• 1/3 cup coconut flour
• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 3/4 tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pray or line an 8×8 casserole dish with parchment
2. In a food processor place the water, banana, pumpkin, honey and vanilla and combine until smooth. Alternatively you could just mix it by hand.
3. Then in a bowl combine the coconut flour, almond flour, sea salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
4. Next stir in the wet ingredient mixture until fully incorporated.
5. Let the mixture sit for at least five minutes so that the coconut flour has time to thicken up.
6. Then spread out the batter into the lined/oiled pan.
7. Bake for around 70 minutes (I would check after an hour and then every few minutes after that). The end result will be very moist, but will have formed a noticeable soft crust on top. Let cool for about 10 minutes before removing to a rack to cool completely.
8. You can slice and serve the bars then, or place them in the fridge overnight to firm up even more. Enjoy!
9. You may also freeze them for later!

Nina Pears