Coffee with the Chicken Ladies

It’s October, and in our kitchens that means pumpkin! We’re starting off with these Pumpkin Crumble Bars that are so good, you could easily offer them as a Thanksgiving dessert. We did find that they taste better on the 2nd day after being chilled overnight. The spices are more potent and the pumpkin filling is smooth and creamy. As always, we’re included gluten and dairy free substitutions.

We talk you through making these Pumpkin Crumble Bars on Episode 201 of our podcast. If you enjoyed this recipe, you may also like our delicious Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies and our Pumpkin Donuts.

Pumpkin Crumble Bars

These bars smell and taste like the best Fall desserts. The spices, the pumpkin, and the buttery shortbread crust and crumble will make your house small amazing and satisfy your urge to bake. You’ll need one egg and one egg yolk, though if your eggs are smaller you can easily use 2 whole. And don’t worry if all you have are tiny eggs from new layers. Holly used 3 pullet eggs and it worked perfectly.

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Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• Crust
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour or gluten free flour
• 1 1/4 cups quick cooking oats
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
• a pinch of sea salt
• 3/4 cup or 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter or dairy free butter, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Pumpkin Filling
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk Holly used 3 pullet eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups canned pureed pumpkin
• 1/3 cup evaporated milk or half and half or thick dairy free creamer
• Whipped Cream or Vanilla Ice Cream regular or dairy free, optional for serving

Method

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8×8 baking dish and set aside.
2. In a small/medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, oats, salt and baking soda. Add in 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar and mix until well blended.
3. Add melted butter and vanilla to the flour mixture, then stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until fully combined and moistened.
4. With a light hand, press half of the mixture into a greased 8 by 8-inch baking dish. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes.
5. While the crust is baking, combine 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and salt in a medium sized mixing bowl and whisk until fully blended.
6. Add in egg, egg yolk and vanilla and stir well. Mix in pumpkin and half and half and stir until combined and smooth. Pour the pumpkin mixture over the baked crust and return to the oven to bake for another 15 minutes.
7. Remove the dish from the oven and crumble the remaining crust mixture over top. Return to the oven to bake about 20 – 25 minutes longer or until the crust is starting to become golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least one hour before serving. Or, if you don’t care about crumbly bars, cut and serve warm!