Spiced Caramel Pumpkin Bars {Paleo + Vegan}
Happy Halloween, friends! Funny story for you. I had every intention of sharing this recipe weeks ago. You know, well before the actual holiday. But as often happens, life got in the way. Better late then never though, because trust me, these Spiced Caramel Pumpkin Bars are well worth the wait.
They certainly are festive for Halloween too. They even look a little spooky being all dark, rich, and full of goodness. Which means that if you have a few spare minutes today, you know between handing out candy, then you can totally whip up these babies. Because if you are anything like me, avoiding traditional candy today is TOUGH. Basically a distraction is in order. Like a I-need-another-option-or-I will-eat-it-all, distraction.
Outside of Halloween though, you can thankfully also enjoy these flavors all season long. And by flavors I mean lots of punch. I crammed as much pumpkin spice as I could into this recipe, with the crème de la crème being the spiced caramel.
I even snuck chocolate in there. It is a nice little surprise! in the center. But seriously, back to this caramel.
Sometimes recipes come together because of one single ingredient or component. We may think of that one item, and build the rest of the recipe around it. In the case of our Spiced Caramel Pumpkin Bars, it was all about the pumpkin spice caramel. This theme is not uncommon for us by any means.
Nor is caramel. We love our caramel, and tend to continue modifying it so we can find new excuses to enjoy the liquid gold. Such as seen in our horchata and cinnamon caramel popsicles and our horchata caramel chia seed pudding.
Thankfully we already had the blondie base down for this recipe, as we only had to modify it slightly from our cherry jubilee blondies. Naturally it was only a matter of time before we found a way to mash these two staples together.
Once fall hits, pumpkin spice fever gets us too. We never seem to tire of it either. Probably because of everything else that goes along with it. Fall in the Midwest truly is a special time. All the things work together to make it irresistible.
Much like these Spiced Caramel Pumpkin Bars. Their layers of happiness are made better by one another. Even if you are wondering at this combination, because you haven’t mixed chocolate and pumpkin, let alone with pumpkin spice, let me reassure you.
The flavor combination is pretty darn glorious. You will wonder how on earth you have never tried this before. Sometimes it is the craziest combos that just somehow work. After all, we cannot continue to evolve if we don’t take a few risks.
That is one of life’s toughest lessons, isn’t it? Fear and uncertainty are really difficult battles, and so often prevent us from doing something that could ultimately bring us joy. But eventually, something will push us to take that leap of faith.
We can even take risks with that we’re eating. Some people choose to sample rarities like Blow Fish, which if not prepared correctly, can kill you pretty quickly. Seems insane right? But to many the risk is worth it.
I have never been in a position to sample Blow Fish, but do say I will try anything at least once. I have learned to never judge a dish based on its looks or name alone. Sometimes you will be so pleasantly surprised. You may not have tried it otherwise, and would have missed out on an incredible experience.
Which is why I encourage you to sample what may seem like a crazy concoctions. First, because I assure you we have vetted it well in advance. Have we ever disappointed you yet, especially in the case of desserts? I promise we wouldn’t lead you astray now.
In fact, these Spiced Caramel Pumpkin Bars are about to become a permanent part of your fall routine. Soon you will never look at pumpkin spice the same way. No more lattes here folks. All you will see is pumpkin caramel. Sorry, not sorry.
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Spiced Caramel Pumpkin Bars {Paleo + Vegan}
Ingredients
Pumpkin Spice Caramel
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 cup maple sugar or sub coconut sugar, but note this will darken the color of the bars
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon arrowroot flour
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk
Bars
- 3 1/2 cups fine ground almond flour
- 1/8 cup coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
- ½ cup plain pumpkin purée
- ¼ cup ghee browned grass fed butter, or butter flavored coconut oil
- ¼ cup maple syrup or raw honey
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup almond or coconut milk
- 1/2 cup Paleo-friendly dark chocolate chips
- 2/3 recipe pumpkin spice caramel
Toppings
- Remaining caramel sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt
Instructions
Pumpkin Spice Caramel
- In a small bowl whisk together sugar, pumpkin pie spice, arrowroot and salt. Set aside.
- Heat coconut oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add sugar mixture and stir to combine.
- Whisk in coconut milk and vanilla and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to maintain a simmer. Simmer for 5-8 minutes, whisking often to prevent burning, until thick and smooth.
- Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly. Transfer to the freezer to set and thicken while you make your bars.
Bars
- While your caramel chills, prepare the bars. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 8 x 8-inch baking dish then line with parchment paper, leaving a couple inch overhang. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and pumpkin pie spice.
- In a small microwave-safe bowl, heat pumpkin, honey or maple syrup, and fat or oil until melted, about 30 seconds. Stir until smooth and creamy. Add coconut sugar, vanilla, and milk to the wet mixture, and stir to combine.
- Pour wet ingredients into the dry, and stir until combined and a thick sticky dough forms.
Assembly
- Using a second piece of parchment paper, press half the batter into the bottom of your prepared pan, forming an even layer. Dough will be thick and sticky so just smash it together as best you can.
- Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the batter. Using a large spoon, drizzle about 2/3 the caramel over the chocolate chips, and smooth into an even layer.
- Add remaining batter on top of the chocolate and caramel, and firmly press into an even layer using the parchment piece. Make sure to cover all corners, and spread batter as evenly as you can. There will be some cracks, likely with caramel coming through.
- Transfer to the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until top is dry, set, and golden brown.
- Remove from oven, and let cool on a wire rack. Once the pan is cool enough to handle, transfer to the refrigerator to set, at least one hour.
- Once firm and set, remove from refrigerator and using the parchment overhang, pull bars from the pan. Set on a cutting board and slice into 9 large bars, or bite size pieces. It is important to cut the bars while they're cold because they get sticky as they warm up.
- Serve at room temperature or slightly warmed and drizzle with remaining pumpkin spice caramel and flakey sea salt if desired.
Notes
- Although this has not been tested, you could likely sub Tigernut flour for the almond flour.
- This recipe makes 9 large bars, or you can easily cut the bars into smaller bite sized pieces for a party.
