Pumpkin Gingerbread Breakfast Bars

A homemade, fall-ified version of the infamous cereal bar. Minus the shiny wrapper.

Lately, I’ve pretty much dedicated myself to putting pumpkin in every baked good I make. Pumpkin bars, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin cheesecake… I blame Pinterest why not take advantage of the pumpkin season, right?

Pumpkin pie for breakfast every day may seem unrealistic, but just finding time to make breakfast can seem unrealistic. These breakfast bars are made with whole-wheat flour, oats and bran, and make a sweet breakfast on the run.

Crust:

1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour

1/3 cup oat flour (I used rolled oats, ground in a food processor)

1/3 cup bran flakes (not the crunchy cereal!)

1 tbsp baking soda

¾ teaspoon cinnamon or pie spice

½ cup brown sugar

1 egg

2 tbsp molasses

¼ cup canola oil

3-5 tbsp milk

Filling:

¾ cup pumpkin puree

¼ cup sugar or maple syrup

2 tsp corn starch

1 tsp pie spice

(OR: ½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp ground cloves)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Filling:

Combine all the filling ingredients in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat for approximately five minutes, or until the mixture has thickened and is beginning to bubble near the edge of the saucepan. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Crust:

In a medium bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Mix well.

In a larger bowl, combine all the wet crust ingredients except the milk. Pour in the dry ingredients and begin mixing gently. Add milk as necessary until the dough forms a ball that is just slightly sticky.

Preparing bars:

Thoroughly flour your work surface. Thoroughly flour your rolling pin. Don’t skimp on flour here - trust me.

Roll the dough into a large rectangle, about ¼ inch thick. The dough will be a bit fragile as it contains no butter, but any cracks or tears you make while cutting will disappear as the bars puff up in the oven.

1. If you like the “cut” bar style (first photo), slice through the dough once to make two large squares. Place one of the squares on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Spread a thick layer of pumpkin filling on the square, leaving room around the edges. Carefully lift the second square (a spatula comes in handy here) and place it on top of the first one. Using your fingers, press the edges together to form a seal. Then take a toothpick or equally sharp object and poke the top a few times. It will resemble a giant poptart.

2. If you prefer a “grab-and-go” pocket style bar (second photo from the top), horizontally slice through the dough. Then make a bunch of vertical slices, so you’re left with two rows of narrow rectangles. If this description sounds like folding origami to you, check out the picture on the left. Place each square on a lightly greased baking sheet (again, a spatula comes in handy). Spread a spoonful of filling in the middle of the square, leaving room around the edges. Then, carefully drop the partner square on top and seal around the edges to make a little pumpkin-package. Poke a few holes through the top with a toothpick. 


Cook:

Bake in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes, or until the top of the bars are a golden brown. Let cool on the pan five minutes, then transfer to an airtight container (if you made a giant bar, cut it into little squares first). They should still be warm when you put them in the container, and it will create a nice steaming effect.

By the next morning the bars will soften.

What's your favourite pumpkin recipe?