chocolate pumpkin oat bars ~V/GF~

After a weekend full of Halloween festivities we were ready for a lazy Sunday.

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Pizza, Patriots, Red Sox, a fire burning and these….

pumpkin oat bars ~vegan, gluten free~

Warm out of the oven they were gooey and delicious!

 This recipe calls for homemade oat flour.  It was so simple to make, I will never buy oat flour again!  Three cups of oats in the vitamix and voila, perfect oat flour!

chocolate pumpkin oat bars ~vegan, gluten free~

Pumpkin Oat Bars

recipe adapted from www.ambitiouskitchen.com

3 cups gluten free oats

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/2 tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 cup canned pumpkin

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup coconut cane sugar or brown sugar

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/3 cup vegan mini chocolate chips

chocolate pumpkin oat bars ~vegan, gluten free~

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9 inch baking pan with cooking spray.  (I use a coconut oil cooking spray)

-To make oat flour: add oatmeal to a food processor and blend for 1-2 minutes or until a fluffy flour is formed.

-Comine oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices in a medium bowl, set aside.

-In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, sugar, vanilla, oil and applesauce.  Slowly add oat flour mixture and mix until just combined.

-Fold in chocolate chips reserving a few tablespoons for the top.  Bake for 20-30 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean.

(I would check around 20 minutes.  My oven must be off because I let mine cook for every minute of 30 minutes and they were still pretty doughy…not complaining though because they tasted wonderful!)

-Let cool, cut into squares and enjoy!

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