Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie Bars with Ginger Cookie Crust
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Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie Bars with Ginger Cookie Crust – Swap out the pumpkin pie for these easy pumpkin pie bars. The cookie crust makes them so easy! They slice and serve like a dream!
This post is written in partnership with Sprouts Farmer’s Market. All opinions are my own. Tune into the Sprouts Facebook Page on November 16th to watch me make this recipe live!
Avocados are my forever love language, but pie is DEFINITELY up there. I’d take pie over cake most days, so the holiday season is one of my favorite dessert times of the year.
One of the best holiday traditions I’ve heard lately is a family who celebrates a Pie Day the week before Thanksgiving with their extended family. It’s a way to guarantee that you get to see everyone around the holidays. Plus, their family goal was to never bring the same pie twice. Doesn’t that sound amazing?
In my own extended family, there are often almost as many pies as there are people in attendance (which is just about right–ha!). Everyone brings something. There are always classics and repeat favorites, but there are also always new offerings and twists on old favorites.
I haven’t gotten to attend a family pie night for a long time, but we keep the tradition alive, even in our own little family by always including something new at our Thanksgiving celebration. This year, we took an easily serve-able, sharable twist on pumpkin pie with these Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie Bars with Ginger Cooke Crust. And honestly? We may never go back.
WHAT MAKES THESE GLUTEN-FREE PUMPKIN PIE BARS SPECIAL:
- THEY’RE A PERFECT SHARABLE SIZE! I wanted something made in a baking dish (rather than a pie pan) so that we could get nice, even pieces for serving a crowd. I love that we can cut squares of these gluten-free pumpkin pie bars as big or small as we like (which works out GREAT when you want to try a little bit of several kinds of pie).
- THAT GINGER COOKIE CRUST. Many people find from-scratch gluten-free pie crust a bit intimidating, so a cookie crumb crust seemed like a great solution for experts and novices alike. I used some gluten-free graham crackers from Sprouts. I like Kinnikinnik brand gluten-free graham crackers or graham cracker crumbs, or Glutino brand graham-style animal cookies. I crush them up into crumbs, then give them the gingersnap treatment. Just a tiny bit of molasses and plenty of ginger and cinnamon give these a total ginger cookie taste without any of the extra work.
- THE GORGEOUS PUMPKIN FILLING! Laced with warm spices, gently sweet, and ready and waiting for a big dollop of whipped cream, the pumpkin pie filling is so good! As for the whipped cream element…For the holidays, I love using So Delicious CocoWhip, which is a little more stable than whipping your own coconut cream. If you’re not dairy free, the traditional stuff will work like a charm!
FAQ + TIPS AND TRICKS FOR THE BEST GLUTEN-FREE PUMPKIN PIE BARS:
CAN I MAKE THEM VEGAN? You know, you probably could if you use flax eggs, but I haven’t tried it that way so I can’t guarantee results. If you try it that way, I’d LOVE to know how it turns out!
NOT GLUTEN-FREE? No worries. Traditional graham crackers will work in this recipe.
DAIRY-FREE TIPS. We’re a dairy-free family, so we recommend ghee (clarified butter with the dairy solids removed), vegan butter, or coconut oil for the crust. I most often use unsweetened almond milk for the milk component, but you can easily sub in your favorite (cashew, coconut, dairy milk, etc.)
SUBSTITUTIONS + SWAPS. If you’re not into coconut sugar or can’t find it, I’d recommend substituting brown sugar. It’ll be a little bit sweeter than using coconut sugar, but it will provide consistent results.
MAKE-AHEAD NOTES. You can absolutely make your gluten-free pumpkin pie bars a day ahead of time, and I actually recommend it. They taste best when they’ve had plenty of time to chill in the refrigerator. Plus, that frees up more oven space for the rest of your holiday cooking! They’ll keep 5-6 days in the refrigerator.
CRAVING MORE? YOU MIGHT LOVE…
- Paleo or Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole (THE BEST!!!)
- The BEST Vegan Chocolate Pie (Gluten-Free)
- Maple Pumpkin Pie (Gluten-Free + Paleo-Friendly)
- Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes (Dairy-Free + Vegan + Whole30 options)
- How to Make Gluten-Free Pie Crust
- Gluten-Free (or not) Triple Berry Crumble Pie
Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie Bars
- Total Time: 65-75 minutes
- Yield: About 12–16 squares 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
All the flavors of classic pumpkin pie, made easier! Swap out the pumpkin pie for these easy pumpkin pie bars. The cookie crust makes them so easy! They slice and serve like a dream!
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 1 (8oz) pkg. Kinnikinnik gluten free graham crackers or 1 (10.5oz) pkg Kinnininnik gluten free graham cracker crumbs
- 6 Tablespoons ghee, butter, vegan butter, or coconut oil, melted
- 3 Tablespoon coconut sugar
- 1 Tablespoon molasses
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon salt (just a pinch)
For the filling:
- 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
- 1 cup milk (I use full-fat coconut milk or almond milk)
- 3 Eggs
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch or arrowroot powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- pinch salt
To Serve:
- Whipped coconut cream, CocoWhip or traditional whipped cream
Instructions
Make the Crust:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8×8″ baking dish with parchment paper or spray with nonstick spray.
- In a food processor, crush graham crackers until very fine crumbs. Stir in ghee/oil, coconut sugar, molasses, ginger, cinnamon, and salt. Pulse to combine until mixture resembles wet sand.
- Pour crumb mixture out into your prepared baking dish. Using your fingertips or the back of a measuring cup, pat out the crumb mixture into an even layer as firmly as you can into the pan. Refrigerate crust while you mix up the filling.
Make the Filling:
- In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, milk, eggs, coconut sugar, cornstarch, vanilla (if using), cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt until as smooth as possible. (You don’t want any lumps of egg).
- Pour filling over crust. Spread out as evenly as you can, then gently shake the pan to distribute even more.
- Bake at 350 degrees 45-55 minutes, or until edges are set but the center is just slightly wobbly. The center will continue to set with the residual heat as the pumpkin bars cool.
- Cool completely, then refrigerate until ready to serve. Slice and dollop with whipped coconut cream, CocoWhip, or traditional whipped cream.
Notes
If you don’t have a food processor, you can crush the graham crackers/cookies in a zip top bag with a rolling pin or measuring cup. Just be sure to get the crumbs as fine as you can.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 45-55 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
These look so cute and perfect for a Thanksgiving table spread!
Thanks Paige! They really are SO good!
If I am using gingersnap cookies for the crust, just add vegan butter?
Hannah – I think that would work. I haven’t tested it that way, but it sounds like it would work if your weight is the same (8-10 oz of gingersnap cookies).
Thanks! I may add a bit of molasses for stickiness. Happy Thanksgiving! Making these now for tomorrow!
Hi! Can I make this into a pie instead of bars? Thanks!
Olivia – I’ve never made it as a pie before, so I’m not 100% sure! I’m not sure the ratios of crust + filling would be identical for a pie. And you’d likely need to adapt the bake time to account for the filling sitting deeper in a pie dish than in an 8×8″ pan. I’d recommend using a deep dish pie dish and putting a baking tray under the pie dish to catch any possible spills if you give it a try!
I cannot eat coconut sugar. Is there another sugar that would substitute for it? Thank you for a great sounding recipe.
Brown sugar and maple sugar would both work!