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Home » Gluten-Free

Pumpkin Bars & Maple Frosting

Sep 26, 2013 · 22 Comments

Comfy Belly: Pumpkin Bars

It's pumpkin season for some of us, so consider yourself warned. Another thing: A couple of readers have asked me to post a cream cheese frosting recipe, but I can't do that without giving you something to spread it on. Hence, these pumpkin bars.

Looking at a quick list of the pumpkin cake and bread recipes I've posted in the past, there is a clearly something missing.

  • Pumpkin Muffins {using coconut flour}
  • Pumpkin Pie
  • Pumpkin Bread {almost cake}
  • Pumpkin Bread
  • Pumpkin Bread {almond & coconut flour}
  • Pumpkin Dog Biscuits
  • Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

These bars are light, compact, and a bit on the sweet side, at least for me. So you might want to reduce the maple syrup or honey by a teaspoon or so if you find it too sweet. The cream cheese frosting is a nice balance to this tender spicy bar, but feel free to leave them naked.

My photos show a crème fraîche topping because I didn't have cream cheese on hand. I whipped 8 ounces of crème fraîche with about 2 tablespoons of maple syrup until it was light, like regular whipped cream, and then spread it over the bars. But if you're not dairy-free, the cream cheese frosting is the way to go.

In lieu of the dairy-based maple cream cheese frosting, I've also offered up a dairy-free maple frosting using soaked cashews. You'll need to prepare this one ahead of time by soaking the cashews for about 3 hours.

Comfy Belly: Pumpkin Bars
Comfy Belly: Pumpkin Bars
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Pumpkin Bars

This recipe originally called for ¾ cup of maple syrup or honey, in case you prefer super sweet bars. I now use at most ½ cup of sweetener, but you can go even lower to ⅓ of a cup.
The moisture in homemade purée may be a bit higher than canned, so be aware of that difference in moisture. If you're finding your homemade is too moist you can let it sit for a bit and remove the excess water. 
For SCD, use honey instead of maple syrup.
Servings: 9 servings
Calories: 106kcal

Ingredients

  • ½ cup pumpkin purée 
  • ½ cup maple syrup or honey
  • 4 large eggs
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • 6 tablespoons coconut flour or ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C, or gas mark 4).
  • Prepare an 8-inch x 8-inch (20.3 cm x 20.3 cm) baking pan with parchment paper on the bottom and grease the sides.
  • Add the pumpkin, maple syrup, and eggs to a bowl and mix to blend well.
  • Add the baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and coconut flour ot the wet batter and mix for a few minutes to blend well.
  • Let the batter sit for 5 minutes and then pour it into the baking pan.
  • Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  • Cool and slice. Frost if desired. Store covered in the refrigerator for a week or so.

Nutrition

Calories: 106kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 83mg | Sodium: 139mg | Potassium: 99mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 2238IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 35mg | Iron: 1mg

 

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Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

This creamy frosting is easy to make and store in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it.
I like Nancy's cultured cream cheese. If you can’t find cream cheese that doesn’t have additives you can use fromage blanc (farmer’s cheese) or dripped (Greek) yogurt for this recipe.
This recipe is enough to frost one layer of pumpkin bars but if you want to frost a two layer cake,  just double all the ingredients.
For SCD use dripped yogurt, Farmer's cheese, or whip up some crème fraîche and use honey as the sweetener.
This recipe makes about 1 cup of frosting, frosts 8 cupcakes or muffins, double the recipe for a two-layer cake.
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 124kcal

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces cream cheese or Greek yogurt or Farmer's cheese
  • ¼ cup maple syrup or honey

Instructions

  • Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk until fully blended.

Nutrition

Calories: 124kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 31mg | Sodium: 92mg | Potassium: 62mg | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 381IU | Calcium: 39mg | Iron: 1mg

 

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Maple Cream Frosting {dairy free}

Here's a dairy-free frosting can be used on just about any muffin, cake, or cupcake. It does require a bit of planning—you’ll need about 3 hours to soak the cashews until they are soft enough to yield a creamy frosting. If you don’t have dates, you can use 1 to 2 tablespoons of maple syrup, honey, or other sweetener.
For SCD use honey.
This recipe makes about 1 cup, frosts 8 cupcakes or muffins, or double recipe for two-layer cake.
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 34kcal

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup raw cashews soaked
  • 2 tablespoons apple juice
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1 Medjool date pitted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt optional

Instructions

  • Place all the ingredients in a high speed blender or food processor and blend until creamy. Store in the refrigerator for a week or so.

Nutrition

Calories: 34kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 47mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 3mg | Iron: 1mg
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    Recipe Rating




  1. Julia says

    November 28, 2013 at 2:01 am

    These are amazing!! I made a double batch-gone!! Kids love them and I cannot get them to eat veggies normally. Making a quadruple batch now and freezing for lunches. My frosting ended up runny tho with the syrup added- thoughts on this? Don't think I need the syrup, really.

    Reply
    • Erica says

      November 28, 2013 at 10:51 am

      you might be right about the dairy-free frosting - I refrigerate it and frost so it's thicker. I think it could work well with less syrup and apple juice, and maybe add cinnamon to up the sweetness. I'll revisit this.

      Reply
  2. Tracey F. says

    November 01, 2013 at 9:30 am

    I thought maple syrup was NOT SCD legal?

    Reply
    • Erica says

      November 01, 2013 at 9:38 am

      correct, maple syrup is not SCD legal. Use honey instead.

      Reply
  3. AniaK says

    October 30, 2013 at 6:46 pm

    I've never made a cashew frosting before and really wanted to try it. I followed all the steps, but it came out incredibly runny. What could have happened? Could I have soaked the cashews too long? And how does one fix such a problem in cashew frosting?

    Reply
    • Erica says

      October 30, 2013 at 7:46 pm

      yes, it is a bit thinner. I usually put it in the refrigerator before using it. You would need to reduce the liquid in it (like the apple juice). I just edited the amount of apple juice to thicken it. It should still be sweet enough.

      Reply
  4. bree says

    October 23, 2013 at 7:45 pm

    Looks amazing. Would flax eggs work in place of egg? Im on a strict elimination diet for nursing.

    Reply
    • Erica says

      October 23, 2013 at 7:53 pm

      I'm pretty sure it will work. Flax eggs work really well with light coconut flour recipes, in general. Maybe someone else can chime in.

      Reply
  5. Erin says

    October 22, 2013 at 4:19 pm

    My daughter and I just sampled a fresh batch of these pumpkin bars with the frosting. Yum! A new favorite fall treat! Thanks for another terrific recipe.

    Reply
  6. Alanna says

    October 18, 2013 at 3:36 pm

    These pumpkin bars look delicious, and I love that ingredient list - yum!

    Reply
  7. Dina says

    October 15, 2013 at 3:04 pm

    These look delish. Any chance I could use almond flour instead? I'm not a fan of coconut and sadly I miss out on super yummy treats like these.

    Reply
    • Erica says

      October 15, 2013 at 3:56 pm

      See my pumpkin bread 2.0 and original recipe using almond flour, you can bake them in an 8 or 9-inch square or rectangular baking pan.

      Reply
      • Dina says

        October 18, 2013 at 5:45 pm

        Thank you so much!!! I will do that immediately.!!

        Reply
  8. Mary says

    October 13, 2013 at 6:50 am

    I served these to my mom & in-laws last night and they were a hit! They took 38 minutes in the oven at 350 to cook all the way through, and they were very moist. I think when I make these next I'll reduce the maple syrup by two tablespoons or even 1/4 cup. Also, in the icing, I added 1/4 tsp of Penzey's double strength vanilla, which is equivalent to 1/2 tsp of commercial vanilla, because everything is always better with vanilla. My mother-in-law commented that she would not know they were gluten-free if I had not told them. Thanks for the great recipe!

    Reply
    • Erica says

      October 13, 2013 at 2:32 pm

      Yes, these are moist. I have also reduced the maple syrup by 1 tablespoon and others have as well - see the comments—one person went from 3/4 to 1/4 of maple syrup with great results.

      Reply
      • Mary says

        October 28, 2013 at 6:55 pm

        I just made these again tonight and reduced the maple syrup in the bars according to the new instructions. I'm liking them a lot better with less moisture! They turned out great with only 1/2 cup maple syrup.

        Reply
  9. Beth says

    September 30, 2013 at 5:18 pm

    I just made these, and they are delicious! I used only 1/4 cup of maple syrup in all, and felt no need to add more upon tasting the scrumptious batter. And although when I make them again, I will plan ahead and try them with frosting, they were perfect with a drizzle of coconut milk, maple syrup and a tiny sea salt sprinkle. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Erica says

      September 30, 2013 at 8:16 pm

      Great to hear! wow, you were able to reduce the sweetener quite a bit and i guess it wasn't dry. I'll have to try it 🙂

      Reply
  10. Christina Johnson says

    September 30, 2013 at 4:52 pm

    I am on day 3 of intro diet for scd. My ears have sooo much pressure they feel like they are going to pop. Is that normal??

    Reply
    • Erica says

      September 30, 2013 at 5:14 pm

      sorry, I haven't heard that before

      Reply

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Welcome! I'm Erica, a cookbook author and writer. I offer whole food, grain-free, and gluten-free recipes, tips, and more. I'm passionate about food and the human microbiome. Also, I love vegetables.

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