Pumpkin Bar Variation

Do you love my banana bars yet?  They’ve been my basic weekday breakfast for a couple of years now, and I still look forward to them.

This fall, though, in all of the ridiculous pumpkin-spice frenzy, I had the thought “The consistency of canned pumpkin is a lot like mashed bananas…” and this happened:

  • 3 cans of pumpkin puree (like you’d use for pie)
  • 6 C old-fashioned oats
  • 1/2 to 1 C water, depending on how moist you like your bars (I use 3/4 C)
  • 1 C white sugar
  • Up to 2 C of whatever nuts, seeds, candy chips, or dried fruit (I use 8 oz. roasted almonds)
  • Honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pumpkin pie spice to taste
  • A pinch of salt

Combine ingredients, spoon onto a baking sheet in bar, scone, or cookie shapes (I make about 12-15 bars), and bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

They’re a nice change of pace this time of year.

The next frontier?  I’m thinking applesauce.