Forget store bought energy bars that cost $5 a box and often taste like crap. These crave worthy pumpkin butter energy bars come together in a flash with no baking required and taste incredible!
These little bars are a family favorite for fall around here. Todd takes them for his car rides to work, I snack on them while I’m getting everyone out of the door in the mornings, and the kids enjoy them straight from their lunch boxes. While I have used homemade pumpkin butter to make these before more often than not I reach for a jar of Trader Joe’s pumpkin butter for the convenience factor. Any way you dish them up these little bites are sure to be a hit!
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Make a batch of these at the beginning of the week, wrap them individually in plastic wrap and store them in the fridge for easy breakfasts and snacks to take on the go. Just be sure to let them come to room temp before you eat them because they really harden up in the fridge!
Ingredients
- 1 cup pecans, chopped
- 1 cup gluten-free oats
- ⅓ cup pepitas
- ¼ cup slivered almonds
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup pumpkin butter
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups puffed brown rice cereal
- ½ cup dried cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the pecans, oats, pepitas, and almonds on the sheet and bake about 8 minutes or until fragrant. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
- In a saucepan, bring the sugar, honey, pumpkin butter, butter, and salt to a boil over medium heat. Make a light caramel sauce by simmering until the sugar dissolves completely, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and pour the caramel over the nut and oat mixture. Stir in the brown rice cereal and the cranberries until evenly coated.
- Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, extend the paper over the sides of the pan to use as a handle later. Pour the cereal mixture into the baking dish and spread out into an even layer. Cover the pan with a second piece of parchment and press down very firmly to compress the bars so that they don’t fall apart when you remove them from the pan. Let the mixture stand for about 2 hours until firm.
- Discard the top piece of parchment and use the “handles” from the second piece of parchment to gently remove the cereal square from the pan then cut the squares into 12 equal size bars and serve.
Pumpkin butter in crock pot..raw bars tonight 🙂
I am so glad you like the bars!!
Very energetic
★★★★
Hi Meg,
It’s Mick Victor your previous neighbor o Prospect. I’m wondering if you can shoot me a recipe for a good all around “energy” bar that I can make at home without a lot of fuss. I buy a bunch of these things, Cliff Bars, Trader Joe’s bars but would love to make a bunch on the weekend and have them throughout the week. I like a little [not too much] sweet. Most all the grains and nuts are good except I don’t like big fat bulbous nuts in there and I love cranberries and apricots. Anything? PS Happy New Year to you guys!
Hey Mick! Happy New Year!!! We love making homemade energy bars, store bought versions are so expensive and honestly don’t taste nearly as delicious. These pumpkin butter energy bars are a personal favorite of mine, but they are on the sweeter side. However, they are super customizable so you can substitute your favorite fruits and nuts in them no problem. Click here for the original energy bar recipe that I tweaked to make these pumpkin butter ones. I have also made them with dried mandarins before which is incredible and since I am a huge PB&J fan I have made a version inspired by those flavors as well.
If you like Lara Bars we have lots of versions of those because they are Todd’s personal favorite! You can find a full tutorial here with the recipe for our White Chocolate & Cranberry Oatmeal Cookie Lara Bar. These are so easy to customize and only take about 10 minutes to make. We love recreating healthy versions of our favorite desserts with them, but you can make them a bit more savory if you like. Here is a list of all of the versions we have made over the years!
Thin Mint Lara Bars
Carrot Cake Raw Bars
Oatmeal Cookie Raw Bars
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Raw Bars
Snickerdoodle Lara Bars
Coconut Cranberry Lara Bars
Almond Joy Lara Bars
I can’t wait to hear what you come up with!!