Pumpkin Crumble Bars

These Pumpkin Crumble Bars are an easy, beloved fall dessert! A delicious oat crumble doubles as the crust and crumb topping, sandwiched around a sweet, creamy pumpkin filling. Nut-free and easily gluten-free, this makes a wonderful make-ahead dessert perfect for Thanksgiving!

a stack of pumpkin crumble bars

Why You’ll Love These Pumpkin Crumb Bars

These Pumpkin Crumb Bars are delicious and a fantastic addition to your Thanksgiving dessert table!

  • Reminiscent of pumpkin pie – The creamy, sweet pumpkin filling is nearly identical to pumpkin pie filling! Perfect if you love pumpkin pie but are looking to change it up a bit.
  • The crust doubles as the crumble – Cut your prep time down by mixing one crumble that doubles as both crust and crumble topping.
  • Make ahead – These pumpkin crumb bars can easily be made ahead a day or two, helping you better manage your time for lower stress holiday meals.
  • 100% whole grains – as long as you make the recipe as written with oats and oat flour (or sub 100% whole wheat flour) this is a 100% whole grains dessert!
  • Gluten-free – Made with oats and oat flour, as long as you use certified gluten-free oats, this recipe is naturally gluten-free.
  • Flexible – You can easily customize this recipe based on your on-hand ingredients and preferences. Try oat flour, whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, or almond flour. And adjust the brown sugar amounts to your preference, or swap with a non-nutritive sugar-free brown sugar substitute.
  • Uses a full can of pumpkin – No leftover pumpkin odds and ends here! The filling uses the entire can.
  • Not overly sweet – If you’re not a fan of desserts that are cloyingly sweet, this wholesome pumpkin crumble is for you. It’s sweet, but not overly so!
  • Kid-friendly – If your kids are pumpkin fans, they’ll love these pumpkin crumble bars that easily fit in their little hands!

Featured Ingredients

pumpkin crumble bars ingredients
  • Oats – I recommend old fashioned oats. Quick oats work, too, but the texture is finer. I do not recommend steel cut oats.
  • Oat flour – You can buy it at the store (or on Amazon), or grind your own in a food processor, some blenders, or a spice mill. Alternatively you can use whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, or almond flour.
  • Brown sugar – If you need an alternative, Truvia Sweet Complete Brown Sweetener is an excellent option.
  • Butter – Use your favorite dairy-free or plant-based butter substitute if you need it. I don’t recommend coconut oil, I it affects the texture and taste too much.
  • Pumpkin – You need a full 15 ounce can of pumpkin puree (make sure it’s 100% pumpkin puree – not pumpkin pie filling!).
  • Eggs – You’ll need 3 eggs. Unfortunately I don’t have any good substitute recommendations, as the egg is really important for the texture and stabilization of the bar filling.
  • Pumpkin pie spice – Streamline your spices by just using pumpkin pie spice instead of several different seasonings.
  • Vanilla – A little goes a long way! I love vanilla bean paste but you can use vanilla extract.

How to Make Pumpkin Crumble Bars

collage showing every step for how to make pumpkin crumble bars
  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Combine crumble ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Use a pastry cutter or a fork to cut the butter into the crumble mixture until it’s all roughly pea-sized pieces.
  3. Use the butter wrapper (or any kind of nonstick spray) to lightly grease an 8×8 or 9×9 baking dish.
  4. Create the bottom crust by placing half the crumble mixture in the baking dish and firmly pat it down into an even layer. Reserve the other half of the mixture for topping.
  5. Add the filling ingredients to a separate bowl and stir until combined.
  6. Pour the pumpkin filling over the bottom crust and spread it into an even layer.
  7. Generously sprinkle the remaining crumble over the pumpkin layer. Make an even layer, but don’t press or pat it down.
  8. Place the crumble in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until crumble is lightly browned.
  9. Let cool at least 1-2 hours before slicing and serving.

Recipe Tips

  • Use the right pumpkin. You want 100% pure pumpkin puree, NOT canned pumpkin pie filling.
  • Let cool completely. The bars can be refrigerated and served chilled, or they can be served at room temperature. They’re best not warm, as the flavor improves and the filling sets a bit as they cool.
  • Make ahead. These pumpkin crumble bars can easily be made they day before or morning of, to help space out holiday meal preparations.
  • Adjust cooking time with larger pans. If you’re using an 9×9 pan, you’ll likely remove your crumble from the oven on the earlier side of the cooking time range.
  • Freeze leftovers. Have any leftovers? Or just like to make a treat and keep enjoying it later? These pumpkin crumble bars freeze great!
a delicious bite of pumpkin crumble bars

More Gluten-Free Desserts

Try these Nutrition to Fit healthy dessert recipes for nourishing sweet treats!

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a stack of pumpkin crumble bars

Pumpkin Crumble Bars

These Pumpkin Crumble Bars are an easy, beloved fall dessert! A delicious oat crumble doubles as the crust and crumb topping, sandwiched around a sweet, creamy pumpkin filling.
5 from 18 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Servings: 16
Calories: 162kcal

Ingredients

For the Crumble:

  • 1 cup old-fashioned oats
  • 1 cup oat flour (or whole whole or all purpose flour)
  • ½ cup cold butter cubed
  • ½ cup light brown sugar packed
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • ½ teaspoon salt

For the Pumpkin Filling:

  • 15 ounces pumpkin puree (1 can)
  • 3 large eggs
  • ¼ cup light brown sugar packed
  • 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Liberally grease a 9×9-inch baking pan with olive oil or butter (or line with parchment paper).
  • Combine crumble ingredients using a pastry cutter (or even a fork!) to cut the cold butter into the other ingredients until the mixture is even with pea-sized pieces of butter. Place half the crumble mixture in the bottom of the baking pan and press firmly down. Reserve the other half of the crumble mixture.
  • Combine filling ingredients. Pour pumpkin filling over the crumble mixture pressed down in the baking pan. Sprinkle (don’t pan!) remaining crumble on top of the pumpkin filling.
  • Bake for 35-45 minutes. Allow to cool for one hour at room temperature, and when cool enough transfer to the fridge to cool another two hours. Leave bars refrigerated until serving. Enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 162kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 46mg | Sodium: 136mg | Potassium: 131mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 4359IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 32mg | Iron: 1mg

This Pumpkin Crumble Bars recipe was originally published November 16, 2018 but the post was updated and republished November 2022.

Made with butter and brown sugar, these simple pumpkin pie crumble bars are a delicious nut-free, gluten-free pumpkin dessert! A perfect make ahead Thanksgiving dessert!

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17 Comments

  1. These turned out great! I actually doubled the recipe, so it filled a 9×13 pan. The oat topping was the best!

  2. I usually don’t think to come back to leave reviews on recipes, but I just made this today and it was so good!! Thank you for the recipe 🙂

  3. My first Fall recipe! Just made these this morning. Turned out really wonderful, too. One question, though: what should the pumpkin texture be when removing from oven? I used a convection bake (risky, I know, on the first try). I am not sure if I overbaked the bars or not. My filling was pulled away from the pan and I could cut a piece straight from the oven. Should the texture be a little jiggly, though, like when you pull out a pumpkin pie from the oven? Thanks again for the recipe!

    1. They’re definitely supposed to be more like a pumpkin pie filling. I have a feeling yours may have been a bit overcooked (but glad you still enjoyed them!). Next time you cook via convection oven I would try baking at 325 degrees. You may want to try baking more at 30-35 minutes, too – look for that pumpkin pie consistency!

  4. Excited to make these? Do you think it’d be possible to freeze them and pull them out the day before I plan to serve them?

5 from 18 votes (9 ratings without comment)

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