Pumpkin Spice Cacao Bars

Ah, autumn. It’s one of the few things I miss about living up North. Crisp air, falling leaves, and the pumpkin spice pandemonium.

A stalwart black coffee drinker, I opted out of the annual Pumpkin Spice Latte craze. But I vividly recall an October foray to Trader Joe’s and being absolutely astounded at the array of other pumpkin spice products: Pumpkin Spice Muffin Mix, Pumpkin Spice Exfoliating Facial Scrub, Pumpkin Spice IPA.

So. In the spirit of Pumpkin Spice season, here’s a favorite recipe from the farm here in Ecuador. Made with real pumpkin (or any sweet squash) these high fiber vitamin packed bars are nutritious enough for breakfast and decadent enough for dessert. 

Btw, you might notice there’s no "pumpkin spice" in this recipe. We don’t have such things in rural Ecuador. But that’s ok because while pumpkin spice mania is clearly a thing, "pumpkin spice" is actually just a mixture of spices (like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, etc) that go well with the flavor of pumpkin. You can buy them pre-mixed as "pumpkin spice" or make your own blend to your liking.

Ingredients

• 4 cups cubed pumpkin or winter squash (butternut, acorn, or Hubbard are all good)

• 1 can coconut cream

• 2 cups natural brown sugar

• ½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut

• 1 Tbsp fine corn starch or tapioca flour

• 2 ½ cups rolled oats

• 3/4 cup crushed cacao

• ¼ cup almond, coconut, quinoa, or teff flour

• 1 tsp baking powder

• ¼ cup toasted pumpkin seeds

• ¼ cup chia seeds

• ½ cup water or apple juice

• ½ cup coconut oil (softened)

• 1 vegan buttery stick

• ½ tsp crushed cardamom seeds

• Dash of nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice and/or ginger. Spice as you like, or try one of our cacao spice blends.

• Pinch of salt

Utensils

• Large sharp knife or meat cleaver

• Large spoon

• Large baking pan

• Oven mitts

• Medium size mixing bowl

• Potato masher

• Medium size (8 x 10) baking pan

Directions

Bake the Pumpkin or squash

Heat the oven to 375°F

Mix the ¼ cup chia seeds with ½ cup room temp water or apple juice. Allow to stand. When it becomes thick and gooey it is ready to use (makes a good egg substitute)

Being very careful, split the pumpkin or squash in half with a large knife, small saw, or meat cleaver. Here at Sueño de Vida I do it in one easy motion with a machete. The point is, use a large sharp instrument. With care. 

Scoop out the seeds. Dry and toast them to eat or dry and save to plant in the spring.

Scrape out any stringy or pulpy stuff. When you get to the firm flesh, stop scraping. 

Carefully cut the pumpkin or squash into large chunks. Leave the peel on. It's a lot easier to remove when it's cooked.

Grease the large baking pan well with some coconut oil or vegan butter. Also grease the medium sized baking pan and set it aside.

Put the chunks of pumpkin in the large pan and spread them out evenly. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and brown sugar. Cover with foil.

Bake the pumpkin for 35 minutes, or until the pieces are very soft.

While the pumpkin is baking, prepare the crumble bottom

1. Grind the cacao in a food processor or with a mortar and pestle until the texture of very coarsely ground coffee

2. In a mixing bowl, cream the vegan butter stick and coconut oil with ¾ cup of the brown sugar

3. Add the gooey chia seed mixture and mix thoroughly 

4. Combine the rolled oats, flour, cacao, pumpkin seeds, salt, crushed cardamom and baking powder. 

5. Add the dry ingredients with the creamed butter/oil/chia egg mixture and work into a uniform consistency. It should be smooth but stiff. 

6. Transfer the crumble mix to the medium sized greased baking pan. Press it gently into the pan to make a nice even surface

Make the filling

Check on the pumpkin. When the pieces are all soft, remove the pan from the oven (use mitts) and allow to cool. 

Leave the oven on but turn the heat down to 350° F.

While waiting for the pumpkin to cool--

Whisk 1 Tbsp of corn starch or tapioca flour into ½ cup of the coconut cream.* Allow to stand until the mixture thickens, about 5 min.

*If you want to whip up the remaining coconut cream as a topping, put it in the refrigerator to harden

Also pop the crumble bottom into the oven to give it a bit of a pre-bake while you prepare the pumpkin filling.

When you can handle the baked pumpkin pieces pieces, slice off the peel. Add it to the compost. 

Drain any excess liquid out of the pan.

Mash the pumpkin. You can do it right in the baking pan with a potato masher. Why dirty up another bowl?

Add the shredded coconut, ¾ cup of the brown sugar, the thickened coconut cream, the "pumpkin spice" OR your custom spice blend. Mix gently until all the ingredients are smoothly combined. 

Remove the pan with the crumble bottom from the oven. Fold in the coconut pumpkin spice mixture. Return to the oven and bake for 30 minutes. If the filling is still a bit too moist, simply turn the oven down to 325° and bake for an additional 10 minutes. 

Variations: In the final ten minutes of baking, you can add a topping if you like. Here I’m adding a homemade tart cherry sauce I made. Apple or pear butter also work nicely, as shown in the photo below.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least one hour before serving.

Slice into squares and enjoy!

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Kristen Krash is the co-founder and director of Sueño de Vida, a regenerative cacao farm and reforestation mission in Ecuador. Sueño de Vida works to educate and inspire everyday people about permaculture, sustainable living, environmental activism and healthy living all in the name of living more in harmony with nature to create a better world for us all.

You can support the Sueño de Vida mission today by purchasing our cacao or contributing to direct reforestation.

Thank you.

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