Okay, let's try again but keep your eyes open. Imagine a crumbly, buttery shortbread cookie. Now imagine a warm, spiced pumpkin pie puree. Now imagine that crumbly, yet intact cookie crust blanketed with the sweet and spicy pumpkin. You can stop imagining because these delightful Pumpkin Shortbread Bars are a reality!
You must be thinking, why is she making pumpkin recipes when the first day of summer is just DAYS AWAY?!
I'm sorry. I really am. I just really like pumpkin and cinnamon and everything in between but I promise after this I'll stick to summery yummies. Ice cream, perhaps? You can't go wrong with ice cream in the summer. Since we don't have an ice cream maker, I have my eyes on no-churn ice cream instead. How does Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream sound? What about Mango Lime Ice Cream?
Well now you know where I got my taste for pumpkin from. If you're like us, you might like my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins.
Good ol' summer, I've missed you! (It's funny how I'm saying this on a post with a fall related recipe. Shh...)
Adapted from Paleo Cupboard
For the crust
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/2 cup tapioca flour
- 3 Tbsp. honey
- 2 Tbsp. coconut oil, softened
- 1/4 tsp. sea salt
For the filling
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1/4 cup tapioca flour
- 3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
- 1/8 tsp. ground allspice
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- Preheat oven to 350F. To make the crust, mix the salt, almond flour, tapioca flour, honey and coconut oil together in a medium sized mixing bowl with your fingers.
- Press into the bottom of an 8x8 baking pan. It may not look like much but trust me- keep pressing it into the bottom of the pan until it covers the bottom. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until light golden brown, then remove from the oven and set aside.
- For the filling, combine the eggs, pumpkin puree, honey, coconut oil and vanilla extract in a medium sized mixing bowl and mix until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, combine the almond flour, tapioca flour, spices, sea salt and baking powder and stir until well combined. Add the pumpkin mixture to the almond flour mixture and stir well.
- Pour the mixture into the baking pan over the pre-baked crust, and set in the preheated oven. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the center is just set. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before serving.
Makes 25 bars