These (almost) five-ingredient pumpkin seed bars are full of wholesome ingredients & they are super easy to whip up! The perfect salty-sweet anytime snack or breakfast!
Happy Monday friends! How was your weekend? What did you do with yourself in the first real non-holiday weekend? Did you take down your Christmas decorations?
We did and we were literally the only ones on the block with a real Christmas tree for pick up. We should probably get on the artificial tree train, but they are like all pre-lit now, which I've heard nothing but nightmares about.
Oh well, no worries till next year right? One thing at a time, let's get through January strong! These bars are definitely one way to do that! I started the five-ingredient recipe train yesterday, and I'm still rolling with it today (well almost)!
Shout out to Pumpkin Seed Health Warrior Bars (affiliate link) that were the inspiration for this recipe. Someone asked me if I thought those bars would work for seed cycling, which was EXACTLY how I was using them.
I was eating a half or to a full bar a day to get in all my pumpkin seeds to support my luteal phase. (See Seed Cycling & Making Your Hormones Work For You) The ingredients were so minimal I figured I try and whip up my own, and that's exactly what I did in just FIVE ingredients, okay six but I'm not counting salt. That's optional anyway, or to taste, so there!
These bars were everything I wanted them to be. If you eat them directly from the fridge they are are a bit harder but still chewy. If I throw one in my purse and eat it while I'm out running errands, they are chewier but still stick together nicely.
The worst is when you make a homemade granola bar and it doesn't stick together or it's like biting into a rock. I've been storing mine in the fridge but technically all the ingredients are shelf stable so you don't have too.
5 Ingredient Pumpkin Seed Bars
5 Ingredient Pumpkin Seed Bars
Ingredients
- ½ cup rolled old fashion oats* or oat flour
- 2 cups raw pumpkin seeds
- 1-2 teaspoons cinnamon too taste
- ½ teaspoon salt* optional or too taste
- ¼ cup honey or brown rice syrup for vegan
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil MELTED**
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F, line an 8 x 8 baking pan with parchment paper and grease it with cooking spray or oil.
- If you aren’t using pre-ground oat flour, just add ½ cup to a food processor and grind for 1-3 minutes until a flour forms. It doesn’t have to be super fine, BUT you don’t want to see any visible oat flakes either.
- Combine oat flour, pumpkin seeds, cinnamon, salt, honey, and coconut oil in a bowl. Mix until the mixture is well combined.
- Add the mixture to the pan and press down with the back side of a clean spoon. It may help to oil the back of the spoon. Compact it lightly but not so much that you hear the seeds crunching. It will seem kind of “loose-ish” but that’s fine as long as you pushed it down.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until slightly golden brown, remove from the oven and let it sit for 10 minutes. Once its cool enough to handle, place it in the refrigerator for one hour.
- After one hour you can remove the mixture from the pan by lifting up the parchment paper. Now you can cut it into bars and store in an airtight container or plastic bag. I find that these bars are a little tough straight out of the fridge but I eat them that way. However, if I throw one in my purse to eat while I’m out it is chewier! Either way is delicious!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Similar recipes:
Ultimate Superfood Granola Bars (Vegan)
Patrick@looneyforfood.com says
I love quick, low ingredient throw together recipes like this! Everyone needs them in the arsenal. The seeds look so pretty on top as well.
Kelli Shallal MPH RD says
Thanks, Patrick!
Marcy says
I made the pumpkin seed bars and they were a hit. These will definitely be a household snack or dessert in my house!! Thanks Kelli;)
Kelli Shallal MPH RD says
Thanks, Marcy! I'm so curious did you use oat flour or regular flour?
Marcy says
I used the oat flour. I actually ran some oats through the food processor. Do you think oat bran would work? It is already ground down.
Kelli Shallal MPH RD says
Ha ha, I was curious because I know you aren't a huge fan of gluten-free flours! Oat bran might work, it would definitely give it a little different taste. Let me know if you try it!
Alex says
I'm 98% sure your nutritional stats are inaccurate - there's no way 1 of 9 bars is under 200 calories when you have over 1500 calories in seeds alone.
Kelli Shallal MPH RD says
Hmmmmm I checked the calculation and it is correct. Out of curiosity, I used another program and the total came to 225 with 3 more grams of fat. In the first calculation I don't have the exact calories because the program is a macro calculator, however, in the second I got 1364 calories of pumpkin seeds. Unless you use a food analysis software that costs thousands of dollars you can never really be sure because calories of basic foods can be off 10-50% even on food labels. That's why for so long I did not include nutrition analysis in my recipes, but since so many people kept requesting it I provide it as an estimate only. Hope that helps!
Emily @ Pizza & Pull-Ups says
I actually have a big bag of raw pumpkin seeds I was trying to decide what to do with, I will have to make a batch of these!
Kelli Shallal MPH RD says
Yeah! They are so good, I'm gonna be sad when this two weeks is up and I have to switch back to flax/hemp for seed cycling. ha ha
Sarah @ Bucket List Tummy says
I took down our Christmas decorations this week too! Adding these to my meal prep list this week - yum!
Kelli Shallal MPH RD says
let me know how you AND baby like them! You can speak for the baby since they aren't out yet!
Stacey says
This recipe looks great! Excitd to give it a try!
Kelli Shallal MPH RD says
Thanks, Stacey!
Joann says
Looking forward to making these. I will be traveling during my luteal phase next month so I can tak these along. I started seed cycling a few months ago after reading about it on Carrots N Cake and on your blog. It seems to be working!
Kelli Shallal MPH RD says
That makes me so happy to hear Joann! These will be PERFECT to travel with!
Rachel (Little Chef Big Appetite) says
I totally know what you mean about granola bars either crumbling or tasting like a rock!! These look like they turned out beautifully.
Erick Agsoven says
hi, could you share the nutritional facts of this pumpkin seed bar, thanks, looks delicious
Kelli Shallal MPH RD says
Hi Erick, it's at the bottom of the recipe! 🙂 Serving: 1bar | Calories: 190kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 13g
Suzanne says
This looks so good! I love that pumpkin seeds are so flavorful, healthy, and filling!
Vanessa says
Thanks for sharing! Do they keep long?
Sandy says
Can I use coconut flour or almond flour instead of Oats flour? What is the purpose of flour? Is it for binding?
Kelli Shallal MPH RD says
It is a binder! Garbanzo bean flour would be a good substitute!