Pumpin' Pumpkin Bars-gluten free & vegan!

 

 So we're experimenting with pumpkin this month and found these awesome pumpkin brownies. Unlike another recipe we made with beans (that was more like a pumpkin pie), these turned out more cake-like, soft and moist.  YUM YUM! We adapted this recipe slightly from www.ambitiouskitchen.com taking out the refined sugar.  These freeze awesome and are a total crowd pleaser while being healthy!
    The 2 main components in this recipe are oats & pumpkin, both power houses in terms of nutritional value. Pumpkin is packed with Vitamin A, needed for red blood cell creation, bone and teeth development, and immune health.  Oats are very high in maganese.  Maganese is essential for:

• Help your body utilize several key nutrients such as biotin, thiamin, ascorbic acid, and choline
• Keep your bones/teeth strong and healthy
• Help your body synthesize fatty acids and cholesterol
• Maintain normal blood sugar levels
• Promote optimal function of your thyroid gland
• Maintain the health of your nerves
• Protect your cells from free-radical damage

Source: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=77

Ingredients:

• *2 1/2 c oat flour (we take 2 1/2 c organic rolled oats and grind them up for a few seconds in our Vitamix/blender and measure out to make sure to have 2 1/2 c flour)
• 1 cup pumpkin
• 1/4 c honey
• 1/4 cup molasses 
• 1/2 c unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 2 heaping tsp cinnamon (we love cinnamon)
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 or 1/3 c chocolate chips (vegan) + 2 tbsp for top
  

*use certified gluten free oats if needed

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and spray an 8x8 or 9x9 pan with cooking spray (could make it in a larger pan, but these wouldn't end up as thick, and watch timing if you do so).
2. Make oat flour-by pulsing rolled oats in blender until flour forms
3. Mix wet ingredients together.  Mix dry ingredients (excepts chips) in a separate bowl and gradually add in dry ingredients.
4. Fold in chips and pour into pan
5. Bake for 20 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool and slice.
   
   
   

Nutritional Benefits:

• Pumpkin: high in beta carotene (Vitamin A): great for immune, bone, teeth and eye health, 1 c-840% of daily needs!
• Oats: high in fiber 1/2 c dry=4 g fiber and maganese (1c=68% of daily value) 
• Low in sugar/no refined sugar
• Low in fat
• Anti-inflammatory
• Anti-oxidant

Nutritional Information (based on 16 squares, but you could easily get 20 out of these)

Calories: 121 (in total recipe: 1938)

Fat: 3.3g (in total recipe: 53g)

Carbs: 21.7g (in total recipe: 347g)

Fiber: 1.8g (in total recipe: 28g)

Protein: 1.7g (in total recipe: 27 g)

Apple Crisp (vegan)

Apple Crisp After Baking

Desserts are often high in sugar and fat.  This cobbler takes advantage of all the delicious apples we can grow here in Buffalo, while keeping things low-fat and low sugar.  Go picking or pick up some fresh apples from your farmers market.  Get more than you think you'll need, they last a long well in cold storage (and it's 1/3 the price you'll pay in the store).

Apple Crisp (made without DAIRY!) for a 9x13 pan

Ingredients for Filling:

8 apples (about, use as many as you need to fill the pan): use an apple peeler if you have one

Citrus juice (you can use lemons or orange juice)-about the squeeze of 1 lemon/orange or drizzle juice on apples to prevent browning

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp honey

Instructions:

Mix the above into a bowl and the place apples into a 9x13 pan

Pour 2-3 tbsp of apple cider into bottom of pan (to coat bottom of pan)

Ingredients for Topping:

2 cups rolled oats (organic preferred)

1 cup whole wheat flour (can be replaced by more oats if gluten free)

1/4 cup honey

2 tbsp coconut oil (organic)

2 tsp cinnamon 

Instructions:

1. Mix topping and place on top of apples
2. Preheat oven to 375
3. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour (until bubbling), remove foil for 10 minutes to brown up

Enjoy!

Nutritional Benefits in this Apple Crisp (whole pan serves 10-12):

Apples: high in fiber and vitamin C (whole pan has 160% Vit C) high in potassium 

Oats: high in calcium, fiber, and helps to maintain blood sugar levels

Cinnamon: aids in blood circulation

Coconut oil: cholesterol free 

*totals in entire pan:
28g fat 

70 g sugar from honey

112 g carbs from oats (8g sugar)

12 g fiber from oats (much more depending on quantity of apples used)