These pumpkin granola bars are the ultimate snack for fall! Soft, chewy, and bursting with the delicious combination of pumpkin, chocolate, and warming spices!
If there’s one set of problems I’m not good at dealing with, it’s the kind that relate to technology. Throw accidents, natural disasters, relationship drama, or even calculus at me, and I can [usually] maintain a pretty level head, but give me website problems and I’m an absolute mess… which is what I was for a good part of yesterday.
Spoons experienced a considerable influx of traffic starting Wednesday night, which exacerbated some underlying issues that I wasn’t aware of beforehand and compromised the stability of the site. Ugh, sorry — I’ve had my head in the ‘techie-talk’ clouds for a little too long… What I’m trying to say is that one of my older recipe suddenly got a lot of attention, and the increased traffic put too much of a strain on the server, causing it to crash… repeatedly. I was on the phone with Bluehost (click here to see why I love them!) until about midnight on Wednesday night, and I thought I had everything sorted until the same thing happened on Thursday morning and I woke up to a flurry of texts, emails, and comments saying Spoons was having issues again. Eff.
So, picture me at 5 AM, disheveled, half-blind, and barely conscious, jumping out of bed and making the perilous journey to my computer in the dark — it’s a miracle I didn’t break my toes/nose on any furniture and/or door frames. I might have been a little more relaxed about it had it not been for Thinking Out Loud, but I felt super bad that people were having a hard time linking up and commenting (sorry again!!), so a mad dash it was.
One more phone date with Bluehost and countless frayed nerves later, and you’re hopefully reading this post (and actually able to comment on it!) without any issues. If not, then I’m probably still ripping out my hair (if I have any hair left) and wondering if it’s considered bad practice to start drinking at 1 PM on a Thursday afternoon… Needless to say, dealing with technology is not my forte, especially when I fix one issue only to have another one pop up as a result. Thankfully, I had these pumpkin granola bars to keep me sane.
How’s that for a seamless segue? And why does segue look completely different from the way it sounds in my head? Nevermind. The point is, these pumpkin granola bars were what kept me from going over the deep end while dealing with wonky plugins, updates, caches, and site optimization issues.
I wouldn’t say I’m an emotional eater, but I’m definitely a nervous snacker. That, in addition to twirling my hair (only on the left side), biting the inside of my cheek (on both sides), and constantly fidgeting to the point where I look like I’m having a seizure, help keep me calm when shiiiiiiitake mushrooms hit the proverbial fan. I think I remember reading somewhere that eating calms us down because our body figures that if we have an opportunity to eat, the threat to our lives must not be that severe (read: we’re not experiencing famine or getting chased by something that wants to make a meal out of us).
Whatever the case may be, it works — 3/4 of a pan of pumpkin granola bars and one functioning site later, and I’m happy as a clam… But I guess that’s to be expected when you’re enjoying a soft and chewy granola bar that’s loaded with oats, pumpkin, chocolate, and warming spices. These may just be my newest favourite snack for fall.
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Soft and Chewy Pumpkin Granola Bars
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 10 bars 1x
Ingredients
- 2 cups (160 g) rolled oats
- 2 tbsp (14 g) ground flax
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (120 g) canned pumpkin
- 1/4 cup (64 g) creamy almond butter
- 1/4 cup (80 g) brown rice syrup*
- 2 tbsp (25 g) coconut palm sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup (60 g) chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (176C) and prepare an 8 x 8 (20 x 20 cm) baking pan by lining it with a sheet of parchment paper, leaving a few inches of overhang on the sides to allow for easy removal. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, flax, spices, and salt. Add the pumpkin, almond butter, brown rice syrup, sugar, and vanilla, mixing until fully combined. Finally, fold in the chocolate chips.
- Transfer the dough to your prepared baking pan and use a greased spatula or your hands to spread it evenly, pressing down firmly.
- Bake for 18 – 20 minutes, until the edges begin to turn golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let cool in pan for ~20 minutes before cutting into bars. Store the bars in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Notes
* You can also use honey if you don’t need these to be vegan.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
Looking for more healthy bar recipes? Try one of these!
Soft and Chewy Protein Granola Bars
Gingerbread Pumpkin Bars
Chocolate Covered Raspberry Oat Bars
Saying hi from SITS Saturday Sharefest. I have not yet mastered granola bars but I did spend the week working on a pumpkin granola recipe! Hard to coax enough pumpkin flavor out when it all gets combined with the oats but round 3 was pretty darn good! These look terrific and I plan to give them a try soon. Will report back in with results! Good luck with the tech stuff – can be so frustrating!
These look so so good. I love trying out new granola bar recipes, and these have pumpkin! Anything pumpkin is amazing! Good luck getting all your techie stuff sorted out! I’m lucky, my husband does that stuff for a living so I don’t have to know anything! 🙂
YAY glad your site is back up and working!! Technology can be such a bitch. I am loving this recipe – really all of your recipes – so awesome. These look amazing -I’d eat the entire pan without being stressed!! Hope today is going much smoother for you!
Sorry about your tech issues! But too much traffic is a good problem. 🙂 These bars look fab! Great recipe. 🙂
My nervous habit is picking at my split ends… I’ve been doing it since high school. I used to pick fried hairs out (from too much blowdrying/straight ironing/curling) so luckily I’ve moved past that. When I get really panic-y and don’t have anywhere to be… I have a glass of wine. Whoops. You shoulda skyped me and we could have drank together at 1 pm on a Thursday… Davida’s been known to do it with me 🙂 xo, so glad Spoons is back up and running!
Well I might have tried if I had you on Skype! 😛
Can you just send me a box of all the recipes that you make? You are amazing woman with the stuff you come up with…I absolutely love it! Have a beautiful weekend! xoxo
yum, these look amazing!!
Yummy! I’m a granola bar, chocolate, and pumpkin fiend and will definitely be making these.
Those bars look fabulous! Sorry about the issues but yay for the traffic!! 🙂 Have a great weekend!
Gah technology is the best while also being the bane of my existence…you would think that being a blogger would have us completely clued up! So relieved that Bluehost was super helpful. I currently use Hostgator but as soon as I am up for renewal, I am switching over to Bluehost- this post was enough to sway me!
I am about to eat breakfast and suddenly wish I had one of these on hand…or 5 ;)!
I seriously can’t recommend Bluehost enough! I actually just renewed my contract with them a few months ago because they’ve been so good to me. Let me know if you have any questions!
Glad you got technology sorted- bluehost- when I had the meltdown I was on the phone to them, chatline with them and getting them on twitter- although twitter and the chatline were terrible choices, calling them was a lifesaver- sorted in 2 seconds.
I STRESS EAT TOO. Especially when I’m stressed at work. Hence- the empty granola jar, the empty nut jar, the empty ferror rocher jar. Wait.
Looks delicious. Thanks for sharing!
Okkkkkk I don’t have coconut palm sugar. Must. Go. Get.
And I’m a total tech idiot. I tried to get one of those bars like you and Hummusapien have at the top of your blogs for people to sign up via email. Seemed pretty straightforward, yes? As soon as I got to the part where I needed to convert the file (whatever it was) to a ZIP file in order to upload it as a plugin, I was like EFF THIS S#!T! Gave up. Just like that. I’d rather spend my time baking pumpkin bars.
I think all you have to do is right click on the link and pick “Save As…”!
I’m SO bad with technology issues so I feel ya, my friend! The good news is that pumpkin is taking over the world and I want to eat thirty five pans of these beauties. Pinning!
of course i want the bars.. but i need to chat to you about bluehost too. You make me smile! Love your knowledge and baking skills.
p.s. bluehost does rock!
Right back at ya, lady <3
Sorry about your site issues, but glad everything seems to be working now! The granola bars look GREAT!
OMG…nervous snacker…that cracked me up! I seriously am a snacker too and when I get nervous I won’t eat a real meal, but I eat a bunch of nuts or nut butter or whatever I can quickly eat. It’s a habit I’ve been trying to break actually. Sorry to hear about your website. I noticed it was down the other night. I’ve certainly had my share of issues and they are so stressful. That’s one of the negatives about blogging all the technical stuff and I’m in IT and I can’t even figure some of this stuff out.
Technology issues are terrible! I legit know how to do two things: Instagram and check my email. At least those are the two most important, right?
These look and sound delicious! Anything soft and chewy is a hit for me!
You are the bar making queen! XOXO
The Gingerbread pumpkin recipe looks really good. I am always looking for new ideas and recipes to use in the fall. Have a great weekend Amanda and enjoy the fall weather!
You too, Hollie! Enjoy your time with Tim 😀
Your protein granola bars have been on my radar for awhile, so it looks like I’ll be making those and these pumpkin ones this weekend, too. yum 🙂
All I have to say is yum! Have a great weekend, Amanda!
I definitely have nervous habits. One big one is picking at my nail polish. If I have a bad day, you better believe about three of my fingernails are naked and cold. I play with my hair and bite the inside of my lip, too, but I think the nail polish issue is the worst!
I wouldn’t even know where to start with hosting problems. After reading countless articles, I am still confused with the whole thing haha.
Ohh I forgot about the nail polish thing! I do that as well… even when I’m bored! I think that’s actually a big part of the reason I start wearing clear polish all the time — so that I could do it without people noticing.
I’m sorry for all your tech issues, belch! But congrats on having so much traffic your blog crashed. That’s pretty amazing:)
Also yum to those granola bars!
I’ve never experienced a server crash, which is probably a really good thing because I would basically lose my mind. I’m not even remotely close to tech-savvy.
As for nervous habits – pacing is probably my biggest one! God help me if I’m in a situation where I’m nervous but I can’t get up and walk around.
I hate technology. I still feel bad for what you dealt with and hope it doesn’t happen again to you or me or any of us lol. I used to be more of a hair twirler, in fact, I am surprised I somehow broke the habit.
You are so sweet to worry about us commenting/linking when an influx of traffic is a GREAT thing right! Congrats! Am glad for you lovely lady!
I am a nail bitter and a pacer – stress comes my way and I forget to eat or cook – but things might change if I smelt the pumpkin and cinnamon from these bars – I will volunteer to take any extra off your hands – help you start the weekend off with clean baking trays and tupperware! 🙂
This was a great post! Again, you are really gifted with your writing. Takes a lot for me to laugh out loud! Success today. Hehe
Arlene
Aww thanks so much, Arlene! Your comment definitely brought a smile to my face 🙂
I had major tech issues on Tuesday with my ipad… thank goodness David was at home to calm me down and help me find a solution! Fingers crossed thats it all worked out for you now 🙂
Dang these bars look soooo good! At least you had some good comforting fuel to get you through the stress.
When I get nervous I fidget with my clothes. I used to twist my hair in my hands when I had long hair, now I twist my clothes! :-S
I think one of the main reasons that I have a hard time cutting my hair short, even though I sometimes want to, is because I’d miss being able to twirl it… I even have pictures of me doing it when I was like 2 years old!
These looks AMAZING!!
Those look amazzzzzzing!!!! I want to bite into one through my screen 🙂 Anything with chocolate chips is a win in my book!
Oh man, I get SO angry when technology doesn’t work. I’m normally super relaxed about everything, but the second the internet goes down I fly into a rage. Glad everything is up and running!
It’s a good thing you had some granola bars around to ease the worry and nerves… 😉
I’m a sporadic nail biter. According to my mother, I came out of the womb doing it. 😐 Also, I would probably cry if something like that happens to my blog. I’m pretty comfortable with coding and stuff but that would be out of my control and i’m kind of a control freak with the blog. Glad you got it fixed tho!
p.s. I thought the segue was awesome. I actually thought “Smooth Amanda” when I read it and then laughed when I scrolled past the picture and read the next line haha
Ahhh I’m sorry about your site–that’s the worst. TGFB–> Thank God for Bluehost, right? AND for these bars of course 🙂
I am definitely an anxious/nervous snacker. Almost always something unhealthy or at least involving chocolate.
Thankfully my husband is a web developer, so he is my tech support. I would be lost without him and likely would have pulled out all my hair as well.
These look delicious! I hope your website problems are solved and you have a great weekend!!
I seriously want these right now – no fair! Going grocery shopping today and this might be something for later this weekend. Website issues suck! i use bluehost as well since I heard only great things about them and thank goodness, seriously, because otherwise I wouldn’t be able to run a blog at all. There was one day my site was repeatedly down all day and it was so frustrating! Good to know bluehost helped you out!
Trade you a granola bar for a slice of pie 😀 And Bluehost is seriously amazing. You’ve gotta love a support tech that’s willing to talk you down off the ledge at midnight…
Hey, Sorry to hear about the issues you experienced with your website yesterday. At least now I know it wasn’t my PC and I’ll remove the issue ticket I raised with our IT yesterday………lol…only joking 😉
Seriously though, what a nightmare for you, I did have troubles trying to comment, and then couldn’t find the comment and thought it had just disappeared into cyberspace……
No worries, you’ve made me very happy now with this recipe 😀
The comments DID disappear into cyberspace! And I totally blame the new version of WordPress for that one 😡
So it wasn’t just my computer! I was wondering why I couldn’t log on to your site – haha! Glad everything got resolved, and thanks for the recipe!