Paleo Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars are a grain-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free version of classic snickerdoodles with a pumpkin twist! You’ll love these super easy, warmly-spiced fall treats!
HELLOOOOO cookie bar of my dreams!
A little cinnamon and sugar, a little pumpkin spice action, a perfectly chewy yet crispy cookie bar with warm flavors to make me feel like autumn is thriving in my taste buds?
Put ‘em on repeat, please and thank you!
I enjoyed my Keto Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars so much that I figured I would revisit the deliciousness and create these Paleo Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars.
The overall concept here is we’re taking classic snickerdoodle cookies, turning them into bars, making them grain-free, refined sugar-free, and dairy-free, and adding some pumpkin flair to them, because: autumn.
If you follow a keto diet, no sweat – I have included a keto version down below. In fact, the majority of my recipes that are paleo can easily be made low-carb or keto by swapping out the granulated sweetener with your favorite sugar-free sweetener.
These incredibly inviting pumpkin cookie bars are a glorious treat to share with friends and family and have on hand during the fall and winter months….or year round if you’re a believer that pumpkin knows no season 😉
Let’s dive right into the ingredients for these epic cinnamon and sugar pumpkin spice cookie bars!
Paleo Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars Ingredients:
Avocado Oil (or coconut oil): The fat portion of these bars for flavor, texture and good chemistry. If you’re not dairy-free, you can easily replace the avocado oil with melted butter. You can also go with melted coconut oil!
Pumpkin Puree: Canned pumpkin puree gives that pumpkin vibe to these pumpkin snickerdoodles. It is actually the combination of the canned pumpkin and the pumpkin pie spice that gives a baked treat that warmly-spiced fall feel.
Egg: One egg helps fluff up the cookie bars for perfect texture. Egg helps keep these bars held together. I haven’t tested the recipe using an egg replacer yet, but if you give it a try let me know in the comments which one (and how much) you use!
Vanilla Extract: Providing a little dose of warmth, vanilla extract is always lovely to add to baked goods. It’s totally fine to skip it if you don’t have it on hand.
Almond Flour: The flour portion of the recipe! Almond flour when combined with other goodies like egg, sugar and oil has a chewy texture, just like regular cookies. It is a great grain-free, low-carb alternative to regular all-purpose flour.
Maple Sugar or Coconut Sugar: Used to sweeten the cookie bars, maple sugar or coconut sugar are good options for lower glycemic, less refined sweeteners. You can also go with raw cane sugar, brown sugar, or any type of sugar-free granulated sweetener for a keto version of these bars.
Baking Powder & Baking Soda: Used for leavening and crisping, we need both baking powder and baking soda to keep the cookie bars nice and hold-together-esque and also generate a delightful crisp around the edges.
Pumpkin Pie Spice: That amazing ingredient that makes you feel like you’re enjoying a slice of autumn in your mouth 😉 If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, you can make your own blend if you have all of the components or simply use cinnamon.
Cinnamon: What makes a snickerdoodle a snickerdoodle! We couldn’t possibly make them without cinnamon. Use cinnamon and maple sugar topping for that iconic snickerdoodle essence.
How to Make Paleo Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a 8” x 8” baking pan with parchment paper (I used foil because I was out of parchment).
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the oil, egg, and pumpkin puree until well combined.
Add the remaining ingredients for the cookie bars and mix well until a very thick, sticky dough forms (Note: the dough should look like regular cookie dough and all the “graininess” from the almond flour should be gone).
Transfer the cookie dough to the prepared pan and smooth into an even layer.
In a small bowl, stir together the maple sugar and cinnamon for the topping.
Sprinkle a little over half of this mixture over the cookie bars.
Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. I go 20, turn the oven off then leave the cookie bars in the oven for another 5 minutes.
Remove the cookie bars from the oven and allow them to cool.
Tug on the parchment paper to pull the cookie bars out of the baking pan and transfer to a cutting board to cut them.
Slice and serve! You can sprinkle the remaining cinnamon and sugar mixture over the cookie bars if you’d like.
Can I Make These Keto?:
For a low-carb keto version of these pumpkin snickerdoodle bars, simply replace the maple sugar with your favorite granulated sugar-free sweetener. I always like to use sugar-free brown sugar in recipes like this because it adds a nice moisture and depth of flavor.
More Healthy Pumpkin Dessert Recipes:
- Paleo Pumpkin Pie Bars
- Chocolate Chip Paleo Pumpkin Bread
- Paleo Pumpkin Swirl Brownies
- Healthy Pumpkin Cake
- Paleo Pumpkin Cheesecake
Enjoy these pumpkin spice dewdrops of joy!
Paleo Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars
Ingredients
Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars:
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- ¼ cup coconut oil or butter melted and cooled
- ¼ cup canned pumpkin
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract optional
- 1 2/3 cups super fine almond flour
- 1/3 cup maple sugar or coconut sugar*
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice or ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
For Sprinkling:
- 1 1/2 Tbsp maple sugar or coconut sugar*
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a 8” x 8” baking pan with parchment paper.
- Whisk together the pumpkin puree, egg, and melted coconut oil (or butter) in a mixing bowl until well combined (wet ingredients).
- Add the remaining dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and mix well until a very thick, sticky dough forms.
- Transfer the cookie dough to the prepared pan and smooth into an even layer.
- In a small bowl, stir together the sugar-free sweetener and cinnamon for the topping. Sprinkle a little over half of this mixture over the cookie bars. Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the edges appear slightly golden-brown and the bars test clean
- Remove the cookie bars from the oven and allow them to cool.
- Tug on the parchment paper to pull the cookie bars out of the baking pan and transfer to a cutting board to cut them.
- Slice and serve! You can sprinkle the remaining cinnamon and sugar mixture over the cookie bars if you’d like.
Notes
Nutrition
I will make these for our weekend camping trip. They look like they will hold up well and will be a healthier snack.
I hope you love them! They really are a great treat to munch on 😀 xoxo
Just made these! They are good, but appear a lot thinner than yours!? I used maple sugar & baked in an 8 inch pan
Interesting…I’m not sure why that would be! I made mine in an 8-inch pan too, but perhaps it is smaller than advertised… 😀
just made these tonight!
So thrilled to hear it! I hope you love them!! xoxo
Made these with my 6yr old and we all loved them!!! Thanks for yet another great recipe!
I love hearing that! Thanks so much for letting me know, Mel!
Can I use maple syrup instead of maple sugar?
Hi Isabelle!
I haven’t tested the recipe with a liquid sweetener, but it should work as long as you add some more almond flour to offset the liquid. Just be sure the dough resembles regular cookie dough and you should be good! 🙂 xoxo