Pumpkin Granola Soft Bars

Back to the swing of things this fall/winter! Gone are summer days and you would think blogging days are in the past, but heck no! 

These bars were pretty good and chewy and great to grab for breakfast. Found them in this great website but mine is a variation because these babies definitely need chocolate, yessssss no doubt about it. You can also add raisins or cranberries like 1/2 cup and it is good too, not too sweet.

INGREDIENTS:
-1 cup of oats.
-1/2 cup of flour.

-2 eggs.

-1 cup of pumpkin puree.

-1/4 cup of honey.

-3 tablespoons of coconut oil.

-1 tsp vanilla extract.

-1/2 cup of chocolate chips.

-1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice.

-1 tsp of cinnamon.

-1 tsp baking powder.

-1/4 tsp of baking soda.

STEPS:

1. Mix all wet ingredients in a bowl and then the dry ones mix in another bowl EXCEPT for the chocolate chips that you add at the very end of everything. 

2. Stick in oven at 175 degrees, top and bottom fire for about 20-25 minutes.

That's it. Super easy and good breakfast bars for when you need a snack. Also not sugary!!! 

Pumpkin Bread

I get a little bit sick every autumn to hear Americans talk about pumpkin this, pumpkin that, and all the pumpkin shots in Facebook. But yesterday I bought a real pumpkin and then after roasting it and mixing it with sugar I began to understand their fascination....it is so good! 

So I roasted it and made around 4 cups of pumpkin puree with the handblender and I made this pumpkin bread that Deb Perelman had that looked straight out of a Dickens storybook. And it is GOOD! Wow so good, and not hard. Here it is. The sugar may seem a bit insane but remember that pumpkin puree is not sweet AT ALL. 

INGREDIENTS:
-1 and 3/4 cups of pumpkin puree. 
-1/2 cup of vegetable oil (or 115 grams of melted butter)

-300 grams of flour.

-3 eggs.

-330 grams of sugar.

-1 and 1/2 tsp of baking powder.

-3/4 tsp of baking soda.

-3/4 tsp of salt.

-3/4 tsp cinnamon.

-1/2 tsp ginger (you can put 1/4, I like the ginger kick)

-1/4 tsp nutmeg. 

-1/6 ground cloves.

For the top:

-1 tablespoon of white sugar.

-1 tsp of cinnamon.

STEPS:

1. Whisk oil, eggs and sugar until smooth.

2. Add baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and whisk.

3. Now add puree and whisk.

4. Now add flour and whisk with spoon until flour disappears.

5. Pour onto dish and now sprinkle the topping sugar that you have mixed with cinnamon. 

6. Bake for 1 hour in 175 degrees approximately, but try with knife towards the end to make sure it comes out completely dry.

Very good recipe, and not too sweet. A great fall dessert. Honestly this pumpkin bread is the type of stuff you buy in Starbucks.

Here are the photos of the roasting part, and one of Cambridge in the fall.