Copycat Pumpkin Perfect Bars (No Bake Recipe)
Copycat pumpkin Perfect Bars made with oat flour, cashew butter, real pumpkin puree, and white chocolate chips. No bake, one bowl, one hour in the fridge. Makes 8.
Perfect Bars cost about three dollars each and live in the refrigerated section, which is exactly where I’d stand for ten minutes deciding whether that was reasonable. It isn’t, and the pumpkin flavor only shows up for two months of the year anyway. These take ten minutes of mixing and an hour in the fridge.
Copycat Pumpkin Perfect Bars are no-bake protein bars made from oat flour, nut butter, honey, and pumpkin puree, pressed into a loaf pan and chilled until firm. This version uses cashew butter and white chocolate chips, makes 8 bars at 211 calories each, and keeps in the fridge for a week.
The texture is the whole point of a Perfect Bar, that soft cookie-dough density rather than the chalk of a shelf-stable bar. Cashew butter gets you closer to it than peanut butter does, because it’s milder and lets the pumpkin come forward.
If you want the year-round version, I have the original Copycat Perfect Bar Recipe. For more pumpkin, there’s my Pumpkin Cottage Cheese Cookie Dough and Gluten Free Pumpkin Oatmeal Bars.
Why You’ll Love These
- No oven, no baking, ten minutes of actual work. One bowl of dry, one bowl of wet, press into a loaf pan, walk away.
- They cost a fraction of the real thing. A box of Perfect Bars runs well over ten dollars for four. This makes eight from pantry ingredients.
- The pumpkin version is seasonal at the store and permanent in your fridge. That’s the entire reason I made these in the first place.
Ingredients You’ll Need
(Amounts are in the recipe card below. These are my notes on why each one is in there.)
- Gluten free quick oats, blended into flour: blend them dry, on their own, before anything else goes in. Oat flour from the bag works too and saves you a step.
- Vanilla protein powder: I use PEScience Gourmet Vanilla, and code BAILEY takes money off. A plant based protein absorbs more liquid, so you may need an extra spoonful of cashew butter to bring the dough together.
- Cashew butter, melted: milder than peanut butter, which is why the pumpkin comes through instead of getting buried. Almond butter works. Sunflower seed butter makes it nut free.
- Honey: the binder, and it does more work here than the sweetening. Honey sets firmer than maple syrup in a no-bake bar, which is what keeps these sliceable straight from the fridge.
- Pumpkin puree: only a quarter cup, because pumpkin adds moisture and too much turns the dough soft. Check the can lists pumpkin as the only ingredient.
- Pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon: two teaspoons of spice plus a full teaspoon of cinnamon on top of it. That sounds like a lot and it isn’t, because the oat flour and nut butter mute spice considerably.
- Mini white chocolate chips: mini matters, because full-size chips make the bars crack along the seam when you slice them. Dark chocolate works if white is too sweet for you.
How to Make Copycat Pumpkin Perfect Bars
- Blend the quick oats on their own until they look like flour.
- In a large bowl, whisk the oat flour, protein powder, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and salt.
- In a second bowl, stir the pumpkin puree, melted cashew butter, honey, and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Add the dry to the wet and mix until it forms a thick dough. It’ll be stiffer than you expect. Use your hands if a spoon isn’t cutting it.
- Fold in the white chocolate chips.
- Press firmly into a parchment-lined loaf pan with the back of a spoon. Firmly is the operative word, because loosely packed bars fall apart when you cut them.
- Refrigerate at least 1 hour, then slice into 8.
Tips Before You Start
- Melt the cashew butter first. Cold nut butter won’t incorporate, and you’ll end up with dry pockets of oat flour. Twenty seconds in the microwave is enough.
- Press harder than feels necessary. This is the single thing that determines whether they slice cleanly or crumble. Use the flat bottom of a measuring cup and lean on it.
- Keep them cold. These soften at room temperature the same way real Perfect Bars do. That’s not a flaw, it’s the texture, but it means the fridge isn’t optional.
Variations
- Nut free: sunflower seed butter in place of the cashew butter. The color goes slightly green, which is a harmless reaction with the leavening-free dough and tastes the same.
- Higher protein: a second scoop of protein powder plus a tablespoon or two of almond milk to bring the dough back together.
- Different chocolate: dark chocolate chips cut the sweetness, and a drizzle of melted chocolate over the sliced bars makes them look like the real packaging.
How to Store
Store in an airtight container in the fridge, with parchment between the layers so they don’t stick. They keep about a week.
To freeze, wrap each bar individually and freeze up to 3 months. Move one to the fridge the night before you want it, or eat it half-frozen, which I do more often than I’ll admit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do these need to be refrigerated?
Yes. Like the real thing, these soften at room temperature and won’t hold their shape. Keep them in the fridge and take one out when you want it.
Why are my bars crumbling when I slice them?
Either they weren’t pressed firmly enough into the pan, or they haven’t chilled long enough. An hour is the minimum and longer is better. If the dough felt dry going in, add a spoonful more cashew butter next time.
Can I use pumpkin pie filling instead of pumpkin puree?
No. Pumpkin pie filling is pre-sweetened and pre-spiced, so it’ll throw off both the sweetness and the moisture. Use pure pumpkin puree with pumpkin as the only ingredient on the can.
Copycat Pumpkin Perfect Bars (No Bake Recipe)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups gluten-free quick oats blended into a fine flour
- 1 scoop vanilla protein powder I like using PEScience Gourmet Vanilla – use code BAILEY at checkout to save money on all products
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
- ¼ cup pumpkin puree
- ⅓ cup cashew butter melted
- ⅓ cup honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup mini white chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix together the oat flour, protein powder, pumpkin spice, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
- In a medium size separate bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree, melted cashew butter, honey and vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Then add in the chocolate chips.
- Add to a bread loaf pan and press down firmly using the back of a spoon. Add extra chocolate chips to the top if desired. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Slice into 4 or 8 pieces. Store in refrigerator. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided is calculated based on industry-standard software and should be used as a general guide only. The information may vary depending on ingredient substitutions, cooking techniques, and individual serving sizes. It is the responsibility of the reader to ensure the accuracy and appropriateness of the nutritional information provided. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider for personalized medical or nutritional advice.
More Pumpkin Recipes You’ll Like
- Pumpkin Baked Oats
- Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins
- Pumpkin Cottage Cheese Cookie Dough
- Gluten Free Pumpkin Oatmeal Bars
If you make these, leave a star rating and a comment below. And if you post them, tag me @basicswithbails or use #basicswithbails.
About Bailey
I love to bake, cook, exercise, and document all of the above. Nutrition is not low fat. It is not low calorie. It’s not feeling deprived or being hungry all the time. It’s nourishing your body with real, whole foods so that you are consistently satisfied and energized to live your life to the fullest! Read more…
