Low Carb Yum
Easy Gluten-Free & Keto-Friendly Recipes
open menu
open search bar
×

Low Carb Pumpkin Bars Recipe with a Gluten Free Option

Published: · Modified: by 17 Comments - This post may contain affiliate links. See Disclosure

Get my 5-Ingredient Keto Cookbook featuring over 120 simple recipes!

Additional Info

Net Carbs: 3 g | % Carbs: 6.6 % | % Protein: 8.8 % | % Fat: 84.5 % | SmartPoints: 7
Values 
Array
(
    [serving_size] => 1
    [calories] => 151
    [carbohydrates] => 6
    [protein] => 4
    [fat] => 17
    [saturated_fat] => 11
    [polyunsaturated_fat] => 1
    [monounsaturated_fat] => 2
    [cholesterol] => 55
    [sodium] => 124
    [potassium] => 118
    [fiber] => 3
    [sugar] => 1
    [vitamin_a] => 150
    [vitamin_c] => 0.8
    [calcium] => 50
    [iron] => 0.7
    [serving_unit] => bar
)
Jump to Recipe
Nut-FreeKid FriendlyVegetarian

Lovely low carb pumpkin bars topped with sweet cream cheese frosting. These frosted pumpkin cake bars are a delicious snack that all will enjoy.

Low carb pumpkin bars cover

Jump to:

When the weather got cooler and it began to feel like autumn, I started craving some pumpkin. However, all the grocery stores I shopped at were out of canned pumpkin.

I discovered that the canned pumpkin shortage was due to bad growing conditions in the state of Illinois where the Libby brand of pumpkins are grown. I figured I better stock up so I ordered a case of 12 organic cans of pumpkin online which was cheaper than going to one of the local nature food stores.

The grocery stores are hoping to have plenty of canned pumpkin back on the shelves for the holidays since the weather was better this year. I wish I had planted my own sugar pumpkins in the yard this year. Pumpkins will certainly be planted next year!

This is the first year that I’ve had trouble getting canned pumpkin. It’s amazing how much the weather in one state can have such a huge effect. Maybe the farms need to be a bit more spread out!

Low carb pumpkin bars raw batter spread in pan

I chose to make the cake for my low carb pumpkin bars recipe in a jelly roll pan. This is because I’d like to make a pumpkin roll for Thanksgiving and wanted to see if this cake would work for that.

I think it would, but the pan would have to be lined with parchment or something nonstick so that the cake would be easier to take out of the pan and roll. I only sprayed the pan with oil and the cake did stick a little, but not a problem with the small squares that I cut it into.

Low carb pumpkin bars baked sice cake

I frosted the low carb pumpkin bars with a stevia sweetened cream cheese frosting, but the cake is moist and delicious as is. It’s also wonderful topped with stevia sweetened whipped cream.

The recipe for the cream cheese frosting I used is right below the cake recipe in this post. If you like spiced pumpkin, you are sure to love this one!

Low carb pumpkin bars sliced in pan

Do you love pumpkin? I sure do. Want some more low carb pumpkin recipes? Check out this collection!

Low Carb Pumpkin Bars Recipe

Low carb pumpkin bars featured square

★ FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK, PINTEREST AND INSTAGRAM FOR MORE EASY KETO RECIPES.

Low carb pumpkin bars featured square

Low Carb Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

Author: Lisa MarcAurele
4.34 from 6 votes
A lovely pumpkin spice cake topped with sweet cream cheese frosting. This low carb snack cake is sure to please.
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time30 mins
Total Time40 mins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Print Pin Review Recipe Save Recipe Save Recipe
Servings 20 servings
Calories 151

Ingredients

CAKE:

  • 1 cup Carbquik (see Note)
  • ½ cup almond flour
  • ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ¼ teaspoon ginger
  • ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 cup Steviva Blend or 1 cup erythritol plus 1 teaspoon stevia extract
  • 1 Tablespoon blackstrap molasses optional (for authentic flavor)
  • 4 eggs , beaten
  • 1 15- oz can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
  • 1 teaspoon sugar-free vanilla extract
  • ¾ cup coconut oil

FROSTING:

  • 2 8 oz packages cream cheese
  • ¾ teaspoon stevia glycerite
  • 3 Tablespoons heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon sugar free vanilla extract
US Customary – Metric

Instructions

CAKE:

  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • Mix dry ingredients in large mixing bowl. Set aside.
  • In medium bowl, mix together eggs, pumpkin, molasses, extract, and oil. Add to dry ingredients and mix well.
  • Pour into greased jellyroll pan (15x10x1) and bake for about 25-30 minutes. Cool on rack.
  • Cooled cake can be topped with whipped cream, frosted with cream cheese, or eaten as snack cake squares.

FROSTING:

  • Beat cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Add stevia, heavy cream and vanilla, beat until light and fluffy.

Notes

Carquik may be substituted with any low carb baking mix or use a mix of ¾ almond flour and ¼ coconut flour. Xanthan gum can be added to improve texture.
Carbs per square for cake: about 2.2g carbs
About 15 g carbs in entire frosting recipe

Low Carb Sweeteners | Keto Sweetener Conversion Chart

low carb yum 5-ingredient keto

Nutrition

Serving: 1bar | Calories: 151 | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 55mg | Sodium: 124mg | Potassium: 118mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 150IU | Vitamin C: 0.8mg | Calcium: 50mg | Iron: 0.7mg

Additional Info

Net Carbs: 3 g | % Carbs: 6.6 % | % Protein: 8.8 % | % Fat: 84.5 % | SmartPoints: 7
Values 
Array
(
    [serving_size] => 1
    [calories] => 151
    [carbohydrates] => 6
    [protein] => 4
    [fat] => 17
    [saturated_fat] => 11
    [polyunsaturated_fat] => 1
    [monounsaturated_fat] => 2
    [cholesterol] => 55
    [sodium] => 124
    [potassium] => 118
    [fiber] => 3
    [sugar] => 1
    [vitamin_a] => 150
    [vitamin_c] => 0.8
    [calcium] => 50
    [iron] => 0.7
    [serving_unit] => bar
)

FREE EMAIL SERIES

My Top 5 Secrets to Master Keto!

Note on Nutritional Information

Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts as it has been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.

© LowCarbYum.com
Unauthorized use of this material without written permission from Lisa MarcAurele is strictly prohibited unless for personal offline purposes.
Single photos may be used, provided that full credit is given to LowCarbYum.com along with a link back to the original content.

Related Posts

Lisa-Profile

Lisa MarcAurele has been creating keto friendly recipes since 2010. She enjoys experimenting in the kitchen to create low sugar foods that taste like high carb favorites!

Lisa's recipes have been featured on popular magazine sites including Fitness, Shape, Country Living, Women's Health, and Men's Health. Her long-awaited cookbook, 5-Ingredient Keto, is also a popular go-to for those on a low-carb lifestyle. Learn more about Lisa....

Reader Interactions

Comments

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




  1. Daniele

    3 stars
    I made these tonight, and was really expecting that even my hubby, who doesn’t keep Keto, would enjoy them. However, after 2 bites he said he just couldn’t eat them, and neither could I. They smelled good baking, but the result was a spongy pumpkin cake that was nearly like eating pure coconut oil. I don’t know why the recipe calls for so much, but if I ever get up the courage to try this again, I’ll probably use ¼ cup or less. I feel badly that the recipe made such a large amount, and the ingredients are now wasted…Perhaps the proportions are off? I hope this recipe can be re-engineered, as it has so much potential to be superb!

    Reply

    • Lisa MarcAurele

      This is on my list to retest so I’ll see if less oil works out better. I’ve also started using the refined coconut oil which has a more neutral flavor where I don’t want a coconut flavor. Thanks for the feedback.

      Reply

  2. Heather K

    5 stars
    Tastes exactly like pumpkin pie! sooo good! I used only 1/2c of Crave Stevia Bakers Brown Blend and left out the molasses as a result. For Cream Cheese Icing I used 1 scoop of vanilla whey protein powder sweetened with stevia to sweeten instead of the liquid stevia. Going to see if my picky son notices if this is a low carb recipie;)

    Reply

  3. Monique Stec

    Hi,
    Can I use a 13×9 baking dish and if yes, how long is the baking time? Thanks.

    Reply

    • Lisa

      It’s hard to say. It will be a thicker cake so you’d likely need to bake for a longer time. So, I’d just keep an eye on it and use a toothpick or cake tester to determine doneness.

      Reply

    • Heather K

      I used a 13×9 glass dish at 325 for 25 min and left to sit in the oven to cool down. ended up being moist and fluffy much similar to pumpkin pie but holds together nicely at the same time.

      Reply

  4. Elizabeth Martin

    I took a look at the recipe but it did not say how many serving the cake made?

    Reply

    • Lisa

      It’s like 20 bars so I added that.

      Reply

  5. Lena

    How many servings per recipe?

    Reply

    • Lisa

      I got like 20 squares.

      Reply

  6. Theresa

    5 stars
    Hi I was under the impression that Stevia Blend was twice as sweet as sugar so you only need to use half as much. The 1 cup of stevia blend in the recipe seems like a lot, especially with the cream cheese frosting. Can you cut that down to half or use a splenda/stevia blend combo? Would this change the carb count?

    Reply

    • Lisa

      It depends on the blend you use. Pyure is twice as sweet as sugar, but blends like Sukrin:1 are a one to one replacement. If you are using something that is twice as sweet, you’ll want to use only half as much. Carb count varies little if you use the more concentrated blends.

      Reply

  7. Linda

    What can be used instead of Xanthin gum?

    Reply

    • Lisa

      You should be able to leave it out in this recipe. It just helps hold things together better.

      Reply

  8. Esther

    I’m gluten intolerant… what is a good substitute for the carbquick?

    Reply

    • Lisa

      I would try 1/2 cup coconut flour and increase the eggs to 6.

      Reply

  9. fooddreamer

    How funny, I just made something similar on Thursday! I only posted them today because I had such a rotten few days and I just couldn’t spend the time on my blog. I swear I wasn’t copying you 😉

    Reply