Can you believe it’s already November and Thanksgiving is less than 2 weeks away?! October felt like a second summer here in France with the weather reaching the 80’s, and now all of a sudden it feels like we’ve jumped straight from summer to Christmas with the decorations popping up everywhere. It’s making me excited for Christmas, but I’m not quite ready to skip over fall. It’s one of the nicest times to be in Paris with the leaves adding so much color to the city!
While I don’t always love the cooler temperatures that autumn brings, I do love all the comfort foods! Soups, stews and winter squash are my favorite foods and I would happily eat them all year long. However, I try to reserve pumpkin for fall. It just tastes so much better fresh and makes it a bit more special!
Pumpkin isn’t very popular in France though, so it took me some time to hunt down canned pumpkin puree. When I finally found some I stocked up and bought 5 cans! Now I will be spending November baking all the pumpkin things to make up for lost time. These pumpkin bars with “cream cheese” frosting will definitely be on repeat!
If you’re looking for an alternative to pumpkin pie to add to your Thanksgiving menu, these would be the perfect addition to your table.They’re soft, chewy, and the vegan cream cheese frosting tastes like the real deal. No-one will even know they are AIP!
You could also leave off the frosting to make them completely coconut free and serve them as a pumpkin bread at breakfast!
Pumpkin Bars with “Cream Cheese” Frosting (AIP, Paleo)
Ingredients
1 c cassava flour
1 c arrowroot flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder (use this for AIP baking powder)
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp mace
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 c maple sugar or coconut sugar
1 15 oz can of pumpkin puree
1/2 c palm shortening
1/4 c avocado oil
2 gelatin eggs
For the Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting:
1/2 c palm shortening
1/4 c coconut butter, softened
2 Tbs maple syrup
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375 F and line a 9×9 baking dish with parchment paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, maple sugar, palm shortening, and avocado oil and stir to combine.
3. Add the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices and stir until ingredients are thoroughly mixed and a batter forms.
4. Make the gelatin eggs by whisking the gelatin with 2 Tbs of cool water in a small bowl. While whisking quickly, add 4 Tbs of hot water and stir until the gelatin is dissolved and frothy. Add the gelatin eggs to the pumpkin mixture and stir all ingredients together.
5. Pour the batter into the lined baking dish, and bake at 375 F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
6. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and allow the bread to cool completely before frosting.
7. While the bread cools, prepare the frosting by mixing the palm shortening, coconut butter, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Using an electric hand mixer, beat the frosting on high speed for 2-3 minutes until fluffy and the frosting begins to peak.
8. Once the bread has cooled, top with the frosting and slice into squares. Enjoy!
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