'Tis the season

For pumpkin. It is that time of year again. Pumpkin puree is being prominently displayed in grocery stores across the country. As a big fan of all things pumpkin, I love seeing new recipes where this is the star ingredient. Even Bosco loves a spoonful of pumpkin.

This time I tried healthy pumpkin chocolate chip oatmeal bars. They are good and really simple. For this you use oatmeal flour and it gave us an opportunity to use our new Vitamix. More on this to come.

Ingredients

• 3 cups oats
• 2 teaspoons aluminum free baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• pinch of ground cloves
• 1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon olive or coconut oil
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips, plus 2 tablespoons for sprinkling on top

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and butter an 8" square baking pan.
2. Make oat flour: Place oatmeal into blender or food processor and blend for 1-2 minutes until oatmeal resembles flour. You may need to stop blender and stir oats a couple of times to ensure that all oats have been blended.
3. Measure out just 2 1/2 cups of the oat flour and place in a medium bowl. Whisk in baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices; set aside.
4. In a separate large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, brown sugar, vanilla extract and oil for 1-2 minutes until the consistency is smooth and creamy. Slowly add in oat flour mixture and mix until just combined.
5. Gently fold in 1/3 cup of chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pan and sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons of chocolate chips on top. Bake for 15-25 minutes or until knife inserted into center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Timing will depend on what size pan you use, but definitely check around 15 minutes. Once finished baking, cool 10 minutes on wire rack. Cut into 16 slices.