Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal Bars With Dark Chocolate

•3 cups oats
•2 teaspoons 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
•2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
•1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
•1/2 cup dark brown sugar
•1 T light butter
•1/4 T dark chocolate chips (chopped)

Bars can be frozen. Simply bake, cool, cut; store in ziploc bag. Reheat individually for 30 seconds in microwave.

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 8×11 or 9 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

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, oil, and applesauce 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 chopped chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pan. 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.

Serving Size: 8x11 pan serves 16