These gluten free pumpkin pie bars are filled with a sweet, thick pumpkin pie filling and have a shortbread crust, and a sweet crumble topping! The crust holds up and doesn’t get soggy like many pumpkin pie bar recipes. They make a great fall dessert in a fraction of the time it takes to make a pumpkin pie. Make them in about 45 minutes!
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our Disclosure Policy.
❤️ Sandi’s Recipe Summary
The Quick Bite: This simple gluten free pumpkin pie bar recipe lets you have all of that classic pumpkin pie flavor in an easy-to-eat bar. The crumb topping is light and sweet, and the shortbread crust holds up to the moisture of the pumpkin filling. Serve this fall dessert at any fall or holiday get-together.
“This recipe is so fabulous, I think I will probably never make pumpkin pie again. I would call it a dessert, but will cut it into bar shapes for a gathering tomorrow. I did not have coconut in the house so did not add that in.”
Susan V., Blog comment
I am in love with this creamy gluten free pumpkin pie bar recipe. It is the dessert I make when I want pumpkin pie flavor without the effort of rolling out a crust the morning of Thanksgiving. The shortbread crust holds the pumpkin pie filling without getting soggy. These gluten free pumpkin pie bars are made with condensed milk and not evaporated milk, and I found that the thicker condensed milk helps the filling stay thick and set more easily.
This pumpkin pie bar recipe is a very forgiving recipe. You can use most gluten free flour blends, I tested both King Arthur Measure for Measure and Bob’s Red Mill 1:1. Use freshly roasted or canned pumpkin, or even make it dairy-free. I tested it in so many different ways to give you options. I tested two flour blends listed below, and both performed about the same.
I am a self-proclaimed pumpkin fanatic. If you are a fall baker, check out all of my gluten free pumpkin recipes. The pumpkin filling from this recipe can be used to make this Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie.
Ingredient Notes:
For the full list of ingredients and amounts, please go to the recipe card below.
- Gluten Free Flour Blend – Most blends should work in this recipe. I tested these gf pumpkin bars with King Arthur Measure for Measure and Bob’s Red Mill 1:1. The brand of gluten-free flour you use will affect the dough’s moisture. If your dough is too wet or runny, add more flour; if it is too thick, add more liquid. Read Why Gluten-Free Flour Blends Vary to learn more about this.
- Binder – If your blend doesn’t contain xanthan gum or guar gum, add 3/4 teaspoon.
- Shredded Coconut – Use unsweetened coconut. Sweetened will make these bars too sweet.
- Pumpkin Puree – Use fresh or canned pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling.
- Sweetened Condensed Milk – These pumpkin bars filling is made with condensed milk instead of sugar. You can use either regular condensed milk or dairy-free coconut milk condensed milk if you are dairy-free.
- Butter – Use unsalted butter. If you are dairy-free, I tested this recipe using Earth Balance. Other plant-based butter brands should also work well. One reader used Country Crock and said it was good.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice – You can easily find premixed pumpkin pie spice for sale. If not, use 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ginger, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1/4 teaspoon allspice.
I make a lot of holiday bar recipes. See these delicious Gluten Free Pumpkin Snack Cake Bars, which are a cross between a cookie and a snack cake!
How to Make Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie Bars (Step-By-Step)
Before you start, preheat your oven to 350º F and make sure the oven rack is in the middle position.
Step 1: In a large
👀 Sandi Says: The mixture will look very crumbly. Do not add more butter. The fat-heavy, low-liquid crust acts as a barrier to prevent getting soggy from the pumpkin filling.
Step 2: Add the pumpkin puree, condensed milk, pumpkin pie spice, and egg to a medium bowl. Whisk to blend the wet ingredients.
Email This Recipe To Me!
I will email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!
Step 3: Line an 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper or use this gluten free baking spray. (Do not use PAM Baking Spray; it is not gluten free!) Pour half of the crust mixture into the pan.
Step 4: Press the crust mixture flat with your fingers or the bottom of a glass. Be sure it covers the whole bottom of the pan.
Step 5: Pour the gluten free pumpkin mixture over the crust. Use your hand to squeeze bunches of the remaining crust mixture and break the big chunks over the pumpkin filling. It will turn into a beautiful crumble.
Step 6: Bake the gluten free pumpkin pie bars at 350º F for 40 minutes. Baking time will vary depending on the pan size and material. Glass pans take longer to fully bake these bars.
Remove the bars from the oven, place them on a cooling rack, and allow them to cool to room temperature on the stove. Then, move the bars to the refrigerator and cool for at least one hour before cutting.
Make It A Pie!
This recipe also makes a great pie. There are two ways you can do this:
- Use a pie pan to make this recipe as is.
- Use the filling only in a ready-made or homemade gluten free pie crust. You can also use the filling in my Gluten-Free Coconut Almond Pie Crust recipe.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Yes, you should store the gluten free pumpkin pie bars in the refrigerator. Store them in an airtight container.
To make these bars coconut-free, make the crust from this Gluten Free Raspberry Bars recipe and use this pumpkin filling.
You can make these pumpkin bars dairy-free by using dairy-free butter and dairy-free coconut condensed milk.
No, evaporated milk will not work in this recipe. This recipe needs condensed milk, which is thicker than evaporated milk. Condensed milk is also sweeter, which is why this recipe doesn’t need a separate sugar addition to the filling. The middle pumpkin layer will not set using evaporated milk.
More Gluten Free Pumpkin Recipes:
- Gluten Free Iced Pumpkin Cookies
- Easy Gluten Free Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
- Gluten Free Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Gluten Free Pumpkin Cheesecake
Love This Recipe?
If you made and enjoyed this recipe, I would be incredibly grateful if you could leave a comment below. Please include which flour blend you used. This will help others know this recipe is delicious. Thank you!
Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie Bars With Thick Crumb Topping
Ingredients
- 2 cups gluten free flour blend * see note
- ¾ cup cane sugar
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder aluminum-free
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut *see notes for coconut free option.
- 11 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted *see notes for dairy-free option.
- 15 ounces pumpkin puree don't use pumpkin pie filling!
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk regular or coconut dairy-free
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- dash of salt
Equipment
Method
- Preheat the oven to 350º F and set the oven rack to the middle position.
- In a large bow, add 2 cups gluten free flour blend, ¾ cup cane sugar, ¼ teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut. Add the 11 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted. Mix until you have a crumbly mixture.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, add 15 ounces pumpkin puree, 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk, 2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, 1 ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and dash of salt. Whisk to blend them together for about 30 seconds.
- Line an 8×8 pan, or 9×9 for thinner bars, with parchment paper, to make the bars easier to lift out. If you don't have parchment paper, use gluten free baking spray or grease the pan.
- Add half of the crust mixture to the pan and use your hands or the bottom of a glass to press the crust mixture down. Make sure the crust is spread evenly so that no spots are thicker than others. If there are thin areas, it can make the crust soggy in that thin spot.
- Pour the pumpkin mixture over the crust and use a spoon to spread it out to ensure it is evenly distributed across the bottom of the pan.
- Take the remaining crust mixture and use your hands to squeeze some into larger clumps. and scatter the crumbs over the top of the pumpkin mixture.
- Bake the bars for 30 minutes, until the top becomes set and the crumb topping is slightly golden. Cool to room temperature, then cover with plastic wrap and put into the refrigerator to get cold. Slice the gluten free pumpkin pie bars when they are cold.
Nutrition
Notes
- You can use any gluten free flour blend to make this recipe. I personally tested King Arthur Measure for Measure and Bob’s Red Mill 1:1. Do not use Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Flour. It has bean flour and will leave a bitter aftertaste. Add 3/4 teaspoon if your blend doesn’t contain xanthan or guar gum.
- If you can’t eat coconut, make the crust/crumb topping recipe from my coconut-free gluten free raspberry bars recipe and use this pumpkin filling.
- If you are dairy-free, use dairy-free butter and coconut-based condensed milk. (A few brands make this.)
- Store these bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They will keep fresh for up to 4 days. You can also freeze them.
Private Notes
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!
I truly hope you enjoy this recipe. I have been testing and creating gluten-free recipes for over 15 years. Creating gluten-free recipes that do not taste gluten-free is my goal for every recipe. Sometimes I only have to test a new recipe a couple of times, and others it takes multiple times. I do this so you get reliable, delicious results every time!
This is delicious!
I am so glad you loved these pumpkin bars. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Hi Sandy!
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but am printing it off for the Thanksgiving season. I love the time and effort you put in to sharing your delicious gluten free recipes, and truly appreciate it! My question right now is, could you make a setting or something, that when I hit PRINT on a recipe, that the big gaps (re: gluten free, dairy free, etc, the request to email recipe, and any ads would be eliminated from the printed version? It wastes so much paper, and sometimes causes the push to another page in order to get the relevant info. That would be SO appreciated, because I do print out ALOT of your shared recipes! Again – THANK YOU for your efforts and willingness to share!
Hi, Unfortunately, I am unable to remove that function. I know the ads are a pain, but the revenue helps pay for the recipe ingredients to test my recipes multiple times. I try to have Jump to Recipe buttons, etc to make bypassing ads easier, but I don’t control the ads in the print versions.
I made the bars and both my husband and I liked them. I was wondering how the shortbread crust would work and taste with the filling, but it works well with the pumpkin filling. I wil be baking these again – easy to pull together and I usually have all the ingredients on hand. Thank you for this recipe.
I am so glad you loved these bars, Katie. Thank you so much for coming back to leave a review!
I love this recipe. I’ve been making it for gatherings for two years now, and it’s always been a hit. I did just look at the recipe again and it looks like it says can sugar, is this supposed to be cane? Did it change?
Thank you so much for your note. I have been slowly updating all recipe cards to have the measurements in the ingredients and I must have missed the e. I appreciate your coming to tell me so that I could fix it.
my topping melted into the pumpkin and the bake time was much longer. otherwise they were pretty good.
Hi Stephanie, I haven’t heard of this…my first question would be to ask which gluten free flour blend you used. If you used a really starchy blend, I can see this happening. What was the firmness of your bottom crust?
This recipe was perfect, I used unsweetened desiccated coconut, so it was invisible, and I challenged everyone at our early Thanksgiving to guess the secret ingredient. The only modification I made was to use 1/3 dairy free butter, I just happen to have the correct amount on hand and I always feel like that adds a little bit of stability. This recipe is going to replace my mom’s classic pumpkin bars that were made with a yellow cake mix, my favorite thing when I was growing up. Well, I stored this in the refrigerator, I served them at a little bit more of room temperature and they were perfectly firm and delicious.
I am so glad you loved this recipe, Marjorie! I will have to try it with unsweetened desiccated coconut. I am a big coconut fan and that sounds so good! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Hi Sandi,
I am trying this for the first time. It’s still in the oven but it looks and smells delicious. I’m sorry if I missed this information, but how many servings are in one pan? I want to know what size bar the nutrition facts are based on.
Thank you!
Hi Bess, I guesstimated this recipe makes 12 bars, using a 9×9 pan…the nutrition information should be for one bar. I hope this helps.
hi sandy,
that is very helpful – thank you.
these bars turned out beautifully. I used an 8×8 pan and I baked them for 55 minutes. even my husband, who is not big on sweets, went back for seconds!
LOL, your husband going back for seconds is the ultimate compliment. Thank you so much, Bess.
Easy recipe to follow. The only thing I came across is the 35 min baking time. The pumpkin filling was still very jiggly and no where near done. I baked it at least another
I am glad you loved these bars. What size pan did you use?
This recipe is so fabulous, I think I will probably never make pumpkin pie again. I would call it a dessert, but will cut it into bar shapes for a gathering tomorrow. I did not have coconut in the house so did not add that in.
LOL, I feel slightly guilty for ruining pie for you…but you are 100% right, these bars are really good!
We had 20 here for Thanksgiving, and I was the only one gluten free . Everyone loved these pumpkin bars! 2 days later, the shortbread crust is still perfect.
Wow, that is great to know the crust holds up. Our bars never last that long. I am really glad you had a great Thanksgiving!