Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Blondie Bars from Indie Mama Health

Hello my darlings! I am so excited to introduce Nicole from Indie Mama Health. She is such a beautiful spirit with a love for creating gluten free + vegan recipes to swoon over! She created these luscious treats especially for The Vibrant Kitchen! Enjoy!  Happy Halloween! xo

My son has been wildly into pumpkin.  Seriously.  He wants to put it in everything, which honestly is great!  
Pumpkin is It is also a good source of Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Iron, Magnesium and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Riboflavin, Potassium, Copper and Manganese.
So when he wants to make different foods with pumpkin in it, I say YES!
In the last couple weeks we’ve made:
Pumpkin pancakes
Pumpkin smoothies
Pumpkin muffins (you can get that recipe here)
Pumpkin Soup
and now Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Blondie Bars
By the time Thanksgiving is over, I’ll probably be happy to not see a pumpkin dish until next year. 

These blondie bars are soft and gooey and stay together.  They are filled with Enjoy Life Chocolate Chunks and those make it decadent.
They are:
Gluten-Free
Vegan
Refined-Sugar Free
and
Calorie Free.

Well the last part may not be true, but I don’t feel guilty when eating these.  After all, they have pumpkin in them!

I hope you enjoy them!
XO

Nicole

The Goods:: 

2 Flax Eggs (2 TBSP ground flax with 6 tsp filtered water)
1 cup + 1 TBS Indie Mama Gluten-Free Flour Blend
1/4 tsp Xantham Gum
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
1/3 cup Earth Balance or Coconut Oil (melted) or Grapeseed Oil
1/4 cup Pumpkin Purée
1 cup Coconut Sugar
1 TBSP Vanilla Extract
1 cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chunks

Get Cooking::

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Prepare a 9" square baking pan with parchment paper oil grease with oil.
Combine flax gel, vanilla extract, melted oil and coconut sugar in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients.
Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients and mix until well combined.
Stir in chocolate chunks while you eat a couple.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20-22 minutes, until golden brown.
Allow to cool (if you can) and cut into squares.