Cranberry Pumpkin Pie Spice Seed and Nut Bars {Paleo} feature the winning flavor combination of nuts, honey, and warm spices in a festive treat.
Every autumn there comes a time when I can’t hold out any longer. I reluctantly give in, and then wonder why the heck I waited so long. And then it’s no holds barred, and pumpkin spice everything for me.
This recipe is my first pumpkin spice of the season. After that, I had my first PS latte of the season, followed by my first PS muffins. Like I said, once that damn is broken, it’s wave after wave of pumpkin spice everything, lol. (But don’t worry, I’ll keep the PS recipes I share here to few and far between; I know it can be easy to be overloaded this time of year!)
The interesting thing about this recipe is that there actually isn’t any pumpkin involved. I use pumpkin pie spice mix, which is a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and allspice. If you’re pressed for time, you can buy the mix premade, but for the best tasting and most aromatic mix, grind the spices fresh yourself.
The inspiration for this recipe came from @secretsquirrelfood on Instagram (here is the original recipe for her Honey Coconut Macadamia Bars). I made her original recipe with just a couple small changes (I used raisins instead of chopped apricots and omitted the maple syrup) a few weeks ago when I was visiting a dear friend in D.C. The bars were a huge hit and I immediately knew I wanted to play around with a fall flavor profile.
With cranberries and pumpkin pie spice mix, these bars are just festive enough to be perfect for fall. I had a friend taste test them (thank you, Julius from Droolius.com!) and he mentioned they actually taste a bit like baklava, which I think is pretty accurate with the combo of nuts + honey + warm spices. And bonus, they’re paleo!
- 1 cup (145 g) raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds
- 1 cup (115 g) raw, unsalted walnuts, coarsely chopped
- ½ cup (40 g) unsweetened shredded coconut
- 7 tablespoons honey
- ¼ cup (30 g) almond flour (or almond meal)
- ½ cup (60 g) dried organic cranberries
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice mix
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- Preheat oven to 325F. Spread the pumpkin seeds and walnuts out on a large baking sheet and toast until starting to turn golden, about 7 minutes. Stir in the coconut and return to the oven until the coconut, seeds, and nuts are all light golden, about 5 minutes more. Transfer to a large bowl.
- Turn the heat up to 350F and line an 8 by 8-inch pan with parchment paper.
- Add the honey to a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and let it boil for 3 minutes, turning the heat down slightly as necessary so it doesn’t boil over. Remove from heat.
- Add the almond flour, cranberries, coconut oil, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice mix, and salt to the bowl with the pumpkin seed mixture and stir to combine. Stir in the honey.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, spreading it out as evenly as possible.
- Bake until golden, about 20 minutes.
- Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate to chill before cutting and serving.
- Store the bars wrapped in the fridge.
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