Pumpkin Spice Latte Energy Bars
These no-bake vegan pumpkin spice latte energy bars are easy to make with just 7 ingredients and are perfect for getting your PSL fix!
Recipe Features
- quick and easy – you’ll need 7 ingredients and just a few minutes of prep time
- dietary needs – these bars are vegan, gluten-free and have no added oil or sugar
Ingredient Notes
- almonds – use plain, raw almonds with no added oil or salt
- dates – any variety works as long as they’re soft and moist, I like medjool dates and sayer dates the best
- coconut – use fine or medium unsweetened shredded coconut, this is sometimes labelled desiccated coconut
- coffee – any fine ground coffee works, be sure to use decaf if you plan to enjoy these later in the day!
- vanilla protein – use a pea protein-based vegan vanilla protein
- pumpkin – use pure pumpkin puree, I would recommend canned
- pumpkin pie spice – if you don’t have pumpkin pie spice you can use cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg
See recipe card below for a complete list of ingredients and amounts.
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1. Add the almonds and coconut to a food processor and process into a coarse, grainy flour. Some large chunks of almonds left behind are ok.
Step 2. Add the dates and process into a crumbly but sticky mixture.
Step 2. Add the coffee, protein, pumpkin, vanilla, salt and pumpkin pie spice and process into a thick, sticky dough you can easily squeeze together between your fingers.
Quick Tip: This step requires a fairly powerful food processor as it’s a lot of volume. If you don’t think yours can handle it, transfer everything to large mixing bowl and mix by hand.
Step 3. Line a 7-9 inch square baking pan with parchment paper then transfer the mixture to the pan. Use your hands to firmly press the dough into the pan.
Pop the whole pan into the freezer for an hour to firm, then lift out of the pan, cut into bars and enjoy!
Notes and Tips
- Best canned pumpkin: I love Farmer’s Market Organic Pumpkin for the best quality.
- Caffeine: Be sure to use decaf if you’re sensitive to caffeine or want to enjoy these in the evening.
- Serving Size: I cut these into 16 bars then actually cut those in half for 32 bite-sized treats. You can always have 2 if you want to!
- Baking Pan Size: My baking pan is on the smaller-size, so my bars come out very thick. Totally fine to use up to a 9-inch pan, your bars will just be thinner and wider.
How to Store
- Fridge: In a sealed container for up to 2 weeks.
- Freezer (recommended): In a sealed container for up to 3 months. Can enjoyed straight from freezer as they do not freeze solid.
- Room temperature: Okay out of the fridge for up to 1-2 days but try to keep cool if possible.
Related Recipes
- Pumpkin Spice Latte Smoothie
- Vegan Pumpkin Fudge
- Healthy Pumpkin Oat Cookies
- No-Bake Apricot Granola Bars
- Almond Coconut Protein Bars
Did you try this recipe?
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No-Bake Pumpkin Spice Latte Energy Bars
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hours (freeze time)
- Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 16
- Category: Snack
- Method: Food Processor
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
If you love pumpkin spice lattes, you’ll love these homemade protein energy bars made with pumpkin, spices, vanilla protein and coffee!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (225 g) raw almonds
- 1 1/2 cups (140 g) fine or medium unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 1/2 cups (300 g) lightly packed, soft pitted dates
- 1/2 cup (45 g) ground coffee
- 1 scoop (30 g) vegan vanilla protein powder
- 2/3 cup (150 g) canned pumpkin puree
- 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice (or 2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 ginger, 1/4 tsp each nutmeg, cloves and allspice)
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp sea salt, optional
Instructions
- Add the almonds, coconut and pumpkin pie spice (or spice mix) to a food processor and process into a coarse grainy flour. Some large chunks of almonds left behind are ok.
- Add the dates and process into a crumbly but sticky mixture.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and process into a thick, sticky dough you can easily press together between your fingers. You may need to stop a number of times to scrape down the sides. Note that will require a fairly powerful food processor as it’s a lot of volume, if concerned, transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and mix by hand.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until it forms a thick dough.
- Line a 7-9 inch square baking pan with parchment paper so the edges of the parchment stick out over the sides of the pan.
- Transfer the dough to the pan and use your hands to firmly press the dough into the pan until flat and smooth on top then place the entire pan in the freeze for 1 hour to firm (can probably get away with 30 minutes if needed).
- Use the edges of the parchment paper to lift the bars out of the pan then slice into 16 bars or squares.
Notes
Dates: Be sure to use soft, moist dates. If your dates are overly dry, soak them in hot water for 15 minutes then drain well before using.
Storage: Store the bars in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or freezer for up to 3 months. They’re okay at room temperature for 1-2 days if needed, keep cool if possible.
Caffeine: Be sure to use decaf coffee if you’re sensitive to caffeine or would like to enjoy these later in the day.
Serving Size: I like to cut these into 16 bars then cut those in half for 32 bite-sized treats. You can always have 2 (or 3) if you want to!
Baking Pan Size: My baking pan is on the smaller-size, so my bars come out very thick. Totally fine to use up to a 9-inch pan, your bars will just be thinner.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 205
- Fat: 13 g
- Carbohydrates: 20 g
- Protein: 6 g
Keywords: pumpkin spice energy bars, no-bake pumpkin energy bars
Update Note: Originally published on December 1, 2017. Updated with new photos and text on August 13, 2020.
Is there a substitute for vanilla pea powder?
You should be able to substitute any kind of protein powder, however, I haven’t tried it so I can’t say exactly how they’ll turn out. Pea protein-based powders are really absorbent and create a “doughy” consistency, so they work really well here, but it should be ok to use a different type of protein.
OMG, YUM! I just got a food processor for the first time and have been wanting to make something like this. I halved the recipe cause my processor is small, and made them into balls instead of bars. but WOW the taste is soo good! I love the coffee in there. Thank you so much!
★★★★★
You’re welcome! So glad you enjoyed them. Have fun with your new food processor! So many recipes to try!
Followed the recipe exactly – delicious!
★★★★★
Perfect! So glad you enjoyed them. Thanks for letting me know!!
These taste just like a PSL and were so easy to make! I’m trying to wean myself off of processed protein/snack bars (it’s a struggle) and these were awesome.
★★★★★
Ah, yay! So great to hear it. I needed the reminder to make these again too…so thanks!
Hi Deryn, Inspirational as always! Definitely one for my weekend prep. Is the ground coffee instant? or the same used for filter/cafetiere? thank you
I used regular ground coffee like you would for a filter 🙂 Enjoy.