Flourless Gingerbread Chocolate Chip Bars
This flourless recipe for Gingerbread Chocolate Chip Bars is a healthier take on a holiday dessert, with the warm gingerbread spices of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.
This post includes affiliate links.
Last December I posted a healthier dessert recipe for Peppermint Mocha Brownies, using no butter or oil and almond flour instead of white flour. I experimented in the kitchen yesterday with a gingerbread version and I think it turned out very tasty!
I have been inspired by holiday flavors lately, especially gingerbread. K and I visited the Museum of Science and Industry last week, to take in the Christmas Around the World exhibit. It’s a beautiful display inside the museum, with a four-story Christmas tree and over fifty smaller trees decorated to represent the holiday traditions of countries around the world. I picked up this Gingerbread Wonderland cookbook at the museum’s holiday store, and immediately made the Dark Gingerbread shape cookies.
Making gingerbread cookies is so labor intensive! As a follow-up to my cookie baking, I decided to create a recipe using gingerbread flavors without the hours of work. These Flourless Gingerbread Chocolate Chip Bars include a secret ingredient, the same as my Peppermint Mocha Brownies – pumpkin puree. Pumpkin puree gives the bars a lot of moisture and you don’t need to add any butter or oil.
I had a helper in the kitchen too – this little buddy napped the afternoon away.
These bars include my favorite gingerbread flavors – blackstrap molasses, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. I’m also a big fan of adding chocolate to gingerbread desserts. I used semi-sweet chocolate chips for this recipe, but I think dark chocolate chips would be delicious too.
These bars are fudgy and spicy, with the consistency of a brownie instead of a cookie. They are also gluten free since I used almond flour instead of white flour.
Flourless Gingerbread Chocolate Chip Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats {ground into flour} or oat flour
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar + 2 tbsp
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp blackstrap molasses
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips + 2 tbsp
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-
Mix dry ingredients - almond flour, oat flour, brown sugar, baking powder, spices, and salt.
-
Add wet ingredients - pumpkin puree, molasses, egg, and vanilla extract. Mix until combined.
-
Stir in 1/2 cup chocolate chips.
-
Add batter to a 9x9 pan {or equivalent} pan. I used a 10x7 pan. Top with additional chocolate chips before baking.
-
Bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick or fork comes out clean.
These bars need to be refrigerated or frozen due to the fudgy texture.
I’m Celia. I live in the Chicago area. I'm a mama of two, runner, business owner and former Iowan. My blog includes recipes, fitness and travel posts, and stories about Chicago.
