Name: Keto Healthy Pumpkin Bars (Cream Cheese Frosting!)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 1 cup Pumpkin puree; 1/4 cup Coconut oil ((at room temperature; or substitute butter)); 2 oz Cream cheese; 2 large Eggs; 1 tsp Vanilla extract; 1 cup Wholesome Yum Blanched Almond Flour; 2/3 cup Besti Monk Fruit Allulose Blend; 2 tsp Baking powder; 1 tsp Pumpkin pie spice; 1/2 tsp Sea salt; 6 oz Cream cheese ((softened, cubed)); 1/3 cup Besti Powdered Monk Fruit Allulose Blend; 1 tsp Vanilla extract; 1 tbsp Heavy cream ((optional, for easier frosting))

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These keto healthy pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting are an absolute essential to make during pumpkin season — and you don’t have to be keto to enjoy them! They bake up soft and sweet with a rich icing (based on my sugar-free cream cheese frosting recipe). And thanks to a few easy ingredient swaps, they have no white flour or sugar whatsoever.

To keep these low carb pumpkin bars tasting like the real deal, I carefully chose flour and sugar substitutes that would create the same flavor and texture. This recipe uses Wholesome Yum Almond Flour and Besti Monk Fruit Allulose Blend (both crystallized and powdered) to create a soft consistency and sweetness in the bars and frosting.

Healthy pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting next to bags of Besti and Wholesome Yum Almond Flour.

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Why You’ll Love This Healthy Pumpkin Bars Recipe

Spiced pumpkin and tangy cream cheese flavor
Super soft, moist, cakey texture
Fluffy, creamy, tangy frosting
Simple, natural ingredients
Just 10 minutes prep time
Gluten-free, sugar free, and low in carbs (only 2g net carbs per bar)
Loaded with protein and fiber
The perfect fall dessert!

Keto pumpkin bars with cinnamon sticks on the side.

Ingredients & Substitutions

This section explains how to choose the best ingredients for keto pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting, what each one does in the recipe, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card below.

Healthy Pumpkin Bars:

Pumpkin Puree – Make sure to use 1 cup for this recipe, not 1 can. Also, get pure pumpkin puree instead of pumpkin pie filling, which has added sugar. You can use the extra canned pumpkin for making other pumpkin recipes.
Coconut Oil – Keeps the bars soft and moist. If you don’t want coconut flavor, you can use a refined coconut oil or unsalted butter.
Cream Cheese – Adds a tangy flavor and softness to the bars. You might be able to make this recipe dairy-free with a non-dairy cream cheese, but I haven’t tested it.
Egg – Use whole, large eggs, at room temperature so that they don’t solidify the cream cheese and coconut oil. I haven’t tested these healthy pumpkin bars with flax eggs as a substitution, but let me know how it goes if you try that.
Vanilla Extract – Use a high-quality extract for best flavor.
Wholesome Yum Almond Flour – Some recipes use oats or oat flour, but I find that this almond flour has the the perfect consistency in these bars. The brand you choose can impact the result though, since some tend to be more grainy. That being said, you could probably substitute half the almond flour with oat flour if you’re not concerned about the carbs. Avoid using coconut flour, which would be too dry.
Besti Monk Fruit Allulose Blend – Adds a touch of just-like-sugar sweetness, without the sugar spike! Besti locks in moisture better than other sugar substitutes, so the bars may be more dry if you use something else. If you still want to try another sweetener, use the sweetener conversion chart here. Avoid substituting with liquid sweeteners like maple syrup, which would make the bars fall apart.
Baking Powder – Helps the sugar-free pumpkin bars rise. Don’t confuse this with baking soda, which is different.
Pumpkin Pie Spice – This is a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger, ground cloves, and ground allspice. You can usually find it in grocery stores, or make homemade pumpkin pie spice in minutes!
Sea Salt – Balances the sweet flavor.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

Cream Cheese – I use a full-fat variety, but any plain kind will work.
Besti Powdered Monk Fruit Allulose Blend – This powdered sweetener blends effortlessly into the cream cheese, so it’s never gritty. And the new powdered formula is the finest grind out there, just like real powdered sugar.
Vanilla Extract – Adds a touch of flavor.
Heavy Cream – Optional, but makes the frosting slightly more spreadable.

VARIATION: Cream cheese frosting not for you?

You can skip it altogether, or try sugar-free buttercream frosting instead.

How To Make Healthy Pumpkin Bars

This section shows how to make pumpkin bars healthy, with step-by-step photos and details about the technique, to help you visualize it. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.

Melt. Use a bowl or double boiler to melt cream cheese and coconut oil together, stirring to combine.
Beat wet ingredients. Combine pumpkin puree, cream cheese mixture, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl and beat with a hand mixer until smooth.

Cream cheese and coconut oil melting in a bowl.

Wet ingredients blended in a glass bowl.

Mix dry ingredients. Stir together almond flour, Besti, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt in a bowl.
Make batter. Combine wet and dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined.

Dry ingredients mixed in a glass bowl next to Besti and Wholesome Yum Almond Flour.

Fully mixed keto pumpkin bars batter in a bowl.

Bake. Transfer batter to a baking pan (this is the right size) lined with parchment paper. Bake the healthy pumpkin bars in the oven, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Pumpkin bar batter in a lined baking pan.

Make cream cheese frosting. Use a hand mixer to beat cream cheese, powdered Besti, and vanilla together, until smooth.
Frost. Once bars have cooled, spread frosting over the top and slice. (You can also add a sprinkle of cinnamon or pumpkin spice on top if you like.)

Cream cheese frosting in a bowl next to powdered Besti.

Finished pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting.

VARIATION: Get more crunch!

Add chopped pecans, walnuts, or chocolate chips to the finished bars for extra texture.

Storage Instructions

Store: Keep healthy pumpkin bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Freeze: Chill fully in the fridge, then carefully wrap. (I recommend plastic wrap followed by foil.) Place in the freezer for up to 3 months. Unwrap and thaw overnight in the fridge before serving.

Pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting on plates.

More Keto And Healthy Pumpkin Recipes

Enjoy all the rich, cozy flavor of pumpkin without the sugar. Try it with these easy treats (and check out more healthy and keto pumpkin recipes here)!

Keto pumpkin muffins with pumpkin seeds on top

Tools To Make Keto Pumpkin Bars

Hand Mixer – Makes batter quick and easy to whip up for this healthy pumpkin bar recipe.
Baking Dish – The perfect size for these low sugar pumpkin bars.

Keto Healthy Pumpkin Bars With Cream Cheese Frosting

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453 Comments

Gloria
1 November 22, 2022Reply

I made this recipe this evening and it turned out quite well. I used Swerve brown and Swerve confectioners sugar because that’s what I had. For the cake I used 1/3 C brown and 1/4 C confectioners, which was less than the 2/3 C called for. For the icing I used 1/4 C, less than the 1/3 C called for, of Swerve confectioners. I will use even less sugar next time. This was still too sweet for me. I also increased the heavy cream to 3T, could probably use 4. I will make this again.
Angela
1 April 16, 2022Reply

This is sooooooo delicious, easy to make, and a favorite to bring over to friends and family!
Julia
1 December 1, 2021Reply

This is my absolute favorite dessert! Thank you!
Deb Hall-Hofertza
1 October 17, 2018Reply

What size baking pan? I have several.
- Maya | Wholesome Yum
  0 October 22, 2018Reply
  
  You use a 9 x 9 baking pan, Deb! Thank you!
Roberta
0 November 28, 2022Reply

These bars are wonderful and just right to cure the sweet tooth craving. I was surprised at the size of the serving, but it just goes to show how we need to retrain our thinking of healthy portion sizes.
Michelle
0 November 24, 2022Reply

I was going to make my own keto pumpkin bar, but after I saw this easy recipe I knew I had to try it.
My whole family loved this. Great texture easy to serve, perfectly pumpkin pie flavored.

– I made a traditional pumpkin pie for the normies and I made these bars primarily for myself and my father-in-law we eat low carb no sugar for health reasons. 1 out of two people actually prefered this bar to the traditional P pie!

I used half butter and half unflavored coconut oil & I added vanilla and used part xylitol and part allulose to sweeten, (allulose sets as it cools the knife test might not be accurate just time it and eyeball the top color for doneness), It was quite sweet almost overly*. I skipped the cream cheese topping, used big dollops or unsweetened whipped cream that helped even out the sweetness and keep it light.

This recipe is so easy, I’m in NZ and have to roast a whole pumpkin to make my thanksgiving pies (since we don’t have Thanksgiving & hard to find canned P Puree) . Easy to freeze 1 Cup portions of fresh puree to make this bar quick and easy any time. Fresh roasted pumkin is super yum and easy – just have to plan ahead.

* If you slow roast your pumpkin the natural sugars develop and I think that’s why mine was overly sweet so, slow roast a pumkin and reduce your granulated sweetener for even more wholesomeness.

Twists:
add a little ground clove, suger free maple syrup, chinese five spice, or cardamom, or make it pumpkin Chai.
VICKIE BUETTNER
0 November 22, 2022Reply

ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!!!! Thanks for sharing!!
Susan
0 November 17, 2022Reply

Made these last night…super easy and they were a hit at work today. Even one of the none Keto/Low Carb people loved them! Of course mine were not nearly as pretty as your pictures but the frosting covered up my sloppy bars lol
mare
0 November 3, 2022Reply

I really enjoyed these pumpkin bars! I didn’t have pumpkin pie spice so I simply used cinnamon. And my toothpick came out clean at 30 minutes but for a slightly firmer bar, I’d probably go 35 min next time. But they were very moist. And the frosting was perfect. Thank you for the recipe.