Healthy Quinoa Pumpkin Bars & Spiced Latte

Healthy Quinoa Pumpkin Bars & Spiced Latte

There are somethings that America just does better .. and Halloween is one of them! Because of this, I decided to turn to them for my Halloween Pumpkin Recipe and I was so inspired by the Tone It Up girl’s ‘Crockpot Pumpkin Pudding’ that I’ve decided to share my version with you .. along with a truly delicious pumpkin spiced latte too (made with coffee or chai tea!).

So, if you’ve got a slow cooker, and a pumpkin (yes I cheated and used canned pumpkin!), you’re set! This recipe is super simple to make and if you like pumpkin then you will LOVE it!

P.S I’m sure you could make these bars/cake in the oven on a low heat – do let me know if you try it!

[ingredients]

*Xylitol is a healthier alternative to sugar and is perfect for baking –  I get mine from Holland and Barrett!

**You can make your own pumpkin spice at home!

Pumpkin Cake

[method]

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 Pumpkin Latte

P.S And for your pumpkin latte you will need… (serves 1)

1 cup (250ml) milk for a chai tea latte OR 1/2 cup (125ml) milk for a coffee latte

2 tsp pumpkin puree

1 tsp pumpkin spice or cinnamon & optional dash of vanilla

1 chia tea bag OR 1 tsp coffee dissolved in 1/2 (125ml) cup hot water

Optional – a sprinkle of cinnamon/chocolate & 1 tsp of honey/xylitol

Simply heat the milk, pumpkin and spice (and optional vanilla) in a pan over a medium heat (or you could use your microwave for around 2 minutes.. it’s what I did!)..

For a Chai Tea Latte: Pour the hot milk into a large cup and allow the tea bag to steep for 5-7 minutes. Discard the tea bag and add the drink to a blender and blend until frothy.. then serve (adding the optional sweetener/sprinkle of cinnamon)!

For a Coffee Latte: Pour the hot milk into a blender & blend until frothy before pouring over your coffee, stir and enjoy! Sweeten if needed 🙂

P.S If you like this recipe do check-out my pumpkin muffins or pumpkin granola recipes too!

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UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who sends me pictures of my recipes on Twitter & Facebook – here are a selection!!

Healthy pumpkin bars

healthy pumpkin latte

Pumpkin cake

Pumpkin Latte

Pumpkin quinoa bars

Pumpkin Quinoa Loaf

Pumpkin Quinoa Loaf

*This blog post contains affiliate links. Please read my disclaimer page for more information.

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20 Comments

  1. Carla Gallagher
    October 31, 2013 / 10:21 pm

    How low is low heat if you were to try the oven method? Thanks

  2. Saima Hussain
    November 1, 2013 / 7:17 pm

    I would love to try this but pumpkin purée is so hard to get hold of. 🙁

    • November 3, 2013 / 8:54 am

      Check out Waitrose or Amazon 🙂 easy! xx

      • Saima
        November 3, 2013 / 7:54 pm

        Found it in tescos world foods section. can you do an egg nog recipe plz?x

        • November 3, 2013 / 8:56 pm

          hurray! no I don’t, but could look into this for xmas time 🙂 x

  3. elkie
    November 3, 2013 / 4:56 pm

    I just made this today, definitely a keeper recipe!, sweet, nutty and oh so delicious. I love pumpkin and its a first for me cooking with quinoa! I totally ate and scraped all the crumbs left behind in the slow cooker haha

    • November 3, 2013 / 6:00 pm

      Hurray! So glad you liked it! Thank you for your pic!! xx ps Elkie cooked it for 5 hours on low!

  4. Andrea
    February 3, 2014 / 6:40 pm

    Hi I tried to make this yesterday in my slow cooker, but it wouldn’t set, even after 8 hours on low.
    I wondered if it was because my slow cooker just cooks around the pot? It’s a crock pot.
    The mixture tasted lovely so would like to try it in the oven. How long would you say it needed?xx

    • February 3, 2014 / 7:17 pm

      Hello! I actually left mine over night – what about medium for 8 hours?! Good luck! x

  5. Andrea
    February 3, 2014 / 9:52 pm

    So would you say 8 hrs in a low oven? I did leave it overnight in the slow cooker and then a couple of hours in the morning and it just burnt around the edges :0(
    On a happier note, I made your healthy banana bread and peanut butter protein balls and they are delish :0

    • February 4, 2014 / 5:30 pm

      Hurray! Aw I’m sorry to hear that 🙁 I’m not sure an oven and slow cooker are interchangeable like that? x

  6. Emily Ryan
    March 13, 2014 / 9:46 pm

    Hey Nic! If you didn’t have a slow cooker and were to just use an oven what would the temp and time be?

    • March 14, 2014 / 5:09 pm

      Ooh I’m not sure.. I would have to experiment!! Try 175 degrees C for shorter time? x

  7. Fiona Dutton
    April 23, 2014 / 1:40 pm

    Hi Nic
    I’ve just put all the ingredients in my slow cooker and hopefully if it works well I was wondering how do you get it out? This may be more obvious when the 8 hrs has past ha xxxx

    • April 23, 2014 / 8:04 pm

      Hello! After 8 hrs (or leave longer if needed) it should just tip out as it forms a cake – maybe wiggle the edges 🙂 let me know how it goes!! xx

  8. Fiona Dutton
    April 30, 2014 / 6:40 am

    I’ve just made the pumpkin bars again but this time with half ingredients(just in case it didn’t work out) for 1 and a half hr on 190 degrees fan oven. Delicious, can’t stop eating them and prob not best thing to eat just before bed ha xx

  9. Fiona Dutton
    April 30, 2014 / 10:20 am

    Post workout recovery treat mmmm.. Pumpkin Chai latte and pumpkin quinoa bars with mango!

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