Super Soft, No Bake Pumpkin Collagen Bars with A Quinoa Chocolate Topping 🎃

While there is absolutely a time and place for a non-nutritious dessert, I love making a dessert at home that also has a boost of vitamins to make my skin and hair grow, and if it’s high in protein and collagen, even better. And it can still be SO delicious!

Still heavily into pumpkin spice season, I wanted to make a dessert that would be filling but I didn’t want to turn on my oven. The result were these collagen packed Pumpkin Bars with a Crunchy Chocolate Quinoa Topping. They’re so creamy, cooling, and nourishing, and make the perfect dessert for glowing skin with the Vitamin A from the Pumpkin and the boost of collagen.

These are mean to be a bit softer, but add 1/2 cup of flour or collagen to firm them up a bit to make them more into a dough. I liked them soft as a cool oatmeal for breakfast with a hot tea. But adjust accordingly. 🫶🏻

Enjoy. 🤎

Makes: 12-16 small square bars

Time: 10 minutes prep; 30 min - hour freeze time.

Ingredients

Base

• 2 cups organic pumpkin purée

• 1.5 cup organic rolled oats (or oat flour)

• 1/2cup unflavored or vanilla collagen powder

• ¼ cup organic nut butter (almond, cashew, or peanut)

• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup (or raw honey)

• 2 tsps cinnamon

• ¼ tsp nutmeg

• A pinch of ginger powder (optional)

• Pinch of mineral salt

Crunchy Chocolate Quinoa Topping

• ¼ cup dry organic quinoa

• 1/2 cup organic dark chocolate chips (70–85% cacao)

• 1 tbsp coconut oil

• Optional: sprinkle of flaky sea salt

Instructions

• Toast the quinoa (only cooking step):
  In a dry skillet over medium heat, add the quinoa and shake often for about 3–5 minutes until it starts popping and smells nutty. Set aside to cool.

• Make the base:
  In a mixing bowl, combine pumpkin purée, nut butter, maple syrup, and collagen. Stir well.
  Add oats (or oat flour), pumpkin spice, and a pinch of salt. Stir or knead until a dough forms.
  Press the mixture firmly and evenly into a parchment-lined loaf pan.

• Make the topping:
  In a small bowl, melt chocolate chips with coconut oil (microwave 20-30 seconds or use a double boiler).

• Assemble:
  Pour the chocolate-quinoa mixture over the pumpkin base and spread evenly — make this a thin layer, otherwise it will be harder to cut. .
  Top with the toasted quinoa until coated and sprinkle with flaky sea salt if desired.

• Set:
  Refrigerate 1–2 hours or freeze 30 minutes until firm. Slice into bars.

• Storage

  Store refrigerated up to 7 days or frozen up to 2 months.