Gluten Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

I could never ever be gluten free.

Like, seriously, even if my body desided to not tolerate gluten anymore I would probably still eat it.  I just love bread and cake and cookies way too much.

However, I know that there are a lot of you out there who do follow a gluten free diet, and I totally respect that.  In fact, I want to make sure that you gluten free guys and gals don't miss out on all the fun!

And thus, I recently set out to create a delicious gluten free dessert.

Honestly, it wasn't easy.  Problems started to show up right from the get-go.  The first one being as simple as what type of flour to use.

I have zero knowledge of gluten free baking, and near zero "fancy" gluten free flours, so needless to say, this probelm was a big one.

Eventually, after much deliberation, I decided to go with chickpea flour.  Mostly because I had made a thing or two with it before (though nothing sweet) and knew it measured more or less like other flours.

Upon first tasting the (unsweetened) batter I was pretty certain that that had been an awful choice.  It tasted completely disgusting!  But, never one to waste, I pushed on, adding ingredients that I thought might fix the problem.  And, luckily, they did!  A bit of brown sugar and ginger fixed the taste up real nice, and then, just because I wanted to be sure the bars would be yummy, I threw in some chocolate chips.

The result was a gluten free dessert bursting with fall flavor and melty chocolate.  And don't worry, they don't taste like chickpeas one bit!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars
(based very loosly off this recipe)

• 1/2 cup chickpea (or garbanzo bean) flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1 1/4 tsp ginger
• pinch salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 2 tbsp brown sugar (you may want more, taste the batter to check)
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1/3 cup egg whites or 1 flax "egg"
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F.  Whisk together dry ingredients is a medium sized bowl.  Add in wet ingredients and mix well to combine.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Pour into greased pan and bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes.  Let cool just a bit before cutting and eating.

Even if you're not currently eating gluten free, these bars are still a great thing to try.  Not only because they're delicious, but also because you cannot taste that they're gluten free at all.

The taste is spot on, the texture just right, and you won't want to stop eating them!  They're strangely addicting like that.  You think you're done, but then you find yourself reaching for another piece.

That's the sign of a great success, is it not?

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