1 ¼cups(305 g) canned pumpkin purée, (not pumpkin pie filling)
⅓cup(85 ml) evaporated milk, (or half and half)
Instructions
Crust/Crumble Topping
Preheat oven to 350° F. Adjust oven rack to the middle level. Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper and set aside.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, oats, salt, baking soda, 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Whisk until no clumps remain. Combine melted butter and vanilla. Add to mixture, then stir with a spoon until mixture is moist and small clumps form.
Gently press HALF of the mixture into prepared baking dish and bake at 350° F 15 minutes. Keep remaining crumble mixture in the refrigerator while the crust bakes and you prepare the filling.
Pumpkin Filling
Meanwhile in a mixing bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Add in egg, egg yolk and vanilla, and stir until blended. Mix in pumpkin, then evaporated milk.
Pour mixture over baked crust (it's okay if it is still warm). Return to oven to bake 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, remove bars from oven and sprinkle remaining oat crumble mixture over top. Break any big crumbles into smaller pieces.
Adjust oven rack to one level above (not the top level) and return the bars to oven to bake about 20 minutes longer. Bars are finished when the crumble top is golden and center only jiggles slightly. Allow to cool 1 hour at room temperature, then transfer to refrigerator to cool 1 hour longer. Cut into squares and serve.
Notes
Pumpkin pie spice: Instead of using premade spice mix, you can use 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon + 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger + 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg + 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice or cloves in the filling.Store pumpkin pie bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days.Freeze bars after they have cooled. Wrap in plastic wrap and store in an airtight container or ziptop bag for up to 3 months. Defrost in the refrigerator before serving.