These Pumpkin Caramel Pecan Fudge Bars are a decadent real-food treat! Â A vanilla cookie crust is topped with a no-bake pumpkin caramel fudge with chopped pecans and chilled for a perfectly creamy texture! Â Refined sugar free, gluten free and Paleo.
To start off, I would just like to say that I’m obsessed with the bottom layer of these bars – the cookie crust – and if I could, I would somehow work this crust into every recipe. Â Maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but I had to get it out there.
ANYWAY! Â Unfortunately, I do not have a story from my past related to this recipe in any way, in fact, what I originally wanted it to be, is not what it turned out to be at all. Â Deep stuff. Â Or not – just baking stuff. Â Or no-baking, which is what wound up happening with these Pumpkin Caramel Pecan Fudge Bars.
Can you say the title 5 times fast? Â I know it’s a long one, and I struggled with trying to name these bars until I gave up and just decided to call them what they are! Â Originally, I did not have a fudge bar in mind at all, but rather a pumpkin-pecan pie bar.
That fantasy ended when they came out of the oven, cooled, and, although pretty (pecans make everything prettier in my opinion) they did not taste the way I wanted them to taste.  Honestly, they tasted like someone schmeared a scoop of the pumpkin pie right into the pecan pie before Thanksgiving dessert, and I was not digging it.  
So I did what I think most food bloggers do in that situation – went through the 5 stages of grief.  You know – denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance.  Every. Single. Time. a recipe fails.  You see, I was a social worker in another life, so this is how I think.
Somewhere close to the acceptance phase (this takes me several hours) I decided I’d completely rework the bars into something similar, yet really different. Â The crust stays (I love cookie crusts!) but the top layer needed an overhaul. Â CARAMEL! Â FUDGE! Â These are like my dessert go-to’s ever since you guys went wild over my caramel fudge cups last year. Â The feeling of being loved! Â Of course in my low moments I try to revisit it.
So, for the top layer of these bars, I knocked-off my old caramel fudge recipe EXCEPT I added pumpkin, because DUH – it’s the law this time of year and it’s also really, really delicious in the caramel fudge. Â Oh, and the chopped pecans – they stayed too – after all, that was the whole point of this recipe in the beginning.
So, what we are left with is pure decadent awesomeness in Paleo fudge bar form. Â A cookie crust (the only part of this recipe you need your oven for) and a no-bake pumpkin caramel pecan fudge layer. Â Say it 5 times fast and then MAKE IT! Â Or, say it 5 times fast over and over while you’re waiting for it to chill in the fridge. Â It’s up to you – I know you will love these bars guys!
Paleo Pumpkin Caramel Pecan Fudge Bars w/Cookie Crust
Paleo Pumpkin Caramel Pecan Fudge Bars w/Cookie Crust
Ingredients
For the Cookie Crust:
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup organic coconut oil melted and cooled to almost room temp
- 1/4 cup organic coconut sugar
- 6 Tbsp + 1 tsp coconut flour
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
For the Pumpkin Caramel Pecan Fudge Layer
- 5 Tbsp organic coconut sugar
- 5 Tbsp organic coconut oil
- 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk creamy*
- 3 Tbsp organic pumpkin puree
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups raw pecans chopped**
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line an 8 x 8" square baking pan with parchment paper***
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First, make the crust. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, coconut sugar, and coconut oil until smooth. Mix in the coconut flour until a sticky dough forms (you can chill the dough in the freezer for a minute to make it easier to work with)
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Using a piece of parchment paper to minimize sticking, press the dough down into the parchment lined square pan to cover the bottom fully.
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Bake the crust in the preheated oven about 10 minutes or until set and just beginning to brown, then remove from oven and set aside to cool while you make the fudge.
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To make the fudge, have all your ingredients ready to go and heat a medium saucepan over low heat.
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Add the coconut oil and stir until just melted. Then, add the coconut sugar and stir continuously for about a minute to combine.
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Continue to stir and add the coconut milk to the saucepan.
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Stir and cook another minute or two keeping the heat on low. When small bubbles begin to form, remove from heat.
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Stir in the pumpkin puree, pumpkin spice and vanilla until smooth and creamy, then stir in the chopped pecans.
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Spread the pumpkin caramel fudge mixture over the crust, cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours until firm, or in the freezer for about 30 minutes.
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Cut into squares and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
*To prepare my coconut milk, I chill prior to opening the can so the cream and "water" separates, then, I discard half the water and blend up the rest with an immersion blender.
**You can lightly toast the pecans prior to adding to the recipe if you prefer - I made this with raw pecans and toasted and both were good.
***This is for baking the crust - the top layer is no-bake
Nutrition
What I Used to Make My Paleo Pumpkin Caramel Pecan Fudge Bars:
Want more Paleo Fudge Recipes? Â Try one of these!
Salted Dark Chocolate Tahini Fudge
Paleo Fudge Bars Around the Web:
Chocolate Avocado Freezer Fudge
Tell Me!
Have you tried the mix of pumpkin and caramel?
What one thing that makes every dessert prettier? Â (DRIZZLES! Â This is missing a drizzle!)
Last time you went through the 5 stages of grief for something silly?
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It is so disturbing not being able to get to the recipes.
Is the recipe not displaying?
I’m not getting a display either. It sounds sooo good.
I’m looking at it right now on my laptop – are you on mobile?
Do you have any suggestions for a coconut milk replacement? I am allergic to coconut but I haven’t been able to find a good recipe replacement for your recipes.
Unfortunately I don’t know how to create the fudge layer without coconut milk, since it’s a big part of the caramel I make for most recipes. One thing that’s a very different approach but might be good is trying a “caramel” made by pureeing dates (you can google “date caramel” to get an idea of how to do this – it’s basically dates and water) and then adding the pumpkin puree, pecans and spices to this. I’m sure it would be yummy, but, I’m not sure about the binding factor since I haven’t tried it. If you experiment, let me know!
I was not able to print the recipe.
In the recipe box, below the photo, is the “print” button which prompts a new page to open with the printable recipe. I just did this from my laptop and it’s working just fine, hopefully this works for you too!
I know what you mean about being completely obsessed with crust! This one sounds SO good, and the pumpkin caramel does as well. I don’t think I’ve ever combined pumpkin and caramel, but I want these to be my first 🙂
This season I’ve learned pumpkin can really go with anything, and really good with caramel!
These look ridiculous. In a good way. I saw them on food gawker and had to click over and was not disappointed!
Awesome thanks! Hope you try 🙂
YESSSS to that cookie crust! These bars look EPIC, as do all of your recipes! So decadent and sinful, yet paleo-friendly!
Thanks! That’s definitely what I go for – I like to forget things are Paleo, lol!
It’s funny how recipes can change in the course of making them, especially from their original intention. I think pecans make everything look and taste better too. Give me all the nuts, and the fudge too of course.
Nuts and fudge making life easier, I’ll take it!
THANK you for posting this Michele! Making it today for some friends. <3 They look delicioso!
YAY!
I made these tonight and while they taste good, and they look pretty like yours, I’m not getting the consistency I expected from the word “fudge” – the top layer is very soft, even though I followed your directions exactly. I tried one after two hours in the fridge – do they firm up to fudgy after a longer chill?
Yes, they definitely firm up the longer they chill, and if you want a very firm consistency I recommend freezing overnight.
Hi! Your recipe sounds so good! What are the nutritional facts/macros? Thank you in advance!
Hi! I just updated the recipe to show all nutrition info 🙂
Thank you!
Do you think the cookie layer can be made without the egg? Using egg replace, chia egg, or gelatin egg?