These Pumpkin Cookie Bars offer a delightful pumpkin-spice twist on the classic Hello Dolly bar.
A sweet pumpkin and condensed milk layer, combined with chocolate chips, coconut, pecans and a hint of warm pumpkin spice, creates chewy, gooey bars with the cozy flavours of fall.
These bars are a must-have autumn treat for anyone looking for a creative (and easy!) spin on traditional pumpkin desserts!
If you enjoy a sweet treat but want to avoid the hassle of a complicated recipe, these pumpkin cookie bars with chocolate chips are for you.
My dad, who has barely baked any desserts in his life, was able to put these together for his company's bake sale without issue. (They sold really well, too!)
This recipe has been adapted from the beloved Eagle Brand Magic Cookie Bar recipe (sometimes called Hello Dolly bars).
For those who aren't familiar with it, they are a treat made with graham crackers, condensed milk, chocolate chips, nuts, and flaked coconut.
There's an entire can of condensed milk in this recipe, but it plays an important role! The condensed milk binds the other ingredients together, and caramelizes as it cooks. The result is a slightly chewy, sweet treat that's fun to eat (and pairs well with a hot drink or a cold glass of milk).
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🍫 Ingredients
- Graham Cracker Crumbs: This creates the base of the cookies. I used Honey Maid Graham Wafer Crumbs, but you can use any brand of graham crumbs or create your own (see tip below).
- Pumpkin Spice: Use store-bought or make your own spice blend.
- Unsalted Butter: Used to create the crust. I have not tested this recipe with salted butter.
- Sweetened Condensed Milk: I used the Eagle brand, but any condensed milk will work. This recipe has a lot of condensed milk, so it cannot be omitted entirely. Substitute with condensed coconut milk.
- Pumpkin Pie Filling: You should be able to find canned pumpkin pie filling in the baking aisle of your grocery. If not, substitute with plain canned pumpkin and add more pumpkin spice (to taste).
- Pecans: While these add a nice crunch to the cookies, you can substitute them with puffed rice cereal (i.e. Rice Krispies) instead.
- Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips: This recipe has a lot of sweet ingredients, so I prefer to use semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips. Substitute with butterscotch, caramel or toffee baking chips.
- Flaked Sweetened Coconut: The coconut adds texture to the cookie bars. If you can't find flaked sweetened coconut, try shredded sweetened instead.
(If you like the idea of pumpkin and pecans together, try my pumpkin waffles with pecan syrup!)
Chocolate and Pumpkin?
It might sound weird if you haven't had this flavour combination before. I promise you, though - it's delicious!
I pour chocolate syrup over my pumpkin pie crepes, and it just takes them to the next level, so I knew that flavour combination would also work well here.
📏 What Size Baking Pan Should You Use?
I used a 9" x 13" baking pan for this recipe.
If you don't have one, you could use a different size. Just keep in mind that the size of the pan may affect the thickness of the bars, as well as the cooking time.
To find a suitable alternative to the 9" x 13" pan, check out this guide to alternative baking pan sizes by the King Arthur baking company.
🛠️ Tips for Success
- Lining the Pan: To make it easier to remove the bars, line your baking pan with parchment paper or foil, allowing extra to hang over the sides. This creates handles you can use to lift the bars out cleanly after baking, making slicing much easier.
- Chilling for Clean Slices: If the bars are too soft to cut right out of the oven, let them cool completely at room temperature or refrigerate them for about an hour. This will firm them up, making it easier to get clean slices without the cookie sticking to your knife.
- Chilling for Texture: Some people prefer to eat these cold (straight out of the fridge), as they have a firmer texture than they do at room temperature.
- Customize Your Layers: While this recipe uses pecans and semi-sweet chocolate, feel free to switch things up! Try almonds or hazelnuts for crunch, or substitute mini marshmallows for a sweet variation.
- Storage: These bars keep well at room temperature for up to 5 days or can be refrigerated for up to a week. If you're planning to make them ahead, they also freeze beautifully for up to a month. Thaw them at room temperature before serving.
If you try making these pumpkin cookie bars, let me know how they turn out for you!
• Recipe •
Pumpkin Cookie Bars with Chocolate Chips
Equipment
- 13" x 9" baking pan, (3.5 L)
Ingredients
- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 300 millilitres sweetened condensed milk, (1 can of Eagle brand)
- ½ cup pumpkin pie filling
- 1 ⅓ cups pecans, chopped (see notes for substitutions)
- 1 ⅓ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 ⅓ cups flaked coconut, sweetened
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF if using a metal baking pan (or 325ºF/160ºC if using a glass dish).
- Line a baking dish with parchment paper, leaving enough excess paper on the sides to use as handles.
- In a bowl, combine graham crumbs with pumpkin spice. Add melted butter. Stir until the mixture looks like wet sand.
- Pour the mixture into a parchment-lined baking pan. Spread it out into an even layer. Press the mixture down firmly to create the base of the cookies.
- In a bowl, combine condensed milk with the pumpkin pie filling. Pour the mixture evenly over crumb crust. Tilt the pan to get an even coating across the Graham cracker base.
- Randomly sprinkle pecans (or Rice Krispies), chocolate chips and coconut over the condensed milk layer, then press the toppings down firmly with the flat side of a spatula.
- Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the top is lightly golden brown.
- Set the pan on a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
- Use the parchment paper "handles" to lift the cookie out of the pan, and place onto a cutting board. Cut into 16 bars and store loosely covered at room temperature.
Video
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Notes
- If you're making these pumpkin cookie bars for someone who has a nut allergy, substitute the pecans for pumpkin seeds (if they are nut-free) or puffed rice cereal (Rice Krispies).
- The texture of these cookie bars becomes firmer once they cool down.
- Allow the cookie to cool completely (1.5-2 hours at room temperature or 1 hour in the fridge) before cutting. This will make it much easier to cut the cookie into bars.
Please read the blog post to get all of my tips and recommendations for this recipe.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer: this nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of this information cannot be guaranteed.
Affiliate Disclosure: Links in this recipe card are affiliate links.
Thanks for Reading!
If you've enjoyed any of my seasonal recipes, I'd be so grateful if you left a quick comment and ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on the blog post. Your review will help others find and enjoy these cozy dishes too!
This recipe was originally published in on October 14, 2014. It has since been edited and republished.
Tayler says
I love these pumpkin bars so much! I made them yesterday and they were amazing!
Shareba says
Thanks Tayler!