PUMPKIN PECAN BARS

It was close to Thanksgiving, and we were looking for a healthy alternate for pumpkin pie. After a couple efforts, we came up with a bar with lots of aromatic spices that, served warm and topped with a vanilla frozen dessert, is a terrific substitute. They’re also good packed in a sack lunch ... if there are any left over.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9x13" baking dish with olive oil cooking spray.

2. In medium bowl, blend together:

1¾ cups whole wheat pastry flour

½ cup maple sugar*

3. Cut in with pastry blender or two butter knives until mixture is crumbly:

½ cup Earth Balance buttery sticks, softened (1 stick)

4. Reserve ½ cup crumb mixture; press remaining mix into bottom of baking dish.

5. In large bowl, whip with a wire whisk until blended:

1 (29-oz) can pumpkin

1 cup egg whites

1 cup Wax Orchards Fruit Sweet

¾ cup rice or soy milk

1 Tbsp cinnamon

½ tsp salt

½ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp ginger

¼ tsp ground cloves

6. Pour pumpkin mixture onto crumb crust in baking dish.

7. Mix and sprinkle evenly over pumpkin mixture:

½ cup reserved crumb mixture

¾ cup pecans, coarsely chopped

8. Bake for 55 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

9. Let rest for 10 minutes; cut into 12-15 bars and serve warm or cold.

*The only type of maple sugar we could find consisted of coarse, hard chunks that don’t dissolve while baking. We processed the chunks in a high-powered blender, which makes the perfect texture for baking.