Anyone who knows me knows that Fall is my favorite season and Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love everything about them, especially pumpkin! After many failed attempts to get the Pumpkin Spice Latte early at Starbucks, it finally launched, marking the official start of Fall. Clearly, the next thing I had to bake was this:
Oooohhhh…my kitchen is going to smell awe-some!
My mom made me chocolate chip pumpkin bread once, so I’m hoping this turns out just as good.
Step 1: Gather ingredients: flour, sugar, egg, butter, pumpkin, salt, vanilla, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, chocolate chips.
I couldn’t remember if I had all the ingredients to make my own pumpkin pie spice, and I was at a stupid store that doesn’t have a bulk section, so I just bought some. A TINY jar was $7.50! Ouch.
Step 2: Mix together flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.
Step 3: Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Please pardon the chocolate on the KitchenAid. I did a terrible job of cleaning it last time! Help me, I suck.
Step 4: Add pumpkin puree.
Mmm. It smelled so good!
Step 5: Gradually add flour mixture until combined.
Step 6: Add chocolate chips.
Psh! This recipe is E-A-S-Y!
Step 7: Transfer dough to a parchment-lined 9×13 pan.
Don’t eat the dough.
It was hard not to! It smelled so good! (Do not look at my messy kitchen.)
Step 8: Bake for 35-40 minutes (until toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached).
The toothpick came out clean, so I removed it. I was supposed to wait for it to cool completely before removing from the pan, but I wanted to eat it!
As you can see, it was still warm and I made it wrinkle.
Step 9: Cut into 24 squares.
They were a little under-baked, and the chocolate covered the knife after each cut. That aside, these are AWESOME, just as predicted!
Yields: 24
I got: 24
Start time: 10:00
End time: 12:00 (2 hours)
Martha’s estimated time: 1 hour (did she account for cooling time?)
What did I learn?
- Waiting for it to cool completely is probably a good idea!
What do I need to learn?
- Why did the toothpick come out clean when the bars weren’t done? They are probably supposed to be gooey, but I don’t know about this gooey.
What else do I have to say? MAKE THESE NOW. NOW. You won’t regret it!
Nate Makes Cookies 
Bars and blondies like this need to cool after to “solidify” and not be gooey. 🙂 but I understand your urge to eat, it’s so hard when the whole kitchen smells amazing!!
OMG yum. I wonder if you could use pumpkin pie filling and sub it out for something wet so it’s not too wet… if you know what I mean. Next time I’m down we’ll make something…
Those were D-E-L-I-S-H! So when will I see you at the next Throwdown, huh Nate? Bring it!
Yep super good. I’m making these this weekend.
Awesome squares Nate! And low fat too. That’s what I like about your recipes.
Ohhh these look so good. Pumpkin & chocolate = A-mazing.
Love your Step 6 picture – and these look absolutely delicious! So far I’ve been drinking my pumpkin in the form of Pumpkin Pie vodka, but I’m ready to start baking with it too!
Pumpkin Pie Vodka?! NEED. What brand is that?
Pinnacle. It’s sooo good! I have a few recipes on my blog. If you snag a bottle – check them out! I made a Kahlua Pumpkin Cheesecake martini. It’s an awesome dessert drink!