Falling for Fall: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Squares Recipe

Meal Monday

I have fall fever.

I love the changing leaves. The crunch of them under my behemoth stroller wheels. The crisp air. The Halloween candy in the stores. And, of course, the seasonal desserts. 

I'm trying to share my love of the season with the kids. It's a bit of a challenge. They mistake falling leaves for birds. They think squirrels say "woof." The Dude is obsessed with apples—even when they're pears.

We are going to a pumpkin patch this week. In preparation, I've been singing the "5 little pumpkins sitting on a gate" song. I point out all the pumpkins in our neighborhood. Zeke, upon noticing pumpkins, remarks, "ball!" When the Dude encountered a small one, he excitedly proclaimed, "apple!" then tried to take a bite. Meanwhile, Bitty just tries to escape from the stroller.

While I appreciate my neighbors' Jack-O-Lanterns and decorative gourds, I don’t think we'll be carving any this year. I can just imagine Bitty using pumpkin flesh as hair mousse. Or the Dude removing stringy pieces and handing them to me, one by one. 

This year, we'll just visit the pumpkins. The only pumpkin I want in my house is the kind in the can. And with that can I made the kiddos my favorite pumpkin chocolate chip bars, figuring they just might teach the kids a thing or two about the flavors of fall.

Since I won't be giving them any Halloween candy (um, mommy deserves a little reward for all her hard work), is a little taste of chocolate (bittersweet—the healthy kind) in a fruit-based dessert so bad?

Zeke didn't think so. Neither did Bitty. The Dude didn't like them, but he doesn't like much of anything. Except apples.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Squares
Adapted from Everyday Food

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups all purpose flour
½ cup white whole wheat flour
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp cloves
1 tsp baking soda
¾ tsp salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 package (12 ounces) chocolate chips

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom of a 9x13 baking pan with foil, leaving an overhang on all sides. Spray with cooling spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, spices, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Cream together (with an electronic mixer or by hand) butter, sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in pumpkin puree (mixture may appear curdled). Mix in dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake until edges begin to pull away from sides of pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely in pan.

Lift bars from pan, using foil as an aid. Cut into squares.

Notes:

I used spices per my own tastes. The original recipe calls for 1 Tbsp of pumpkin pie spice.

Both semisweet and bittersweet chocolate work well in this recipe.

I have made the recipe in two 9-inch cake pans. For a more elegant dessert, serve the cake drizzled with chocolate ganache.

Comments

[Katherine]

Mmmmm we just had pumpkin muffins, but these sound even better. Clearly I will have to finish them off to make room in the cupboard!

[Traduceri legalizate]

Awesome! Although … I think next time I’ll try regular all-purpose flour. I’m not a WW kind of person but we do have it in the house. Maybe with AP it’ll be a bit fluffier instead of on the heavy side?