A cross between a brownie and cake, these pumpkin bars are full of warm, fall spices and are a must to have on repeat this season.
Y'all. If there's one thing I love most about fall cooking and baking, it's pumpkin. Pumpkin bars, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin scones, roasted pumpkin salad, pumpkin everything (but for the record, I don't love pumpkin spice lattes). Pumpkin is just so delicious and it's healthy (although if you ask my husband he'd talk about all of the natural sugars squash has in it...total buzzkill).
These Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars are the perfect dessert to make for your family, a dinner party, a school event, for whomever. They're basically the fall season in bar form. These are unique bars in that they're kind of in between the texture of a brownie (the butter and pumpkin puree makes them a little more dense) and cake because they're still pretty fluffy. They're a big hit with everyone, even among people who don't love pumpkin. My Kindergartener loves these...and he would never touch a pumpkin pie with a five foot pole. It's funny how that works.
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How to Make Pumpkin Bars
So. Simple. Here's what you'll do:
- Mix dry ingredients together, including flour and a bunch of fall spices (cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and cloves), then set aside.
- Next, cream your butter and sugars together. I use more brown sugar than white sugar in these to add more of a molasses taste from the brown sugar.
- After adding your egg, pumpkin puree, and vanilla extract to the creamed butter, you'll gently add in your dry ingredients, then fold in your chocolate chips.
- Pour the batter into the baking pan, and spread with even more chocolate before baking. Speaking of chocolate - baking discs are where it's at.
FAQs on Pumpkin Bars
Chocolate discs are round chocolate pieces that you can find at a specialty store or from Whole Foods. At Whole Foods they come pre-packaged in a clear plastic container and can be found with the fancy cocoa and chocolates in the baking aisle. If you don't have chocolate discs or can't find them, no worries. Just use more chocolate chips. Chocolate discs just melt making these gorgeous (and more importantly, delicious) puddles of high quality chocolate, and who doesn't want that?
These pumpkin bars freeze well. Don't be scared. Just individually wrap the bars in plastic wrap then into a Ziplock bag. Stick in the refrigerator overnight to defrost or pop in the microwave for about 20 seconds.
Wrap the pumpkin bars in plastic wrap so they don't dry out. They will stay fresh for 3-4 days.
More Delish Pumpkin Things to Make This Season
Want some more inspiration for using pumpkin?
- Pumpkin Soup without Cream is one of my favorite healthy soups I make in the fall.
- Bourbon Pumpkin Pie -- need I really say more?
- Try these Pumpkin Spice Pancakes for such a yummy fall breakfast.
- Baked Pumpkin Donuts because you need pumpkin in your breakfast repertoire as well. Easy Pumpkin Chcoolate Swirl Bread -- it's not only delicious but also impressive to look at.
- Pumpkin isn't just for baking. This Roasted Pumpkin and Quinoa Salad has goat cheese and cranberries, making for a cozy fall meal.
xox
Kathryn
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ½ teaspoon cloves
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups pumpkin puree
- 1 ½ cups chocolate chips
- ½ cup chocolate discs or more chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x13" cake pan with parchment paper so the sides are sufficiently covered with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a large stand mixer with paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar. Cream for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add in egg, vanilla, and pumpkin puree and beat until combined. Slowly add in flour mixture and mix until just combined.
- Stir in 1 ½ cups of chocolate chips with a spatula. Pour mixture into baking sheet. Sprinkle the chocolate disks (or more chocolate chips) on top before baking.
- Bake for 32-35 minutes or until pumpkin bars are browned and toothpick comes out clean. Let cool before cutting.
Notes
Nutrition
Lisa's * Everyday Life says
Looks yummg. Perfect for this time of year.
Kathryn says
Thanks, Lisa! Hope you love them as much as we do!
Georgia Abraham says
I'm not sure that I want pumpkin interfering with my chocolate.....must ponder
Kathryn says
Noooo you’ll love these. Chocolate and pumpkin go great together! Promise.