pumpkin chocolate chip bars

I have a lot of pumpkin to get through. I bought 4 29 oz. cans of pumpkin puree. They’ll last for a while, but while I have them around, I figured I could make the most pumpkin goodies I ever have in one season. I stumbled across Maria at Two Pea and Their Pod’s pumpkin chocolate chip bars and they looked so decadent that I had to try this myself. Pumpkin and chocolate chips — what a great combination!

My bars turned out very soft and moist with a cake-like texture. These are so easy to make that this should be a Fall staple whenever Fall rolls around. It makes your entire house smell of Fall. I loved baking these. My apartment was engrossed in this spicy warm scent. Better than a candle!

Right before I cut the bars up, Jason asked me “should we have these al a mode or have anything on top?” and my answer was “no.” These are so rich due to an entire bag of chocolate chips and the density of the cake. You definitely don’t need anything atop these babies! However, the one thing you might want to have on hand is a nice big glass of ice cold milk! :)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

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Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. salt

1 cup (2 sticks) of butter, room temperature

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1 large egg

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 package (12 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In medium bowl, whisk together flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth.
Add in the egg and vanilla extract. Beat until combined.
Add in the pumpkin puree and mix it all together. It looks gross because it looks curdled, but it’s fine.
Slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix until all combined.
Fold in the chocolate chips.
Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan (I had a 11-by-7-inch so mine turned out thicker) and spread the batter evenly throughout the pan.
Bake for 35-40 minutes (if using 9-by-13-inch baking pan, I had to bake mine for an hour since my bars were thicker), or until when toothpick inserted in center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached.
Let bars cool completely in the before cutting them. This is VERY VERY important. You must have them cool completely otherwise it’s too gooey to cut since it’s still warm and you will end up with crumbles everywhere. Be patient!! I know it smells awesome and you just want to gobble them up, but it’s worth the wait — and you don’t want to be like me (the impatient one) who tried to cut it while warm and all of it got messed up!

Adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod