Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Squares

Cooking for a Crowd, Recipes, Sweet Treats
Photo: Leigh Loftus

Photo: Leigh Loftus

A lot of holidays are prime time for familial drama. It’s the most wonderful time of year, but also for many, the most stressful. Yet, if you ask most people what their favorite holiday is, the majority will choose Thanksgiving, Christmas or Hanukkah.

While I’m hardly a scrooge, I think that Christmas is anti-climatic. There’s an entire season, one that grows longer every year,  devoted to the winter holidays. There’s caroling, cookies and presents. We have company office parties where someone inevitably has one too many gin and tonics and needs to take a cab home. Yet, December 25 hits and in some families, presents are flung open, gingerbread houses constructed and as soon as it began it’s over with only three dreary months of winter to look forward to.

That’s why if you ask me what my favorite holiday is, I probably won’t say Christmas or Hanukkah, but rather Halloween or Thanksgiving. My favorite months of the year are October and November when the leaves change colors on trees and pumpkin decorating is encouraged, if not mandatory. It’s also the month most appropriate for baking pumpkin chocolate chip squares.

You can do all kinds of delicious things with pumpkin but today we’re talking about dessert. Pumpkin is famous for it’s starring role in pie, but it also adds moisture and a fabulously chewy texture to baked goods.

Photo: Leigh Loftus

Photo: Leigh Loftus

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Squares
Author: 
Recipe type: Sweet Treats, Cooking for a Crowd
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 12
 
Ingredients
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon pumpkin-pie spice
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1¼ cups sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
  • 1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with foil, leaving an overhang on all sides. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, pie spice, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
  2. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until smooth; beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in pumpkin puree (mixture may appear curdled). Reduce speed to low, and mix in dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
  3. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake until edges begin to pull away from sides of pan and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely in pan.
  4. Lift cake from pan (using foil as an aid). Peel off foil, and use a serrated knife to cut. These will be thick and gooey, so let cool before cutting.
 

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20 Comments

  • Reply
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  • Reply
    Emily
    September 24, 2012 at 5:00 pm

    I tried this recipe today and it is very very good!! This is my first pumpkin recipe I have ever tried and it turned out perfect, my family loves it! Thank you so much!

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  • Reply
    little miss mel
    October 28, 2009 at 2:13 pm

    Made these yesterday. They were SOOOO good.
    I didn’t have any pumpkin pie spice, so I used ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg, (had no cloves) and it worked out great!!
    Thank you for a great recipe! Have passed it on many times already!

  • Reply
    What Liz Said
    October 10, 2008 at 3:00 am

    Thanks for the link!
    And fyi they came out fabulously and I’ll be making them for our Thanksgiving dinner as well. 🙁

  • Reply
    noble pig
    October 10, 2008 at 3:00 am

    I feel this is calling me too…oh yum…now I’m in trouble!

  • Reply
    Jessica
    October 9, 2008 at 3:00 am

    Wow those look amazing. I think you should come to Chicago and cook for me. I’ll come over and bring the beverages 🙂

  • Reply
    Gudrun of Kitchen Gadget Girl
    October 9, 2008 at 3:00 am

    wow, you and I are totally on the same wavelength. I might make these for next week’s Cookie Thursday, as my husband adores pumpkin!
    Cheers,

  • Reply
    Melissa
    October 9, 2008 at 3:00 am

    You have to stop posting such great pictures because my mouth waters every time. It’s not even funny!!
    They look delicious, I’ll make them this weekend 🙂

  • Reply
    clumbsycookie
    October 9, 2008 at 3:00 am

    I think those might be worth the sweat pants! Lol!

  • Reply
    AshleyD
    October 9, 2008 at 3:00 am

    Those look really good! I’ll have to try making them sometime.

  • Reply
    Amy
    October 9, 2008 at 3:00 am

    those sound fantastic! I am definitely bookmarking these!

  • Reply
    Maris
    October 9, 2008 at 3:00 am

    Sarah – They will be hard to resist eating, too!
    Cate – Is the original version basically a chocolate chip blondie? Those are great too!

  • Reply
    Cate O'Malley
    October 9, 2008 at 3:00 am

    Mmm, the men in the family all love the original version. This pumpkin one sounds delicious.

  • Reply
    Sarah
    October 9, 2008 at 3:00 am

    Oh yum! I have been dying to make something pumpkin. These will be hard to resist making.

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