Happy Friday everybody! Hope everyone is doing great and if you are in the Carolinas I hope you are safe, I just read the news and Florence has submerged homes, you’re all in my thoughts are prayers.

With Fall just around the corner, I’ll be baking lots of pumpkin desserts. Last night my husband told me that he already feels it’s Thanksgiving time. He eats all the things I bake and he likes it, but he’s not a big fan of pumpkin as I am. We both love Halloween though, we’re still trying to figure out what costumes we will wear for a big party in my favorite winery Castello Di Amorosa.

This recipe is about Pumpkin Bars, they are not as chewy as a brownie, they have more cake texture. I added chocolate chunks and walnuts of course!

Let’s start with the recipe.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup white granulated sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks (and more to sprinkle on the top)

2/3 cup chopped walnuts ( you can use this or not)

Instructions

1.- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line the bottom and sides of a 9 by 13 inch baking pan with parchment paper.

2.- In a medium bowl, mix flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking soda, salt. Set aside.

3.- In a large bowl and using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes), add in egg and vanilla until combine. Add pumpkin puree. Reduce speed to low, and mix in dry ingredients until just combined.

4.- Fold in chocolate chunks and walnuts.

5.- Spread batter in prepared pan. Bake for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool completely in pan.

6.- If you want to have perfect squares, after it’s cool completely, cover the pan with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for an hour. Then, lift cake from pan, peel parchment paper and proceed to cut the squares. Don’t forget to use a ruler, it helps!

Enjoy!