Pumpkin Bars With Chocolate Chips: A Fudgy Fall Dessert

Pumpkin Bars with Chocolate Chips

These Pumpkin Bars with Chocolate Chips have a fudgy texture that reminds me of a really good brownie, which is exactly why I start baking them the moment the first cool morning shows up.

You may also see them called Pumpkin Blondies, and honestly both names fit. There is plenty of warm pumpkin, a generous amount of cinnamon spiced flavor, and two kinds of chocolate running through every single square.

The first time I brought a tray to my sister’s Halloween party, I set it on the table, turned around to grab a napkin, and by the time I looked back there were three bars left and a room full of very happy people. My nephew still asks for the orange brownies every October.

Here is the part I love most. Everything comes together in one pot on the stove. No stand mixer, no separate mixing bowl, no creaming butter and sugar until your arm gives out. The melted butter is what gives these bars their soft, fudgy consistency, and it also means the batter can be ready before the oven finishes preheating.

This recipe was originally published on October 30, 2011, and it has been a fall staple ever since. If you need something for a Halloween gathering, a bake sale, a potluck, or a quiet Tuesday when the house smells like nothing sweet yet, these bars are the answer. They travel well, they slice neatly, and they disappear fast.

You’ll love these Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Brownies!

Speed is the whole appeal here. You stir, you pour, you bake. That is it. Because the mixing happens in a pot on the stove, you never pull out a stand mixer or a mixing bowl, and you never end up with a sink full of dishes before the bars even reach the oven.

The texture is the second reason to love them. These are meant to be brownie style, not cakey. If you have ever made pumpkin cookies and wondered why they came out soft and fluffy, you already know the difference.

Here we are aiming for something denser, chewier, and much closer to a pumpkin brownie than to a slice of pumpkin cake.

Pumpkin Blondies Recipe Ingredients

You need twelve ingredients, and most of them are probably in your kitchen right now. One important note before you start: use plain canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling. They sit next to each other on the shelf and look almost identical, and grabbing the wrong one changes everything.

• 1 cup butter (2 sticks)
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 (8 ounce) cup canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 large egg
• 2 cups all purpose flour, spooned and leveled
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips

This makes 12 bars in a 9 by 13 inch pan, with about 10 minutes of prep and 30 minutes in the oven.

Based on the source nutrition, one bar comes in around 526 calories, 68 grams of carbohydrate, 5 grams of protein, 26 grams of fat, 2 grams of fiber, and 57 milligrams of cholesterol.

Full instructions and extra details are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

How to make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

Melted butter is the secret to a chewy, fudgy bar. Cookies call for creaming soft butter with sugar so they puff up, but here we melt the butter and let it do something better. It keeps the crumb dense and soft instead of light and airy.

If you want to take things one step further, you can brown the butter. Cook it over medium heat until it foams, turns a light brown, and smells nutty. That extra step adds a deep toasty flavor and makes the finished bars browner and less orange. It is completely optional, so skip it if you are short on time.

Either way, do not skip this next move. While the butter is still hot and bubbly, add the pumpkin pie spice and let it toast for just a few seconds. That little pause wakes up the cinnamon and the rest of the blend.

If you do not keep pumpkin pie spice on hand, the recipe notes list measurements for cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and the other spices that make up the blend.

After the spice step, stir in the brown sugar, the white sugar, and the pumpkin puree. From there it is a short list of additions and one trip to the oven.

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and prepare a 9 by 13 inch pan with nonstick spray or parchment paper. Parchment lets you lift the whole slab out later for clean slicing.
2. Melt 1 cup of butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
3. While the butter is hot and bubbly, add 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice, let it toast for a few seconds, then remove the pan from the heat.
4. Stir in 1 cup granulated sugar and 1 cup packed brown sugar.
5. Add 1 cup canned pumpkin puree. Only 1 cup, not the whole can.
6. Add 2 teaspoons vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt.
7. Add 1 large egg and stir vigorously right away so it does not curdle. If the mixture still feels very hot, wait a couple of minutes first.
8. Add 2 cups flour on top without stirring, then measure 1 teaspoon baking powder into the flour and stir it into just the flour before mixing everything together.
9. Stir until most of the lumps are gone, but do not overbeat. Think brownie batter. Overmixing gives you tough bars. Leave the chocolate chips out for now.
10. Pour the batter into the pan and spread it to the edges.
11. Sprinkle 1 cup semisweet and 1 cup dark chocolate chips over the top, then gently fold them into the batter with a spatula right in the pan.
12. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 25 to 30 minutes. They are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with no wet batter and the edges pull slightly away from the pan.
13. Let them cool before lifting the parchment and slicing, though eating one warm is a perfectly reasonable choice too.

Do not stir the chocolate chips into the warm pot. Pour the batter into the pan first, then fold the chips in right there so they stay in soft pockets instead of melting into the batter.

Pumpkin acts like an egg

Most brownie recipes for a 9 by 13 inch pan call for four eggs. That is how you get chew instead of a fluffy, cakey crumb. This recipe uses exactly one egg, and the reason is pumpkin.

Pumpkin behaves a little like an egg during baking. It adds moisture, it helps bind, and it gives structure. That is also why pumpkin cookies so often turn out cakey when you were hoping for chewy.

Here, that pumpkin action is balanced by melted butter and a single egg, and the result is a bar that stays fudgy from the middle all the way to the edge.

After the egg, the vanilla, and the salt go in, the dry ingredients follow. Add the flour on top and do not stir it yet.

Measure the baking powder right into the flour and stir it into the flour with the teaspoon first, then mix everything together. I tested a batch without baking powder once and the bars came out spongey, with a texture I did not love at all.

The version with baking powder won by a mile, so please do not leave it out.

Now the chocolate. This is where a lot of people go wrong, and I have been that person. Do not stir the chips into the warm batter in the pot.

The batter is still warm from the melted butter, so the chips will melt on contact and swirl into the whole batch.

Instead, pour the batter into the pan first, sprinkle the semisweet and dark chocolate chips over the top, and gently fold them in with a spatula right there in the pan. You get pockets of chocolate instead of a muddy brown batter.

Mixing dark and semisweet chocolate is my favorite combination because you get a little sweetness and a little depth in the same bite. That said, any chocolate works. If you only have one kind on hand, use it.

And if you are feeling adventurous, white chocolate chips are an untried variation that sounds like a lovely pairing with pumpkin. I have not tested that version myself, but the flavor combination makes sense.

How to store Pumpkin Bars with Chocolate Chips

These bars keep beautifully at room temperature. Once they are completely cool, seal them tightly and leave them on the counter, where they stay fresh for 2 to 3 days before they start to dry out. In my house they rarely last that long, but it is nice to know the option exists.

Refrigeration is optional. Some people prefer a cold bar, and if you do, a few seconds in the microwave brings back that soft, just baked texture. For longer storage, freeze them.

Let the bars cool completely, tuck them into a sealed ziplock bag or a tupperware container, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw them in the sealed bag on the counter.

This recipe was first posted in 2011, and freezing has always been my favorite way to keep a batch on hand for surprise guests.

More pumpkin desserts you should try out!

If these bars leave you with half a can of pumpkin and a craving for more, you are in good company. Here are a few pumpkin desserts worth adding to your fall baking list.

• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins, which are basically the muffin version of these bars and completely acceptable for breakfast.
• Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins, for when you want something a little tangy.
• Pumpkin Butterscotch Molten Lava Cakes, an ooey gooey option for a special dinner.
• Easy Pumpkin Pie Cake, simple and crowd friendly.
• Paul’s Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting, which are honestly a cake rather than a bar, and nobody minds one bit.
• Butterscotch Pumpkin Cake, rich and cozy with a cup of coffee.
• Pumpkin Roll Recipe, the classic showstopper for a holiday table.
• Easy Pumpkin Dump Cake, about as low effort as dessert gets.
• Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake, which I always suggest for Thanksgiving.

There are a few more from friends of the blog worth a look too: Easy Pumpkin Crispy Treats from Yummy Healthy Easy, Pecan Praline Pumpkin Cake from The View From Great Island, and Pumpkin Spice Meringue Pumpkins from 365 Days of Baking.

Bake one this weekend, then bake these fudgy pumpkin bars again, because one batch never seems to be enough.

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Fudgy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars (Pumpkin Blondies)

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Pumpkin Bars with Chocolate Chips These Pumpkin Bars with Chocolate Chips have a fudgy texture that reminds me of a really good brownie, which is exactly why I start baking them the moment the first cool morning shows up. You may also see them called Pumpkin Blondies, and honestly both names fit.

• Total Time: 40 min
• Yield: 12 1x

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

1 cup butter, 2 sticks
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 8-oz cup pumpkin, canned (not pumpkin pie filling)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg
2 cups all purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup dark chocolate chips

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Instructions

1-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9×13 inch pan with nonstick spray, or line with parchment paper. I like to line with paper so that I can lift the bars out later for easy slicing.
2-In a medium saucepan, melt 1 cup: In a medium saucepan, melt 1 cup of butter** over medium heat.
3-When the butter is still bubbly and: When the butter is still bubbly and hot, add in 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice* (see notes for other spices). Let the spices toast in the pan for just a few seconds, then remove the pan from heat.
4-Stir in 1 cup sugar and 1: Stir in 1 cup sugar and 1 cup packed brown sugar.
5-Add in 1 cup pumpkin puree from: Add in 1 cup pumpkin puree from a can. Don’t use the whole can! Don’t use pumpkin pie filling! (Use the rest of the can to make pumpkin cookies!)
6-Add 2 teaspoons vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon: Add 2 teaspoons vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt.
7-Add 1 egg and stir vigorously right: Add 1 egg and stir vigorously right away so that it doesn’t curdle. If your butter/sugar mixture is still super hot, you might want to consider waiting a couple minutes to add the egg.
8-Add 2 cups flour, spooned and leveled,: Add 2 cups flour, spooned and leveled, but don’t stir yet. Add 1 teaspoon baking powder to the flour and use the teaspoon to stir it into the flour.
9-Stir in the flour until most of: Stir in the flour until most of the lumps are gone, but do not over beat. Just like brownies, you want to get all the ingredients incorporated, but you don’t want to mix it so much that you end up with tough pumpkin bars. See photos. Don’t add the chocolate chips yet.
10-Pour the batter into the prepared pan: Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread to the edges.
11-Sprinkle 1 cup semisweet and 1 cup: Sprinkle 1 cup semisweet and 1 cup dark chocolate chips over the top. Use your spatula to gently fold them in so that they are incorporated into the batter. (If you mix the chocolate chips into the warm batter, they will melt right away)
12-Bake at 350 for about 25-30 minutes: Bake at 350 for about 25-30 minutes. They are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with no wet batter on it. The edges should be pulling slightly from the sides of the pan.
13-Let cool*** before lifting the paper from: Let cool*** before lifting the paper from the pan and slicing. (or just dig in while they’re hot, I’m no judge.)
14-Keep leftover bars stored on the counter,: Keep leftover bars stored on the counter, tightly sealed. They will keep for 2-3 days before getting dried out.
15-These bars freeze well: These bars freeze well! Store in a sealed ziplock and freeze for up to 3 months. Let thaw in the sealed bag on the counter.

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• Prep Time: 10 min
• Cook Time: 30 min
• Method: stovetop

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 bar
• Calories: 526
• Sugar: 46g
• Fat: 26g
• Saturated Fat: 18g
• Carbohydrates: 68g
• Fiber: 2g
• Protein: 5g
• Cholesterol: 57mg