Description
Deliciously moist and flavorful Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars featuring warm spices and rich semi-sweet chocolate chips, perfect for fall or anytime snack cravings. These bars combine pumpkin puree with a blend of aromatic spices and buttery dough, baked to golden perfection with melty chocolate chips throughout.
Ingredients
Scale
Wet Ingredients
- 10 tablespoons (140 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup pumpkin puree (do not use pumpkin pie filling)
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups (260 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- Pinch of nutmeg
Chocolate
- 1 3/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
Instructions
- Prepare Oven and Pan: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with parchment paper leaving about 2 inches of overhang to easily lift out the bars after baking. Set aside.
- Drain Pumpkin Puree: Spread the pumpkin puree on a large plate and cover with a paper towel to absorb excess moisture. Blot with a second paper towel if needed to remove additional liquid. Set aside.
- Cream Butter and Sugars: In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or using a handheld mixer, beat the room temperature butter with dark brown sugar and granulated sugar on medium-high speed for 2 to 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl sides.
- Add Wet Ingredients: Mix in the egg yolk, drained pumpkin puree, and vanilla extract until well combined.
- Combine Dry Ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, kosher salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg until evenly mixed.
- Mix Dry into Wet: Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix on low speed just until combined. Avoid overmixing to retain tenderness.
- Fold in Chocolate Chips: Remove the mixing bowl from the stand mixer and gently fold in 1 1/2 cups of the chocolate chips with a spatula or wooden spoon.
- Transfer and Top: Spread the dough evenly into the prepared baking pan using an offset spatula. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips evenly over the surface, adding more if desired.
- Bake: Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the edges are set, the top is golden brown, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs.
- Cool and Serve: Remove from oven and allow the bars to cool completely on a wire rack. Use the parchment overhang to lift the bars from the pan and cut into approximately 20 squares.
Notes
- Store the bars tightly covered at room temperature for up to 4 days to maintain moisture and freshness.
- These bars can be frozen in an airtight container for longer storage; thaw before serving.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar (1/20th of recipe)
- Calories: 250
- Sugar: 18g
- Sodium: 180mg
- Fat: 13g
- Saturated Fat: 8g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 30g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 3g
- Cholesterol: 40mg
