Psst, guess what? October is pumpkin spice season and we couldn’t be more excited. From piping hot lattes to sweet, fluffy pancakes and adorable, little bundt cakes, pumpkin spiced recipes are everywhere to be found this time of the month. After all, what actually embodies the official flavor of fall more than that scrumptious combination of cinnamon and nutmeg? We can’t think of many. And for today’s recipe, we’re combining two of our favorite things into one festive and delectable treat–Pumpkin Spiced Brownies. There’s something about that exquisite combination of chocolate and pumpkin spice that drives us into a fall frenzy. Soft, chewy, chocolatey brownies sandwiched in between layers of a creamy pumpkin swirl and filled with chocolate chips for crunchiness in each bite, what’s not to love? You can use either fresh or canned pumpkin puree, but when it comes to pumpkin spiced recipes, the real thing is always best.
Fun fact: Many pumpkin spiced recipes don’t always contain real pumpkin. Although this recipe actually does, pumpkin spice actually refers to the typical combination spices used to flavor the ever-so-popular pumpkin pie, which we can imagine you’ll be eating plenty of in the next couple of months. When biting into or sipping on a pumpkin spiced item, you’ll find a familiar blend of ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, ground cloves and sometimes ground ginger. In lieu of the upcoming holiday season, browse through our spices collection to flavor all of your festive favorites.
Pumpkin Spiced Brownies
Yields: 16 servings
Ingredients
- 2 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 and 1/2 cups of sugar
- 1 and 1/4 cups of pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup of cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup of mini bittersweet chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup of vegetable oil
- 4 large eggs
- 8 tablespoons of unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon of ground cloves
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9-inch square baking dish with parchment paper and lightly coat with butter or cooking spray.
2. Place a heatproof bowl over a saucepan. Fill the saucepan with water and bring to a boil, then a simmer. Melt the butter, making sure to stir occasionally. Remove from the heat once melted.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, salt and baking powder.
4. In an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter, eggs, sugar and vanilla extract for about 4 minutes. Then add the flour, salt and baking powder and mix well.
5. Divide the batter evenly into two separate bowls. In the first bowl, stir in the pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and cooking oil. In the second bowl, stir in the cocoa powder and chocolate chips.
6. First, pour in the half the chocolate batter into the pan. Make sure the batter is smooth and flat. Then pour in the pumpkin batter on top. Repeat this step one more time with the pumpkin layer on top.
7. Using a butter knife, gently swirl the top layer of pumpkin and chocolate to create a ripply, swirly effect.
8. Bake for about 40 to 45 minutes and then remove from the heat. Allow for the brownies to cool before cutting into squares.
And here’s our handy video for you to follow along!