Pumpkin Brownies

In order to use up a big can of pumpkin purée, after making waffles and pasta, I made pumpkin brownies. I reduced the amount of cinnamon to ½ tsp and omitted the walnuts entirely, so I’m giving you my version here. The brownies were so good that we really had to use all our willpower not to eat the whole pan in one sitting (like Garfield does with his lasagna). In fact, I froze the last of the pumpkin purée so that I could make them again! The pumpkin and spices give these brownies a definite fall feel, and the purée keeps them moist and good for days. The recipe is from Blogchef.net, found via The Kitchn.

¾ cup all purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¾ cup unsalted margarine or butter, melted
1 ½ cups white sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
¼ cup cocoa powder
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ cup pumpkin purée
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp nutmeg

Pre-heat the oven to 350 °F and line an 8-inch square baking dish with aluminum foil. Lightly grease the foil.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl mix together melted butter, sugar, and vanilla. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add in the flour mixture, a little at a time, and stir until the batter is evenly moistened. Divide the batter in half evenly into 2 separate bowls.

In one of the bowls blend in the cocoa powder and chocolate chips. In the second bowl of batter, stir in pumpkin purée, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.

Spread half of the chocolate batter mixture into the bottom of the baking dish. Pour halfof the pumpkin batter mixture over that. Repeat the layers, ending with a pumpkin layer. Drag a kitchen knife or spatula through the layers in a swirling motion, creating a marble appearance.

Bake in the oven at 350 °F for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool and cut into squares.