A Squared: Chocoate Chip Pumpkin Oatmeal Bars

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Chocoate Chip Pumpkin Oatmeal Bars

It's pumpkin season-- and pumpkin season makes me happy!


And I love doing a little baking during this season. So at the first sign of a chill in the air, I picked up a few cans of pumpkin puree and spent an afternoon in my kitchen baking and experimenting. And these chocolate chip pumpkin oatmeal bars are a must-bake for this season!


These bars are an easy and delicious fall dessert recipe and they're a hybrid of two of my favorite baking recipes: these pumpkin muffins and these blondies. They're not super sweet, but have a great pumpkin spice flavor, chewy texture, and a little decadence from the addition of dark chocolate chips. Chocolate and pumpkin is one of my favorite flavor combinations-- the deep spicy flavor and the richness of dark chocolate is a really genius combo.


Because these bars are so easy to make, they're perfect for fall entertaining, bake sales, or as a great treat to bring along to any party this season. They're a delicious crowd pleaser!


Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1  cup light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup orange juice
  • 1 tsp. orange zest
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup old fashioned oats
  • 3/4 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 tsp. real vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter and flour (or use cooking spray made for baking-- it has flour in it) a 9 in. x 13 in. baking dish.

Place butter in a large glass mixing bowl and microwave on medium low until completely melted. Add pumpkin puree, brown sugar, orange juice, and zest to the melted butter while still warm and stir well until smooth and fully combined. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature.

In a separate medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.

Once the brown sugar mixture has cooled, beat in the eggs and vanilla until fully incorporated. Add the flour mixture in gradually (I find that adding it in 3 or 4 parts works well), mixing until combined before adding more of the dry ingredients. Gently fold in the chocolate chips.

Spoon the batter to the prepared baking dish and use a rubber spatula to spread it out evenly. Bake until the blondies are golden and just brown around the edges, about 25-30 minutes. You'll want to insert a toothpick to test the center.

Remove from the oven and let the bars cool slightly. Carefully invert onto a metal rack (they are so buttery that they should just fall out of the pan) and allow to cool completely. Slice into squares and serve.

1 comment:

  1. These look like a perfect grab and go fall snack! I could make these and save some for my afternoon snack at work!

    Mariz
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    ReplyDelete

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