Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Squares - Martha Mondays

My choice this week for our Martha Mondays hosted each week by Brette with Martha and Me and let me tell you she participates in each one every week! One time she missed a week because she was sick, and then she apologized for it! She's amazing, and an author of several books, a new one just out The Parchment Paper Cookbook one of her other blogs is No Pot Cooking. Check it out for some good no mess cooking ideas and recipes. If you would like to join us for Martha Mondays just let her know. There is no pressure to do it every week and you get some good feedback and meet some great people.


Oh yeah,...back to my pick...Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Squares I chose this because of my daughter...she has been wanting me to make her some pumpkin something for her birthday...she loves pumpkin every thing So this was great, Martha had a wonderful pumpkin bar recipe, and what better time to try it...two birds, you know!



Pumpkin Chocolate-Chip Squares
Martha Stewart Living Special Issues, 2006

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
1 tablespoon pumpkin-pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with foil, leaving an overhang on all sides. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, pie spice, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
2.With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until smooth; beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in pumpkin puree (mixture may appear curdled). Reduce speed to low, and mix in dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
3.Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake until edges begin to pull away from sides of pan and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely in pan.
4.Lift cake from pan (using foil as an aid). Peel off foil, and use a serrated knife to cut into 24 squares
Tip: If you can't find pumpkin-pie spice, substitute 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, 3/4 teaspoon ginger, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1/2 teaspoon each allspice and cloves (all ground).

It was a two bowl, (most baking recipes will have you use one bowl for dry and another for the wet ingredients), straight forward recipe.The only different thing I did this time was add a little more cinnamon, and used half chocolate chips and half cinnamon chips.

I sprinkled some extra chips on top of the batter after it was spread out in the pan. I like the looks of them sitting on top like that...maybe more next time!


This is definitely a keeper. It was moist and delicious, the texture was kind of like between a cake and a muffin. The pumpkin held up well to the spices and chocolate was not too much, of course I used half the amount of chocolate, but used cinnamon chips to compete the amount called for in the recipe. I didn't have a 9x13 pan, the pan I used was a little smaller so they came out a little tall. I can't believe I don't have a 9x13 glass baking dish...Christmas wish list!

My family actually finished them all up...I didn't have any to bring in to work.

Edited to add the Tip: after the recipe, for those of you who can't find pumpkin pie spice. This was the first time I had used it, I happened to run across it.