I had a vision of a “pumpkin brownie” for Pumpkinpalooza this year but, since it doesn’t include chocolate, it’s really more of a pumpkin blondie with a fudge-brownie texture. Moist, dense, buttery, sweet and pumpkin-y– and a PITA it turns out because it took me a few tries to get it to work. In the end my taste testers, Pixel (it’s an old picture, but who cares, I love that kid), my wife and her coworker all gave me the thumbs up, so here it is world.

A note about blondie/brownie making: ALWAYS mix the batter by hand. Always, always, always. It doesn’t matter if it is a little lumpy but it DOES matter if you develop the gluten– at best you’ll end up with cake, at worst you’ll end up with a tough, chewy brownie. Don’t worry, the batter is easy to stir and forgiving of lumps; and let’s face it, if you’re baking a 200 cal. brownie you need as much exercise as possible!

Speaking of calories, you shouldn’t even LOOK at the pictures of my recipes if you’re counting them. That said, I’m making an effort to include the nutritional data at the end of recipes I blog– horrifying as it may be, because I think being mindful of what we cook and eat is important. I can’t promise I’ll have detailed info on every one, but I’ll do what I can; just try not to go into shock if you read it.

Pumpkin Blondies

Total Time: 1 hr
Prep Time: 20 min
Bake Time: 40 min

Ingredients:

2 1/4 C All-purpose flour
1/2 t Baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 T Cinnamon, ground
2 Eggs
1 T Vanilla
2 C Pumpkin puree
2 C Dark brown sugar, packed
1 C Butter (two sticks), melted (optionally browned)

9×13″ baking pan
Parchment paper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Line a 9×13″ pan with parchment paper. It doesn’t have to be perfect, I just lay the paper across the pan and trim its width until it fits with 1/2″ or so of uncovered pan.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together flour, and baking soda.

In a small sauce pot (about 1 1/2 qt) melt butter over medium-low heat.

To brown butter: Turn heat up to high and watch carefully. 4-6 minutes after the butter comes to a boil it will begin frothing violently. Start scraping the bottom of the pot gently with a wooden or silicone scraper and watch for the milk solids to turn brown. It will happen quickly– as soon as you notice it browning remove the butter from the heat! (If you’re not comfortable “almost burning” butter you can skip this and just use plain, melted butter– but it’s worth it the effort, if you do). Be sure to scrape up all the browned bits on the bottom of the pot before continuing.

Stir the brown sugar into the melted/browned butter until smooth and then scrape the mixture into a medium mixing bowl. Pause to admire the beautiful, glossy, sexy mixture of melted butter and brown sugar before continuing.

Stir in the cinnamon, vanilla and eggs, one at a time and mix by hand until smooth and glossy.

Mix in the flour mixture by hand until JUST combined– it’s okay if there are small lumps.

Pour into prepared 9×13″ pan and bake at 350F for 40 minutes or until a toothpick or knife comes out clean.

Let cool and cut into 4 columns and 6 rows, 24 pieces (unless you want a 300 calorie pumpkin blondie).

24 servings: 194 calories per serving
Per Serving: 8g Fat– 5g Sat Fat 0g Trans Fat, 38 mg Cholesterol, 72 mg Sodium, 29g Total Carbs– 19g Sugars, 1g Fiber, 2g Protein.