Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Bars (+ 3 other Halloween treats!!)

I like many aspects of Halloween – dressing up, candy, memories of trick-or-treating in the crisp fall air, pumpkin carving! – but I don’t particularly enjoy the “scary” aspect of it. I’ve never been a fan of horror movies, and I have permanent bad memories of trick-or-treating at one house on the street where I grew up…the owners piped scary music out the windows and would hide and jump out to scare unsuspecting little trick-or-treaters. Bad!

But I *do* love Halloween goodies! And today, I have not only one super delicious recipe, but three additional recipes (click on the links or pictures) brought to you by three of my favorite food bloggers – Kristin from The Kitchen Sink, Sue Bette from Feelgood Eats, and Tiffany from The Garden Apartment!

Kristin’s Pumpkin Cookies

Tiffany’s Bewitched Apples

Sue’s Butternut Squash Cupcakes

Hubba hubba! I’d like a plate with each of those right now!

I’m going to try making each of those recipes, but in the meantime, I have some of these pumpkin bars to snack on. They’re a must-make recipe for me every fall, and they’re a hit with everyone that tries them. The original recipe was from the Moosewood Book of Desserts, made with walnuts…and while I do make a raisin and walnut variation, my favorite way to eat these is with dark chocolate chunks. I happen to think that pumpkin and chocolate is an oft-overlooked but unbelievably delicious combination. Don’t you agree?

Be sure to trick-or-treat at Kristin’s, Sue’s and Tiffany’s blogs for more Halloween goodies!

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Bars

Adapted from Moosewood Book of Desserts

View printable recipe

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup cooked pumpkin puree
1 cup all-purpose unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
4 ounces bittersweet/dark chocolate, chopped into chunks

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8×8-inch baking pan and dust it with flour.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour through allspice) and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar until creamy and light. Add the egg and vanilla extract, and mix until incorporated. Turn down the speed, add the pumpkin puree, and continue mixing until well distributed. Add the dry ingredients gradually, on low speed, stirring until just combined. Add the chocolate chunks and mix on low speed just until they’re distributed throughout the batter.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and bake for about 40 minutes. Cool before cutting.

Makes 9 generously-sized squares.