I know as soon as the weather turns cooler people go CRAZY for everything pumpkin spice. I am not one of those people, but I do love this time of year for all the fall veggies, especially the sweet pumpkin. There is no better way to take advantage of the available fall vegetables than pumpkin brownies. The sweet pumpkin is a great add to brownies and the spice flavors make your mouth smile.

Although I do use real pumpkin you could also use canned pumpkin, but you will want to adjust the amount of spices you add because most canned pumpkin contain spices already. But with Halloween & Thanksgiving coming up don’t throw out your pumpkins. Cook it, puree it, and freeze it and you can make pumpkin brownies all year!

Pumpkin Brownie Recipe

In a large bowl mix together:

2 1/4 cup flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2-3 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg (I usually don’t have this and mine is ok)
1-2 tsp pumpkin spice

In a bowl mix together:

4 eggs (beaten)
2 cups pumpkin puree (to be honest I use 2-3 cups) **See note below
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar – firmly packed
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1-2 tsp vanilla

Mix the wet to the dry and stir until combined.

Add 1 cup chocolate chips (or you could add raisins or walnuts, but we like chocolate chips)

Pour batter into greased 13×9″ baking dish.

Bake in 350 oven for 30-35 minutes. This really depends on your oven, so check it towards the end. When the cake comes away from the sides or a toothpick is inserted 2″ from the edge and comes out clean, it is done.

Let cool completely before you cut into squares.

NOTE about using real pumpkins: I do not used can pumpkin! I peel a pumpkin and cut it into squares. Place squares on a greased cookie sheet and bake it in the oven (usually for 40 mins at 350). Once cooked I throw it in a pot and use my hand blender to blend it. Then I pre-measure it out into cup servings and freeze it. When you unfreeze it try to squeeze out any extra juice so that your pumpkin is not too mooshy.

To frost or not to frost?

My kids like that I add frosting, but these moist pumpkin brownies don’t really need it and are good just plain! If you do add frosting either vanilla or chocolate works.