pumpkin chocolate chip bars with cream cheese glaze {secret recipe club}

Normally when I think of pumpkin, fall comes to mind.  Thanksgiving pumpkin pie, pumpkin rolls and pumpkin bars are just a few pumpkin-y goodies I like to indulge in.  Pumpkin in my oats, smoothies and lasagna are just plain fun and delicious too!

Today I have a little secret to tell you.

Are you ready for it?

It’s a big one?

I’m opening my heart here….

I like pumpkin all year round. 🙂

I’m sure there are many of you out there that would agree that pumpkin shouldn’t be kept to the fall months.  It’s almost winter here, even though it already feels like winter in Washington.  Winter is a great time to keep those pumpkin flavors alive, and these bars are the perfect addition to any holiday party!

For this month’s Secret Recipe Club assignment I was given Greens and Chocolate (two things I love) to search through.  Once I spotted Taylor’s pumpkin AND chocolate chip bars WITH cream cheese frosting, I knew I had to make them.  Taylor’s a girl that loves to bake, cook and eat her food.  I am very much down with that Taylor!

Like any recipe I see, I just can’t help myself to change it.  I wanted to lighten these bars up a bit.  Normally sweets are just too dang sweet for me, so I started off by cutting the sugar by 20%.  Instead of white flour, I used whole wheat flour — getting more fiber!  The bars called for a whole cup of butter in them, and I used absolutely no butter.  Instead I replaced it with canola oil + applesauce.  I figured those 2 ingredients coupled with the pumpkin would keep these bars nice n moist.  I was right!

Last but not least, I cut the butter out of the cream cheese frosting.  I am not one to love frosting, but I do enjoy a good cream cheese frosting.  I wanted the cream cheese flavor, and that flavor only, so I used cream cheese and no butter.  I also made half as much frosting so that each piece would get a touch of frosting instead of a lot.  You could totally double the frosting recipe and cover the entire bars with frosting too.

And if you’re wondering if I healthified these bars too much, have no worries.  Jacob is always my guinea pig when it comes to baking/cooking, and he loved them!  And another thing… he doesn’t even like pumpkin (as crazy as that sounds)!  The recipe makes 1 large baking dish of bars, and over a week we consumed ALL OF THEM.  Yeah… no sharing, just enjoying 🙂

I hope you’ll give these pumpkin chocolate chip bars a try – I can assure you they’ll be a hit at your next party, or just in your own house. 🙂

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars with Cream Cheese Glaze
Adapted from Greens and Chocolate

Ingredients for the bars

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp allspice
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 2/3 cup apple sauce
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 cup natural cane sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

Ingredients for the frosting

• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1-2 tbsp milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line 9×13″ baking dish with parchment paper and spray with olive oil spray.  Set aside.
2. In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and spices and whisk well to combine.
3. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the oil, applesauce, sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth.  Then add pumpkin puree.  It might look curdled at this point but don’t worry – it’s normal!
4. Slowly add in dry ingredients with the wet.  Stir until just mixed.  Finally, stir in chocolate chips.
5. Pour into prepared baking dish and smooth out evenly.  Bake in preheated oven 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out with just crumbs, not batter.  Cool completely in pan.

To make cream cheese frosting: beat cream cheese until smooth.  Add powdered sugar and vanilla and beat well to combine.  Add milk until frosting reaches your desired consistency.  Spoon frosting into ziploc bag or piping bag.  If using a ziploc baggie, cut one of the corners off the bag and drizzle over cooled bars.  Cut and enjoy!

Because these bars had cream cheese on them, I kept them in the fridge the entire time.  After 4 or 5 days they did dry out a touch.  If you want to make them last that long without drying out, I suggest keeping the cake covered at room temperature, and keeping the glaze in the fridge.  When you want a slice, that’s when you top it!

Enjoy!  I know we did. 🙂

Heather

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