02 September 2009

what's cooking wednesdays


in honor of the arrival of fall weather here in small town, va {please, god, let it be here to stay!} and the kick-off of college football season tomorrow night {hooray!}, i am passing on to you the recipe that i am known for above all others.

i first discovered this recipe my third year of college and have been forced literally to make them at least 10 times every fall. if i am a houseguest {which i frequently am during football season}, i am expected to bring these as a hostess gift. last year we timed it: i arrived friday at 6pm. the entire pan was gone by 3am.

consider yourself warned: if you make these for company, you will be expected to make them time and again. if you make them for yourself, you will eat the entire pan.

pumpkin squares
Makes 24
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 can pumpkin puree (do NOT get canned pumpkin pie mix!!!)
1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (also good with dark chocolate chips)


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.

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.

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. DO NOT OVERBAKE. Cool completely in pan.

Lift cake from pan (using foil as an aid). Peel off foil, and use a serrated knife to cut into 24 squares. Restrain yourself from eating every last one of these.
*these are originally a martha stewart recipe. i first made them according to the directions, and then made a few adjustments. no offense to martha, but i think mine are greatly improved :)

Nothing says fall to me like a Saturday afternoon with a pan of these and a TV schedule full of football. LET'S GO HOOS!

8 comments:

sarah said...

Anything pumpkin = Fall!

CTB said...

Oooh, I am so making these this weekend. Thanks for the recipe . . . and I'm sure you changes really do make them better than Martha's!

duchessbelle said...

Those sounds perfect! Can't wait to try them.

Southern Champagne Wishes said...

Thanks for sharing this! I love anything made with pumpkin and I have never seen anything like this before! I can't wait to try it!

KatiePerk said...

I think I might try these out this weekend! It has dropped below 95 and I am thinking fall! Thanks for sharing.

carrie1 said...

VA weather at it's best! =)

Thanks for sharing the recipe!

Miss Sweet Tea said...

Ooh yay - you posted it! Can't wait to try this recipe! Plus, I love the new look of your blog {sorry if it isn't new, I haven't clicked out of Reader in awhile}!!!

Anonymous said...

I'd LOVE to post this recipe in my Examiner.com Raleigh Easy Meals column. Can you please email me through my blog if you're interested? Those bars look A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!