Halloween has always been a major production for us. For a lot of years, I made Kelly & Andrew’s costumes. Andrew tended towards dinosaur, animal, or super hero costumes. Kelly had more of a scary super-natural inclination, preferring to be a witch or vampire. The closest Kelly ever came to being a princess was in second grade when she was Pocahontas. Both Kelly & Andrew spent a few years as Harry Potter characters when that series came out. I made wizard’s robes in 3 different colors for the years Kelly was Harry, Hermione and Professor McGonagall. Andrew went as non-human characters from the series, like Fluffy, the 3-headed dog and the Hungarian Horntail dragon. We have a lot of great memories from Halloweens past!
After the costumes were chosen and made, party planning would ensue. We held an annual pumpkin carving party with friends, which of course entailed food, as did the school Halloween parties. I enjoyed making lots of homemade desserts & snacks for all the parties. Baking delicious seasonal treats is still my favorite part of Halloween! I’ve made a half dozen autumn desserts in the past few weeks to come up with the one I’m posting today. This dessert/snack/treat has all the pumpkin-y sweetness needed for a Happy Halloween!
(If you don’t have the pumpkin pie spice called for in the recipe, you can make your own blend using cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice. Here’s the recipe I use for Pumpkin Pie Spice.)
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Squares
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Squares (adapted from delish.com)
Time Required: 2 hours, 30 minutes, Yields: 24 squares
Ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1-1/4 cups sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 12 ounces (2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350º F. Line the bottom and sides of a 9- x 13-inch baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving some overhanging on all sides. Spray the foil with cooking spray and set the dish aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, pie spice, baking soda, and salt. Set the dry ingredients aside.
With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed until it is a smooth mixture. Beat in the egg and vanilla until it is all well combined. Beat in the pumpkin puree. Reduce the speed to low and mix in the dry ingredients, until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Mix up the batter.
Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.
Spread the batter into the prepared dish.
Bake it until the edges begin to pull away from the sides of pan and a toothpick inserted in center of the cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, about 35 to 40 minutes. Cool the cake completely in the pan.
Bake the cake.
Lift the cake from the pan, using the foil to lift it. Peel off the foil, and cut the cake into 24 squares.
A Halloween treat!
Happy Halloween! ~Linda
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Squares (adapted from delish.com)
Time Required: 2 hours, 30 minutes, Yields: 24 squares
Ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1-1/4 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 12 ounces (2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350º F. Line the bottom and sides of a 9- x 13-inch baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving an overhang on all sides. Spray the foil with cooking spray and set the dish aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, pie spice, baking soda, and salt. Set the dry ingredients aside.
With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed until it is a smooth mixture. Beat in the egg and vanilla until it is all well combined. Beat in the pumpkin puree. Reduce the speed to low and mix in the dry ingredients, until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan. Bake it until the edges begin to pull away from the sides of pan and a toothpick inserted in center of the cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, about 35 to 40 minutes. Cool the cake completely in the pan.
Lift the cake from the pan, using the foil to lift it. Peel off the foil, and cut the cake into 24 squares.