These Brown Butter Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars are the ultimate Fall dessert! Made with nutty brown butter, real pumpkin puree, these are dense, thick and oh so delicious!
Happy pumpkin season, fam! I think this is actually my first pumpkin recipe that I’ve posted so far this season. WHAAAT! I think that’s truly a new record for me.
So, here I am, coming in hot just in time for the weekend with this new pumpkin recipe and making up for lost time. Let’s go!
Why You’ll Love These Bars:
When I tell you that brown butter makes every recipe better….it’s the TRUTH. Browned butter infuses so much flavor into these bars! It pairs perfectly with the natural sweetness of the pumpkin puree.
These are THICK bars. Like real thick. I bake them in an 8×8 glass pan so they almost have a blondie-like texture. They’re dense and delicious!
When you combine pumpkin and melty chocolate chips in each bite…you’re truly making magic!
This is a ONE BOWL baking recipe because we don’t have time or energy for extra dishes this year, right?! Right!
These are the perfect treat for a late night dessert. Or a mid afternoon snack. 2nd breakfast treat? Post lunch dessert? Any time of the day these are marvelous! So let’s get into what you need to make them.
Ingredients You Need:
- Pumpkin Puree – you’ll need PURE pumpkin puree for this one, not the pumpkin pie mix in a can.
- All Purpose Flour – of course! This is a must have in this baking recipe.
- Light Brown Sugar – for sweetness!
- Pumpkin Pie Spice – for allll the spicy pumpkin flavor!
- Brown Butter – It’s really simple to make, I promise! If you don’t have time to make it, you can substitute just normal melted butter.
- Baking soda – to help them rise slightly!
- Egg + egg yolk – needed to bind everything together!
- Vanilla extract – measure with your heart, always!
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips – You can use dark or milk chocolate chips, but I prefer semi-sweet. They don’t overwhelm the bar with chocolate flavor!
- Flaky Salt – optional but my favorite way to garnish Fall treats – salty sweet goodness!
How to Make Pumpkin Bars in 5 Simple Steps:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet, add 1 stick of butter on medium heat. Let it melt. Then begin to stir it around for 4-5 minutes or until foamy and browned. Continually stir it, my friends!
- Once it’s browned, add the butter to a large mixing bowl. To the bowl, add the brown sugar and whisk until combined. Then add in the egg, pumpkin puree and vanilla extract and whisk until combined.
- Add in the dry ingredients aka all purpose flour, pumpkin pie spice and baking soda and stir in with a wooden spoon.
- Fold in ¾ cup of the chocolate chips into the batter. It should look something like this:
- Spray an 8×8 glass baking pan with non stick spray and add parchment paper. Add the batter into the pan and top with the remaining ¼ cup of chocolate chips. Bake for 40-50minutes or until toothpick comes out MOSTLY clean. Start checking them at 40 minutes and go from there! You don’t want to overbake! Let cool in the pan for about 5-10 minutes or so and then slice and eat!
Best Baking Tips:
I know it’s hard and everything in your house most likely distracts you, but I implore you to make a pact to stay right by the brown butter, continually stirring it for 4-5 minutes because we want BROWN butter not BURNT butter. It should look like this:
I like using both non-stick baking spray AND parchment paper. It makes sure that the pumpkin bars come out so easily and it’s less of a mess on the pan itself.
When you are checking to see if the bars are done, the toothpick should have some crumbs on it but never gooey. You don’t want to overbake these, trust me!
Let cool for just a few minutes in the pan and then gently remove to a cooling rack to let it continue cooling. But if you’re like me and really enjoy eating warm baked goods, I understand! Ha!
How to Store Leftovers:
Store these in a tightly sealed container at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can always pop it in the microwave for 10 seconds to reheat it OR just eat it at room temperature. These are amazing with a warm cup of coffee though!
I hope you love this recipe, my friends! More pumpkin ones are coming your way this Fall! Tis the season, right?!
Did you enjoy this recipe? Here are a few others you might like:
Healthier Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Maple Pumpkin Cream Cheese Dip
Thank you so much for following along here, friends! Want to see more? Be sure to follow ourbalancedbowl on Instagram and tag me with your photo if you end up making a recipe! You can also post a photo of your recipe to the Our Balanced Bowl Facebook page! Like a recipe that you saw? Follow me on Pinterest here! I always love to see your re-creations! If you do make a recipe, it would make my whole day if you were to rate and comment so I can get your feedback! Lots of love! – Haylie
Brown Butter Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars
These Brown Butter Pumpkin Bars are the ultimate Fall dessert! Made with nutty brown butter, real pumpkin puree, these are dense, thick and oh so delicious!
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
Wet Ingredients
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter, melted and browned
- 1 cup PURE pumpkin puree
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp vanille extract
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (divided)
- flaky sea salt to garnish (if desired)
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grab an 8x8 baking pan and spray with non stick baking spray and add parchment paper as well. Set aside.
-
In a large skillet on medium heat, add the stick of butter. Let it melt and then CONTINUALLY stir for 4-5 minutes until it has browned and the top is foamy.
-
Once the butter is browned, add to a large bowl and let cool down for about 5 minutes.
-
To this large bowl, add in the light brown sugar and whisk to combine. Then add in the egg yolk, egg, pumpkin puree and vanilla extract. Whisk to combine.
-
Add in the all purpose flour, pumpkin pie spice and baking soda and mix in with a wooden spoon until no streaks of flour are present.
-
Add in about 3/4 of a cup of the chocolate chips and mix in with the spoon until combined.
-
Add this batter to the prepared 8x8 glass pan. Then top it with the remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chips.
-
Bake for 40-50 minutes or until toothpick comes out mostly clean - you want there to be a few crumbs on the toothpick! Start checking them at 40 minutes and then go from there!
-
Once done, let cool in the pan for a few minutes and then gently remove. Slice into bars, garnish with flaky sea salt and enjoy!
Just put these in the oven. The recipe doesn’t say how much baking powder. I only used 1/4 teaspoon and am hoping for the best. No measurement for vanilla but I don’t care so much about that.
I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Cyndi!! I’m so sorry that I completely forgot to add the baking soda and vanilla extract to the recipe card. I just updated it to have the correct amounts. I hope they turned out yummy for you!! (PS: I honestly always measure with my heart when it comes to vanilla extract lol)…happy Fall baking!
Would this work with 1:1 gluten free flour? And double it for a 9×13 pan?
Hi Veronica! I personally haven’t tried it out using a 1:1 GF flour but I think it could work. In regards to doubling it, it might affect the thickness of the bars. I would be sure to start checking them at about 35 minutes when they are in the oven. Let me know if works out 🙂