Bake

Pumpkin Brownies

October 28, 2016
4
1 Ratings
Photo by Posie Harwood
  • Makes one 8 inch square pan
Author Notes

Swapping some of the butter for pumpkin purée in a classic brownie recipe yields a deliciously moist, rich brownie with a crackly crust. —Posie (Harwood) Brien

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder (optional, for enhanced chocolate flavor)
  • 4 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
  • 6 tablespoons butter
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin purée
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8 inch square pan, or line it with foil or parchment paper.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and espresso powder (if using).
  3. Melt the butter and chocolate together in a double boiler or in the microwave. Once melted, transfer to a large bowl and whisk in the sugar until thoroughly mixed and shiny.
  4. Add the eggs, vanilla, and pumpkin to the butter/chocolate/sugar mixture and whisk until very well-combined.
  5. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
  6. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes (start checking at 35 minutes). The brownies should pull away from the sides of the pan, and a cake tester inserted in the center should come out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it.
  7. Let the brownies cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes before slicing and serving. They freeze very well!

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Margaret Lukens
    Margaret Lukens
  • trulacfry
    trulacfry

2 Reviews

Margaret L. March 20, 2017
For me this was a great recipe. The brownies strike a nice balance of texture, leaning just slightly more toward cakey than fudgey. Replacing some butter with pumpkin makes them a little lighter. Excellent flavor, and a sweet way to sneak some produce into the veg-phobic. To use up some of the remaining canned pumpkin I made a pureed cauliflower-leek soup in beef broth with cheddar and added about 1/2 cup leftover pumpkin. The rest of the canned pumpkin is being frozen to save for another batch of these brownies!
 
trulacfry February 13, 2021
I was just about to leave a question and ask if pumpkin purée was the same thing as canned pumpkin. I have canned pumpkin in my pantry but not pumpkin purée. Thanks for your comment. It helps!