Spice It Up: Chocolate Chunk Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

Despite the fact that the other co-writer did her blog on something pumpkin last week, pumpkin is a staple during the fall and I had to do another blog on it.

I’m a huge fan of pumpkin, but my parents absolutely hate it, so we have all these extra cans of pumpkin purée just sitting in my pantry calling my name. I also have an agreement with my mom that once a month she’ll buy all the things I need for baking and cooking so when it hit October I started searching for recipes.

I stumbled upon a recipe for chocolate pumpkin swirl brownies and knew that this was what I wanted to bake this week. It seemed easy enough, all that’s needed is the pumpkin mixture and boxed brownie mix. I used chocolate chunk brownie mix to give it that extra bit of chocolate, but to get more of the pumpkin flavor in there, I’d advise using a regular brownie mix.

Making the pumpkin mixture is pretty simple. I used a recipe that only made about half a cup of pumpkin filling, and as I had a fifteen-ounce can of pumpkin puree to use, I just multiplied the recipe by two and I’m nice enough to relay my conversions.

To make the pumpkin, take a 15-ounce can of pumpkin and combine it with two large eggs, six tablespoons of sugar, 6 ounces of cream cheese (softened), and two teaspoons of cinnamon (I accidentally used more due to a pouring malfunction over the bowl so don’t be me).

Spray the pan and pour in the brownie mixture, then pour three-quarters of the mixture in the pan. Take a fork and mix it until it looks like a nice, pumpkin-brownie swirl.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes and you’ll have a nice little fall treat to enjoy.