Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars

Forgive me for sharing a few more Autumn and Thanksgiving ideas. I am just not ready for December to start! I will be sharing a few more posts until this month is over.

I love the combination of cocoa and pumpkin. Two ingredients that are not blatantly sweet but with a little bit of sugar and spice makes them blend nicely. I prefer to eat these bars over the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (which are delicious, just not equal) because they are more attractive and less sticky.

From Martha Stewart

• Prep Time 30 minutes
• Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes
• Yield Makes 24

Ingredients

• 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 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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. Cool completely in pan.
4. Lift cake from pan (using foil as an aid). Peel off foil, and use a serrated knife to cut into 24 squares.

Double Chocolate Mint or Peppermint Cookies

This is a new holiday favorite recipe, or two really. I dreamed about making these for weeks before I had a legitimate reason to make them!!!! And, oh, were they worth the wait!

Seriously.

Divine.

Peppermint Kiss Double Chocolate Chip Cookie
&
Mint Truffle Kiss Double Chocolate Chip & Mint M&M Cookie

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OR



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Here's how to create these Christmas goodies!

Use my Ultimate Chocolate Chip cookie base and either add Peppermint Hershey's kisses to the top OR add mint m&m's plus mint truffle Hershey's kisses to the top. Or just follow the recipe below. It's one recipe that can be made into two variations, Mint Chocolate Chip or Peppermint Chocolate Chip cookies. If you want to try both you can make the batter until you get to the last three ingredients. Divide the dough, add mint extract/chips/kisses to half and the peppermint extract/chips/kisses to the second half.

Ultimate Double Chocolate Chip Cookie base
(same cookie base as my double chocolate chip recipe)
Yield: 36 cookies

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened--almost melted
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp peppermint or mint extract, dependent on your chip/kiss flavor

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt
2 cups flour
2/3 cup cocoa
1 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
36 Hershey's kisses, peppermint candy or mint chocolate varieties OR Ande's mints, halved
1 1/2 cup Andes mint OR peppermint chips OR Andes chopped candies (either mint or peppermint, depending on which you make. Mint chips  for the mint cookie/Peppermint for the peppermint kiss version)**See Note


Directions:
1. Cream softened butter and sugar w/wooden spoon (a hand mixer or standing mixer works well too, I just like to use the spoon, seems to make a better texture). Butter should be very soft. If you did not set it out before hand to reach room temp then place in a bowl and microwave for 30 seconds.
2. Add eggs.
3. Mix in salt, vanilla and baking soda.
4.  Mix in flour.
5. Mix in cocoa.
6. Fold in chips and/or M&M's.
7.Bake for 8-10 minutes. DO NOT OVER BAKE!
8. Once baked and taken from the oven, let them set on cookie sheet for 5 minutes, they will continue cooking and setting. This keeps them nice and gooey for days. Seriously, they are the perfect softness. If they are cooked for the perfect amount of time they will be firm enough to hold but gooey enough without being raw.
9. After they have rested on the cookie sheet, gently remove (they still might be soft) them and place on cooling rack.
10. After they've cooled for at least another 5 minutes on the rack THEN you can gently push the unwrapped kiss of your choice onto the cookie. Let them sit without disturbing or you may end up with a melted kiss. If you are giving them away or taking them to a party, cook ahead of time! If you disturb or move these around before they are completely cool, they can break or the kisses will melt or collapse a bit. Believe me, they're worth the wait!!!!

**VARIATION: for the mint truffle Hershey kiss cookies, you can use mint M&M's OR Andes mints OR mint chocolate chips.  The M&M's were a bit bigger than I expected and I think the Andes chips would not have been so cumbersome. Just use what you have on hand because either one is delicious!

Store in airtight container. Enjoy!