Spiced Pumpkin Squares

Moist and chewy, these brownies are a lovely autumn dessert, either served plain or adorned with your favorite topping. The recipe is perfect for making with children — easy to prepare, easy to eat, and yummy, too.

These just might be T’s favorite baked good, and if not then darned close. Tops nicely with powdered sugar or whipped cream.

Pumpkin Mixture:

1/2 C butter
1 C packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 C cooked pumpkin purée

Dry Ingredients:

1 C unbleached white flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/2 C chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter the baking pan and dust it with flour.

With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and well blended. Beat in the egg. Add the vanilla and the pumpkin purée and continue to beat until thoroughly mixed. Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, ginger, and allspice and stir them into the pumpkin mixture to form a smooth batter. Fold in the chopped walnuts by hand.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool for about 15 minutes before cutting into squares.

Prep: 20 minutes
Baking time: 40 minutes
Cooling time: 15 minutes
Equipment: 8-inch square baking pan, electric mixer
Yields: 9

[ From “Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts” by The Moosewood Collective ]