These chocolate chip pumpkin bars are full of nutty browned butter flavor, warm spices, and melty chocolate chips. If you need a simple fall dessert, look no further! Everything comes together in one bowl with no fancy equipment required.
Why I Love These Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars
- Taste: The gooey bittersweet chocolate chips pair perfectly with the cozy spices and nutty browned butter. These bars aren’t overly sweet, which allows the pumpkin flavor to shine!
- Easy to make: After browning the butter, all the ingredients get whisked together in one bowl. There’s no special tools or extra dishes required!
What is Browned Butter?
Browned butter is just normal butter that has been cooked until most of the water evaporates and the milk solids get toasted. The toasted milk solids add such an amazing rich and nutty flavor to any baked good! Luckily, browned butter is super easy to make at home.
How to Brown Butter
The key to making browned butter is to go low and slow because the milk solids can burn very quickly. Start by adding your butter to a pan over medium-low heat. The butter will melt and start to bubble and splatter rapidly. This is completely normal because the water is getting cooked out! Make sure to stir frequently. Once the butter stops bubbling, stir constantly until the butter turns a very light brown color. Immediately pour the browned butter into a separate bowl to prevent the solids from burning due to the residual heat of the pan.
Key Ingredients For Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars
- Butter – I recommend using a high quality butter like Kerrygold for the best flavor.
- Brown sugar
- Pumpkin purée – Double check that you are using pumpkin purée, not pumpkin pie filling! The only ingredient on the label should be pumpkin.
- Egg – Make sure the egg is at room temperature, or it may not mix with the melted butter.
- Spices (Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ginger, Cloves) – Feel free to substitute pre-mixed pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice.
- All purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt – Don’t skip the salt! It won’t make the bars salty, it just brings out the other flavors!
- Chocolate chips – I recommend using bittersweet chocolate chips, but feel free to use milk chocolate, white chocolate, or chop up your own chocolate bar.
Variations and Ingredient Substitutions
- Don’t have brown sugar? You can easily make your own by mixing 1 cup of granulated sugar with 1 tablespoon molasses.
- Feel free to leave out any of the spices if you don’t like them!
- Try different mix-ins: Instead of chocolate chips, try chopped nuts, Halloween candy, or butterscotch chips!
- In a rush? Feel free to use melted butter instead of browned butter. The bars won’t have the rich flavor of browned butter, but they’ll still be delicious.
Tips and Techniques for Making Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars
- Don’t burn the browned butter: Make sure to cook the butter over medium-low heat and stir frequently to prevent burning. Also, make sure to remove the butter from the pan as soon as it turns dark yellow/light brown. It will finish cooking with the residual heat!
- Add the spices to the hot butter: As soon as the butter is done browning, transfer to a separate bowl and whisk in the spices. The heat from the butter will bloom the spices and make the bars more flavorful.
- Allow the butter to cool before mixing in the egg: Allow the butter to cool slightly before mixing in the egg to prevent accidentally cooking the egg.
- Use a room temperature egg: This prevents the melted butter from seizing up when mixed together.
- Allow the pumpkin bars to cool before slicing: For the cleanest slices, allow the bars to cool to room temperature before slicing.
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Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars
These soft pumpkin bars have a rich, nutty flavor from the browned butter, and delicious pockets of gooey chocolate chips. Best of all, they're so easy to make!
Servings: 1 9×13 inch pan
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup pumpkin purée
- 1 tablespoon vanillla extract
- 1 egg room temperature
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325ºF. Line a 9×13 inch baking dish with parchment paper, leaving overhang on two sides to act as handles.
- To brown the butter: melt the butter over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. It will start to foam and sputter rapidly. Once the sputtering subsides, allow the butter to cook until dark yellow/light brown, then immediately transfer to a large bowl.
- While the butter is still hot, whisk in the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Then allow the mixture to cool for 5-10 minutes.
- Once slightly cooled, whisk in the brown sugar, pumpkin purée, and vanilla extract until well combined. Then whisk in the egg until everything is smooth and well incorporated. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Spread the dough into an even layer in the lined baking dish. Bake until the bars are lightly browned on top and an inserted toothpick comes out clean, around 30 to 40 minutes.
- Let the bars cool in the pan for 15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Use the parchment paper handles to remove the bars and slice into individual pieces. Enjoy!
Notes
Feel free to halve this recipe if you plan to make it in an 8×8 inch pan.
