Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

Good afternoon guys!  I hope you all had a great weekend.  I was down in Clayton, CA with my best girlfriends for a baby shower.  My bestie, Becky, is having a little girl around Christmas.  It was a beautiful shower!  The food, decorations and company was perfect!  I also got to have brunch with some other girlfriends on Sunday.  It was a really fun weekend, just not long enough.

Usually we would all go down to the Bay Area together, but this time I just took Paisley.  Addy had a football game that she wouldn’t miss.  She cheers, not plays….just to make that clear.  She stayed in Reno with Chris.  Only having one kid with me was magical.  Don’t get me wrong, it is great to have them both with me…..but separated…they are angels.  There was no teasing, no fighting, no crying.  Ah-may-zing.  I suggested that we always live in separate houses, me with a kid and Chris with a kid…and then switch every week.  Chris wasn’t buyin’ it;) 

You all know I’m kidding about that, right?

Anyhoo, as promised…I have another pumpkin recipe for you today.  I really do have an endless supply of pumpkin recipes, so I have weeded out the really fabulous ones for you all.  Today, I am going to show you how to make pumpkin swirl brownies.  This is a really easy recipe to make.  Basically, it is one batter, split into two bowls and flavored with cocoa or pumpkin.  The end result is really, really yummy.  They also look really pretty when baked…all swirly……

I make this recipe completely from scratch, no boxes.  But don’t be intimidated.  Brownies are pretty much the easiest thing you can make from scratch.  You don’t even need a hand mixer!

I use canned pumpkin, flour, sugar, eggs, unsweetened cocoa, salt, pumpkin pie spice, butter, vanilla extract and baking powder.  You already have a lot of this in your pantry, right?

I start by stirring together the butter, which has been melted, with sugar and vanilla.  Once that is blended, I add the eggs, one at a time.  Normally, I would dump the eggs in all at once….but today I actually felt like following the rules.  I don’t think it makes much of a difference, to be honest.  Go ahead, take the shortcut.

It should be a pretty, smooth yellow batter when all the eggs are blended.

Time to get out another bowl…..which I hate because it is more clean-up, but you really have to.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder.  Just whisk enough to blend and get any lumps out.  This takes the place of sifting.  I am willing to bet good money that most of you don’t have a sifter;)

Now I slowly blend the dry ingredients into the wet. 

Once you have blended the dry into the wet, pour half your batter back into your dry ingredients bowl.  Or another bowl if you like to wash dishes.

Stir one cup pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice into one bowl of batter.

Stir cocoa powder into the other bowl.  Your batter doesn’t have to be split equally in half.  If you go to heavy on one, don’t sweat it.  It will all turn out in the end.

I bake these in a 13x9 baking pan that I have lined with foil and sprayed with cooking spray.  I line my pan with foil so that I can remove the brownies easier.  Once they have cooled, just pull the foil out and your dish should still be clean.

I poured the chocolate batter into the bottom of the pan and spread it out a bit.

I poured the pumpkin batter right over the top of the chocolate.  I spread it out a bit, but I was careful not to mix the two layers……yet.

To get the swirly-ness, I dragged a butter knife through the batter in a swirly motion.  I pulled the chocolate up from the bottom as I swirled.  Isn’t it pretty?

These baked at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes.  They are done when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

I love the way these taste, and I love the way these look!  I sprinkled a smidge of powdered sugar over the top of mine for extra sweetness……

These are across between pumpkin cake and delicious fudgy brownies.  I think chocolate and pumpkin are meant to be together….of course; there isn’t much that I think chocolate doesn’t go with.  I hope you make these!  They are a perfect fall treat!

See you Thursday!

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

1 stick butter, melted

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 eggs

1 cup flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup canned pumpkin

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/3 cup cocoa

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 13x9 baking pan with foil and spray with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, mix together the melted butter, sugar and vanilla.  Blend in eggs, one at a time.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.  Mix until incorporated.

Slowly mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients.  Stir until blended.  Pour half of the batter into a separate bowl.  Add canned pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice to one bowl, and the cocoa to the other.

Pour chocolate batter into the bottom of the pan, spreading out to cover entire pan.  Pour pumpkin batter over the chocolate.  Spread out gently.  Using a butter knife, swirl together both flavors, pulling up from the bottom.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes.  Let cool before cutting.