Soft Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars — 🍁🧡🤎 These EASY pumpkin bars are super soft, dense, and are like biting into a piece of rich pumpkin fudge! Loaded with chocolate and crazy good! Best of all, it’s a ONE BOWL, NO-MIXER recipe so that you can whip these up anytime you’re craving pumpkin!
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It’s no secret I love pumpkin recipes of any kind. But when pumpkin and chocolate get together, watch out. My kryptonite.
If you’re looking for the best ever pumpkin chocolate chip cake, I’ve got you covered, but these bars aren’t cake. They’re super soft, moist, and full of robust pumpkin flavor. They’re dense like a blondie rather than cakey.
These pumpkin chocolate bars are like biting into a piece of rich pumpkin fudge. When I want an easy, fuss-free recipe that I know everyone will love, I call upon my trusty blondie base. With 25+ versions and counting, it never lets me down.
It’s an easy no-mixer, one-bowl recipe that takes just minutes to whisk together. There’s an abundance of chocolate in every bite, and pumpkin and chocolate is such a winning combo.
Ingredients in Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars
Trust me when I say these chocolate chip pumpkin bars are going to be the BEST dessert you make this fall. In addition to being easy to prepare, the ingredients list is short.
To make these chocolate chip pumpkin bars, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Egg
- Pumpkin puree
- Light brown sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Pumpkin pie spice
- Cinnamon
- All-purpose flour
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars
These are such easy pumpkin bars to make! Full instructions are given in the recipe card at the end of this post.
Here’s an overview of how to make the pumpkin chocolate chip bars recipe:
- Whisk together the wet ingredients, then stir in the dry.
- Fold the chocolate chips in last. Be careful not to overmix!
- Turn the batter into a greased and foil-lined 8×8-inch baking dish.
- Sprinkle with chocolate chips, then bake until a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter.
Recipe FAQs
Most likely, yes! I added 1 1/4 cups of chocolate chips to the batter. Feel free to mix and match up to 1 1/4 cups mix-ins total. I think a blend of baking chips, chocolate chips, chopped nuts, and /or dried fruit would all work nicely.
Yes, you can double this recipe and bake it in a 9×13-inch baking dish. The bake time should be roughly the same.
Absolutely! In fact, they taste better on the second day after the flavors have married. As a bonus, the bars get softer and moister.
No! This recipe calls for plain pumpkin puree, NOT pumpkin pie filling! Pumpkin pie filling is pre-sweetened and would make these bars far too sweet.
Storage and Freezing
At room temp: Store bars in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
In the freezer: Store in an airtight freezer-safe container or freezer bag for up to 6 months. When ready to eat, thaw on the counter.
I first made this recipe, I think, the fall of 2015 while I was still living in a college dorm. Now every year since, I crave these when it starts getting cold out. They are so good, by far my favorite version of a pumpkin bar. I always make it as a double batch so I don’t run out right away and I’m about to start my yearly round of them again right now. — Aren B.
Recipe Video Tutorial
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Soft Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup pumpkin puree, (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon1
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips + 2 tablespoons for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-by-8-inch baking pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- In a large, microwave-safe bowl melt the butter, about 1 minute on high power.
- Wait momentarily before adding the egg so you don’t scramble it. Add the egg, pumpkin, brown sugar, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and whisk until smooth.
- Add the flour and stir until just combined, don’t overmix.
- Stir in 1 1/4 cups chocolate chips.
- Turn batter out into prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula.
- Evenly sprinkle with 2 tablespoons chocolate chips, smoothly the top lightly with a spatula.
- Bake for about 32 to 33 minutes, or until done. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. The moisture content in pumpkin varies, as do climates and ovens; bake until yours are done.
- Allow bars to cool in pan for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Pumpkin Bar Recipes:
Cooking With Pumpkin: Recipes That Go Beyond the Pie is my second cookbook. There’s over 50 pumpkin recipes including sweets, savory, drinks, and a photo for nearly every recipe!
Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting — These super soft and moist pumpkin bars are the perfect EASY fall dessert!! Tangy cream cheese frosting is a wonderful complement to these perfectly pumpkin-spiced bars!!
Soft Pumpkin Praline Bars — SUPER soft pumpkin bars studded with chocolate chips, candied pecans, and plenty of pumpkin pie spice!! A FAST and EASY dessert that feeds a crowd for your fall and winter celebrations!!
Fudgy Pumpkin Spice Bars — Moist pumpkin bars so soft they’re like biting into pumpkin fudge!! The glaze is ahh-mazing!!!
Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Blondies — Soft pumpkin bars, cinnamon-sugary snickerdoodles, and buttery blondies rolled into one! Super good!!
Chocolate Chip Ooey Gooey Pumpkin Bars — Incredibly gooey, soft, and chewy bars bursting with PUMPKIN and CHOCOLATE in every bite!! The vanilla spiced glaze complements these EASY bars just perfectly!!
Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars — 🧡🤤 Classic cheesecake bars get an autumnal makeover in this recipe! A spiced pumpkin mixture is swirled into creamy cheesecake batter before being baked.
September 13, 2014 and republished September 13, 2024 with updated text.
These look amazing. Pumpkin and chocolate together is just a must.
It’s impossible to buy pumpkin puree or even pumpkin pie filling here in Australia, so every time I want to create a delicious pumpkin recipe I have to make puree from scratch. I definitely will be giving this recipe a go though, it looks incredibly delicious and full of yummy sweet flavours.
Hi Averie,
It has been so hellishly hot here in SoCal here. I know San Diego is a teeny bit cooler than the Inland Empire these days. Hope you had a nice weekend.
So I’m actually munching on one of these while I’m writing this. Yup, when you posted this recipe I knew I had to make it. They are very moist. I am partial to milk chocolate so I used those instead.
One last thing I wanted to mention. In the past 7 days I’ve made your: french almond cookie (cake), the Greek-yogurt soaked banana cake, the fudge oatmeal bars (from last week), the browned-butter chocolate chip cookie cups, and of course today these! :)
Do I love ya or what??!! ;) thanks so much. So excited for all your fall recipes. Take care
Omg it has been UNBEARABLY hot here. Yes. So, so hot. I don’t have a/c in my condo and baking in this heat, well, it’s been brutal!
Sounds like that didn’t deter you from baking all those things! All those things you made are awesome. And 5 of my recipes in 7 days! Wow, that is pretty amazing and thank you for trying so many things! I’m glad you’re happy and keep trying new things!
These look amazing!! They look so soft and with that chocolate…too good! Can’t get enough of pumpkin right now! Pinned :)
These look divine!!
Autumn baking :)
Oh… the hubby will LIKE these. On the tobake list they go.
And they came out so pretty! I used mini chips on top. :-)
Mini chips can do no wrong! I have a mini chip and pumpkin muffin recipe linked in the related recipes in case you need to use up more chips or more pumpkin!
Wow, I wish I could have one right now with a cup of tea!
This is one of those can’t-stop-eating recipes. The texture looks beyond. It’s like a pumpkin blondie! Love all the brown sugar.
And I almost called them pumpkin blondies :)
These look wonderful Averie – I’m so excited for Pumpkin Season! Pinned on my Pumpkin Board!
Thanks!
I love pumpkin and these are great ideas! I am def gonna try some of it :)
Much much love from
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How do you make such perfect cuts? I’m sorry if you already answered this.
Do you use a ruler or a special contraption?
I have answered it many times but not on this post :) I line all my pans with foil, remove using the foil overhang, place the slab on a cutting board, and use a very sharp 9-inch chef’s knife to slice them. That’s it!
Oh! So by removing it and then using the long knife, that ensures the lines are perfectly straight and even. Makes perfect sense, thank you!
Too much yum! I totally agree on the wait-a-day rule… I just made pumpkin bread and it was so much richer the second day :)
Gingerbread, molasses, and pumpkin stuff always tastes better the second day!
I suddenly have an overwhelming urge to go bake pumpkin bars! But I dont’ have chocolate chips and these without chocolate chips would not be the same. Not even close.
You don’t have chocolate chips? Ummm I am not kidding when I say I have at least 40 bags of baking chips AT ALL TIMES. Butterscotch, white, PB, milk, dark, semi sweet, mini, mini milk, mini dark… I mean there are nights I go through 4 bags of choc chips baking stuff. Wish you lived closer, I’d be happy to donate :)
I know it’s only the middle of September and we still have time to go pumpkin crazy but I could not hide my joy when driving past a farm today I saw numerous orange balls stuck up neatly in the corner! Yay! Great ideas to use all those pumpkins!
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Pumpkin, my arch enemy! I can’t say no to anything pumpkin. This time of year is killer, with a pumpkin goody popping up on every corner. These look and sound like the perfect match…chocolate and pumpkin?! Yay! I’m gonna make these soon replacing the egg with a flax egg so that my daughter who is allergic to eggs can enjoy them as well. Thank you for sharing!
Keep me posted how it goes with a flax egg. I have a feeling just fine actually based on many, many of my pumpkin recipes being vegan already (not these) but just based on experience, I think you will be fine. Pumpkin and banana stuff is the easiest to veganize!
It’s so exciting to see pumpkin featured in recipes lately – fall is here!!