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!
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September 13, 2014 and republished September 13, 2024 with updated text.
These were so good! Even my husband who doesn’t like pumpkin stuff loves them. For even more of a fall vibe I sub dried cranberries for the chocolate chips and top with chopped walnuts.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad that even your husband who’s not a pumpkin fan loves these! The dried cranberries and walnuts sound perfect, too!