Frosted Pumpkin Blondies

I am on a roll with the pumpkin stuff now. I had half of the can left from the bread so these were necessary to make so the pumpkin wouldn't go to waste. I love blondies and pumpkin, so I made these right when I saw the recipe. The outcome was positive. The pumpkin makes the texture some what bready, so they didn't have the chewy blondie texture I was expecting, but that wasn't a bad thing, just different. Then of course, I had to add frosting and I just happened to have some cream cheese icing already made up in the fridge. I highly recommend these, especially if you need some help getting in the fall spirit :) Here's what you'll need

Butter, brown sugar, vanilla, an egg, pumpkin, flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, salt, cinnamon chips, white chocolate chips, and pecans. In a large microwave safe bowl, melt the butter. Add brown sugar and vanilla

 Mix well. Even after the brown sugar is mixed in, it will separate from the butter, but that is normal. Once you add more ingredients they will incorporate. Add the egg

Mix well. Stir in pumpkin

 Next, add all the remaining ingredients: flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, salt, cinnamon chips, white chocolate chips, and pecans

Carefully fold into the batter until just combined. Scoop into a foil lined (I use the non-stick foil so I don't have to spray the foil, but regular foil will work fine as long as you grease it) 9x13 pan. Spread the batter out evenly

Once finished baking, remove from oven and let the bars cool completely

 Prepare the cream cheese frosting. I've made cream cheese frosting before so here is the link to the recipe: http://kysweettoothsisters.blogspot.com/2011/04/red-velvet-cupcakes.html. If you half the recipe, you should have the perfect amount of icing. Spread the finished frosting over the cooled pumpkin blondies. Cut and serve.. with a pumpkin spice latte :) 

Store in an air-tight container (in the fridge) up to about 3 days.

Pumpkin Blondies

(adapted from 'the girl who ate everything')

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 T. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1¼ cups brown sugar
1 large egg
1 T. vanilla
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup cinnamon chips
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 9×13-inch baking dish with foil. In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, and vanilla until sugar dissolves. Beat in the egg until well combined. Mix in the pumpkin puree. Add the remaining ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake about 30-35 minutes, or until the blondies no longer jiggle in the middle. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool. While cooling, prepare the cream cheese frosting.

Frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese

1 stick unsalted butter

2 tsp. vanilla

3 3/4 cups powdered sugar

In a mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese and butter until fluffy and smooth. (Usually, when I make frosting I make sure the butter and cream cheese are soft. This time when I made the frosting, I only let the cream cheese and butter sit about about 15-20 minutes. When I started making the frosting they were both still hard, but I just beat them together for a while with the mixer and believe it or not, cream cheese frosting has never turned out better for me.) Mix in the vanilla. Lastly, add the powdered sugar about a cup at a time, beating well after each addition and making sure there are no lumps. Spread over the cooled blondies. Peel foil away from blondies, cut into 24 squares and serve! Keep stored in fridge.