Pumpkin Bars with Chocolate Chips

Ingredients:

Flour- 2&1/3 cup

Pumpkin Pie Spice- 1 Tbs

Cinnamon- 1 tsp

Baking soda- 1 tsp

Salt- 1/2 tsp

Butter- 1/2 cup (1 stick) softened

Applesauce- 1/2 cup (can use canola oil instead)

Sugar- 3/4 cup

Brown Sugar- 3/4 cup

Egg- 1 large

Vanilla- 2 tsp

Pumpkin Puree- 1 (15oz) can

Chocolate Chips- 2 cups

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan.

2. Whisk together flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. 

3. In a stand mixer, cream the butter, applesauce, sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Add pumpkin puree and mix until combined. Don't worry if the mixture looks curdled, its completely fine. Mix in dry ingredients, fold in chocolate chips. Reserve some chocolate chips to sprinkle on top of batter before baking for a prettier appearance. 

4. Spread the batter in pan and top with reserved chocolate chips. Bake for 30-40 minutes. The edges will pull away from the sides of the pan and be golden brown, the center will look puffy and done. A toothpick inserted should come out with moist/dry crumbs.

5. Let bars cool for at least 30 minutes before lifting out or cutting into squares. These bars get even more moist the longer they sit. 

Recipe from togetherasfamily.com