Serves: makes a 13 x 9 cake, or 24 3 x 1⅔-inch bars
Ingredients
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or whole spelt flour (or GF flour mix + ½ tsp. xanthan gum)
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder (or omit to make these denser)
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup coconut palm sugar, pure maple syrup or cane sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 ¾ cup or 1 15-ounce box/can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling) click here to make your own
6 ounces dark or semisweet chocolate chips (just shy of 1 cup)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and line a 9” x 13” pan with parchment paper, allowing paper to hang over the sides (the length of the pan).
In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, spices, salt, baking soda and baking powder and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and combine well. Stir in pumpkin.
Add the dry ingredients a little at a time, mixing on low until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth top with a rubber spatula. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bars comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack and when removing the bars, lift the parchment paper and transfer to a platter to cut and serve.
Serve warm or at room temperature. Leftovers keep in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Notes
If you want to make a smaller cake in an 8 x 8 or 9 x 9-inch pan, cut all the ingredients in half.
Recipe by Pamela Salzman at https://pamelasalzman.com/whole-wheat-pumpkin-chocolate-chip-bars-refined-sugar-free/