Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Pumpkin Pie White Chocolate Chip Blondies


So it's fall. It's the last week of October, which means it's more than acceptable to be dressed up for Halloween on any given day, sip on apple cider on the regular, wear boots and little denim jackets, talk about Thanksgiving plans, and pick out pumpkins as big as our heads to put on our door steps.

That makes me happy.

Wanna know what else makes me happy?

Pumpkin treats: muffins, donuts, bread, pie, cookies - I'll eat them all!

One thing that I think is missing out on the pumpkin action? Blondies!



So I dug up my classic Blondie recipe and tweaked it a bit so that it packed a powerful pumpkin punch.

I'm talking chopped-up-pieces-of-pumpkin-pie-right-in-the-batter kind of pumpkin punch.

No way?

YES way!


I had this idea when visiting with my gal pal, Christina, who also appreciates a good pumpkin treat on a crisp fall day. Autumnal Appreciation Sisters unite! The moment I mentioned shoving pumpkin pie into Blondies, she wanted in. So I invited her over and we got our Einstein on in the lab, erm, I mean, kitchen.


Christina suggested the addition of white chocolate chips and I nearly kissed her adorable smiling face. YES! YES! Let's dump those sweet white chocolate morsels right in! Why NOT?


We don't hold back in my kitchen.


We worked hard, oh did we, and after all was said and done...these Pumpkin Pie White Chocolate Chip Blondies were born.


So now the question is...when is it OK to start talking Christmas plans? Because I am SO READY. I have done some of my shopping, I've got Christmas tunes on the iPod, and if Cody allowed, I'd totally have the tree up already.

Still too early? REALLY? You guys are a tough crowd.


Fine. Instead, I'll just go eat the rest of these Blondies and listen to Hanson's "Snowed In" album all by myself. I DON'T NEED FRIENDS ANYWAY!


Pumpkin Pie White Chocolate Chip Blondies
Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 a store bought pumpkin pie, frozen and roughly chopped*
  • 1 cup white chocolate chips
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Combine flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt in a small mixing bowl. Set aside.
  3. In a separate bowl, combine the melted butter and brown sugar.
  4. Add the vanilla and egg and mix until combined .
  5. Add your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients and mix until combined.
  6. Gently fold in your white chocolate chips and chopped pie chunks.
  7. Pour batter into greased 9x13 pan (or line with foil). Top with additional chips and any remaining pie pieces. 
  8. Bake for 20-23 minutes or until toothpick comes out with a just few moist crumbs.
  9. Cool on a wire rack.
  10. Top with whipped cream if desired and shove into mouth. 
*Using frozen pie helps keep the chunks together when folding them into the batter. If the pie is not frozen, arrange pie chunks on top of your Blondies once in the pan and gently push them into the batter so they're semi-submerged.