Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars
Creamy dreamy Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars with graham cracker crust!
Halloween is just around the corner. That means decorations are going up!
We always wait until the morning of October 31st to put up the outside decorations. That way, they will be a surprise for the neighbors. But the inside of my house is getting a spookier and spookier by the day.
Our Halloween menu is still in the works. It’s always a balancing act to come up with a glorious array of sweet and savory items, some heavily decorated and some that just taste great.
I go a little crazy this time of year with pumpkin treats. There’s such a small window of opportunity to go overboard on pumpkin without getting a cock-eyed look.
You know what I mean… Try pulling out a pumpkin pie July 4th and see what happens!
Clearly, I feel a certain urgency to serve pumpkin as often as possible.
These Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars are the perfect blend of comfort and sophistication.
They combine the soothing effects of cream cheese, graham crackers, and chocolate with Bourbon, Chinese Five Spice, ultra creamy Creme Fraiche, and of course pumpkin.
The result is a decedent treat to satisfy the young and old. The bourbon and five spice in the Chocolate
Chip Pumpkin Bars deliver depth a distinguished palette can appreciate. Yet that won’t stop the ankle-biters from gobbling them down, so set some aside.
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars is a very easy recipe to pull together. Just allow plenty of time for cooling before you try to cut the bars.
Only the knife knows what goes on in the heart of a pumpkin.
~Simone Schwarz-Bart
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1 cup granulated sugar, divided
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted (1 stick)
- 16 ounces cream cheese
- 7 ounces Crème Fraiche
- 15 ounces pumpkin puree (1 can)
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder or pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons bourbon
- 2 large eggs
- 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (1 package)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a large 10x15 inch pan with foil. Crush graham crackers into crumbs in the food processor, or in a zip bag.
- Mix the graham cracker crumbs with 1/4 cup sugar, salt, and melted butter. Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan.
- Using an electric mixer beat the cream cheese, Crème Fraiche and 3/4 cup sugar together until smooth. Add the pumpkin, flour, five spice, salt, bourbon and eggs. Blend until smooth. Fold in the chocolate chips, reserving a handful for the top.
- Pour the mixture on top of the graham cracker crust. Smooth out with a spatula. Sprinkle the rest of the chocolate chips on top. Smack the pan on the counter a couple times to smooth everything out.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the center is almost set, but still jiggles a little.
- Cool on a rack for one hour, then refrigerate another hour before cutting.
- To serve: pull the foil up on the sides and lift the whole pan of pumpkin bars out of the baking dish. Peel the foil off the sides carefully, then slice into desired size. Wipe the knife with a paper towel occasionally to keep the sides smooth.
I think some people are suspect of pumpkin and chocolate together, but it has to be tried to know for sure. I love pumpkin treats this time of year!
Jason
I love that you use 5 spice powder! What a great idea! These look fantastic – and I love your decorations. Let us know what will be on the Halloween menu!
Another great recipe for the Halloween party. I think that you should totally take advantage of this time of year and just go pumpkin crazy! Your house is looking pretty spooky so far!
Ooh, creme fraiche and pumpkin-yummerz! And I love all of your ghoulish decorations, Sommer. We like to do that too, though I must admit we are kind of naturally scary (smile)!
How wonderful! I made pumkpin bars last night. But your photography is just gorgeous. Brilliant use of props. And that pink boa thing with the candle swing creation is outrageous. Lol.
Adult treats…how fun! We got really into Halloween a few years ago and bought lots of crazy decorations. You are getting me in the mood to pull them all out this year! Love this recipe. :)
Wow, that sounds incredible. Love the addition of the five-spice and the bourbon. And how can you go wrong with creme fraiche? Your chandelier is out of this world hilarious! Great decorations :o)
The feather boa-ed candle thing is AWESOME. is that a chandelier usually in your home, or is it one big piece? And the bars are awesome too ;) i feel like people don't mix pumpkin and chocolate enough.
What a perfect pumpkin treat!! Or is it a trick? haha ;-)
Oh wow, I love the combination of ingredients in these bars! I also get quite a kick out of all of your decorating. Looks like you are having a ball!
5 spice powder? That's brilliant! I would have never thought to combine those flavors together. I need to cook these little beauties up just to see what they taste like! Your house is definitely starting to look a bit scary!
So many tasty ingredients in these bars, but most of all I like them because they contain my favorite stuff and that's chocolate. Yum, yum.
Love the decoration!! And those bars look absolutely amazing!
The combination of flavours of this autumn cheese treat is flawless! I love your holiday decoration.
I love how creepy your photos are lately :) Great recipe,Sommer.
I'm in love with your decorations! I hope you post pictures of the outside decorations on the 31st. The choco-pumpkin bars look pretty awesome too :)
I think the bourbon adds just the right…punch.
Crème Fraîche, five spice and Bourbon. That is my kind of a dessert!! Do you think I have to share it with the kids?
Love your deco in the house!