Pumpkin Cake with Chocolate Chips

I always seem to have a can of pumpkin in my pantry and I never use it because lots of recipes only call for a cup and then I have some left over that I always end up throwing out and I hate to waste food. So when I saw that this recipe used a whole 15 ounce can of pumpkin plus was a little lower in fat I figured I give it a try.

It was instantly a hit with me (and my Mom) and Mike like it also. I never really know how well he likes anything because he always says “Yeah, it’s good” when I ask him if he likes something. At least he’s easy to cook for!

Oh and you know how recipes always say to combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl? Well, this recipe is no different but honestly I never do it. I always do my wet ingredients in my Kitchen Aid first and then measure all my dry ingredients in on top. I even forgot to put the pumpkin in when I was mixing the wet ingredients for this recipe so I added it in with the dry and it was fine. What can I say, I’m a bad baker.
INGREDIENTS

• 2 1/3 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice*
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 (15-ounce) can pure pumpkin puree
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and lightly flour a 9X13-inch pan
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer(don’t worry you can also do this by hand) cream the butter, applesauce, granulated sugar and brown sugar on medium-high speed until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Add pumpkin puree and mix until combined. Don't worry if the mixture looks curdled - that's completely normal!
3. Mix in the dry ingredients, stirring just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips
4. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan. Bake until the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely in the pan before lifting the bars out of the pan, cutting into squares and serving.

*For a homemade pumpkin pie spice mix use the following, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ginger and 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon cloves. Mix together for the equivalent of 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice. (Multiply this by 3 for this recipe – 3 tsp’s equal 1 tablespoon)
Recipe Source: barely adapted from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe, originally from Martha Stewart