Dark Chocolate Pumpkin bars

Yesterday I mentioned that I had a super out of season dessert.  In the fall, I tend to get overly excited about the abundance of pumpkins, and gourds, and squash, etc. So, I usually buy a ridiculous amount of pumpkin puree, you know just in case I have to make pumpkin pie for 80 people. I like to be prepared.

Since I am yet to make pumpkin pie for 80 people, I typically have lots of leftover cans of pumpkin puree in my pantry. Although the expiration date is not for another year, I get nervous that it might somehow go bad. Said nervousness is what prompted me to create dark chocolate pumpkin bars yesterday. I also wanted to have a healthier dessert around the house so I would lay off the Blue Bell Butter Crunch.

Have you tried butter crunch yet? If you haven’t, you probably shouldn’t. It is highly addicting and is working to destroy all the hard work I put in with Isagenix.

I’m pretty proud of these little cookie like bars.  Although I haven’t looked into the actual nutrition facts, I know they are wayyyyyy healthier than any of the other pumpkin desserts I’ve created in the past.  Not an ounce of butter to be found in these! And only the healthy sugar (brown sugar).  So you can feel good about treating yourself.

For whatever reason, I decided to pull one of my mom’s famous tricks. I put the batter in the oven and then decided to leave the house. My dad has quite a few stories of coming home to find slightly over done pies, cookies, and cakes because my mom got distracted while baking.  I decided to cook these while I took Suzie for a run.  What I thought would be a quick 25 minute run didn’t quite work out.  I came home to slightly overdone pumpkin bars.  But, they still taste great! Next time I will not leave the house while they are in the oven. I should have known better.