These Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars are a homemade fall treat that are one of my family's absolute favorites. They are soft yet chewy, easy to make, packed with rich pumpkin flavor, and loaded with chocolate chips in every bite. If you want a family recipe that never fails, makes your kitchen smell amazing, and disappears fast at any gathering, this is the one to bake.
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Why We Love These Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars
- Easy to make with simple pantry ingredients.
- Soft yet chewy texture.
- Loaded with chocolate chips in every bite.
- Family approved and perfect for lunch boxes, bake sales, or after school treats.
- Stays fresh and delicious for days, making it a great make ahead treat.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars Recipe Ingredients
- Salted Butter
- Brown Sugar
- White Sugar
- Pumpkin Puree
- Pure Vanilla Extract
- Baking Soda
- Cinnamon
- Salt
- Unbleached All Purpose Flour
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
Substitution Suggestions
- Salted Butter: Feel free to use unsalted butter if you prefer. I suggest adding an additional ½ teaspoon of salt to the dough.
- Pumpkin Puree: Be sure that you are using pumpkin puree and NOT pumpkin pie mix. Pumpkin pie mix is already sweetened and spiced and we don't need that.
- Vanilla Extract: I feel the pure extracts yield a much better flavor in your baked goods. The imitation extracts can leave an unpleasant aftertaste.
- Cinnamon: If you like a more spiced pumpkin bar you can use pumpkin pie spice or add a pinch of all spice, cloves, nutmeg or ginger.
- All Purpose Flour: White whole wheat flour and whole wheat flour will work great in this recipe.
- Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips: Use your favorite chocolate. Dark chocolate chips, white chocolate chips or milk chocolate chips are great options.
How to Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars
- First, preheat oven to 350°F and line a 9x13 baking dish or sheet pan with parchment paper. Or lightly grease it with nonstick cooking spray.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a large bowl and hand mixer, cream together the softened butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until fluffy. About 2-3 minutes.
- Next, add the pumpkin puree and vanilla extract. Mix together until fully combined scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed. It may look a little curdled but that's ok.
- Now add the dry ingredients: baking soda, cinnamon, salt and all purpose flour. Mix on low speed just until thoroughly combined.
- Then fold in the chocolate chips.
- Spread the dough into prepared baking pan. An offset spatula works great for this.
- Bake in preheated oven on center rack for 25-30 minutes, and the edges are golden brown and the center no longer looks wet and glossy.
- Let cool completely, then slice into 24 bars and enjoy!
If you are as pumpkin obsessed as my family, you will love these other easy homemade pumpkin recipes. Try my pumpkin pie bars for a classic twist, or these pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting if you are all about that sweet and tangy topping. Craving cookies? White chocolate chip pumpkin cookies are chewy, sweet, and extra cozy. Pumpkin cream cheese muffins make the perfect grab-and-go breakfast, and my mini pumpkin donuts are a fun bite-sized treat the kids go crazy for.
Storing Pumpkin and Chocolate Chip Bars
Storing: Store these pumpkin and chocolate chip bars in an airtight container between layers of wax paper. Keep them in a cool dry place and they'll last about a week. If you notice them starting to get a little dry and hard, add a piece of bread or a flour tortilla to the container. It'll add moisture back into the bars.
Freezing: These bars freeze well! Place the bars in a freezer safe airtight container in single layers, between pieces of wax paper. Or you can individually wrap them in plastic wrap and then place in freezer bag or container. Label, date and freeze. They'll last 3-4 months in the freezer.
Thawing: To thaw the frozen bars, simply let them sit at room temperature until thawed. If individually wrapped, unwrap before thawing, that way the plastic won't stick to the bars.
Heather's Favorite Tools for this Recipe
- My KitchenAid Stand Mixer is my most favorite kitchen tool! It's the best tool ever for making bars, cookies, bread, frostings and so many other things.
- These nestled mixing bowls are my favorite for prepping ingredients.
- An offset spatula works best for spreading out the dough.
- Long ago, I used to be a Pampered Chef consultant and I still prefer their baking tools and pans to any others. They're baking pans are the ones I primarily use. Find yourself a consultant, host a party and treat yourself.
- I really like these Pyrex baking dishes for baking too.
Tips for Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars
- Gather all your ingredients before you start baking. It is so much easier to bake when all your ingredients are ready. Plus, there is less room for error. Like forgetting an essential ingredient. I'm not saying I've done this, however, I am speaking from experience!
- Always read the recipe from start to finish before you start. Again, I am speaking from experience.
- Use room temperature ingredients. It helps everything mix together properly.
- Make sure to fluff your flour a bit before you measure it. When it sits for periods of time it becomes packed. Fluffy flour is better for the perfect texture. To fluff your flour, just scoop it and dump it a few times or whisk it and then measure it out.
- Don't over mix the dough once the dry ingredients are added. Mix just until the flour is incorporated so the bars stay tender. If the dough is over mixed the bars will turn out too dense.
- For best results don't over bake the bars. Over baking will cause the bars to be dry rather than chewy. The edges should be just golden brown and the center should no longer look wet and glossy.
More Cookie Bar Recipes:
- Fluffernutter Bars
- Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- Snickerdoodle Bars
- Sugar Cookie Bars
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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars
Ingredients
- ¾ cup salted butter, softened
- 1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2½ cups all purpose flour
- 1½ cups semi sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 9x13 baking dish or sheet pan with nonstick cooking spray or line with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a large bowl and hand mixer, cream together the softened butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until fluffy. About 2-3 minutes.
- Add the pumpkin puree and vanilla extract. Mix together until fully combined scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed. It may look a little curdled but that's ok.
- Add the baking soda, cinnamon, salt and all purpose flour. Mix on low speed just until thoroughly combined and there are no more white streaks.
- Then fold in the chocolate chips.
- Spread the dough into prepared pan. An offset spatula works great for this.
- Bake in preheated oven on center rack for 25-30 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the center no longer looks wet and glossy.
- Let cool completely, then slice into 24 bars and enjoy!
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