Pumpkin Chocolate Bars

My favorite time of the year has started. Autumn is my favorite time of the year. Even when the falling leaves leave the trees bare and the ground gets covered with dry leaves, it has its own beauty. Don't you think? And what other way to celebrate the start of the season by baking these pumpkin bars? For a foodie, it is perfect. These are soft cookie kind of bars but are a bit cakey. The original recipe was for the cookies with butter and different method of mixing and baking. I simplified the recipe and made them into a pan cookie recipe. However it was made, it turned out delicious.

One Year Back - Vegan Navaratna Kurma
Two Years Back - Sweet Couscous and Apple Salad
Three Years Back - Sweet Milk Rolls/BunsAdapted widely from the book 'the complete baking cookbook' by George Geary
Ingredients: 
All purpose flour - 2 1/2 cups
Sugar - 1 1/2 cups
Baking Soda - 1 tsp
Baking Powder - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Egg - 1 large
Oil - 1/2 cup
Pumpkin puree - 1 cup (store bought or home made)
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Semi sweet chocolate chips or chunks - 1 cup
Optional - 1 cup nuts like walnuts or pecans (I didn't add any)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray a 13 X 9 pan with vegetable oil spray. Set aside. In a bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder. In another bowl, whisk together oil, egg, sugar, pumpkin puree. Stir in vanilla. Slowly add the dry ingredients to wet and mix gently. Mix till there are no streaks of dry flour left. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts (if using). Dump the contents to the pan and smooth with a spatula. Bake for 28 - 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on the wire rack in the pan. Slice when completely cool.
This post is written for weekend cooking post that I write with Srivalli  and  Vaishali.    
Enjoy.