By June heat arriving. Fire pit season. Made smoked wings and a whole chicken Saturday — the outdoor kitchen in full operation. The summer cooking is my favorite cooking because it involves fire and sky and the smell of smoke drifting through the neighborhood, and the neighbors who walk past and look over the fence and say what are you cooking, and I say come find out, and sometimes they do and sometimes they don't but the invitation is always there because food that isn't shared is food that's only half alive.
Connie's birthday — fifty-seven. The chocolate cake again, three layers, even layers, the frosting smooth. She said this is the best one yet. I said that's what I said last year. She said and it was true last year and it's true this year and it'll be true next year because you're getting better. She's right. I'm getting better at cake the way I got better at brisket and cornbread and dressing — slowly, incrementally, through repetition and attention and the willingness to fail and try again. That's not just cooking. That's living. That's the whole thing.
The chocolate cake is Connie’s, and it belongs to that day, but what I keep thinking about is what she said — that I’m getting better, year after year, through nothing more than showing up and doing it again. These Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Brownies carry that same spirit: they’re the kind of thing you make once and think you understand, then make again and realize you’ve only just started. The pumpkin keeps them dense and moist in a way that reminds me of the best layers of that birthday cake, and the chocolate chips are a nod to the same instinct that makes me reach for the good cocoa every time Connie’s birthday rolls around.
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Brownies
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 30 min | Total Time: 45 min | Servings: 16
Ingredients
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
Instructions
- Preheat — and prepare the pan. Heat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×9-inch baking pan or line it with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides for easy lifting.
- Mix the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking after each. Stir in the vanilla extract.
- Combine the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients and stir with a spatula until just combined — don’t overmix.
- Fold in the chocolate chips. Reserve about 2 tablespoons of chips for the top, then fold the rest into the batter. The batter will be thick and glossy.
- Bake. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Scatter the reserved chocolate chips over the top. Bake for 28—32 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs but no wet batter. Don’t overbake — these are meant to be fudgy.
- Cool before cutting. Let the brownies cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes before lifting out and slicing into 16 squares. They firm up as they cool and are better for the waiting.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 195 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 10g | Carbs: 27g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 65mg