Pumpkin Brownies -- Something Sweet for the Season of Being Seen

Caleb can say Nana and means it specifically and unmistakably now. The first time he said it to my face — not when I was arriving and he was reaching, not when he was in Huntsville and CJ prompted him, but at the kitchen table on a Sunday afternoon when I was cutting sweet potato and he was in his high chair across from me and he looked up and said it clearly: Nana. And looked at me to see if I understood.

I said: yes. That's me. He said it again, satisfied, and went back to the cracker he was eating. I went back to the sweet potato. We were both very quiet about it. But I want it recorded that at fourteen months and three weeks old, Caleb Marcus Simms looked at me across a kitchen table and said my name on purpose, and that in thirty-some years of Sundays in this kitchen it is among the most significant things that have happened in it.

James called Friday with their holiday plans. He and Dorothy are coming for Thanksgiving. Dorothy has been planning it since July, he said, and she has already decided what she is bringing and has been practicing it, which he reports as both amusing and impressive and which I understand completely. A woman who practices her Thanksgiving contribution in October is a woman who takes the table seriously and knows what she is a part of. I said: tell her we have been expecting her contribution since last year. He said she would find that gratifying. I said: it is true. I look forward to whatever Dorothy Carter brings to my table. I always have, now.

That evening, after Caleb had gone home and the kitchen was quiet again, I wanted to do something with my hands that was slow and warm and smelled like this season — and pumpkin brownies were exactly that. There’s something fitting about a recipe that asks you to fold in something unexpected and end up with something richer than you started with. With Thanksgiving coming and Dorothy Carter planning her contribution from four states away, it felt right to be at the oven myself, practicing my own part in what we are all building together at this table.

Pumpkin Brownies

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes | Servings: 16

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8x8-inch baking pan or line it with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides for easy lifting.
2. Mix the base. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and sugar until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking well after each. Stir in the vanilla extract.
3. Add the pumpkin. Stir the pumpkin puree into the butter-egg mixture until fully incorporated. It will look a little loose — that’s fine.
4. Combine the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.
5. Fold together. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined — do not overmix. Fold in chocolate chips if using.
6. Bake. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly. Bake for 28–32 minutes, until the top is set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs (not wet batter).
7. Cool and cut. Let brownies cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes before cutting into 16 squares. They firm up as they cool and are best at room temperature.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 165 | Protein: 2g | Fat: 8g | Carbs: 23g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 65mg