Pumpkin Campfire Bars —rsquo; One Last Ritual Before Everything Changes

September. Megan is back in the classroom at eight months pregnant, teaching twenty-one nine-year-olds while growing a person, which I maintain is the most impressive multitasking in human history and she maintains is "just my job." It is not just her job. It is a marvel. She is a marvel. She waddles through the school day (she denies the waddle; the waddle is real) and comes home and puts her feet up and I bring her dinner and she grades papers and the baby kicks against the stack of worksheets on her belly.

The Packers are back. Tom and I watch at the house. The baby kicks during touchdowns. Tom noticed. "He's a Packers fan," Tom said. I said, "He doesn't have a choice." Tom said, "Nobody does. It's genetic." He's not wrong. Packers fandom in Wisconsin is not a choice. It's a birthright. Thomas Daniel Kowalski will be a Packers fan before he takes his first breath.

At the brewery, I'm in the final stretch before paternity leave. Two more weeks of work, then two weeks off for the birth and the first days. The "First Light" birth beer is brewed, bottled, and waiting. Thirty bottles. One for each year of my life. I'll open the first one the night Tommy is born. I'll open one every year on his birthday. By the time he turns thirty, the beer will be long drunk and the tradition will be long established and the first light of his life will be a memory told through empty bottles and a father who brews.

Made Babcia's bigos — the fall stew — because September demands it and because the house needs to smell like home and because the baby is almost here and I need to anchor myself to the stove one more time before everything changes. The bigos simmered. The house filled with warmth. Two more weeks. Maybe less. Tommy is almost here. The dough is rising. The soup is simmering. The crib is waiting. Everything is ready. We are ready.

The bigos was already simmering when I decided the house needed one more layer of fall — something sweet to go alongside the savory, something that said this season, this moment, hold onto it. These Pumpkin Campfire Bars are exactly that: simple enough to pull together with one hand while you’re half-watching the Packers, warm enough to make the whole kitchen smell like October, and substantial enough to share with Tom when he comes over to count down the days with us. Two more weeks. We’re baking until the moment arrives.

Pumpkin Campfire Bars

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

Ingredients

• 1 can (15 oz) pure pumpkin puree
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional, for topping)
• Powdered sugar for dusting, or cream cheese frosting to finish

Instructions

1. Preheat and prep. Heat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan and line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the sides for easy lifting.
2. Whisk the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and sugar until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking well after each. Stir in the pumpkin puree and vanilla extract until smooth.
3. Combine the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and salt.
4. Fold together. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold gently with a spatula until just combined — do not overmix. The batter will be thick.
5. Spread and top. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Scatter chocolate chips over the top if using, pressing them in lightly.
6. Bake. Bake for 28–32 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the edges are just pulling away from the pan. The top should look set and matte, not glossy.
7. Cool and cut. Let the bars cool completely in the pan on a wire rack, at least 30 minutes. Lift out using the parchment overhang, dust generously with powdered sugar or spread with cream cheese frosting, then cut into 16 bars.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 185 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 7g | Carbs: 29g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 105mg