It's
almost the end of October! Where does the time go? For me, autumn is a time to
not only enjoy the all to brief brilliant fall colours but also to play with
flavours of the season!
As
an unapologetic chocoholic, I am always playing with recipes that contain
chocolate! That being said, Pumpkins and Pumpkin Spice seem to be everywhere!
What if I could combine the two to make a mouth-watering, can't say no treat?
I
tried a recipe that I thought had potential but even after baking longer than
stated and cooling, it still tasted under-baked and had no zip to the flavour.
Over the last couple of falls, I've played with this recipe to see if I could
make it better. I tried adding a bit of baking soda, then also adding a bit of
baking powder. I switched the pan size from a 9 inch square to a 9x13 inch.
This gave the batter room to rise a bit but not take longer to bake - but still
result in a dense, moist brownie. I also added roasted almonds and cinnamon to
boost the flavour. It was almost there. I decided to go full on pumpkin spice
with ginger, nutmeg and allspice as well! Yup! Just that hint of spice blend
without overpowering it was what was needed!
The
other major change that I made is that rather than using pumpkin puree, I used
butternut squash.
Now,
before you get all riled up and claim heresy you can still use pumpkin puree if
you wish. I just find that butternut squash is a very reliable substitute and a
very tasty vegetable on its own! I grew up eating squash. We never grew
pumpkins and rarely even bought them for carving at Halloween as we lived out
on a farm and didn't get many trick-or-treater's.
I can only recall a couple of times that we ever
bought canned pumpkin and those were when our squash didn't mature or were
otherwise damaged due to weather.
Using
butternut squash as a substitute for pumpkin will NOT change the flavour of
the baked item! Once the spices and other ingredients are all added and baked,
there is no way anyone will know the difference if you don't tell them! I've
been using it forever and no one has ever said it tastes like squash!
Granted,
there are many varieties of squash, but I find that butternut has the least
amount of waste and is very easy to peel. They are not as watery as some
varieties and also have a very similar colour and texture to pumpkin. Butternut
squash have a delicious flavour all on their own as a vegetable! It is one of
my fave sides in the winter! Every fall, I buy several butternut squash. I peel
them, seed them and cut them into about 1 inch cubes. I fill my dutch oven
about 2/3 full of the cubes, add a bit of water and a dash of salt then cover
and bake in a 350F oven till tender - about 25-30 minutes. Time will vary
depending on the size of cubes and quantity. Once the squash is fork tender,
drain off the excess liquid and then mash the squash till smooth. Allow to cool
to room temperature. Then measure into 1/2 cup portions. Transfer the portions
into zippered snack bags, flatten out the squash as you remove air from the bag
and seal. Lay flat on a baking sheet to freeze. Once frozen, transfer the
zipped bags to a large freezer bag and store in freezer for later use as an
individual vegetable serving or for a baking recipe. Thaw required portions
completely before using in any baking recipe. (Note: you will find recipes for
muffins, cookies, loaves, cake and squares on my recipe page - all using
butternut squash rather than pumpkin!)
Chocolate
Pumpkin Brownies
1/4
cup butter or block margarine
2 oz/60
grams bittersweet chocolate, chopped in small pieces
1/2
cup all purpose flour
1/2
cup whole wheat flour
1/3
cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2
teaspoon baking soda
1/2
teaspoon baking powder
1/4
tsp salt
1
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1
cup white sugar
1
large egg, at room temp
1
teaspoon vanilla extract
1
cup pumpkin puree or butternut squash puree (see above info)
1
cup dark or bittersweet chocolate chips
Preheat
oven to 350F. Line a 9x13 inch baking pan with parchment paper. Add the almonds
and place in the oven to roast. It will take about 5-7 minutes but you should
stir them once or twice to ensure none are burning. When they are nicely golden
and aromatic, remove to a cooling rack. Transfer the almonds to a small bowl to
continue cooling on the rack.
.In a
small, microwave-safe bowl, melt together the butter/block margarine and
chopped bittersweet chocolate. Depending on your microwaves power, this should
take about a minute or so on half power. It may not look like the chocolate is
melted but give it a stir and any remaining pieces will likely melt into the
butter/margarine. Allow to cool to room temp but not enough to let it start to
solidify,
Combine
the flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger,
allspice and nutmeg in a medium sized bowl. Set aside
In a
large bowl whisk together the pumpkin, sugar, egg and vanilla extract. Add in
the cooled margarine/chocolate and mix to combine.
Add
in the dry ingredients and stir just until flour mixture is combined. Then add
in the chocolate chips and almonds. Stir till thoroughly combined but try not
to over mix. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula to ensure
all ingredients are incorporated. Batter will be very thick!
Allow to cool in pan on cooling rack for about 30
minutes then carefully lift the corners of the parchment paper and slide the
paper and brownies onto the cooling rack to cool for AT LEAST 2-3 hours MORE
before cutting as they take quite awhile to cool completely and set properly. This
also allows the flavours to blend a bit more.
Enjoy!
dn
