These Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Squares are soft, spiced, and full of melty chocolate chips — the perfect fall dessert bar for pumpkin lovers.
If you love pumpkin bread or pumpkin cookies, you’re going to be obsessed with these Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Squares. They’re perfectly moist, warmly spiced, and loaded with chocolate chips in every bite. Think of them as the best parts of pumpkin pie, chocolate chip cookies, and cake — all baked into one easy dessert bar.
This recipe is simple to make, bakes up beautifully in a 9×13-inch pan, and makes enough to share. They’re perfect for potlucks, bake sales, or cozy fall gatherings.
Why You’ll Love These Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Squares:
- They’re a guaranteed crowd favorite. Everyone asks for this recipe!
- They’re full of cozy, fall flavor. Pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg make these bars smell and taste amazing.
- They have a soft, tender texture- moist like cake, chewy like a blondie — the best of both worlds.
- They’re so easy to make. No frosting is required — just mix, bake, and slice.
- They travel well. so they’re great for gifting, holidays, or school events.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Baking Basics: All purpose flour, baking soda, salt, egg, butter and vanilla extract.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: If you can’t find pumpkin pie spice (or don’t have it), substitute 1½ teaspoons cinnamon, ¾ teaspoon ginger, ½ teaspoon nutmeg, and ½ teaspoon each allspice and cloves.
- Pumpkin Puree: Use unsweetened pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling!)
- Miniature Chocolate Chips: Using mini chocolate chips instead of the regular-sized chips allows for the chocolate flavor to be spread around a lot more.
How to Make Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Squares
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in one bowl.
- In a second bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the butter and sugar together. Then add the egg and vanilla… then the pumpkin puree. Mix in the dry ingredients. Then stir in the chocolate chips.
- Spread the batter into a greased 9×13-inch pan. Bake until set and lightly golden (35 to 40 minutes).
- Let it cool completely before slicing into squares.
Recipe Tips
- Don’t overmix. This keeps the texture light and tender.
- Add nuts. Chopped pecans or walnuts add crunch and extra fall flavor.
- Try different chips. Butterscotch or white chocolate chips are delicious swaps.
- Make sure the cake has cooled completely before cutting. Sometimes it’s easier to get nice, clean cuts if it is chilled in the refrigerator for a while first.
How to Store Pumpkin Squares
- Freezer: Wrap individual squares and freeze up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature.
- Room temperature: Keep covered up to 3 days.
- Refrigerator: Store up to 5 days in an airtight container.
These Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Squares are one of those no-fail recipes you’ll want to make every fall. They’re easy, flavorful, and absolutely irresistible. Keep them simple for an everyday treat, or dress them up with frosting for the holidays — either way, they’ll disappear fast!
If you’re looking for more fall desserts to try, how about my recipes for pumpkin bars, no bake pumpkin shortbread bars, pumpkin raisin bars or pumpkin gooey butter bars?
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Squares
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1¼ cups granulated white sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup unsweetened pumpkin purée
- One 12 ounce package mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13 inch baking pan with nonstick spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, pie spice, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
- Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until smooth; beat in the egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in the pumpkin purée (the mixture may appear curdled). Reduce the speed to low, and mix in the dry ingredients until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan. Bake until the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely in the pan.
- Use a serrated knife to cut 24 squares.
Notes
- If you can’t find pumpkin pie spice, substitute 1½ teaspoons cinnamon, ¾ teaspoon ginger, ½ teaspoon nutmeg, and ½ teaspoon each allspice and cloves.
- Make sure the cake has cooled completely before cutting. Sometimes it’s easier to get nice, clean cuts if it is chilled in the refrigerator for a while first.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These are delicious… I have also made these with a combination of wheat and oat flours and coconut oil in place of the butter…. Yum Yum. This is definitely a staple in our house!
Has anyone tried this recipe with less sugar? I just realized that I only put 1/4 cup sugar into the recipe rather than 1 and 1/4 cup… AHHH! They’ve already been in the oven for half the time so there’s no way to save it. I guess if they don’t turn out well then I will make them all over again.
uh oh… how did they turn out?
I agree! These look yummy! I am going to make these with my granddaughter but I think we’ll do them in muffin pans! I’ll let you know how they turn out! Thanks for sharing this!
What is the reason for using unsalted butter? Does it make it taste better or is it in order to be health conscious? Thanks!
You can use either!
Was wondering if you spray the foil with baking spray or not?
You certainly can… to be safe.
What size can?
It does not matter what size can you have since you only need 1 cup of the puree. So a small can is fine if you’re not in need of it for anything else.
is there a way to make these without an egg?
there is something called EnerG Egg Replacer. Are you familiar w/ that?
I made these for Thanksgiving and my kids just loved them!! Definitely a keeper!! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
These bars look so yummy!
Looks yummy and healthy too! I might try to make this since there are so many pumpkins after Halloween. Great recipe!