I’ve been on a baking kick lately.  In fact, I have been on a quest to make the perfect almond butter chocolate chip cookies.  I’ve tried several different recipes, and although each recipe created great cookies, I was hoping to create a version packed with flavor and chocolate goodness.

While experimenting in the kitchen last week in my attempt at almond butter cookie awesomeness, I accidentally ended up creating a new recipe for Almond Butter Pumpkin Chocolate Brownies.

I was hanging out with my friend Rachel at the time, and convinced her to help me on my chocolate chip cookie quest for perfection.  I decided that the addition of pumpkin and cinnamon to the cookie batter would kick it up a notch.    However, it turned out that the addition of pumpkin to the cookie batter resulted in batter that was too thin.  I forged ahead, and stuck a small batch of cookies in the oven, hoping that the oven would work some kind of miracle on the cookies.  Rachel and I tasted tested the first batch of cookies out of the oven.  While they were tasty, the batter had spread very thin, and as a result, the cookies looked like chocolate pancakes.

Rachel mentioned that the cookies had the taste and texture of brownies.  That gave both of us the idea to take the rest of the cookie batter and bake it in a pan to see what would happened.  The cookie batter created brownies better then I could have hoped for.

It was a very happy accident indeed, and I am excited to share the results!

 

Have you every had a “happy accident” in the kitchen?  If so, feel free to share in the comments section!

Almond Butter Pumpkin Chocolate Brownies

Servings: makes 12-15

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Ingredients

• 1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk, beaten
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup raw almond butter (creamy)*
• 1 cup coconut sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda*
• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 6 ounces dark chocolate chunks*

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. grease an 8 x 8 inch (or 7 x 11) baking dish.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the egg and egg yolk, pumpkin and vanilla extract and mix well.  Then add the almond butter, and stir until all of the liquid ingredients are fully incorporated.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together the coconut sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, sea salt, and cinnamon.
5. Add the coconut sugar/cocoa mixture to the liquid ingredients in the large mixing bowl, and mix everything together until all of the ingredients are fully incorporated.
6. Add in the chocolate chunk, and stir to combine.
7. Pour the brownie batter into the greased baking dish, and spread evenly.
8. Place in the lower rack of the oven, and bake for 30-35 minutes until done (to check if it is done, insert a toothpick into the brownies.  The toothpick should come out mostly clean).
9. Let the brownies cool before serving.
10. Brownies will keep in an airtight storage container at room temperature for 2-3 days.*

 

Notes

• To make the recipe dairy-free, use the chocolate brand enjoy life chocolate chunks (they are diary, soy and gluten free).
• If you want the brownies to be more cake like in texture, use 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda instead of 3/4 teaspoons of baking soda.
• If you have difficulty finding raw almond butter, you can make your own.  Place 3 cups of raw almonds into a high powered food processor.  Process  the almonds for 15-20 minutes (scraping down the sides as necessary) until creamy.  This will yield approximately 1 cup of creamy almond butter.
• How long these brownies last is my best guess, the pan is usually empty by the second day!