Cosmic Pumpkin Brownies

90 cal, 12C/5F/2P/7S.

Whole-grain, low-sugar frosted brownies that are made with pumpkin so they’re the perfect treat for the Fall.

Do I have enough Fall treats on this blog yet? Yeah there’s no such thing I know. Pretty sure “fall treat” is the most common phrase here at this point and I’m not regretting it.

I basically never not have a half used can of pumpkin in my fridge from August to January. It’s such a versatile ingredient. I’ve made it into anything from muffins to cookies to bread to overnight oats… You get my drift.

And finally I’ve made it into brownies by rewriting the recipe for my now-reddit-famous banana brownies. If you can make it with banana, you can make it with pumpkin, friends. And to my surprise these brownies were even more flavorful and fudgy, without being too dense. They seriously came out perfect.

This time instead of incorporating chocolate chips in the brownie batter, I went with a pumpkin-based healthy frosting on top. It is the easiest healthy frosting to make and it’s freaking rich and delicious. Forget all that butter and sugar that’s in regular frosting, you absolutely do not need it.

The only issue I have with the recipe is that it’s 1/4 cup of pumpkin puree short of using a whole can of pumpkin. So if you don’t want to use your 1/4 cup in something else (I’m looking at you pumpkin overnight oats!) just fold it into the brownie batter and eliminate the milk. It should be pretty close! In fact, I’m going to try this 🙂

Brownie Base:

• 1 cup pumpkin puree (240 g)
• 1 egg beaten
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter melted (42 g)
• 2 tbsp unsweetened almond milk or any other milk (30 g)
• 1/4 cup coconut or brown sugar (48 g)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup whole wheat, all purpose, or gf all purpose flour (60 g)
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder (48 g)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt

Frosting:

• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (120 g)
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp semisweet chocolate chips (84 g)
• (optional) sprinkles!

Makes 16 brownies. Preheat oven to 350F and line an 8×8 baking dish with parchment. Blend together pumpkin puree, egg, butter, milk, sugar, vanilla. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt. Combine the two without overmixing. Pour into pan and bake for 20 minutes. Let this cool while preparing the frosting.

Gently warm pumpkin puree in the microwave without cooking it (just warm enough to melt chocolate). Add the chocolate chips and stir together until all the chocolate is melted and the mixture turns into a thick frosting. Frost the cooled brownie base. Let the frosted brownies set in the fridge at least 30 minutes. Slice into 16 and enjoy! Fun sprinkles are optional but definitely recommended!

Keep leftovers refrigerated or frozen. I had one thawed from frozen today and it was perfect!

Hope you love this recipe and tag me on instagram with your photos!