a batty combo

"Trick-or-treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat. If you don't, I won't care, I'll pull down your underwear!" Oh maturity, how banal you are. I wish all parties were costume parties and that you didn't need an excuse to parade around town in a tu-tu or a face full of zombie wounds. I love seeing the random toddler with a ballet or princess outfit on in the grocery store in the middle of May. Too bad a line is drawn at a certain age where it is less "what a cute little kitten" and more "what a crazy cat lady she must be!" My husband thinks I am going to be that lady, minus the cats and plus a few extra whack-a-doo sweaters. If you're never in style, how can you be out?

To embrace this wondrous time of year I wanted to bake something that not only tasted but looked like Halloween. To me, that would be something dark chocolate and something pumpkin flavored. Plus, I had to use the rest of the pumpkin I had from the Marbled Pumpkin Ginger Cookies. I couldn't settle on bars or cookies so I made both with little tweaks to the pumpkin batters and subbing brownie batter for dark chocolate cookie batter. I wasn't sure how keen I was on the chocolate/pumpkin pairing but I think it works as long as you pump up the spices in the pumpkin and bring out that taste of pie.

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

Yield: 24

INGREDIENTS
pumpkin batter
1 C all-purpose flour
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t cloves
1/4 t ground nutmeg
1/2 t baking soda
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 C brown sugar
1 large egg
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 C pumpkin puree
4 oz. chocolate toffee bits

chocolate brownie batter
Half a recipe of your favorite chocolate brownie batter, prepared and set aside.

DIRECTIONS
pumpkin batter
Preheat the oven to 350° F and line a 9×13-inch baking dish with foil.
1. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, spices and baking soda. Stir together and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
3. Beat in the egg, vanilla and pumpkin until well combined.
4. With the mixer on low speed add the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated.

Paper plate from Grandma Suedy.  

I swear this has been around longer than I have been alive,

waiting for the opportunity to bear some Halloween treats.

assembly
1. Alternately drop mounds of each batter in the pan.
2. Using the back of a spoon or butter knife, swirl the batters together and then sprinkle toffee bits over the pumpkin swirl sections.
3. Bake until the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs, about 35-40 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting and placing on your forty-year-old paper plate!

Nutrition: cal, g fat, mg sod, g carb, g sugar, g fiber, g protein