Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

I'll confess before I say anything else - I Love Pumpkin! Pumpkin roll, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin spice latte, pumpkin granola, pumpkin creme brulee, even pumpkin pie, but I don't like the crust. I'm making myself hungry. Here's another pumpkin recipe: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins. (This recipe is gluten free because it uses oats instead of flour. They are more dense and chewy than muffins made with flour, but just as tasty.)

These bars are moist and not too sweet., and closer to cake than cookies. The original recipe is from this cookbook that I have had for over twenty five years. I have used many of it's recipes in all of those years and definitely not just at Christmas. Even though I have always preferred savory foods to desserts, close to half of the recipes in my personal cookbook are desserts. I wonder why.

Note: I used the stoneware pan because my metal sheet pans that are the right size were in the dishwasher. This was a mistake. By the time the bars were cool enough to serve, they were overcooked and tough. I should have taken the pan out of the oven a few minutes early to adjust for the heat the pan holds - I wish I had thought of that before I baked them.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

4 eggs

1 16-ounce can pumpkin

1 ½ cups sugar

¼ cup oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup (6 oz.) chocolate chips

3 Tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Combine flour, baking powder, 2 tsp cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a small bowl and set aside. In a medium mixing bowl beat eggs, pumpkin, 1 ½ cups sugar, oil, and vanilla extract until well blended. Add flour mixture and mix just until moistened. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Spread in an ungreased 15x10x1 inch baking pan. Stir together remaining sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle evenly over batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until done. Cool and cut into bars.

32 bars