These pumpkin butterscotch brownies are thick, fudgy, laced with a pumpkin pie filling mix, and topped with butterscotch chips that perfectly meld together as a cozy fall treat.
Fall is in the air, and it's time about time for some pumpkin spice goodies to roll around! Pumpkin spice may be a bit basic, but if basic taste good, it's a go! So here, we started the season off with some basic brownies laced with swirls of pumpkin mix and a couple sprinkles of butterscotch chips. YUMMMM!
These pumpkin butterscotch brownies are dense and fudgy, just like how I like classic brownies. The pumpkin mix laced throughout gives the brownies nice hint of pumpkin pie, which is perfect for fall. And lastly, topping off the brownies with butterscotch chips just seems to make everything feel more cozy.
Make your own pumpkin spice
I love the convenience of using pumpkin spice, but sometimes, you just don't have any laying around because pumpkin spice season only comes around once a year, and I get random cravings at random times.
But you know what? We can make pumpkin spice ourselves for when we're too lazy to make another grocery trip on a whim due to cravings! Plus, it's really simple and can totally be adjusted to your own preference. Here is my basic measurement for homemade pumpkin spice:
- 2 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves or allspice
Do feel free to adjust the spice ratio to your own preference. That's the magic of homemade spice!
Brownies look under-baked
I've got to say, these brownies are as deceiving as they are tasty, haha. Normally, brownies are done when a toothpick inserted 2 inches from the edge comes out mostly clean with a few crumbs here and there. However, these pumpkin butterscotch brownies look under-baked and wet even when it's baked perfectly. This is mostly attributed by the "pumpkin pie filling". The pumpkin pie filling folded into the brownie batter lightened up the brownies but also made it fudgier. And for a thick fudgey brownie, it's inevitable for it to look deceivingly undercooked.
So to determine if these brownies are baked through, there are a few clues I look for. First, the top of the brownie should puff up completely, even the center. The center should no longer be sloshy or jiggly. Second, when using a toothpick to test the brownie's doneness, the toothpick should come out mostly clean, minus a thin film of tacky batter. The batter should no longer be gooey. You could definitely bake the brownies 10 minutes longer to cook it completely. However, with how thick this brownie is, the residual heat in it will finish the baking perfectly.
If you're looking for other sweets and treats, you may like these:
- Fudgy Yuzu Brownies
- Cranberry Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
- Easy Soft & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Scones
Bake with love!
Mei ❤️
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Pumpkin Butterscotch Brownies
Ingredients
For the pumpkin mix:
- 1 cup pumpkin puree (not the pumpkin pie mix)
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup milk , whole
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1½ teaspoon pumpkin spice
- 2 teaspoon cornstarch
For the brownies:
- 8 ounce bittersweet chocolate chips (about 1¼ cups; semi-sweet works too)
- 8 Tablespoon unsalted butter (or 1 stick)
- 3 large egg
- 1⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup oil
- ⅓ cup milk , whole
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup butterscotch chips (or to preference)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare a 9x9 pan lined with parchment and lightly greased with oil.
- In a bowl, whisk together all the ingredients for the pumpkin mix until well combined. Set aside until needed.
- In a microwavable bowl, combine the bittersweet chocolate chips and butter. Microwave it in 20 second increments, while stirring in between, until both the chocolate and the butter are melted and well combined. Set aside and let cool.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs and sugar and whisk until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the oil, milk, salt, and vanilla and mix until everything is combined. Pour in the cooled, melted chocolate mixture and whisk until incorporated. Add the flour and fold everything together until no more dry flour is visible.
- Pour half of the brownie batter into the prepared 9x9 pan then top it with half of the pumpkin mix. Using a spatula, give the brownie batter and pumpkin a couple of folds to make swirly patterns. Sprinkle half of the butterscotch chips on the batter. Repeat with remaining batter and pumpkin mix and top the batter with remaining butterscotch chips.
- Bake the brownies for about 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a thin film of tacky batter. The batter should no longer be gooey.*Refer to post for more details on brownie doneness.*
- Remove the brownies from the oven and let it cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes then remove the brownies from the pan and let it completely cool on a wire rack.
Notes
- If you don't have pumpkin spice on hand but have other spices available in your pantry, you can simply mix together: 2 tablespoon cinnamon, 1 ½ teaspoon ground ginger, 1 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1 teaspoon clove or all spice. You can save the remaining spice mix for pumpkin pies or or other pumpkin spice recipes.
Nancy Edwards says
I made the brownies and they are cooling. They look delicious but either they need a bigger pan or a longer cooking time. I followed the recipe exactly but ended up cooking them an extra 30 minutes. I don't think the problem is with my oven because I've baked lots of other stuff and this is the first time I've had this problem.
Mei says
Hi Nancy!
Thank you for trying out our recipe! That is odd that the brownies took so much longer than 50 minutes. We had tested this recipe a couple of times, and they all took around 50 minutes to bake. I'll be baking these babies again for the family this coming week, so I'll see what may have gone wrong and will get back to you. Hope the brownies were tasty!
Happy baking!
Mei ❤️
Mei says
Hi Nancy!
We remade these pumpkin butterscotch brownies this past weekend, but found that the baking time remained around 50 minutes. It took my brownies (in a 9x9 pan) a total of 55 minutes to bake.
I did find that this brownie is a little deceiving when trying to determine whether it's baked through, especially with how thick it is. This brownie is a bit on the denser side and had swirls of "pumpkin pie filling," which made the brownie looked a little wet even when completely baked. Ultimately, when the brownie is baked through, it should be completely puffy on top (even the middle) and the center should not slosh or jiggle. When you insert a toothpick into the brownie, it should come out mostly clean with a thin film of tacky batter. The batter should no longer be gooey. And because The brownie is so thick and a bit denser, the residual heat left will cook the brownie to perfection.
As for the oven, we found that our oven takes an extra 10-15 minutes to preheat even after the oven's preheat setting is finished. So I highly suggest a oven thermometer for exact oven temperature.
Hope this helps and thank you for bringing it up to my attention!
Happy baking!
Mei ❤️