It’s officially Fall, so you know that means it’s time to bake with pumpkin! I spotted the Candy Corn M&M’s recently and although I’m not crazy about candy corn, I am crazy about specialty flavors. I bought a bag and after brainstorming with Shannon from Family Bites, I thought I’d bake them into one of her dessert recipes! Candy corn…white chocolate…pumpkin… all those warm spices inside Pumpkin Squares with Candy Corn M&M’s.
So, how’s it taste?
Hello taste of Fall! I mean really these pumpkin squares capture it. The cake is super moist and full of pumpkin. I love, love, love pumpkin pie spice. Cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. Something about them together is warm and comforting. Now I love the combination of pumpkin and milk or dark chocolate, and when Shannon brought in her blondies, she made them with white chocolate. I had a feeling the Candy Corn M&M’s would work well in this recipe because they also are white chocolate. I didn’t like the Candy Corn M&M’s by themselves. The taste is super sweet and the candy shell makes them have a taste like Skittles. But boy do they change in pumpkin squares! The cake isn’t too sweet, so there’s a nice balance. The big M&M’s are just enough to dress up the bars and make them spectacular, yet you can taste the pumpkin and spices as well.
I undercooked mine just a little bit, but luckily they were still good, just more gooey. I baked mine for the minimum of 35 minutes and my toothpick came out clean, so I thought they were done. As they cooled, the middle sank so I knew they could’ve used a few more minutes. Watch your edges and test a few spots with toothpicks before taking yours out of the oven.
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Pumpkin Squares with Candy Corn M&M's
adapted from Family Bites
makes 24 bars
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. + a pinch* ground cloves
1/4 tsp. + a pinch* ground nutmeg
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
1 bag Candy Corn M&M's
*A pinch is roughly 1/16 of a teaspoon.
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line bottom and sides of a 9x13-inch baking pan with foil, leaving an overhang on all sides. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
2. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until smooth; beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in pumpkin puree (mixture may appear curdled). Reduce speed to low, and mix in dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in M&M's.
3. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake until edges begin to pull away from sides of pan and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely in pan.
4. Lift cake from pan (using foil as an aid). Peel off foil, and cut into 24 squares.
Oh, this is such a fun recipe. I tried Candy Corn M&M’s a week ago – never thought of incorporating it in baking. Hmmm…yum!!!
These squares looked so good, I featured them in a RecipeLion blog post about candy corn. Thanks for the great recipe!