Bonus (Non-Cajun) Recipe: Gingerbread Pumpkin “Brownies”

I was having a sweet tooth the other night, and sort of created these by “accident”.

I roasted fresh pumpkin earlier this week, so was needing to use some of that for baking.  I found a recipe for “chocolate-pumpkin marbled brownies”, which sounded delicious (because I am a fan of all things “fall spice”, and all things chocolate).  But when my sweets craving hit, I didn’t have any ingredients for the chocolate brownie portion of this recipe on-hand.

BUT, I did have this in my pantry:

So…I improvised!

Ingredients:

Gingerbread cookie mix

1/2 cup applesauce

1 tbsp butter

1 egg

1/2 to 1 cup water

(NOTE: if you can’t find the cookie mix, just get regular gingerbread cake mix & prepare according to package directions—we had to improvise a bit to get the batter to the right consistency.  Buy whichever is more cost-effective for you. PS—using an equal amount of applesauce as a replacement for the butter on the cake mix cuts out a lot of extra fat & calories.)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix these ingredients together, pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan.

For the pumpkin portion:

3 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 tablespoon butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

In a medium mixing bowl beat cream cheese and the 1 tablespoon butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the 1/2 cup sugar. Beat until well combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in 1 egg, the pumpkin, 1 teaspoon vanilla, the cinnamon, and ginger until combined. Stir in the 1 tablespoon flour.

Spoon the pumpkin mix over the gingerbread batter, then use a knife to swirl together.  Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Linked to: 33 Shades of Green