Pumpkin Fudge-Blondies

I had a happy accident in the kitchen yesterday.  I was trying to bake these really yummy sounding Bombshell Blondies.  I happened to have most of the ingredients called for, so I was good to go.   I decided to cut down on the nuts and use carob chips so they would be a little more low cal, not too much tinkering.   Those were the only changes I was planning on making, but then things went a little awry...

I guess I should have looked at the recipe a bit closer when I needed to add the flour.  It seems I forgot ONE WHOLE CUP of the stuff!!  Oops!  (with me and baking, ya never know what you're gonna get!)  I didn't realize it until they where almost ready to come out of the oven.  Nothing to do about it then, I just had to wait and see.  Happy to report, they turned out great!  Sweet, extra dense, but with a soft, almost  'fudge-y' texture...and with a great flavor!  An unexpected cross between a blondie and fudge.  Roy really liked them, and he is a hard sell when it comes to anything pumpkin ~ so I know they're good.  Here is my distorted version of the adapted recipe.  Enjoy!

Pumpkin Fudge-Blondies
makes 12-16 bars/squares

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/3 cup avocado oil
• 1/2 cup brown rice syrup
• 1/4 cup low fat milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground ginger
• pinch salt
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup carob chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F and oil an 8 x 8 inch brownie pan.  Using a whisk, whip together the first 5 ingredient together. (pumpkin-vanilla extract)

Add in flour, baking powder, spices and salt, folding-in to form a smooth batter.  Then fold in nuts and carob chips. Spread batter evenly in prepared baking pan.  Bake between 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean.

Let the Fudge-Blondies cool in the pan for an hour before cutting into bars/squares.  Store in a covered container, in the fridge.