AKM designs and delights: Chocolate Chip Studded Pumpkin Roll Bars

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Chocolate Chip Studded Pumpkin Roll Bars

Do you have school age kids? If so, I am sure you can appreciate what I have to say.

Every year my kids bring home fund raisers to help the school, well, raise funds for the things that they need.

I’m cool with that…in fact I support it, to a degree.

What gets me though is that school hasn’t even been in session for a full month and they are ALREADY asking me for MORE money.

Can’t they give us a little more time to recoup our losses from the first week of school???

You know that week where they send home all the paperwork that the parents are to sign and initial, put blood samples on…promises of your kids first born…a check for this, a check for that…$200.00 later and then…

IT’S FUNDRAISER TIME

UGH! I seriously don’t know how parents of multiple children do it! I have two and its killer!

Imagine the Dugard Family having to do this…My guess is that’s how home schooling got started???

I’m just sayin’.

Anywhoo…so they bring home these fundraisers filled with wrapping paper, trinkets and baked goods….all way over priced. Way, way WAY over priced!

But that’s beside the point.

Yet EVERY stinking year my kids ~~beg, plead, cry~~ ask me to buy the Pumpkin Roll.

Now I ask you...Why would I ever buy baked goods when I can make my own???

It's because I am afraid of the Pumpkin Roll...seriously.

It might be some type of actual phobia...

Like maybe pumkinrollaphobia?

And no...I'm not afraid of the actual pumpkin roll...just the making of it.

The "rolling" of it to be exact.

I'm always afraid that I'll make this awesome pumpkin cake...spread out some seriously yummy cream cheese filling...go to roll it up

Only to have it turn into a huge, crumbly mess.

Sure I could turn that mess into truffles...

But who needs that kind of stress?

So I usually just buy them their coveted pumpkin roll and justify it as "helping out the school".

But not this year!

This year I found a loop hole to the pumpkin roll.

Oh yea I did!

I turned them into bars!

It's ok to thank me.

I graciously accept.

These bars are every bit as decadent as the Pumpkin Roll itself.

But with chocolate chips!

Cause thats how I roll.

So this year instead of buying pumpkin rolls...I guess I'll be buying wrapping paper.

Chocolate Chip Studded Pumpkin Roll Bars

by Angi McCarthy (slightly adapted from Six Sisters Stuff)

Ingredients

For the Cake

3 Tablespoons Butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar
1 eg
1/2 of a 15 oz. can of pumpkin
1/8 cup water
1 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Cream Cheese Filling

4 oz. cream cheese softened
1/8 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a small 8 x 8 inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.

In a bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until smooth.

Beat in eggs, pumpkin, vanilla and water until well blended.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin/butter mixture and combine until well blended.

Stir in chocolate chips

Spread about 2/3 of the batter evenly into the prepared pan.

Cream Cheese Filling

In a bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth.

Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over the pumpkin batter.

Dollop the remaining pumpkin batter over the cream cheese batter and spread out as evenly as possible.

Use a table knife to swirl together the cream cheese and top layer of pumpkin batter.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the center of the pumpkin batter springs back when touched. Cool completely in pan, then cut into bars.