em + the kitchen - pumpkin brownies.

Fact: These brownies are still in the oven as I type this.
Fact: I have not yet tasted them. Obviously.
Fact: I had to fill the batter bowls with water to keep from licking them any longer.

Fact: I don't even have to taste these brownies to know they're going to be killer.

I will perhaps soon move on from my fall flavors (I am out of apples, after all), but I'm enjoying them while they last. The weather finally matches what my kitchen's been churning out, so I am a happy girl.
I found this recipe in a vegan, gluten-free format, but I'm a big fan of full-fat anything, so I adapted it to my tastes. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Brownies
(adapted from here)

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1&1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1&1/3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt

Pumpkin Swirl
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
3 tbsp sugar
1 egg
1&1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 350* and prepare a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.
Start with the pumpkin swirl. Combine all ingredients in a medium sized bowl and beat with a hand mixer. Set aside. Resist temptation to eat.
Cream butter and sugar in stand mixer for several minutes, until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla and continue to beat well.
Add cocoa powder, salt, and flour, mixing just until combined.
Place about 3/4ths of the brownie batter in the baking dish. Top with pumpkin swirl and spread until it covers entire dish. Add remaining brownie batter on top in dollops and swirl with a knife to combine.
Bake for 45-50 minutes or until brownie is set.

Eat. And eat. And eat and eat and eat.
Note to self: actually let the cream cheese soften before mixing. Patience is a virtue, and still-cold cream cheese looks chunky and gross in photos.

Have you ever known you had a great recipe on your hands before you even tasted it?
-e.