High Altitude Frosted Pumpkin Blondies
Soft pumpkin blondies with warm spices and chopped walnuts, frosted with buttercream and piped pumpkins.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- 9x13 Baking Dish
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
Ingredients
Blondies
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 2 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1 can (15 oz) plain pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 1 ¼ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground allspice
- ¾ - 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (or chocolate chips)
Buttercream
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ½ tbsp meringue powder (optional)
- pinch salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp maple extract (optional)
- gel food coloring in "orange" and "chocolate brown"
Instructions
Blondies
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Lightly spray a 9x13 inch baking pan with non-stick baking spray, or line it with parchment paper.
- Melt the butter, then let it cool for 10 minutes.
- In a bowl, whisk together the melted butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, egg and pumpkin, until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, spices and walnuts (or chocolate chips). Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, and stir together with a spatula until all the flour is incorporated.
- Spread the dough evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 35-37 minutes, until puffed and golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool the blondies completely before frosting. You can speed this up by letting them cool at room temperature for 30 minutes, then in the refrigerator for 1 - 1 1/2 hours.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for one minute until smooth.
- With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar by spoonfuls, the meringue powder and the salt. Add the extracts.
- Beat on medium speed for 4-5 minutes, stopping to scrape down the bowl several times, until light and fluffy, then turn the speed down to "stir" for 1 more minute.
- Frost the cooled blondies all over with the buttercream, reserving 3/4 cup.
- Tint the reserved buttercream with the orange gel food coloring and a drop or two of brown, to deepen the color. Use a piping bag and tip #18 to pipe little pumpkins all over the frosting. Add more brown food coloring (a little cocoa powder added helps, too) to the remaining buttercream to tint it a dark brown, then use a piping bag and tip #16 to pipe stems on the pumpkins.
Notes
Store leftover blondies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3-5 days.
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