Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Pumpkin Blondies (By Accident)


I intended to make pumpkin bread from my mom's recipe. I got all my ingredients together and followed the recipe exactly. Then, with great anticipation, I put my little loaves into the oven to bake. I imagined how it would be to bite into a nice fluffy slice later that afternoon.

When I finally went to check my loaves, I noticed that something was definitely wrong. They hadn't risen like they were supposed to. Upon removing one from its pan and cutting off a slice, I also saw that the bread was very dense. What happened to my fluffy little breads? I ran back to my computer, perused my recipe with great care, and saw that indeed I had done everything right. So, what could have gone wrong? Well, as it turns out, I had copied the recipe wrong, omitting the part about the baking soda. As a result, I didn't put any in and, there you have it, dense little breads (if they could still be called such).

I was about to despair. All that time, effort, and ingredients spent. I was about to throw them into the trash and chalk this up as a failure. Then, I took a taste. Oh my gosh. It still tasted perfect - pumpkiny, spicy, and delicious. This could no longer be called bread. No, rather this inadvertent mistake had transformed them into the most incredible pumpkin blondies - dense, moist, slightly cakey, and full of flavor to the max. In fact, this ranked right up there with the pumpkin pie bars/brownies I had also made that same day (that post to follow later this week).


I was absolutely thrilled. It was definitely a happy accident. As a matter of fact, I may have to make this "mistake" again (totally unintentionally, mind you).


"Mistaken" Pumpkin Blondies


2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
2 c. sugar
3/4 c. salted butter or margarine
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin
2 eggs

Sift all dry ingredients together. Cream butter and sugar and add the eggs. Add the pumpkin. Add flour mixture. Bake at 350F in five mini greased loaf pans for about 30-45 min., or until a toothpick comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached. Alternately, this could also be baked in a greased 9x13 pan for a more blondie-like appearance.

This recipe is linked to:

11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven's "Homemaker Monday"
All the Small Stuff's "Tuesdays at the Table"
Blessed with Grace's "Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays"
A Moderate Life's "Hearth and Soul Hop"
Beauty and Bedlam's "Tasty Tuesday"
A Beautiful Mess's "Tasty Tuesdays"
Dr. Laura's "Tasty Tuesday"
The King's Court IV: "What's Cooking Wednesdays"
ScrapAddict4Sure's "Whatcha Makin' Wednesdays"
Simply Sweet Home's "Friday Favorites"
Designs by Gollum's "Foodie Fridays"
Moms Crazy Cooking Blog Hop Party
Dessert Friday

73 comments:

  1. Hahaha! Those mistakes happen to me several times... still I can make something out of those... like what you did! It looks yummy indeed! Happy Mid-week!

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  2. Mmmmmmmm, pumpkin blondies. Yummy! Glad your mistake turned out so delicious. :)

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  3. thats really funny, and these look good! Im going to give them a try! Always looking for yummy and easy things to make, while my baby is napping! Of course, im playing on blogs instead of doing anything...

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  4. Funny! But I think they look awesome and yummy!! gloria

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  5. sometime mistake are wonderful, indeed they look yum :D

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  6. lucky mistakes in the kitchen are so much fun. you get something you weren't looking for but enjoy anyway!
    I undercooked some muffins last week but they tasted great anyway (and I learned a thing or two!)

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  7. They sure look good! I have done that myself, it just shows what a good sport you are to share that here. Thanks.

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  8. I love happy mistakes! These sound wonderful :)

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  9. I love accidental baking discoveries! :D They really do look good so I'll be sure to give them a go. Thanks for sharing it :)

    This was my first time taking part in the Hearth & Soul Blog Hop and your recipe/picture jumped out at me!

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  10. What a great "failure"! They sound so good!

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  11. Like your mistake! LOL. The blondies look very moist...yum!

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  12. It was a mistake in disguise. I'm glad you were able to salvage it. Sounds yummy!

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  13. Best things come from mistakes sometimes. Looks great and moist.

    Plan B

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  14. They look wonderful! We have made some remarkable discoveries by completely by accident. I am glad you shared this!

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  15. Sounds interesting and that 'mistake' came out much better and delicious...

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  16. Sometime from a mistake comes a very good result. Don;t forget that Tart Tatin was created by accident. They look great.

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  17. Thanks for stopping by on my page
    Looking at those blondies, I feel that it was good that u forgot the soda..coz they look sooo yummy .Nice color...would love to read more of such blessings in disguise kinda recipes from u :)

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  18. wow what a good mistake! All of my mistakes turn out to be inedible :) These sound delicious!

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  19. Hi Lisa
    looks like you had a happy accident!
    I love blondies though so I will have to bookmark this one.Stop by and link up with me.

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  20. My mistakes never turn out that good!

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  21. Those look really wonderful! I wish all cooking mistakes turned out as tasty as this looks!

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  22. Thanks for stoppin' by for a Latte'. It look like you have a lot of great recipes here so I am happy to be your newest follower. Always glad to meet another food blogger.

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  23. Lemons to Lemonade!! Way to go Lisa! great presentation too. :-)

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  24. Sounds like a very delicious mistake..lol I have been wanting to try making something with pumpkin. These sound perfect:)

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  25. Don't you love it when you are pleasantly surprised? These sound just perfect for fall!

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  26. Lemonade from lemons, eh? I think I'd prefer to have the pumpkin blondies anyhow, they look great. Thanks for sharing with the Hearth and Soul hop :)

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  27. I added myself to follow your blog. You are more than welcome to visit mine and become a follower if you want to.

    God Bless You :-)

    ~Ron

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  28. That is great! I have made those mistakes, but not with such a lucky outcome. Those sound great!

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  29. Mistake or not, those look great, Lisa.

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  30. I am definitely in the mood for baking something pumpkin-y - this just might be the answer!

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  31. Oops, oh well. Actually, pumpkin blondies sounds really good to me :)

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  32. what a great mistake! I love anything pumpkin...thanks for sharing!
    And thanks for stopping by and checking out my Pumpkin Pie Dip.

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  33. Love this recipe. But I really LOVE your presentation!!!

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  34. What a yummy mistake! They certainly got a suitable new name, wish all our kitchen disasters could work out this great!

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  35. Don't you love happy little accidents like this? They sound dreamy!

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  36. I am usually flipping out when I happen to have an accident like this but when it ends up being a creation as nice as your's, I am able to convince myself that it was probably for the best :)

    US Masala

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  37. Some of the greatest inventions happened by accident! :) These look delicious! I love the density:)

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  38. I know the disappointment of messing up a recipe but isn't it great when you realise you have created something new and wonderful!

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  39. I'm so glad you made blondies by accident!! They are my favorite and I've never seen a recipe for pumpkin blondies. I'm for sure making these this weekend!!!! :)

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  40. Its great when things work out isn't it? I'm glad you discovered the accidental gems, will have to try them out!

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  41. It is a "blessing in disguise" situation. And I am glad you did take that taste before you throw the whole thing away, or else we won't have to share this great recipe :-)

    Sawadee from Bangkok,
    Kris

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  42. I just randomly saw your comment on another blog saying that you lived in Brazil. Que legal!

    I'm a Brazilian expat also living in California. We should talk!

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  43. What a lucky mistake :) They look very moist and dense...which I prefer over fluffy desserts personally.

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  44. What a fabulous mistake!! Looks very yummu!

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  45. I wish all my mistakes turned out so yummy!!

    Btw, thanks for visiting my blog and commenting.
    ~ingrid

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  46. What a funny story. I guess it wasn't a mistake after all since you came up with a great new dessert.

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  47. So glad that your mistake worked out for you! I hate when recipes don't turn out and need to be thrown away! Lucky you that this turned out to be a new treat!

    Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving such nice comments!

    I'm hosting a giveaway right now, I'd love for you to stop by and enter!

    http://www.underthebigoaktree.com/2010/10/vitalicious-vitatops-giveaway-alisons.html

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  48. It looks delicious!!! And beautiful too!!
    XO

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  49. I love this!! They look awesome and you could have fooled me that that's not exactly how they were suposed to come out :) YUM for mistakes!

    Sues

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  50. Eu adoro blondies! Principalmente quando ficam assim, com a massa bem úmida!
    Errando é que se aprende ;)

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  51. Who cares if it didn't work as you planned? They sound amazing! YUM!

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  52. Sometimes mistakes are a good thing! Now you have a new recipe to add to your favorites, and next time you can make them on purpose. :)

    Thank you for sharing at Dr. Laura's Tasty Tuesday!

    Dr. Laura

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  53. That's awesome that your mistake created something even better! Yes, blondies always trump bread in my book :)
    LOVE all the pumpkin treats all over the blog world!

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  54. Wow, these look fantastic! I love everything pumpkin this time of year.

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  55. They were meant to be and they look delicious!

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  56. It's always interesting to learn how a tasty new recipe is created! Glad everything worked out for you! Your pumpkin blondies sound delicious. :)

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  57. Well it sure was a good mistake! I love blondies. They're much better than a regular quick bread. Yumm(:

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  58. Hi Lisa, I wanted to thank you again for sharing your recipe with the Hearth and Soul hop. I think it's a story that we can all relate to (although I wonder how many of us are lucky to have a tasty result ;)). I'll be including your post in my Best of the Blog Hop post this weekend.

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  59. Hi Lisa, I saw you on YBR and I had to come meet you and follow. I love your accident and can't wait to try them.
    -Gina-

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  60. Ok just reading your post is making me really want to go into the kitchen to bake some, and it's really late here:) Sometimes the unintentional mistakes are the best tasting one, as you can see for yourself. Thanks for submitting these beauties to the YBR. I really hope you will join us again next month.

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  61. I love when kitchen mishaps turn into success! I've had that happen so many times. One of my favorite fall recipes was a total mess that turned into caramel apple upside down cake!

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  62. I for one prefer blondies - so I think it was a great mistake - if you can even call it that - I did the same thing a hundred years ago in home ec - with blueberry muffins, mine however tasted terrible. Thanks for sharing this with the hearth and soul hop!

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  63. We would love for you to come link-up and share your pumpkin recipe with us.

    http://momscrazycooking.blogspot.com/2010/11/this-weeks-cravings-blog-hop-1-pumpkin.html

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  64. Thank You Thank You for linking up! LOVE all the pumpkin recipes!

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  65. Sounds amazing ~what a wonderful 'mistake!'

    Thanks for linking to This Week's Cravings!

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  66. OMGSH!!! These sound wonderful!!! Please link these up to my linky party! (Recipes I Can't Wait to Try!)

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  67. Thanks for linking them up & becoming a follower! =)

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  68. I love when a mistake still yields a beautiful and delicious end result. Wishing I had all the ingredients in the house now to make them but unfortunately I don't and would rather not throw on an extra two layers of clothing just to brave the cold. Will save the ingredient list for my next shopping trip!

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  69. What a wonderful mistake - YUM!!! They're so cute too! Thanks for linking them up!

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  70. So ... I think I messed this up. I mistakenly used self-rising flour, and I'm getting something that looks like cake! Lol. But -- that's OK. I'm just going to put some cream cheese icing on top and see how it is. :-)

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