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