Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Streusel Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 2 ⅓ cups (331 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (see note)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (113 g) salted butter, softened to room temperature
- ½ cup (113 g) unsweetened applesauce
- ¾ cup (159 g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (159 g) packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin, (about 2 cups)
- 1 ½ cups (255 g) semisweet chocolate chips
Streusel:
- 1 cup (142 g) all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup (159 g) packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
- ½ cup (113 g) salted butter, cut into tablespoon-size pieces and softened to room temperature
- ½ cup (85 g) semisweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup (57 g) toasted pecans (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch metal baking pan with nonstick cooking spray (or you can line with parchment or foil and then grease for easy cleanup).
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl using a handheld electric mixer, cream the butter, applesauce, granulated sugar and brown sugar on medium-high speed until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Add canned pumpkin and mix until combined. It's ok if the mixture looks curdled.
- Mix in the dry ingredients, stirring just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.
- For the streusel, in a small bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add the butter and mix with a pastry blender or your fingers until the streusel is evenly combined and forms small clumps.
- Sprinkle the streusel mixture over the pumpkin bars followed by the 1/2 cup chocolate chips and toasted pecans (if using).
- Bake until the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs attached, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely in the pan before serving. These bars are delicious at room temp or warm (and super tasty with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!).
Notes
For a Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice: mix use the following: 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ginger, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon cloves. Mix together for the equivalent of 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (you'll want to triple these amounts for this particular recipe since it calls for 1 tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice).