Toffee-Topped Pumpkin Blondies

 I'm sorry if you're getting sick of all the pumpkin recipes on here. I promise it'll only last until next week (Thanksgiving, which in my opinion marks the official start of Christmas cookie season!). The last couple of months of the year are always insane, with tests, concerts, holiday parties, and of course, lots of delicious food. On Thursday, I took an hour out to just bake whatever I wanted to, and this was what I came up with.
These blondies are a combination of everything good. Pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice make them reminiscent of my favorite Starbucks drink, and the addition of chocolate makes anything better. The toffee bits sprinkled over the top give them a delicious crunchy layer that makes them irresistible. I snuck some into school for friends, and they were far gone by the end of the day.
Enjoy!

Toffee-Topped Pumpkin Blondies

(heavily adapted from The Domestic Rebel)

2/3 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup unsweetened pumpkin puree
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup toffee baking bits

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8×8″ baking pan; set aside.
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar together. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes. Stir in the vanilla and pumpkin puree. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and salt and stir until a dough has formed (it may seem thick for blondie dough; no worries). Stir in the chocolate chips. If the dough is still warm, they may start to melt - that's perfectly okay, a little chocolate swirl never hurt anybody!
Spread the mixture into your prepared pan. Sprinkle the top evenly with the toffee bits. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out mostly clean. Cool completely before cutting into squares. (Although they will smell incredible warm out of the oven, don't try to cut them until they're cooled - trust me!)