Pumpkin blondies are already one of the coziest fall desserts: chewy, spiced, and rich with brown sugar flavor. Turn them into Halloween mummies, and you've got yourself a showstopper.
They're easy to make in one bowl, no mixer needed, and bake up perfectly moist without being cakey. Once cooled, you drizzle melted white chocolate to create "bandages" and finish with candy eyes for that spooky-cute touch. They're festive without requiring complicated decorating skills, which is exactly how I like my holiday baking.
Perfect pumpkin treat
These little bars hit all the right notes for a fun night trick or treating: they're pretty easy to make, have a soft, buttery texture, just enough spice, and the mummy outfit doesn't require piping skills.
Halloween bakes are fun and should be simple to make if you ask me, like Halloween bark or 'bloody' cupcakes made with pantry staples.
This recipe is made from scratch, but it works even for beginners.
Bake it as a quick treat for school parties, potlucks, or a Halloween dessert table. You can double the batch in a 9x13-inch pan, and they keep well for several days.
Testing Notes
Mix of butter and oil: the first makes the blondies rich and flavorful, and the latter adds moisture and fudginess. The butter is melted, so it's just as easy as using oil.
Egg yolk: Not using the whites makes these bars fudgier and richer. They do work with a whole egg if you must use it.
Bandage decoration: Melted white chocolate works very well, but they can also be made by piping royal icing, the one used for decorating cookies that hardens as it dries.
Preparing the pan
Use parchment paper so removing the blondies from the pan is easier. I tend to use just one long strip covering the bottom and two sides (image step 1 below). But you can use two strips (crisscross style) and cover all four sides, like the images in this post.
Measure the width of the pan you're using and cut a strip the same size. The length of the strip is given by the parchment paper you bought.
Butter or spray the pan and place the strip of parchment paper covering the bottom and two sides, allowing the grease to act as glue.
Pour in the batter, bake it, and run a smooth-bladed knife along the paperless sides after it's cooled down but before it completely sets so you can unstuck parts that need it.
When ready to remove the blondies, help yourself by grabbing the two ends of the paper and lifting the whole block of blondies from the pan.
Pumpkin batter
It's thick but simple to make, as the ingredients only need to be integrated in a mixing bowl.
You can make pumpkin puree from scratch or from the store, canned, for convenience.
Baking and cutting
Let the blondies cool completely before attempting to decorate them, or the 'bandages' will melt and make a mess.
Cut rectangles so they resemble the 'body' of the mummy.
White chocolate 'bandages'
I like candy melts or wafers because they're easier to melt and made for this type of decoration.
But you can use white chocolate chips (I love white Guittard chips or Ghirardelli white chocolate chips) with a bit of coconut oil to make it more fluid.
Freezing blondies
The pumpkin pieces freeze well.
I cut them into rectangles, wrap them in plastic and place them in a Ziploc-style bag. Label and date them for easier handling afterward. Defrost at room temperature and blot them dry before decorating them.
There is a whole post devoted to Freezer Baking & Desserts. A simple guide to using your freezer for baked goods!
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Halloween Mummy Pumpkin Blondies
Ingredients
Pumpkin batter:
- ¼ cup vegetable oil, I use sunflower
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup brown sugar, light or dark, packed
- ½ cup pumpkin purée, homemade or store-bought, not pie filling
- 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, or ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Mummy decoration:
- ½ cup white candy melts, or white chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil, for a smoother melted chocolate if using chips
- candy eyes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line an 8x8-inch pan with parchment paper and lightly grease it.
Pumpkin blondie batter:
- In a large bowl, whisk ¼ cup vegetable oil, ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted, and 1 cup brown sugar.
- Add ½ cup pumpkin purée, 1 egg yolk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Mix to combine well.
- Stir in sifted dry ingredients: 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, ½ teaspoon baking soda, and ¼ teaspoon salt until just combined.
- Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out almost clean or with just a few moist crumbs. Don't overbake.
- Cool completely on a wire rack. Remove the block of blondies from the pan with the help of the paper and slice into rectangles.
For the mummy costume:
- Melt ½ cup white candy meltswith optional 1 teaspoon coconut oil (to make it smoother and easier to drizzle) in the microwave in 20-second bursts until smooth.
- Use a spoon or piping bag to drizzle white chocolate "bandages" across each blondie. Press on 2 candy eyes per blondie before the chocolate sets.
- Let cool completely on a wire rack before eating.
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