Gingerbread Brownies with a Pumpkin Swirl

Pumpkin and ginger are two flavors that were made for each other. And what could be better than combining them into a delicious brownie?

These Gingerbread Brownies with a Pumpkin Swirl are the perfect way to enjoy the flavors of pumpkin and gingerbread all in one bite. The brownie base has a classic gingerbread flavor, while the pumpkin swirl on top adds a little something special that everyone will rave about.

These brownies are just as easy to make as any homemade brownie and they are absolutely beautiful to look at. Although they don't have the chocolate flavors of traditional brownies, I know you will find them just a delicious as chocolate fudgy brownies.

Supplies & Equipment Needed

You don't need any specialized equipment to make this recipe, but a stand mixer does come in handy if you have one. If not, no worries, a handheld electric mixer will be perfectly fine.

The other supplies you will need are as follows:

• 9x13 pan
• medium and large mixing bowl
• small saucepan
• measuring cups and spoons
• cooling rack or wire rack

Ingredients & Substitutions

Gingerbread Brownie Mix

Dry Ingredients

This recipe uses the basic dry ingredients founding in many brownie or cookie recipes; all purpose flour, baking powder, salt, and spices.

You can certainly switch out the all purpose flour for cake flour if you like or even try a Gluten free flour that is a 1:1 substitute in baking like Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Flour. I have not tested the recipe using any other flour other than all purpose, so I cannot tell you exactly how it will turn out.

The spices used are those gingerbread spices like; allspice, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger. Together, with the blackstrap molasses, they create the gingerbread flavor. While you can adjust, omit, replace the spices as you like, changing any of them may result in different flavor.

Wet Ingredients

Brown Sugar, eggs, blackstrap molasses, and butter make up the wet ingredients in this recipe.

You may be asking why brown sugar is a wet ingredient and not a dry ingredient. Technically, brown sugar is a dry ingredient, but in this recipe we combine with the wet ingredients and heat it so it liquifies and dissolves. For this reason, it's considered a wet ingredient in this recipe.

If you are not familiar with blackstrap molasses (called Treacle or Black Treacle in the UK and other European countries), it is not the exact same thing as dark molasses. Blackstrap molasses goes through a third boiling and is not as sweet as light or dark molasses. However, if you can't find blackstrap molasses, you can use dark molasses instead.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Swirl

The Pumpkin swirl in the gingerbread brownies not only gives a little lift to the gingerbread flavor that can be overpowering for some, it also adds some creaminess to the brownies that I just love and I think you will, too!

The batter is made from basic pumpkin cheesecake ingredients; cream cheese, sugar, canned pumpkin, and pumpkin pie spices.

You can either use canned pumpkin or your own homemade pumpkin puree or switch things up a little and use butternut squash puree! You don't want to use pumpkin pie filling because it contains other ingredients and would throw your ratios off.

If you aren't a fan of pumpkin, you can absolutely skip the pumpkin cheesecake swirl and the brownies will still be delicious!

Final Touches

I like to add a little drizzle of white chocolate to the top or I have also used a pecan bourbon glaze that is wonderful on these brownies. I will provide the recipe below in case you want to make the glaze.

Pecan Bourbon Glaze

Ingredients

• 1 cup William Wolf Pecan Bourbon
• 8 ounces white chocolate

Directions

1. In a small saucepan heat the William Wolf Pecan Bourbon on medium heat until it begins to boil, reduce heat to low and allow to simmer until liquid is reduced by half. This takes about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and place bourbon in bowl or measuring cup. You should have ½ cup of bourbon.
2. Over a double boiler, heat the white chocolate until melted. Or microwave in 20 second intervals until melted. Do not overheat or the chocolate will seize. Slowly add in bourbon, whisking constantly. You may see clumps start to form, just continue whisking and adding the bourbon until it is all incorporated. The glaze will thin out and the lumps will go away. Allow the glaze to thicken slightly, but use within 2 hours or it becomes difficult to work with.

How to Make Gingerbread Brownies

Mise En Place

Here are a few things you can do to get ready to make the recipe.

• Take the cream cheese out of the fridge at least four hours before making the recipe so it has time to come to room temperature.
• Take the eggs out of the fridge at least 4 hours prior to making the recipe so they come to room temperature.
• Preheat the oven to 350℉/175℃ about 20 minutes before making the recipe.
• Gather the supplies you will need to make the recipe about 10 minutes before you begin.
• Gather ingredients and measure them out about 5 minutes before making the recipe

Gingerbread Brownie Base

Combine the butter, dark brown sugar, and blackstrap molasses in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. This takes about 8-10 minutes. Turn off heat and allow the mixture to cool for about 15-20 minutes. This is a great time to prepare your pan and also whip up the pumpkin cheesecake mixture for the swirl.

When you are ready to add the eggs to the brown sugar mixture, it's important that the mixture isn't so hot that it will start to cook the eggs when they are added.What I do is turn the mixer on for about 3-5 minutes with the brown sugar mixture and mix on low speed with the paddle attachment so it cools down quicker.

With the mixer on low speed, add in the vanilla extract and add one egg at time and beat on low until combined.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and spices. Mix well.

Add in ⅓ flour mixture and continue to beat on low until flour is incorporated into batter. Repeat until all flour is incorporated into batter.

If you haven't already done this, prepare your 9x13 pan by either lining with parchment paper, spraying with baking spray or using butter and flour to lightly coat the pan.

Pour the gingerbread brownie mixture into the pan and spread it so it covers the entire bottom.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Swirl

Add the room temperature cream cheese, sugar, and spices to the bowl of a stand mixer or a medium size mixing bowl if using a hand held electric mixer.

Mix on low to medium speed until the ingredients are well combined.

Add in the pumpkin puree, egg, and vanilla extract and blend on low speed until smooth. The mixture will not be as thick as a traditional cheesecake mixture, it will have the consistency of a pumpkin pie filling.

Transfer the pumpkin cheesecake batter to a small bowl and refrigerate until you are ready to use it.

Topping the Gingerbread Brownies with a Pumpkin & Molasses Swirl

Using a large scoop that is about 3 Tablespoons, scoop the pumpkin cheesecake batter on top of the gingerbread brownie batter. You will usually get about 3 down and 3 or 4 across. Try to get close to the edges of the pan with the cheesecake batter, but not touching the pan.

Take a butter knife and swirl the pumpkin cheesecake batter into the gingerbread brownie batter in a criss cross motion.

Drizzle 1 Tablespoon of blackstrap molasses on top and using a butter knife, swirl the molasses into the pumpkin cheesecake batter to create a design.

Baking

Place the pan into a preheated oven on 325℉/160℃ and bake for 40-45 minutes or until the top is set and not jiggly. Remove from the oven and cool completely on a cooling rack.

Cutting & Decorating

Once the brownies are cool, cut them into the size you want them. I like to cut the first brownie with a small nylon spatula because my cake pan is non-stick. Once the first 1-2 brownies are out, I remove the a block of the brownies and finish cutting them on my cutting board.

Melt some white chocolate wafters and add about ½ teaspoon of avocado oil to thin out the chocolate.

Drizzle the top of each brownie with the white chocolate. Allow to sit so the chocolate hardens some. If you are going to store and serve later, hold off on the chocolate drizzle until you are ready to serve them. Especially if you plan on freezing them.

Serve and Enjoy!

Frequently Asked Questions

More Brownie & Cookie Recipes

I'm always looking for different kinds of recipes that I can make to serve at parties, cookouts, or at holiday celebrations. Here are some of my favorites!