I’ll show you how to make fudgy pumpkin brownies with only 2 ingredients! A box of brownie mix and a can of pumpkin purée are all you need, and these brownies come out super moist and delicious. Perfect for a fall dessert table!
With fall arriving, you might also love these pumpkin cream cheese bars, chewy pumpkin cookies, and soft-baked pumpkin blondies. If you’re looking for an easy shortcut to chocolate brownies, check out my cake mix brownies recipe.
Sweater weather is around the corner, and it’s honestly the best for baking! I’m sharing my semi-homemade shortcut to extra fudgy brownies with today’s pumpkin brownies recipe. Like my cake mix pumpkin cookies, these brownies need only 2 ingredients, including a box of brownie mix and pumpkin purée. These brownies are full of rich, fudgy chocolate flavor and just the right touch of comforting pumpkin warmth.
The Magic of This Pumpkin Brownies Recipe
- 2 ingredients. This is the EASIEST brownie recipe ever. Of all time. Combine a box of brownie mix with a can of pumpkin, and bake!
- Ultra-moist and fudgy. Pumpkin adds loads of moisture to these bars. The flavor isn’t super pronounced, but the texture is unmatched. You can always spice them up with a pinch of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice.
- Make them your own. These pumpkin brownies are delicious as-is, and they’re even better frosted with creamy pumpkin spice frosting. I include the recipe below.
Grab These 2 Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need for these easy pumpkin brownies. Scroll to the printable recipe card for the full recipe amounts and details.
- Brownie Mix – You’ll need one family-sized (19.5-ounce) box of your favorite chocolate brownie mix. I use the Chocolate Fudge brownie mix from Pillsbury. You can use any brand you prefer.
- 100% Pumpkin Purée – Pumpkin makes these chocolate brownies all sorts of gooey and dense, in the best way. Not to mention the added flavor! Make sure you’re using pure canned pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling (they’re surprisingly easy to mix up, and pie filling will NOT work in this recipe).
Optional Pumpkin Spice Frosting
Before we continue, I’m not saying that you need to frost your brownies. But have you ever met a brownie that wasn’t improved by a thick layer of homemade frosting? To make a simple pumpkin spice frosting, you will need:
- Butter – To make the butter easier to mix, take it out of the fridge ahead of time so it softens to room temperature.
- Powdered Sugar – Also called confectioner’s sugar. If you have granulated white sugar but not powdered sugar in the pantry, add the sugar to a high-powered blender and blend to create a fine powder.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice – This is a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and cloves that you’ll find in pumpkin pie. Apple pie spice shares many of the same spices and is a good substitute in a pinch.
If you’d prefer, you could always slather these pumpkin brownies with chocolate cream cheese frosting or top them with my 2-ingredient chocolate frosting.
How to Make Pumpkin Brownies
I promised the easiest brownie recipe of all time, and I’m here to deliver. Here’s how to make the best pumpkin brownies in 3 quick steps.
- Prepare for baking. Preheat the oven to 350°F while you line a baking pan with foil. I recommend greasing the foil with cooking spray, too, for extra fuss-free removal.
- Mix the brownie batter. Add the dry brownie mix and pumpkin purée to a bowl, and mix until smooth.
- Bake! Pour the batter into your prepared pan and spread it around evenly. Bake at 350ºF for about 20-30 minutes. Once the center is set, take the brownies out and let them cool.
Frost the Brownies
If you’re frosting your pumpkin brownies, you’ll need to wait until they’re cooled completely. To make a quick pumpkin spice frosting:
- Cream together the butter and pumpkin spice, then add in the powdered sugar. Beat until the frosting is fluffy.
- Spread the frosting on top of the cooled brownies.
Tips for the Best Pumpkin Brownies
- Use real pumpkin purée. It’s very important to use 100% canned pumpkin purée. Pumpkin pie filling comes with thickeners and sweeteners already added, and doesn’t work in this recipe.
- Don’t overmix the brownie batter. These brownies are already denser than regular chocolate brownies, thanks to the pumpkin puree. Because of this, avoid overmixing the brownie ingredients! This ensures that your brownies still turn out soft and fudgy, and not overly chewy.
- These brownies are fudgy rather than cakey. Following the point above, if your brownies turn out cakey, this could be due to overmixing or overbaking. These pumpkin brownies are finished baking when a toothpick stuck into the center of the pan comes out clean.
Try These Variations
- Chocolate chip pumpkin brownies. Add a handful of semisweet, white, or dark chocolate chips.
- Pumpkin spice brownies. Spice up your chocolate pumpkin brownies with cinnamon, nutmeg, or pumpkin pie spice.
- Add nuts. Fill these pumpkin brownies with pecans for crunch. Or, add 1/4 cup of your crushed nuts of choice to the batter. Walnuts and almonds are also good options.
- Top with caramel sauce. Add a generous drizzle of microwave caramel sauce or pumpkin spice caramel sauce.
- More mix-ins. Chop up your favorite candy bars (Snickers, Reese’s, Butterfingers, etc.), or add in M&Ms for a pop of color!
- Make them spooky. Make Halloween pumpkin brownies with frosting (colored orange and topped with sprinkles so it’s extra festive!).
How to Store Pumpkin Brownies
- Store airtight. Store these brownies airtight on the countertop for up to 4 days. They’ll be at their freshest within the first 1-2 days. You can also keep them in the fridge; however, this dries out the texture a little.
- Can I freeze pumpkin brownies? These pumpkin brownies freeze well for up to 3 months. Freeze the brownies in a freezer-safe container, freezer bag, or tightly wrapped in plastic wrap. If you’re layering these when freezing, I do recommend placing a piece of parchment paper between layers. Thaw the brownies at room temperature, and enjoy.
More Brownie Recipes to Try
Pumpkin Brownies
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 25 brownies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
Make fudgy, 2-ingredient pumpkin brownies with a box of brownie mix and a can of pumpkin purée. These easy brownies are perfect for a fall dessert table!
Ingredients
For the Brownies
- 1 “Family Size” box (19.5 oz) brownie mix
- 1 (15 oz) canned pumpkin puree
For the Frosting (optional)
- 1/2 cup butter
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Line a 9×9 pan with foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.
- In a bowl, mix the brownie mix and pumpkin until smooth.
- Spread batter into the pan and bake for 25-30 minutes until set.
- Let cool completely. Frost if desired.
Add the Frosting (Optional)
- Cream butter and pumpkin pie spice until smooth.
- Turn the mixer to low and add powdered sugar.
- Turn the mixer up to medium and beat until fluffy.
- Spread the frosting over the brownies, if desired.
Followed recipe to the letter.
Took 50 minutes to bake. Looked like the most delicious brownies ever. Totally inedible! Texture was gummy not chewy.The taste was AWFUL!Like brownie mix with unsweetened gummy bears.Huge fail! My grandson and I took one bite and threw the whole thing into the garbage.It’s a definite NO,NOT EVER,for us.
Just had the EXACT SAME results — and reaction! Such a let down…I was hoping they’d be good…loved the concept, but unfortunately not the finished product.
All my family is on a diet this year but my grandmother keeps saying we need to have 5 different desserts. Is it any wonder everyone is trying to lose weight? 😉 Anyway, I remembered seeing this type of recipe when I was on WeightWatchers’ last year but I wanted to wait until Fall so that if it tasted like pumpkin it wouldn’t seem weird. I also wanted to test the recipe out before Thanksgiving, just to see if it was something I could give to my family.
I read all the reviews of this recipe (and I want to say that I am sorry you have to deal with all this Shelley). I don’t usually comment when I use a recipe from a blog because I’m pretty lazy but I wanted to add my voice to this chaos.
First, I used Ghiradelli Chocolate Supreme brownie mix (the recipe called for an 8×8 or a 9×9 pan) and a 15-oz can of pumpkin. I made the brownies according to the box, not your instructions (sorry Shelley, but I couldn’t remember!). I used an 8-in diameter circle pan, because that’s what was clean.
One note I will put here: Usually when I bake brownies, the batter settles and you get a smooth surface on top. I personally don’t care what they look like, but if you do, you might want to spread the batter so that it’s smooth.
They smelled wonderful and I couldn’t wait to try them. When I stuck the toothpick in the middle, a bit of dough came out but the edges were quite done. The middle pieces have more of a fudgy texture while the sides are a bit cakey. Which happens to be perfect for my family, since there are people who prefer both!
I could not taste pumpkin. I’m not particularly fond of pumpkin tastes, so I was a bit worried about that, but it’s not there. I will say, it does not taste like that brownie mix does when it is made with oil and eggs, so if you go into it expecting that, you will be disappointed. However, it does taste like brownie, which is all I require. It is actually very tasty and I will be making this for Thanksgiving next week. I’m taking the remnants of this week to my bible study tonight. Thanks for the inspiration Shelley!
I made these last year and am making them again today for the teachers. i bake for them every week. These are amazing!! I generally don’t use mixes, but today I have so much else to do. Thanks so much!!
I’ve made these several times, now, and love them!! I can’t taste the pumpkin in them at all, and they are super fudgy. I like to add a handful of chocolate chips, because, well….why not? I have to bake mine 45 minutes at 375 for them to get done. They never last very long!
I tried making these for the first time and they turned out great! Question though–should I store them at room temperature or in the refrigerator? I had them in the refrigerator but the tops of the brownies kept getting sticky because it was accumulating moisture, even though I put a paper towel in with them to absorb it. So is it better to keep them at room temperature?
I recently saw an episode of Hungry Girl on the Food Network. Lisa Lillien used a similar approach in her fudge brownies–using pumpkin but also adding some lite chocolate syrup to the mix and then drizzling some melted peanut butter on top before baking. I may have to try that next!
Great idea!! I have kept mine at room temperature and they are fine!
Thank you so much, this is exactly what I was looking for!
I added a block of cream cheese to the frosting as a friend suggested! It put these cookie bars way over the top!!!
These just came out of the oven. I baked them in a 9×13 pan and sprinkled chocolate chips on them. Realized my pan size error after they were in the oven. Didn’t matter they are delish! THANKS! So happy 🙂
Has anyone used this with a gluten free brownie mix? Results?
Thanks so much for sharing this! I’m making them today. Is it ok to use parchment paper instead of foil?
yep, sure!!