Well, it happened.  The temps dropped, the air grew crisp, the leaves began to fall and I started drinking my morning coffee with a hoodie on.  Fall is upon us!  I unashamedly buy into all fads and trends related to fall: flavored lattes, new house decor, boots with infinity scarves, and pumpkin.  So join me, bust out those cans of pumpkin you’ve been hoarding over the last 10 months and let’s get started with some baking.

To make these chocolatey pumpkin cream cheese beauties, I followed this recipe from Better Homes and Gardens.  The only substitution I made was using 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder + 1 tablespoon unsalted butter in place of each ounce of unsweetened chocolate simply because we had no unsweetened chocolate.

I think I actually created chevron brownies (well, kinda. almost.) – just another fad I am more than willing to jump into full force!  These brownies are very rich, but rich in the sense that you cannot, will not stop eating them (as opposed to rich in the sense of just a bite or two will do).  The actual brownies are just the right composition of moist and intense chocolate flavor.  They taste almost as if they’ve had actual chocolate chips added to them.

The pumpkin cream cheese adds a level of familiar comfort that we all long for when eating dessert.  It’s almost as if you are a child who sneaked a piece of pumpkin pie and a brownie from the dessert table.  In my humble opinion though, pumpkin cream cheese > pumpkin pie.  Besides the creamy pumpkin and chocolate, you will notice how the cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger from the pumpkin pie spice bring certain zest to eat luscious bite.

These pumpkin cream cheese brownies should definitely be served with a tall, cold glass of milk (cow, almond, soy – whatever floats your boat).

Tell me: What are your favorite things about fall?