Special Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Coconut Bars

A tree, and Timon, during the 10 seconds of The Lion King where he's dressed in drag and doing the hula.

Necessity is the mother of invention.

As a mother, who has pulled more things out of her ear at the last minute invented a number of memorable meals based entirely on what's on hand in the fridge or pantry, I get this statement.  It doesn't apply only to food--you want to be a tree for Halloween?  They don't sell tree costumes in the store.  You need a Wilbur Wright costume for social studies tomorrow morning?  Which one is Wilbur anyway?*

The recipe I am posting today is one of those such inventions.  I'd roasted a pie pumpkin merely because I had some in the Strategic Winter Squash Reserve (don't rush to eat all your CSA winter squash--it will keep for a few months in a cool dry place) and I had the oven on already.  Truthfully, I tossed it in the oven after baking some muffins (that will be up in December, when you've got Band Fruit Fundraiser Citrus) and utterly forgot about it for a few hours.  I stuck the very-roasted pumpkin in the fridge until I could decide its fate--then fate stepped in, in the form of an email requesting parents bring a sweet treat for the band concert.

I had a cake mix, and I knew we always have success with Cake Mix Doctor® recipes, so I checked the Cake Mix Doctor® website and found this.  I hesitate to use peanut butter in anything for a school function, in case of allergies, so I swapped in my roasted pumpkin and made Chocolate Pumpkin Bars instead.  Actually, I made the pumpkin part, and I took photos of my tree sapling daughter making the rest.  Check it out!

Special Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Coconut Bars (adapted from Cake Mix Doctor®)

1 stick butter
1 cup roasted pumpkin
2 eggs
1 box yellow cake mix
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 bag Special Dark chocolate chips
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and grab your (or your neighbor's) 13 x 9 glass pan.  Melt butter (I used a 4 cup pyrex measuring cup which my daughter later used for the chocolate--use it twice, clean it once).  Combine melted butter, pumpkin, eggs and cake mix in a large bowl.  I used my stand mixer.  Blend for a minute, then save out 1 1/2 cups of this thick batter and spread the rest into the pan.
Set aside.  In that dirty measuring cup or another microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in the microwave on high power in 30 second bursts, stirring in between.  For my daughter, this took 3 intervals of 30 seconds.  Add the vanilla after the chocolate is completely melted.  Spread the chocolate mixture over the thick batter in the pan, and artfully decorate with bits of the reserved batter.  Bake 35-40 minutes, then cool at least half an hour before cutting into bars.

*I currently live sorta near Hawthorn Hill.  The house was designed by both Wilbur and Orville Wright after their success with the airplane, though Wilbur died in 1912 before it was completed.  I'm not sure who was responsible for this amazing shower in the Wright's home--I'm guessing Orville, since it was in his bathroom.  Check it out.  Pretty sweet for 1914, no? (Yeah, I don't have a photo of the finished dessert, I'm just tap dancing at this point.)

This recipe is shared with the Wednesday Fresh Foods Link Up, What's Cookin' Wednesday, What's In The Box, From The Farm Blog Hop, Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Tasty Tuesdays and Food on Friday.