Pumpkin Swirl Cake

I finally finished the pumpkin cookie-cakes I made last week. Even though I only made half a batch, it didn't occur to me at the time that it would take ten days to eat the ten cookies. By the second week they tasted kind of "meh," so I made open-faced ice cream sandwiches out of them :D

Anyway, now that I've finally finished the dessert-type goods in my kitchen, it was time to make some new ones. Pumpkin brownies seemed like the logical next step, but every recipe I found called for two cups of sugar! I'm not a sugar-phobe, but I do have my standards. Fortunately, the StreamingGourmet posted about precisely these treats today as part of their "31 Days of Pumpkin" (I reiterate, the blogosphere has gone nuts for pumpkin lately!). I didn't use their recipe, but followed the link at the bottom to some healthier bars by the Makover Moms. They only used 3/4 cup of sugar for an entire batch, no butter, and half whole wheat flour--score!

I made some further modifications because I wanted swirls instead of chips, and halved the batch as usual.
(Makes 9 servings)
-1 cup pumpkin puree
-1 large egg
-1/4 cup egg whites
-1/4 cup canola oil
-2 tablespoons light soy milk
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-1/3 cup sugar
-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
-1/2 cup whole wheat flour
-1 teaspoon baking powder
-1/4 teaspoon baking soda
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger to personal preferences
-1 tablespoon cocoa powder

In a medium mixing bowl, beat the wet ingredients and sugar together. In a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients except the cocoa. Incorporate the dry into the wet and pour 2/3 of the batter into an oiled 8x8 pan (oil it well; my cake fell apart when I attempted to turn it out and I was 'forced' to eat the broken bits :p)


Add the cocoa to the remaining batter and combine thoroughly. Drop the chocolate batter by mounds onto the pumpkin batter and swirl with a knife.


Bake at 350° for 20 minutes, until the top is spongey.


Leave it to set for five minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack and cut into 9 pieces. Each soft, fluffy piece is only 150 calories and contains plenty of beta-carotene.