Candy Corn Pumpkin Blondies

by Cindi Sutter, Founder of The Spirited Table® recipe and image from epicurious.com

Ingredients
        
For the blondies
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
One 15-ounce can pure pumpkin
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
2 tsp pumpkin-pie spice
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

For the icing
One (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/8 tsp salt
Orange and yellow food coloring (preferably gel paste) for decorating

Instructions

Make the blondies

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly butter a 9- by 13-inch baking pan, line with parchment paper, and butter again.
2. In a medium saucepan, cook the pumpkin over medium heat, stirring frequently, until reduced to 1 cup, about 10 minutes. Add the maple syrup and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the pumpkin pie spice and butter until the butter melts. Transfer mixture to a large bowl. Let stand until room temperature, about 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir the brown sugar into the pumpkin mixture, then stir in the eggs and vanilla until incorporated. Add the flour mixture and stir until smooth. Spread evenly in the prepared pan.
4. Bake until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.
5. Place a large cutting board on top of the pan of blondies. Invert the pan and cutting board together, then lift off the pan and peel off the parchment paper. Cut the blondies into 3 even strips lengthwise, then cut each strip into 10 triangles with approximately 2-inch bases (you will have 1 smaller triangle on each end). Transfer the triangles to a large serving platter, flat bottom sides up.

Make the icing

1. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until smooth and fluffy. Add the confectioners' sugar, maple syrup, lemon juice, and salt. Beat on low speed until well-mixed, then raise the speed to medium-high and beat until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally.

Decorate the blondies

1. Transfer half of the icing to another large bowl and tint with orange. Transfer two thirds of the remaining to another bowl and tint yellow.
2. Divide the orange, yellow, and white icings among 3 piping bags or resealable plastic bags. Snip small holes in the corner of each. Pipe the icings on the blondies in stripes to resemble candy corn: a thin strip of yellow along the wide end, a thick strip of orange in the center, and a small white tip.
3. Let stand until set.

Do Ahead

The blondies can be tightly wrapped and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days. The iced blondies can be kept at room temperature for up to 4 hours.