Chocolate Pumpkin Brownies

These come from my friend Dara - the recipe won a brownie bake-off a few months ago!

PUMPKIN BATTER:
1 T unsalted butter, softened
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 c canned or fresh pumpkin puree
1 t vanilla extract
½ t ground cinnamon
½ t ground ginger
1 T flour

CHOCOLATE BATTER:
5½ oz good-quality semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 eggs, at room temperature
1½ c sugar
1 t vanilla extract
¼ t salt
1 1/3 c flour

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9-inch baking dish.

2. Prepare pumpkin batter: In a small bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter with cream cheese until smooth. Beat in sugar, scraping bowl occasionally. Bet in egg, then add pumpkin puree, vanilla, cinnamon and ginger. Stir in flour.

3. Prepare chocolate batter: Combine semisweet chocolate and butter in a medium bowl. Set bowl over saucepan with 1-inch of simmering water and stir occasionally until melted. Remove from heat. In a separate bowl, combine eggs with sugar, vanilla and salt. Beat at low speed until light and fluffy- about 4 minutes. Using a large rubber spatula, fold in melted chocolate. Sift flour over the batter and fold it in just until combined.

4. Spread chocolate batter evenly in prepared pan. Using a Tablespoon, drop dollops of the pumpkin batter all over the top. Using the back of a butter knife, swirl the pumpkin batter slightly into the chocolate.

5. Bake for 30-40 minutes (starting checking on brownies at 30 minutes to see if they're done- a toothpick inserted into center should come out clean).

6. Let brownies cool completely before cutting.

Yield: 24 brownies