This is what happens when fall meets the classic magic bar dessert—a stepchild is born. Welcome my updated classic: pumpkin seven layer magic bar. While much of the classic component are there, I tweaked the flavor to reflect a pumpkin profile and since I’ve always found the classic far too sweet I took a few steps to offset it.

I started by adding shredded apples for more depth in flavor. After that I added roasted salted almonds and traded the heavy layer of chocolate for a generous sprinkling of chocolate chips.

Did it work? I think so.

If only life were this easy, right—add a little here, remove some from there and swap out one thing for another, and done. I’ve been told if life were that easy I’d bored. Here’s the thing, I don’t think so, friends. I think it would be rather nice to just throw away all my dirty clothes each week and by new rather than tether myself to home for the hours-on-hours it takes to load, transfer, fold and then put away all that stuff. And while I’m on a roll I would love to have an extension on all my late deadlines.

. . . see, I will take boredom any day. Any day.

**Recipe was modified September 2013, after several comments were left about the center not setting up. The original recipe calls for an 8×8 pan, I have since switched this recipe to be baked in a 9×13 pan to solve the “gooey center” problem**