Pumpkin chocolate chip bars

Nabbed this recipe from a post in one hundred dollars a month (thanks, Tori, for sharing this blog with me) and made them for Halloween.  They were wonderfully simple!  I considered making them again for Thanksgiving, but instead went for pumpkin pies and apple stack cake (will post recipe soon, it's a good 'un).  If you use soy chocolate chips, it's vegan.  I used regular chocolate because that's what I had on hand, and though I'm pretty open to this vegan stuff, you can pry the chocolate out of my cold dead hands.  

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars 

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice mix

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup canola oil

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 tablespoons water

1 cup canned (or pureed) pumpkin  (I pureed a small pumpkin, and then froze what I didn't use and made pumpkin pies for thanksgiving)

1 1/2 cup {soy} semi-sweet chocolate chips 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line  a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with parchment paper {for easy removal}In a medium sized bowl sift together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt.  In a mixing bowl combine the sugar, oil, vanilla and pumpkin. Once mixed gradually stir in flour mixture until smooth.  Fold in the chocolate chips and bake at 350 degrees for 28 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.  Cool 1 hour. Slice into 2 inch bites and store in an airtight container.