Pumpkin Nanaimo Bars

For the crust:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Pulse all of the crust ingredients in a food processor for 2-3 minutes, or until they become fine crumbs. Press the crumbs onto the bottom of a greased and foil-lined 8×8 pan. Bake for 10 minutes. When done, remove it from the oven and set aside.

For the pumpkin pastry cream filling:
Heat the milk, pumpkin butter, and spices in a saucepan over medium heat until just below boiling.

In a medium sized bowl whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and salt. Slowly pour the hot milk mixture into the eggs, whisking constantly. Return mixture to the pot and cook over low heat until boiling, whisking constantly. Let it boil for 2-3 minutes then remove it from the heat.

Whisk in the vanilla extract and butter. Spread the filling mixture over the crust. Let it cool, then refrigerate for about 6 hours or overnight, until firm.

For the chocolate topping:
Heat the chocolate, butter and milk in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water until smooth and combined. Spread it over the pumpkin layer.

Refrigerate for about 15 minutes, or until the chocolate is set. Cut the square into bars with a sharp knife, wiping the knife clean after each cut.

Notes: Pumpkin puree can be substituted for pumpkin butter. If you do this add ⅓ cup of light brown sugar into the filling, in addition to the granulated sugar, and also add an additional 2 tablespoons milk.