 I am loving the cooler weather that has moved into Georgia and it has me eagerly anticipating the start of Fall- or as I like to call it - pumpkin and apple season. Seriously - nearly everything that comes out of my kitchen during September and October has either pumpkin, apple, cinnamon or all three. My family accuses me of being mildly obsessed with Fall recipes. Maybe it's because I've served them pumpkin pancakes, turkey apple sandwiches and pumpkin challah bread - all in one day. Clearly I love these flavors and these pumpkin chip breakfast cookies highlight them beautifully.  Pumpkin Chip Breakfast Cookies
Scoop batter onto a silpat lined cookie sheet. Flatten slightly because cookies will not spread.  Bake 15 minutes at 350.  Some days I just need a quick breakfast that I can grab on my way out the door or as I head down to the basement to workout. These little cookies are packed with healthy ingredients and they're the perfect pre-workout meal. The oats, nuts and fruit keep me fueled throughout my morning workout and who doesn't love starting their day with chocolate chips?
Now that I've conquered the pumpkin breakfast cookie - I'm going to try my hand at an apple pie breakfast cookie. Chopped apple, applesauce and apple pie spice - what do you think?
Ciao!
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 I feel like I am the only girl in America that has not jumped on the Pumpkin Spice Latte bandwagon. I'm actually a fan of the yummy Fall drink - it's the 420 calories that are hard to swallow. On second thought, it's easy to swallow - just hard to burn off.  Even though I've been able to resist ordering a pumpkin latte thus far, I have certainly had my fair share of pumpkin treats this month. I've made pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin cookies and pumpkin roll. I've been working out a new pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe and I've enjoyed sampling each batch along the road to pumpkin chocolate chip cookie perfection. Now you know why I can't afford to drink a 420 calorie pumpkin spice latte - I need to save those calories for cookies. ;)  Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Cookies 1/2 cup butter 1/4 cup (50 grams) packed light or dark brown sugar 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 6 Tablespoons (86 grams) pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling) 1 and 1/2 cups (190 grams) all-purpose flour (spoon & level) 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice 1/2 cup (90 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Stir in dry ingredients.
Stir in chocolate chunks.  Use an ice cream scoop to shape cookie dough into flattened balls of dough.
Bake 10 - 12 minutes at 350. 
 This recipe was not the easiest cookie recipe that I've ever created. (But it was one of the tastiest.) The addition of pumpkin to a traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe did not produce the result that I was looking for. In the end, I eliminated the egg and made some other minor modifications to create this deliciously moist and spicy pumpkin chocolate chip cookie.
Ciao! I planted a single eggplant plant (Is that how you say that?) in my garden last Spring and much to my surprise, I've had TONS of eggplants all summer long and even into this Fall. I've been passing out eggplants to anyone who will take them and we're doing our best to eat as meany of them as we can. They're just so beautiful that I hate for them to go to waste.
 I've had to get really creative in how I use my eggplant so that we're not eating eggplant parmesan and eggplant meatballs EVERY week. Last week I made a version of eggplant lasagna that turned out REALLY good. It is SUPER easy to put together and it's got all the yummy flavors of a really great lasagna without the carbs.  Eggplant Lasagna
Cut eggplant in half, lengthwise and scoop out some of the inside, leaving a 1/2 inch border around edges. 
Cover dish with foil. Bake 45 minutes at 350. Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes.
 Serve.
Eggplant lasagna is so much easier to make than traditional lasagna AND it tastes even better. This would be a great appetizer for a party too if you made it with baby Japanese eggplant. I love the way that these look and I love the way that they taste - even more.
Ciao!  It's nearly Thanksgiving - time for us to look back and reflect on everything that we are so thankful for. It's therapeutic for me to sit down and reflect on my blessings. It helps me to re-prioritize when my life gets chaotic and overwhelming.  Now that my list is written and my priorities are back in order, it's time to let all of those special people in my life know just how much they are loved AND since my love language is food - I think a special breakfast is in order. Cinnamon roll pancakes sound like a good way to say "I Love You" don't you think?  Cinnamon Roll Pancakes Pancake Mix (You can substitute a box pancake mix if you like.) 1 cup flour 1 cup buttermilk 1 Tablespoon sugar 1/8 cup sour cream ¼ teaspoon salt 1 egg ½ teaspoon baking powder 1 ½ Tablespoons butter, melted ¼ teaspoon baking soda Cinnamon Swirl 1/2 cup butter, melted 3/4 cup packed brown sugar 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon Cream Cheese Glaze 4 Tablespoons butter 2 ounces cream cheese 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Add to dry ingredients and stir gently. Let batter rest 10 minutes. (For some reason this picture did not turn out but I'm sure you've seen pancake batter before.) Melt a small amount of butter in the skillet. Use an ice cream scoop to drop circles of batter onto the hot skillet.  Squeeze a drizzle of cinnamon in the middle of each pancake. If you're using a bag, snip off the corner and squeeze the cinnamon mixture out of the bag onto the pancake.
Let cook until bubbles form on top. Flip and finish cooking.  Serve pancakes with a drizzle of cream cheese glaze. (or syrup) 
Nothing says "you are loved" better than warm, gooey, cinnamon oozing from a fluffy buttermilk pancake smothered in sweet cream cheese frosting. These pancakes are sure to warm your family from the inside out. Hope you enjoy.
Ciao!  Every Fall, I look forward to making pumpkin pancakes. I woke up this morning thinking about warm pumpkin pancakes, sprinkled with crunchy pecans and drizzled with maple syrup. I just happened to have some leftover pumpkin to use up from my Swirled Pumpkin Yeast Bread too - bonus.  Pumpkin Pecan Pancakes 1 ½ cups flour ¾ teaspoon allspice ½ teaspoon cinnamon 4 Tablespoons brown sugar ½ teaspoon salt 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon baking soda 3 Tablespoons butter, melted 1 cup milk 1 cup pumpkin 2 eggs ½ teaspoon vanilla ½ cup chopped pecans
Drop by quarter cupfuls onto a warm skillet and sprinkle with pecans.  Flip and continue to cook until cooked through. 
On a cool Fall Sunday morning, these pancakes hit the spot.
Ciao! |
