It's pumpkin madness! I've made so many pumpkin recipe lately that I think my family might actually be starting to turn orange. Ben actually suggested that I may have replaced my obsession over watermelon with an obsession over pumpkin. (What?) Want to know why I love pumpkin so much? It's nutritious AND delicious. Check out these nutritional facts about 1/2 cup of pureed pumpkin: 50 calories 0 fat 0 cholesterol 3 grams of fiber 2 grams of protein 10 grams of sodium 280% Vitamin A 8% Vitamin C 4% Calcium 4% Iron My latest pumpkin creation came from one of my favorite blogs - bakerella. She is so talented and it took literally seconds for me to decide to make these cookies after I saw them on her blog. She has them pictured on her blog with maple brown butter frosting and they look amazing. I had every intention of recreating her exact recipe but to be perfectly honest, they were so good without the frosting that I decided just to leave it off. (If you feel like your cookies are missing out on frosting - you can check out her website for her recipe.) Pumpkin Pecan Chocolate Chunk Cookies 2 1/4 cup flour 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder 3/4 teaspoons salt 3 tsp pumpkin pie spice 3/4 cup butter, room temperature 1 1/4 cup light brown sugar 1 cup sugar 2 tsp vanilla 2 eggs 1 cup canned pumpkin 1 cup chopped pecans 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chunks
Stir in chopped pecans and chocolate chunks.
Let cool. I can't believe that I've never made these cookies before. They are sooooo good.
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I love to celebrate birthdays (Especially when they're not my own.) A couple of weeks ago, I got to celebrate the birthday of a very special friend. She is a wonderful person and I wanted to make her a cake that was just as sweet as she is. A dark chocolate four layer cake filled with fluffy whipped cream and topped with a rich chocolate ganache should fit the bill. I found this recipe for chocolate cake on chasingdelicious.com. I followed the directions for the cake pretty closely but I swapped out the dark chocolate filling for a lighter whipped cream filling. I also skipped the milk chocolate buttercream frosting that was on the pictured his cake. I was a little worried that adding all that chocolate might be too much for some people. (Not everyone is a chocoholic like me.) You can decide for yourself which version of this delicious cake you would like to make. Dark Chocolate Birthday Cake 2 cups + 2 1/2 Tablespoons sugar 1 cup cocoa powder 1 1/4 cups bread flour 1 1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon cake flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 5 eggs 1 1/2 cups buttermilk 1 cup sour cream 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 cup freshly brewed coffee 20 Tablespoons butter
Cool 10 minutes in pan then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. I sliced each layer in half to make 4 equal cake layers. I spread whipped cream on the bottom layer, topped that with another layer of cake and repeated that process 2 more times. Now it was decision time. I didn't want to take away from the rich, moist cake by adding a chocolate buttercream but I didn't want to leave my cake unfrosted either. My solution? Pour a thick layer of chocolate ganache over the top of the cake and let it drip down the sides. Happy Birthday sweet friend.
Ciao! I've said it before and I'll say it again - I love Fall. I love this season so much that I decided to create a list of the top 10 things that I love most about Fall: 10. The sound of crunchy leaves under my mountain bike tires while I'm riding on a trail through the woods. 9. The sweet aroma of pumpkin spiced coffee brewing in the morning. 8. Taking the dog for a walk in the crisp, cool early morning air. 7. The colors of the leaves on the trees that can't even be found on the color wheel. 6. Watching "It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" special on tv with my family. 5. Spending cool evenings around a warm campfire with good friends. (and smores) 4. Walking through the pumpkin patch in search of the perfect pumpkin to carve into a Jack O'Lantern. 3. Opening all of my windows and letting the fresh air permeate the house in the warmth of the afternoon. 2. The glow of the pumpkin candle that sits on my mantle in the early evening hours. And the number one thing that I love about Fall... 1. The smell of freshly baked pumpkin anything lofting through the house. So here it is, another pumpkin recipe for Fall. This isn't a traditional pumpkin bread recipe because it's baked in a 9x13 pan and cut it into bars but it still has a lot of similarities to a traditional pumpkin quick bread. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars 2 c all-purpose flour 1 & 1/2 tsp cinnamon 3/4 tsp ginger 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1/8 tsp allspice 1/8 tsp cloves 1 tsp baking soda 3/4 tsp coarse salt 1 c unsalted butter, room temp 1 & 1/4 c sugar 1 egg 2 tsp vanilla 1 c pumpkin puree 12 oz chocolate chips
Slice into bars. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars are delicious. (If I do say so myself.) As an added bonus, they pack really well and can easily be transported to soccer games and cross country meets.
Ciao! I do my best to keep a bowl of fresh fruit on the edge of the kitchen counter all year as a reminder to myself and to my family to eat more fresh fruit. It's a great reminder to all of us that we should choose fruit over a sugary treat when looking for a snack. Fortunately, I really like fruit and I eat a lot of it. Right now our fruit basket is filled with apples from our trip to the apple orchard. As much as I love fresh apples, there are times when I just crave something sweeter than an apple. (Bring on the chocolate.) Adding a little dark chocolate to an apple changes it from a simple snack into a decadent dessert. My freshly picked apples just went from appealing to irresistible. These chocolate dipped apple slices are super easy to make.
I put my apples in the refrigerator so the chocolate would harden quicker so that we I could eat them sooner. I served them for dessert after dinner and they were a big hit. I had a little bit of melted chocolate leftover and a few leftover strawberries in the refrigerator so I did what anyone in my position would do - I made chocolate covered strawberries. Can you blame me? I'm thinking that I'm going to have to make these again really soon because they were really good. I think I made my point perfectly clear - Chocolate makes everything better.
Ciao! "Each year, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch that he thinks is the most sincere. He's gotta pick this one. He's got to. I don't see how a pumpkin patch can be more sincere than this one. You can look around and there's not a sign of hypocrisy. Nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see." Linus It just isn't Fall until I've watched Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin. I love that movie - it's a classic. Maybe it's because I love going to the pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins with my family. Last Friday, we headed to the farm to choose the pumpkins that will adorn our front porch for the next several weeks and eventually become our Halloween Jack O'Lanterns. There were some GIANT pumpkins growing in the field but fortunately, I was able to convince the kids to choose a couple of medium sized pumpkins instead of a larger than life pumpkin. Now that we have our pumpkins, I'm ready to sit back and watch Charlie Brown and sip on a pumpkin spice latte. Good thing I have a recipe for that. Pumpkin Spice Creamer 1 c milk (You can use almond or soy milk, half and half or rice milk) 1/4 heaping cup pumpkin puree 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice blend, or to taste 1 tsp cinnamon, or to taste 1 tsp vanilla extract
I feel like I should warn you that this pumpkin creamer will add some texture to your coffee. Its thick and creamy consistency will not dissolve completely and some settling may occur in the bottom of your cup. I really didn't mind the pumpkin particles that sank to the bottom of my mug and I would much rather have that in my coffee than an artificially flavored coffee syrup!
Ciao! |
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