Pumpkin Pancakes with Whipped Maple Topping

Full disclosure: This is an Instagram photo. See, every once in a while, I get so excited to eat a meal that I get all verklempt when I'm taking photos. In this case, I was so excited to devour these pancakes that I took the pictures really quickly and all of the photos turned out blurry. Of course, I didn't realize this until I was editing them. I can only assume the blurriness was because my hands were shaking with anticipation of eating this meal. So this photo will have to suffice until I make these pancakes again (which will be soon, but I still couldn't wait to share these with you).

Breakfast for dinner is a huge treat in our house, especially when it's really dessert masquerading as breakfast -- which, let's be honest, is exactly what these pancakes are. They're loaded with pumpkin puree, brown sugar, and cinnamon, and dolloped with a topping made of cream cheese, maple syrup, and whipped topping. They are so good. 

This recipe makes a ton of pancakes and a ton of topping, which worked out great for us because we ate them for breakfast throughout the week. You can reduce the amounts below if you want to, but really, I don't know why you would want to.

Pumpkin Pancakes with Whipped Maple Topping

For the pancakes:

3 cups pancake mix
1 cup water
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla

For the topping:

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups whipped topping
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1. Heat a greased griddle over medium high heat. In a large bowl, combine all of the pancake ingredients until thoroughly combined. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, pour the pancake mix in batches onto the griddle. Cook until the edges bubble, then flip and continue cooking until the opposite side is golden brown. Keep the pancakes warm in the oven.

2. Meanwhile, whisk all of the topping ingredients together in a large bowl.

3. Serve the pancakes with the topping. Serve with additional maple syrup. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread with Pecan Streusel

Earlier this fall, in an effort to get the most out of our favorite season, my husband and I made a "Fall Bucket List" for our family -- a list of about 20 things we want to do before winter descends upon us. The list has entries like "Rake the leaves and jump in the leaf pile" (check!), "Read 15 fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving books" (in progress), and "Drink pumpkin beer" (adults only, of course, and trust me, that was THE FIRST ITEM Joe and I checked off).

One of the items on the list is about fall baking: Bake an apple pie, a really good loaf of pumpkin bread, and one scary Halloween treat. The apple pie will most likely be happening next weekend, since we're going apple picking on Sunday (another item on the list). The Halloween treat is happening this weekend, and the pumpkin bread happened this past weekend.

I have a pumpkin bread recipe that I really like, but this time around I wanted to make something special: one that included both a cream cheese layer and a streusel topping (most recipes, including my go-to, have neither, or just one or the other). Andrew and I baked this bread on Sunday morning while Joe and Will slept in, and Andrew helped me every step of the way. He even swirled the cream cheese mixture into the pumpkin batter, and he was quite enthusiastic about it -- which is why you can only see a little bit of the cream cheese layer, as the rest got mixed into the pumpkin batter. But it didn't make this bread any less delicious, and I am so happy that he loves being in the kitchen with me so much.

This bread is pumpkin perfection, and it should be on everyone's fall bucket list!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread with Pecan Streusel
adapted from Hungry Couple

For the streusel:

1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) butter, softened
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

For the cream cheese layer:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

For the pumpkin batter:

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 egg
1/2 cup milk

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. To make the streusel topping, combine the flour, sugars, pecans, and cinnamon in a bowl. Add butter and mix until completely combined. Set aside.

2. To make the cream cheese layer, blend the ingredients with a hand mixer, stand mixer or food processor until thoroughly combined and free of lumps. Set aside.

3. Make the bread dough by combining together the butter, sugar, egg, milk, vanilla and pumpkin and mix until thoroughly combined. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, spice and salt. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and stir just until combined.

4. Pour half the bread batter into a greased loaf pan, add the cream cheese mixture and swirl into the bread batter with a knife. Top with the remaining bread batter and sprinkle on the streusel topping.

5. Bake for about 1 hour or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes, then gently remove from loaf pan. We enjoyed it served warm.

Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Sugar Frosting

I'm getting a late start on my pumpkin baking this year. Joe's been dropping not-so-subtle hints for about a month now, but we've been so busy on the weekends that I haven't had much time to bake. I have to say that I picked a real winner for my inaugural fall 2012 pumpkin recipe. These little cookies have just the right amount of pumpkin and spice flavor, and the frosting is simply divine. Oh, that frosting...it's so delicious, there really are no words. It tastes like a praline, minus the pecans; and in fact, next time I make these, I'm going to stir pecans into half of the frosting, because I think they'd add a delicious crunchy element to these cookies.

I used a half-tablespoon measuring spoon for the cookies to keep them pretty small, because I suspected that the frosting would be very sweet -- and I was right. I thought the cookies were the perfect size to be paired with such a sweet frosting, and I got about 5 dozen cookies out of one batch of dough. That was on Sunday, and I think there are probably only 2 dozen cookies left. Whoops!

Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Sugar Frosting
adapted from Your Homebased Mom

For the cookies:

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

For the frosting:

3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cream together sugars and butter until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin, egg and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix until well-blended. Drop by half-tablespoons onto nonstick cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are slightly browned. Cool completely before frosting.

3. To make the frosting, melt the butter in a small skillet. Add brown sugar and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is mostly smooth (this will take 2 or 3 minutes). Add milk and vanilla and whisk to combine, then remove from heat and add powdered sugar. Spread frosting over cooled cookies.

Pumpkin Seed-Crusted Chicken, Maple Cayenne Brussels Sprouts, and Mashed Sweet Potatoes

You’re getting three recipes for the price of one today! I really loved this meal and the way the flavors all worked together, so I thought I’d post them all together.

I saw a random pin on Pinterest awhile ago for pumpkin seed-crusted vegetarian “chicken” patties, and it sounded like such an awesome idea. When I roasted the seeds from our pumpkins this year, I separated them into two batches: a sweet batch for snacking, and a savory batch for this chicken dish. The chicken turned out exactly as I hoped it would: crispy and salty, with a nutty, earthy flavor from the pumpkin seeds. To make this meal come together more quickly the night you want to serve it, roast and grind your pumpkin seeds a day or two in advance and store them in an airtight container.

I served the chicken with Brussels sprouts, which I absolutely love, but which the men in my life (specifically, my husband and sons) apparently do not love. I thought they were delicious, though. I loved the way the maple syrup and cayenne combined to make a sweet and spicy glaze for the Brussels sprouts, and I loved how the Brussels sprouts themselves were nutty and crispy from the roasting process.

Lastly, I made some simple mashed sweet potatoes with a little bit of butter, a little bit of half and half, a pinch of cinnamon and a touch of brown sugar. They rounded out the meal perfectly. This meal is autumn on a plate, plain and simple.

Pumpkin Seed-Crusted Chicken, Maple Cayenne Roasted Brussels Sprouts, and Mashed Sweet Potatoes
chicken inspired by a Pinterest pin I can’t find now; Brussels sprouts adapted from Not Rachael Ray; sweet potatoes are my recipe

1 cup pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 egg
4 chicken breasts, pounded into thin cutlets
3 tablespoons butter

1 pound Brussels sprouts, halved lengthwise
1 tablespoon butter
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
Pinch of cayenne pepper

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 cup half and half or milk
Pinch of cinnamon
Salt and pepper to taste

1. To roast the pumpkin seeds (do this the day before): Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place pumpkin seeds on a baking sheet; add vegetable oil, Worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper to taste. Arrange in a single layer and cook until browned and nutty-smelling, 10 to 15 minutes. Add to a food processor or blender and grind into fine crumbs. Store until ready to use.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss Brussels sprouts with butter and salt and spread on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast 15 to 20 minutes, stirring halfway. They should be tender and browned. Combine maple syrup and cayenne and pour over the sprouts. Toss to coat and return to oven for one more minute.

3. While the Brussels sprouts are roasting, prepare chicken and sweet potatoes. Bring sweet potatoes to a boil and cook until fork-tender. Add butter, brown sugar, half and half, cinnamon and salt and pepper. Cover and keep warm while you prepare the chicken.

4. Mix together roasted pumpkin seeds, Panko breadcrumbs, and salt and pepper on a large plate. Dip chicken in egg, then in pumpkin seed mixture. Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and cook on both sides until breading is crispy and chicken is no longer pink. Finish cooking the chicken in the oven if the breading browns too quickly.

5. Serve chicken alongside Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes.

Browned Butter Pumpkin Cupcakes with Biscoff Cream Cheese Frosting

I’ve had these cupcakes in mind to make since the beginning of September. Unfortunately, I was missing one main component for the recipe – the pumpkin. By the time I finally got my hands on some pumpkin, my fall baking list was a mile long, and I completely forgot about them until just recently. My stepmom and sister usually come over every Sunday night to watch True Blood or Bridezillas or The Vampire Diaries highly educational, sophisticated television programs with me, and I always make us something sweet. When I texted my sister last week to see what she was in the mood for, she said “anything pumpkin,” which immediately reminded me of these cupcakes.

If you’re not familiar with Biscoff Spread, this is what it looks like:

It’s made from Biscoff cookies (I guess the kind they serve on Delta flights? I don’t know from experience, but that’s what I’ve heard), and it tastes spicy and sweet, sort of like a gingersnap but BETTER. I thought putting some of it in the frosting would be the perfect complement to the cupcakes. It turned out to be a really delicious combination!

The cupcakes themselves are dense and moist, more like a muffin in texture than a cupcake, and the browned butter gives them an intense, nutty flavor. They’re not too sweet on their own, so they need a really sweet frosting, and this one is perfect. These were a huge hit, and my sister even said these cupcakes were her favorite out of all the desserts I’ve made.

Browned Butter Pumpkin Cupcakes with Biscoff Cream Cheese Frosting
cupcakes adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes; frosting is my recipe

For the cupcakes:

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs

For the frosting:

1 stick butter, softened
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 to 1/2 cup Biscoff Spread
1 pound powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper liners. In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat and continue to cook, swirling occasionally, until butter turns golden brown. Skim foam from top, and remove from heat. Pour into a bowl to stop the cooking, leaving any burned sediment behind; let cool.

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, both sugars, eggs, and browned butter mixture. Add the flour mixture, and whisk until just combined.

3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.

4. To make the frosting, cream together the butter, cream cheese and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Add in Biscoff Spread and mix well. Add powdered sugar to desired consistency. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

Pumpkin Crunch Coffee Cake

I have about a zillion cookbooks. That may be a slight exaggeration, but still: It’s sort of an addiction for me. I love sitting down and browsing through a cookbook, folding down the corners of the pages to mark the recipes I want to try. But I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes the internet is just...better. Blogs and recipe sites will probably never completely replace cookbooks for me – but having tons and tons of recipes at my fingertips is such a wonderful convenience.

Last weekend, I knew I wanted to bake some sort of pumpkin cake, but I didn’t have a recipe in mind. I turned to my cookbooks first, but after looking through seven or eight of them and finding nothing (every recipe called for ingredients I didn’t have, or it just didn’t sound good), I turned to the internet. I typed a quick search into Google, and the first recipe that popped up sounded amazing. I had everything on hand, so I decided to go with it. And you guys, it was perfect.

I can’t say enough good things about this coffee cake. It’s not too sweet, and the texture is perfect: really light and fluffy, and a wonderful contrast to the crackly, crunchy topping. The topping was actually my favorite part. There was plenty to cover both cakes with a pretty thick layer of brown-sugar-pecan-cinnamon goodness, and my older son loved helping me sprinkle it on.

I think my stepmom said it best when she told me that this coffee cake tasted “just like fall.” She’s so right. I’ll be making this every year from now on, without question.

Pumpkin Crunch Coffee Cake
adapted from Allrecipes

For the topping:

1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons cold butter or margarine
1/2 cup chopped pecans

For the cake:

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 cup canned or cooked pumpkin
1 inch of vanilla bean (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; I just ran out)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. In a small bowl, combine sugars and cinnamon for topping. Cut in the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in pecans; set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the sour cream, pumpkin and vanilla; mix well.

3. Combine dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream mixture. Beat on low just until blended.

4. Spread the batter into two greased and floured 8-inch round cake pans. Sprinkle with topping. Bake at 325 degrees for 40-50 minutes (mine took 45) or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts with Spiced Maple Glaze

When I (finally) got my stock of pumpkin puree this fall, I knew that one of the things I had to make was pumpkin doughnuts. My doughnut pan was practically begging to be filled with pumpkiny deliciousness. So when Deborah posted her recipe for baked pumpkin doughnuts, I of course made them that very weekend.

My family absolutely loved these doughnuts – shocking, I know. We are pumpkin people. The earthy flavor of pumpkin is such a perfect pairing with the sweetness of maple syrup. In fact, I loved the glaze so much that I may have eaten dozens a few fingertips full of it. This recipe makes a dozen doughnuts but I only have a six-doughnut doughnut pan, so I used my mini muffin pan to make doughnut holes out of the rest of the batter. They were delicious and adorable, and also disappeared too quickly for me to photograph them.

You can probably see that my glaze isn’t very thick. This is because I’m incredibly impatient when it comes to dunking doughnuts. I just can’t seem to wait until they’re cool. I’ve come to accept this about myself.

Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts with Spiced Maple Glaze
adapted from Taste and Tell

For the doughnuts:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the glaze:

1 1/2 to 2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 tablespoons milk

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a doughnut pan by spraying with non-stick cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.

3. In another bowl, cream together the brown sugar, butter and pumpkin. Add in the eggs, mix well, then mix in the vanilla and milk. Stir in the reserved dry ingredients.

4. Place the mix in a large zip-top bag. Cut off the corner and pipe into the doughnut pan.

5. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven, let rest for 5 minutes, then remove from pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

6. Meanwhile, make the glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, maple syrup, pumpkin pie spice and milk. When the doughnuts are cool, dip them in the glaze. Return to the wire rack to allow the glaze to set.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

It’s high time I joined the ranks of food bloggers extolling the virtues of these muffins. I made them for the first time this year, and I really, really wish I hadn’t waited so long. They’re so delicious, and I won’t even tell you how quickly two dozen of them disappeared from my kitchen.

There are two things that make these better than your average pumpkin muffin: 1. the streusel topping, which makes a crackly, spicy-sugary crust on top of the muffins; and 2. the cream cheese filling, which is actually more like cream cheese frosting. I added a little bit of vanilla to the filling to make it taste even more like frosting. I am powerless to resist the pumpkin-cream cheese combo. Powerless, I tell you.

While I was making these, I was wondering why the freeze-the-cream-cheese-mixture step was necessary. I thought maybe the cream cheese mixture was too heavy for the batter, so I froze it as indicated. But my friend Amanda just went ahead and dolloped the mixture into each muffin without freezing it first, and she said it worked out just fine. So I won't bother messing with the freezing step next time.

There was too much clove flavor for my tastes, so I’ve adjusted that in the recipe below. But other than that and the freezing step, I won’t change a thing when I make these again. And I will be making them many, many times – this fall and every fall to come.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
adapted from Annie’s Eats

For the filling:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For the muffins:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

For the topping:

1/2 cup sugar
5 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1. To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese, vanilla, and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a log about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Smooth the plastic wrap tightly around the log, and reinforce with a piece of foil. Transfer to the freezer and chill until at least slightly firm, at least 2 hours.

2. To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil. Mix on medium-low speed until blended. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.

3. To make the topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to blend. Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.

4. To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well with a small amount of batter, just enough to cover the bottom of the liner (1-2 tablespoons). Slice the log of cream cheese filling into 24 equal pieces. Place a slice of the cream cheese mixture into each muffin well. Divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups, placing on top of the cream cheese to cover completely. Sprinkle a small amount of the topping mixture over each of the muffin wells.

5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving.

Caramel-Filled Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

I don’t know how it is where you live, but around here canned pumpkin takes a really long time to hit the shelves in the fall. Last week was the first time I saw it at the grocery stores – and believe me, I’ve been checking every major supermarket in my area for the past few weeks. I was finally able to snag two large cans of pumpkin puree, and I wasted no time baking with it, since my husband has been just as anxious for pumpkin baked goods as I have been.

I knew I wanted to make some sort of cookie, and I came across a recipe for pumpkin snickerdoodles that sounded perfect. And then I remembered a recipe I’d pinned on Pinterest for caramel-filled snickerdoodles...and it just seemed to make sense to me to combine the two. Pumpkin + caramel + snickerdoodles = YES PLEASE.

These cookies are amazing. They’re nice and soft inside, with that crackly, spicy-sweet coating that snickerdoodles are known for. The gooey caramel center and subtle pumpkin flavor take them over the top to some magical place beyond delicious. I used half a caramel per cookie, but probably could have gotten away with stuffing an entire caramel in there.

If you have kids, this is a great way to involve them in your baking (not that mine ever need any encouragement). My older son was a huge help with these, putting caramels in the indentations that I made in the balls of cookie dough, and then rolling the re-formed balls in the sugar-and-spice mixture. He enjoyed helping me almost as much as he enjoyed eating the end product!

Caramel-Filled Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
adapted from Recipe Girl and The Baker Chick

For the cookies:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
3/4 cup pure unsweetened pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
18 caramel candies, unwrapped and halved

For the rolling sugar:

1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the butter until fluffy. Add sugar and pumpkin puree and beat well. Mix in egg and vanilla, scraping down sides of the bowl to incorporate all of the ingredients.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and ground cinnamon. Beat flour mixture into liquid mixture a little at a time just until incorporated.

3. Cover dough with plastic and chill at least an hour, or until dough becomes slightly firm.

4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper (or spray with non-stick spray). Mix rolling sugar ingredients in a small bowl.

5. Remove cookie dough from refrigerator. Use a medium cookie scoop (1 1/2 tablespoons) or a large spoon to scoop out dough and roll into balls. Make an indentation in the center of each ball and stuff the caramel inside, then reform the ball around the caramel.

6. Use your hands to roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar and make sure they're coated really well. Place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Use a glass with a flat bottom to dip in sugar and slightly flatten the balls.

7. Bake for 10 to 14 minutes, or until they are slightly firm to the touch (mine took the full 14). Let cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes or so, then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese

Have you ever noticed that most pumpkin desserts never call for an entire can of pure pumpkin? At least, that’s been my experience. It seems like most desserts call for a cup or so, and I’m always left with pumpkin puree that I don’t know what to do with. Well, this flavored cream cheese is the solution to that problem. It takes less than five minutes to prepare, and it’s the perfect way to use up your leftover pumpkin.

This cream cheese has such an awesome pumpkiny, spicy flavor. We ate ours on plain toasted bagels, but I think this would be great on cinnamon raisin bagels, and that’s definitely what I’m using the next time I make it. You could even modify this recipe to use your leftover pumpkin pie -- minus the crust, of course. As it is, I think this would be a great light breakfast for the morning of Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese
seen on Sherry Starts Cooking

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a small bowl, beat softened cream cheese, sugar, and maple syrup until creamy (or just use your blender, which is what I did). Add pumpkin, spices and vanilla and beat until smooth. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

Pumpkin Doughnut Mini Muffins

I got a late start on my pumpkin baking this year. In fact, I wasn’t sure if I’d really be baking with pumpkin much at all this fall. I’ve seen tons of delicious-sounding pumpkin recipes on my favorite food blogs, but none of them really struck me as “must-bake-immediately.” That is, until Cara shared this recipe on her site. I don’t think I’ve ever clicked that little star in Google Reader faster.

These cute little mini muffins are amazing. Amazing! As the name would indicate, they have the texture of a cake doughnut. The muffins themselves aren’t super sweet; the sweetness is reserved for a coating of melted butter, cinnamon and sugar. The muffins are rolled in this mixture while they’re still warm, so the butter soaks into the muffins, giving them a rich, moist texture. The cinnamon-sugar coating stays really crunchy, which is the perfect contrast to the soft muffin.

I did make a couple of changes, which I’ve indicated below. These were originally regular-sized muffins, but I love making mini muffins because they’re easier for Andrew to eat -- and in this instance, they’re super cute because they look like little doughnut holes. I also subbed pumpkin pie spice for the nutmeg and allspice called for in the original recipe.

These will be a fall baking staple for me from now on. We all loved them!

Pumpkin Doughnut Mini Muffins
adapted from The Picky Apple, who got the recipe from Everyday Food, November 2010

For the pumpkin batter:

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon coarse salt
3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 1/4 cups pure pumpkin puree
3/4 cup light-brown sugar
2 large eggs

For the sugar coating:

3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 24 mini muffin cups with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping down bowl as needed. With mixer on low, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two additions pumpkin mixture and beat to combine.

2. Spoon batter into each mini muffin cup and bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Let muffins cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack.

3. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine granulated sugar and cinnamon. Working with one at a time, remove muffins from pan, roll in butter, then toss to coat in sugar mixture. Let muffins cool completely on a wire rack.

Pumpkin Pie-Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

I’m probably posting this recipe a little bit late, since I’m sure most of you have already carved and roasted (or disposed of -- the horror!) your pumpkin seeds. But if your family saved the carving for the last minute like mine did, I’m telling you: You have got to try these roasted pumpkin seeds.

Typically I do up my pumpkin seeds pretty simply: olive oil, salt and pepper, maybe some ground red pepper for spice. But this year, I decided to do something different. I was intrigued by the idea of sweet pumpkin seeds rather than savory, and this is what I came up with. I was originally planning to use just cinnamon and sugar, but then I heard the nearly-full container of pumpkin pie spice calling my name from the cupboard, and I decided to use that instead. So, these pumpkin pie-spiced pumpkin seeds were born. And oh my, are they delicious!

It’s not a huge deal if your seeds are a little wet when you get ready to roast them, but ideally, it’s best to leave them spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet overnight so they can de-gummify and dry out. That’s what I did, and I whipped these up in 15 minutes last night before we left for trick-or-treating. You know, so my Andrew could have a semi-healthy snack before he went out and gathered all that candy. :) They made the house smell amazing, and they tasted even better: crunchy and earthy and sweet. Considering how much my family and my co-workers loved them, I think I’ll be forced to make them every year from now on!

Pumpkin Pie-Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

1 heaping cup pumpkin seeds, rinsed and dried
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
4 tablespoons melted butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a small bowl, stir together sugar and pumpkin pie spice. Add pumpkin seeds and toss to combine. Pour melted butter over seeds and mix until all the seeds are coated.

3. Spread in a single layer on a greased cookie sheet and roast, stirring frequently, 10 to 12 minutes or until browned and crisp.

Apple Week: Pumpkin-Apple Streusel Cake

To finish up Apple Week, I present to you the ultimate fall dessert: pumpkin-apple streusel cake. It has pumpkin. It has apples. It has streusel. And it has spices. In a word, it is perfection.

The dessert starts with a dense, moist pumpkin cake, which is topped with a layer of spiced sweet-tart apples, which are topped with a crumbly streusel topping. All of the flavors combine perfectly so that you get a little taste of autumn with each bite. The only thing that could improve this in any way would be the addition of some pecans, so if you make this (which you definitely should), add some to the streusel.

I hope you enjoyed Apple Week. These themed weeks are really fun for me to do, so I have a few questions for you: What ingredient would you like to see highlighted for October or November? Would you like a week of pumpkin recipes, or possibly a Halloween Week like I did last year? What other ingredients, sweet or savory, would you like to see featured in coming months? (Just don’t say truffles or caviar. I am on a budget, you know.)

Pumpkin-Apple Streusel Cake
from Epicurious

For the apples:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 cups diced peeled cored Granny Smith apples (about 4 large)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the cake:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup firmly packed golden brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup canned pure pumpkin
1/3 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs

1. For the apples, melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add apples; sauté until apples begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Add sugar and cinnamon and sauté until golden brown, about 3 minutes longer. Cool.

2. For the cake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan. Combine flour, brown sugar, butter, and salt in large bowl. Using electric mixer, beat until mixture resembles coarse meal. Set aside 2/3 cup of mixture for topping. Beat pumpkin, sour cream, 2 tablespoons sugar, spice, and baking soda into remaining flour mixture, beating just until smooth. Beat in eggs. Transfer batter to pan. Scatter apples evenly over top. Sprinkle reserved topping over apples.

3. Bake cake until topping is golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Cool cake in pan on rack 20 minutes. Run knife around pan sides to loosen cake. Release pan sides from cake. Transfer cake to platter. Serve warm or at room temperature with ice cream.

Pumpkin Buttermilk Pancakes

Oh, man, these pancakes were good. Pancakes are one of our favorite things to have for breakfast, and I'm always looking for ways to liven them up -- and this recipe definitely fit the bill. These pancakes are light and fluffy and have wonderful pumpkin flavor. They were delicious drowned in maple syrup, although next time I'm going to make some cinnamon cream syrup and try that on them -- I think that would take these over the top. I may also try adding pecans to the batter.

Okay, now I'm really hungry for these. I will definitely be making them again soon!

Pumpkin Buttermilk Pancakes
source: Kaitlin in the Kitchen

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup canned pumpkin

1. Mix dry ingredients together thoroughly. Add the buttermilk, oil and egg. Whisk all ingredients until thoroughly blended. Add pumpkin; mix well.

2. Heat a griddle or skillet on medium. Very lighty spray or brush with oil. Using a ladle or ice cream scoop, pour a small portion of the pancake batter onto the griddle or skillet to form the pancakes. Once bubbles start forming, gently flip the pancakes. Finish cooking until golden brown on both sides.

Frozen Pumpkin Squares

Well, I've officially found a pumpkin dessert that my husband doesn't like. And this is it.

Don't let that deter you from trying these, though; Andrew and I both liked them very much. I think for Joe it was more of a texture issue than a flavor issue, since essentially, the main component of this dessert is frozen pudding. I will admit that the texture of these is rather odd, and next time I make them I may substitute softened vanilla ice cream for the pudding. If I do that, I think I'll have a pretty darn perfect pumpkiny treat on my hands -- one that Joe will definitely enjoy.

Frozen Pumpkin Squares
source: Favorite Brand Name Recipes: Classic Recipe Collection

1 cup fine gingersnap crumbs
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 1/4 cups cold milk
2 packages (4 serving size each) vanilla flavor instant pudding and pie filling
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 tub (8 ounces) whipped topping, thawed, divided

1. Mix crumbs, walnuts and butter in a small bowl. Reserve 2 tablespoons for garnish. Press onto bottom of foil-lined 8-inch square pan. Refrigerate.

2. Pour milk into a large bowl. Add pudding mixes, pumpkin and spice. (Next time, I'll use a couple of cups of vanilla ice cream in place of the milk and pudding.) Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes or until well blended. Gently stir in 2 1/4 cups of the whipped topping. Spread over crust.

3. Freeze 4 hours or until firm. Let stand at room temperature 10 minutes or until dessert can be easily cut. Cut into squares. Garnish with remaining whipped topping and sprinkle with reserved crumbs.

Halloween Week: Halloween Pumpkin Bars

I know, I know: I missed yesterday's Halloween-themed recipe. But this week has been long and stressful, and I've decided the only way I can cope is to take some of the pressure off of myself. On Wednesday night, that meant eating fast food for dinner and resting on the couch instead of cooking dinner and making chocolate-caramel apples (I know, don't those sound good? I'm definitely keeping them in mind for next year). But yesterday I did muster up the time and energy to make these adorable treats for a work potluck today:

Aren't they cute? They were so much fun to make. I think the guys on the right look like Easter Island statues. Happy Halloween, everyone!

Halloween Pumpkin Bars
source: inspired by Taste of Home and ...and a cookie for dessert

Baked pumpkin bars (use Taste of Home's recipe, or this one, which is truly the best)
Cream cheese frosting (canned will work, but homemade is much better)
Yellow and red food coloring
Candy corn
Black decorating gel

1. Bake pumpkin bars according to recipe directions; cool.

2. Meanwhile, tint frosting with yellow and red food coloring to make orange; spread over cooled bars. Cut bars into squares.

3. Using candy corn and decorating gel, make a face on each bar.

The Best Pumpkin Bars Ever

You guys, I have found The One. The One Pumpkin Bar to Rule Them All. It's the best pumpkin bar I have ever tried, and I am ready to forsake all others and use this recipe exclusively in the future. I know, I'm being melodramatic, but these pumpkin bars really are that good.

What sets these apart from other recipes I've tried is their texture. They're incredibly light and fluffy, but moist at the same time. They have just the right amount of pumpkin flavor without being too overwhelmingly spicy. And the frosting, you guys. It's cream cheese frosting, so it couldn’t possibly be bad, and it definitely is not. I stirred some pecans into the frosting for some added crunch, which was a delicious addition.

Make these as soon as you possibly can. And then make another batch with the canned pumpkin you have left over. I promise you won't be disappointed!

Best Ever Pumpkin Bars
source: whoorl

For the bars:

4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, melted
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

For the frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large mixing bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs well, add in the sugar and butter and mix well. Add the pumpkin and vanilla and mix. Add the flour and spices and mix well. Spread in a 9 x 13-inch greased pan.

3. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool.

4. To make frosting, in a small bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, vanilla and powdered sugar until just mixed. Stir in pecans. When the brownies are cool, frost. Cut into squares and serve.

Pumpkin Pie Snickerdoodle Bars

I saw this recipe a month or so ago, and it immediately went on my "Must Bake Immediately!!!" list. But then I got busy and sidetracked, so I didn't get around to actually baking these bars until last weekend. And with my first bite I was cursing myself for waiting so long -- I could have been on my third or fourth batch of them by now!

These bars are pretty much everything I could ask for in a dessert. Composed of a snickerdoodle blondie layer topped with a pumpkin pie layer, then drizzled with white chocolate, they are a rich, decadent fall treat. Joe has become quite possessive of them; when I suggested taking a few in to my co-workers, he flat-out refused to part with them. These bars were also Andrew's first taste of pumpkin (he was too young last year), and he definitely enjoyed them too. In fact, his eye lit up, and he smiled and said, "Mmmm!" when I gave him a bite. I think he's going to follow in his parents' footsteps and become quite the little pumpkin lover.

Make these, immediately! Then bake another batch right afterwards, because this is a dessert that just has to be shared.

Pumpkin Pie Snickerdoodle Bars
source: seen on Megan's Cookin', who got it from Dozen Flours

For the snickerdoodle layer:

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

For the pumpkin pie layer:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white
1 stick butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin

For the topping:

2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

For the drizzle:

1 ounce white chocolate, chopped
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch pan and lay a piece of parchment paper across the pan, so that it extends the pan slightly.

2. To make snickerdoodle layer, sift together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Spread evenly in prepared pan (mixture will be thick and cookiebatter-ish).

3. In a mixer bowl (you can use the same one you used to make the snickerdoodle batter) with a paddle attachment, mix together all pumpkin pie layer ingredients until well combined. This layer will be less thick and more pourable. Pour over the snickerdoodle layer, smoothing out the top.

4. Combine white sugar and cinnamon in a little bowl. Evenly sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the batter.

5. Bake for 33-40 minutes (maybe more depending on your oven) or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean. Let the bars cool completely (about an hour). They will deflate a bit and remain a bit pie-like on the top layer. The bars that are closer to the edges of the pan will be more firm.

6. After the bars are completely cool, place the chopped white chocolate into a bowl or zip-lock bag and melt on low power. When it's completely melted, add the pumpkin pie spice and mix (or knead if using a zip lock bag). Use a spoon or cut a small corner off the bag and drizzle the melted chocolate over the top of the bars and let it cool and harden.

7. Use the parchment paper to lift the bars out of the pan. Place on a cutting board and cut into bars. Store in a covered container.

Pumpkin Bread

First of all, am I the only person who cannot bake neatly? I don't know what my deal is, but I always seem to make a serious mess of myself and my kitchen whenever I'm baking anything. I blame the flour. It is an imperfect substance.


Anyway, this disaster of a kitchen last night had a purpose: One of my co-workers and his wife just had their first baby, a little girl, and his first day back to work was today. I remember very clearly what those first weeks were like with a newborn in the house, and the last thing I felt like doing was cooking. Joe and I relied on food from the neighbors, meals I'd frozen for us, and take-out for a good month or so after Andrew was born. So I decided to make some food for them to enjoy. I made our family's favorite comfort food casserole, some insanely delicious brownies (someone made brownies for me after Andrew's birth, and they were all I wanted to eat), and some pumpkin bread.

The pumpkin bread was a new recipe, which was taking a risk, but it turned out wonderfully. This is one of the most moist and flavorful quick breads I've ever made. It has the perfect balance of spices and it's simply just delicious. I had a couple of pieces from the loaf we kept for ourselves for breakfast this morning, warmed up and slathered with tons of butter, and it was absolute Heaven. I hope the new family enjoys it as much as I am!

Pumpkin Bread

Source: Allrecipes

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups solid pack pumpkin puree
1 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup water

4 eggs
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I used pecans because I had them on hand)

1. Grease and flour three 7 x 3 inch pans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Measure flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and spices into a large bowl. Stir to blend. Add pumpkin, water, oil, eggs, and nuts. Beat until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake for approximately 1 hour. (My loaves took a good hour and a half to cook, possibly a bit longer, so be sure to check yours to see if they're cooked through after an hour.)