Picky Palate's Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cake Bars

Here is where we found this easy, delicious recipe from Picky Palate, and even Owen, who doesn't like pumpkin, gave this a 9, just like Noah, Jonah and I did.

Each bar, and we cut the pan into 16 servings, was 238 calories, and I used pumpkin spice chips rather than the cinnamon chips the recipe calls for, and we really enjoyed them.  It's a great, easy fall dessert, one I would enjoy making again.

Flour's Pumpkin Muffins with Candied Pepitas

These are really good muffins, and the pepitas on top make them really interesting.  They are moist, and full of flavor, but somehow instead of the 12 muffins the recipe said it made, I made 34 muffins, so close, right ;).  Anyway, it makes it less calories, only 167 per muffin, and these are great, so try them soon!  I am loving this Flour cookbook, everything I have made we have enjoyed.  Aaron gave them an 8, and the rest of us gave them a 9.  Here's what to do:

3/4 c pepitas
1 egg white
1/4 c sugar

3/4 c unsalted butter
2 c sugar
3 T molasses
4 eggs
3/4 c fresh orange juice
16 oz pumpkin puree
3 c flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t ground cloves

Line a small tray with parchment paper.  In a small bowl, stir together the pepitas, egg white, and sugar to make a loose slurry.  Pour the seed mixture onto the prepared try and leave out, uncovered, to dry overnight.  The next day, using your fingers, break apart the pepitas in to separate pieces.
Preheat the oven to 350 and line the muffin cups with paper liners.  Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar, and molasses on medium speed for 2-3 minutes.  Scrape down the sides intermittently.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition to combine the eggs and butter sugar mixture thoroughly.  Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl once more.  ON low speed, add the orange juice and pumpkin and beat until combined.
In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves.  Dump the egg mixture into the dry ingredients and fold carefully just until they are well combined.  Fill the muffin cups, and sprinkle with the pepitas.  Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until muffins are golden brown on top and spring back when pressed in the middle.  Cool and serve.

Pumpkin Butterscotch Blondies

I found the recipe for these yummy cookie bars on tastykitchen.com, and here is the link.  These are tasty, easy to make, and my family really enjoyed them.  We actually made them for Aaron's work potluck, and so I don't know how everyone else liked them, but Aaron gave them an 8, and the rest of us gave them a 9.  This recipe made 24 cookies, and each cookie was 225 calories.  I followed this recipe exactly, so easy peasy :).

2 cups All-purpose Flour
1 Tablespoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
¾ teaspoons Salt
2 sticks Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
1-¼ cup Granulated Sugar
1 whole Large Egg
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1 cup Pumpkin Puree
1 cup White Chocolate Chips
1 cup Butterscotch Chips

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 9×13-inch baking dish with foil (make sure there is extra foil hanging off at both ends – you’ll use this to pull the finished product out of the pan). In a medium bowl, combine the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt. Stir together and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well combined. Mix in the pumpkin puree. With the mixer on low speed add the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Fold in the white chocolate and butterscotch chips with a rubber spatula.
Spread batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake until the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs, about 35-40 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely before cutting.
To serve, lift the cake from the pan using the foil and transfer to a cutting board. Peel off the foil and using a sharp knife, cut into 24 squares.  

Pumpkin and White Chocolate Mousse Parfait

So this is a recipe we tried out for Thanksgiving, and everyone except for Aaron really loved this.  Oma, Opa, Owen, Noah and I all gave it a 9, while Aaron gave it a 4 :).  White chocolate and pumpkin are both things he really dislikes.  Oh well :).  You have to have pumpkin on Thanksgiving.  This was unfortunately incredibly high in calories, but if you make the serving small enough, which we did, it's not too terrible.  The servings for 1/16 of the total are 460.

The white chocolate has a lot more subtle flavor than the pumpkin, so it's important to make the white chocolate layers thicker than the pumpkin ones.  I also made the choice to add more cinnamon graham cracker crumbs than ginger snap crumbs, because I don't love ginger or ginger snaps.  We also didn't add any caramel to this, as the recipe suggests, but it was delicious just the same.  Here's what we did:

1 c pumpkin puree

4 c whipping cream, divided

1/2 c sugar

3/4 t cinnamon

1/4 t nutmeg

12 oz white chocolate chopped

1 T vanilla

15 ginger snap cookies, crushed

9 cinnamon graham crackers, crushed

 

In a medium saucepan over low heat, combine pumpkin, 1/2 cup of cream, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg, mixing until sugar dissolves. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and set aside.
In another medium saucepan (or wash and reuse the same one) over low heat, combine white chocolate and 3/4 cup of cream until smooth. Transfer melted chocolate mixture to another large bowl and set aside.
As both of these mixtures are cooling to room temperature, prepare the whipped cream. Beat the remaining cream and the vanilla in a bowl using an electric mixer until soft peaks form.
Fold 1/4 of the whipped cream into the white chocolate mixture using a spatula. Then fold in another 1/4.
Fold 1/4 of the whipped cream into the pumpkin mixture using a spatula. Then fold in another 1/4. (All of the whipped cream should be worked into the mixtures by now.)
Cover each bowl and chill for at least 2 hours.
Assemble the parfait by transferring each mousse to a separate piping bag (OR use handy Ziplock bags and cut a small corner off of each) and layer the mousse and ginger snaps into the serving glasses in any order you like. Top with caramel sauce and more ginger snaps. Chill for another hour. Serve chilled.



Crustless Pumpkin Pie, or Pumpkin Pudding

This is one of those great crockpot recipes from the cookbook 365 Days of Slow-Cooking.  This is definitely my favorite crockpot cookbook, and this is another winner.  The calories for 6 servings are 296 calories/serving.  Here's what you do.

16 oz canned pumpkin
1 T pumpkin pie spice
2 T butter, melted
2 eggs
4 oz cream cheese softened
3/4 c sugar
1/2 c flour
2 t vanilla
1/2 t baking powder

Mix these all together and cook in a greased slow cooker for 3-5 hours.  Top with whipped cream. 

So easy, Aaron gave it a 7, Owen gave it a 6, and Noah and I gave it a 9.  You can tell who likes pumpkin around here :).  This is a great, easy, no fuss alternative to pumpkin pie.  It tastes great and requires so little preparation.

Pumpkin Apple Spice Muffins

These were a really good, easy muffin.  We liked it, and Jonah helped me make them by banging measuring spoons and cups together while I made them :).  I found the recipe here, and am glad we tried these.  I love me some pumpkin, so I'm glad they turned out well.  Noah and I gave them a 9, and Owen gave them a 7 because he didn't like the apple chunks.  He said otherwise they would've been a 9.  I followed the recipe exactly, so here it is from the tastykitchen.com website.
1-⅔ cup All-purpose Flour
1 cup Sugar
1 Tablespoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
¼ teaspoons Salt
¼ teaspoons Baking Powder
1 cup Pureed Pumpkin
½ cups Butter, Melted
2 whole Large Eggs, Lightly Beaten
1 whole Granny Smith Apple, Peeled, Cored, And Finely Chopped
* * * * * *
FOR PUMPKIN SUGAR CRUST:
3 Tablespoons Sugar
1 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the mixture. Combine pumpkin, butter, and eggs in another bowl and add to the dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Fold in chopped apple and spoon into greased muffin pans, filling two-thirds full.
Combine 3 tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice; sprinkle evenly over muffins. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

These were super simple and they turned out well.  I only got 20 out of the recipe, rather than the 24 the recipe said, and so each muffin was 141 calories.

Pumpkin Banana Breakfast Cake

We had this pumpkin banana breakfast cake the other morning, and it is not really very much like a cake.  It's very healthy, and easy to make, and definitely not very sweet.

I didn't add the oil to the batter, I just added a little more banana and more pumpkin, so the calories on this are astonishingly low.  For 1/16 of the total, the calories are only 130.  I used hazelnuts instead of walnuts, not surprising, and blended my hazelnuts with the sugar, but other than that I followed the recipe.
 FOR THE CAKE:
¾ cups Oat Flour
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
½ teaspoons Baking Powder
½ teaspoons Table Salt
1-½ teaspoon Cinnamon
¼ teaspoons Cloves
¼ teaspoons Ginger
⅛ teaspoons Nutmeg
2 Bananas, Mashed
1 cups Pumpkin Puree
⅓ cups Maple Syrup
¾ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1 Tablespoon creamer, I used creme brulee flavor
FOR THE STREUSEL TOPPING:
⅓ cups hazelnuts, Ground Into Flour
¼ cups Rolled Oats
¼ cups Oat Flour
½ Tablespoons Sugar
½ Tablespoons Maple Syrup
½ Tablespoons Olive Oil

Preheat the oven to 350 F and lightly grease an 8×8” pan.
In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients (flour through nutmeg). In a separate bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the mashed bananas, pumpkin, syrup, vanilla extract and creamer. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
Scrape the batter (it will be super thick) into the pan and smooth the top.
Add all of the streusel ingredients to the bowl and stir until everything is evenly coated. Sprinkle the mixture over the cake and press it lightly into the batter using your hand.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the cake springs back lightly under your finger instead of sinking in. Remove it from the oven and set pan on a rack. Let it cool slightly and serve warm.
Store leftover cake in a refrigerated, sealed container.
We ate ours warmed up with a little cream over the top.  This sounds strange, but my Grandpa used to eat cake this way all the time, and it really does taste great.  Anyway, Owen and I gave it an 8, and Noah gave it a 9. 

Lauren's Latest Pumpkin Maple Rolls

We had these pumpkin maple rolls, from Lauren's Latest, and they were delicious!!  I made just one or two changes, and this recipe, although time consuming, was not very difficult, and so moist and yummy.  Aaron gave these an 8, which is really high for him for sweet rolls, I gave them a 9, and Owen and Noah gave them a perfect 10.  They loved these.  I used cinnamon maple syrup instead of regular maple syrup, and I used more pumpkin than the recipe called for because many people said they couldn't taste the pumpkin.  The calories per roll were 352 for 16 rolls.  Here is the recipe:

Pumpkin Maple Rolls
1 T Active Dry Yeast
1/2 c warm water
1/2 c warm milk
1/4 c melted butter, cooled
2/3 c sugar, plus 1/4 t for proofing yeast
1 t salt
3/4 c pumpkin puree
6 c all-purpose flour (I used 5.5 cups)

1/4 c maple cinnamon syrup
2 T melted butter
remaining pumpkin from a 15 oz can of pumpkin puree
3/4 c brown sugar
2 T cinnamon

2 c powdered sugar
1/4 t vanilla
1 t cinnamon maple syrup
3 T milk

In a large bowl, sprinkle yeast and 1/4 teaspoon sugar over the warm water. Stir and proof 5-10 minutes. After yeast has foamed, stir in milk, butter, the remaining sugar, salt, pumpkin puree, and half the flour. Stir in flour by 1/2-cup increments. When you can no longer stir, remove dough to a board and knead in remaining flour or until dough is similar to bread dough, slightly sticky but won’t stick to your hands. Lightly grease dough ball and place into a clean bowl. Cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm, draft free area in your kitchen. Let dough rise for 1-2 hours or until doubled in size.
While waiting for dough to rise, grease a 9×13 pan and 1 pie plate or an 8×8 square dish. In a small bowl, stir maple syrup, pumpkin and butter together.
Punch down dough and remove to a clean, lightly greased board. Roll dough out to a 24×12 inch rectangle (approximately). Pour butter, pumpkin and maple syrup mixture over rolled dough and spread out to moisten entire surface. Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon on top of the dough and press down lightly. Roll dough up lengthwise into a long, skinny log. Pinch edges of dough together. Using a sharp knife, cut entire log in half (to get 2 pieces). Cut those halves in half again (to get 4). Cut those halves in half again (to get 8 ) and then again (to get 16). Place rolls in prepared pans. (12 rolls in the 9×13, 4 in the other.) If some of the filling oozes out onto your board while cutting, scrape it off and place on top of the rolls to bake (we don’t want to lose any filling!). Cover rolls to rise again for 1 hour or until they have almost doubled in size. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until top of rolls are golden brown. (Check them after 18 minutes just to be sure you don’t over bake them.)
While rolls are baking, whip powdered sugar, vanilla, maple syrup, and milk together until smooth. Drizzle over hot rolls and serve warm.

 

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes

We had Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes this morning.  I had to change the recipe just a little, I didn't have any flax seeds, and I added a lot more coconut milk than the 1 3/4 c milk the recipe called for.  These were thick, hearty, semi-healthy pancakes, since I added 1 T brown sugar instead of the 1 T flax seed, they aren't super healthy, but they tasted good.  Noah gave them a 9, and Owen and I gave them an 8.  The baking powder flavor was a little strong for me, but they did rise nicely.  Anyway, these are a healthy alternative to the usual pancake.  Notice the butter and no syrup.  I still don't like syrup, so I eat my pancakes/waffles/ french toast with just butter.  Weird I know but delicious :)

Tomorrow we're having a chicken dish.

Cinnamon Roll Pumpkin Bread

We had cinnamon roll pumpkin bread today, and it was a great recipe.  The only change I made was instead of maple flavoring and coffee, I added a little 100% maple syrup, about 1 teaspoon.  The calories for 1/8 of the bread were 260, and I gave it a 9, Noah gave it a 9, and Owen gave it an 8.  I love that this came together quickly, is not super sweet, and is moist and flavorful.  I'll make this again soon.
Tomorrow we're having iced hot chocolate.

Fake Orange Julius and Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread

Tonight we had Pumpkin & Cheese Spice Bread with eggs for dinner, some of the left over fruit pizza, and orange julius.  Fast Sundays are great, because we don't have to worry so much about our calories :).  Another reason to love fasting, right?  The recipe for Orange Julius is almost not a recipe it's so easy, but the boys loved it.

Fake Orange Julius 6 servings, 177/serving

6 c orange juice, divided 720

1 envelope dry Dream Whip 160

1 package (2 c) vanilla pudding mix 180

Pour 3 c of orange juice into blender, then add in dream whip and vanilla pudding.  Blend on low for 1 minute then turn to medium for another minute.  Pour into serving container, add in remainder of orange juice and serve over ice.

I found this recipe in a book by Joanne Fluke. I added some ice to the blender, and just blended everything up then served it over ice, and like I said, the boys just thought it was the best thing ever.  They gave it 10's, but Aaron didn't like it as well so it only scored a 9 over all.  The bread we gave an 8, and we really enjoyed it as well.  166 calories for a 1 inch slice.  I put the bread into 2 regular pans, so the loaves are shorter.
Tomorrow we're trying a pork chop recipe and potato skins.