Jack O Lanterns

This is it. The 31st day of 31 Days of Pumpkin Goodness. And I love turning pumpkins into Jack O Lanterns.
It wouldn't feel quite like Halloween without some pumpkin carving.

I love using a pumpkin as decor on the porch all month long and then carving it up for extra Halloween fun (and maybe someday I'll take it to the next level and puree the pumpkin next).



Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin & Cream Cheese Muffins

I really enjoyed these filled muffins. I think next year I will adjust this recipe a little to fit my pumpkin spice taste. This one had more allspice than I usually like. I really enjoyed the filling though. After you bake the cream cheese it tastes almost like cheesecake. And I thought these muffins looked nice enough that you could bring them out to share with others.


Pumpkin Cream Cheese Filled Muffins. Original recipe here.

3 1/3 cups flour
4 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp cloves
1 1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

4 eggs
15 oz can pumpkin
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cup oil

8 oz softened cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar

Whisk together dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl mix together eggs, pumpkin, sugar, oil. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.

Fill greased or lined muffin tin, about 1/3 cup each. The original recipe makes 24, but I like my muffins a little bigger so I made 21 muffins.

Beat cream cheese and add powdered sugar.

Fill a bag with cream cheese mixture (I used one of my cake decorating bags-- make sure to use a big tip!). Press piping tip halfway down into muffin and fill. You'll see the cream cheese at the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

If you have extra filling (which you will if you only make 21 like I did) then you can pipe it on top of these muffins. For an extra sweet and delicious treat.


Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pie Dip

Pumpkin Pie Dip. Delicious. There are quite a few pumpkin dip recipes floating around out there. For no particular reason, this is the recipe I chose to try. And I decided to only try one so I'll admit I really don't know how this compares to other pumpkin dips out there.

I thought this was pretty delicious. We ate it with homemade graham crackers (in pumpkin shapes of course!) and apples. It was particularly delicious with the apples. I think it would also be great with pears and ginger snaps if you want a bigger variety for dipping.

Pumpkin Pie Dip
(original recipe here)

8 oz softened cream cheese
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup pumpkin
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 cup Cool Whip (thawed)

Beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth.

Add in pumpkin, sour cream, and spices.

Fold in whipped cream.

Enjoy!

At the Pumpkin Patch

I love going to the Pumpkin Patch every year and supporting our local farmers. We actually live quite close to multiple pumpkin patches, but usually we just go to the same old one that is not too big and not too small.

This year we only walked away with a couple of small pumpkins. I had already bought 5 pumpkins by the time we made it to the patch and I really didn't want anymore big ones.

Pumpkin Malt

This Pumpkin Malt is so delicious! I wish I could tell you it's healthy. I couldn't even call it a smoothie though because it really has nothing healthy about it. It's a milkshake. But I still think you should try it because it's yummy enough to make at least once (or every day but I don't recommend that).

Pumpkin Malt

In your blender add:

1 cup milk
1/4 tsp vanilla
4 tbspn malt
1/3 cup pumpkin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2 tbspn brown sugar
2 scoops (just over 2 cups if you're measuring accurately) vanilla ice cream- switch for frozen yogurt if you wanna pretend this is a healthy shake
4-6 ice cubes

Blend

Makes 3 small shakes or 2 large shakes

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Bread

I have already posted some Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread and some Pumpkin Caramel Bread so I figure it's time to post some plain and pure Pumpkin Bread.

This recipe makes a gigantic loaf that is moist and dense and very sweet. Perfect for a crisp fall day.

Years ago I hung out with a fabulous group of mom's. They have all since moved out of my neighborhood, but before they all left we got together for a recipe swap. This delicious recipe is from that swap. Thank you Gina for letting me share your recipe!

Pumpkin Bread

1 1/2 cups pumpkin
1/2 cup oil (I used canola- as I was dumping it in I remembered I wanted to try coconut)
1/4 cup applesauce
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 1/3 cups flour (I used 2/3 cup white wheat flour- because that's all I had- and the rest white flour)
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Mix ingredients and place in a greased and floured pan or muffin cups. Bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick comes out clean. About 30 minutes for muffins and 45-60 minutes for a loaf, depending on size.

I only have one regular sized loaf pan and I used that for this bread. It made a giant loaf, like 2-3 inches taller than my pan. And because it was so big, I had to bake it about 70 minutes. So if you have two loaf pans, you might want to split it. However, I think it is delicious as one giant loaf.

Enjoy!

Pumpkins for your Busy Bag

If you have a preschooler at home, this is a really easy "project" to put together. When I taught preschool, my kids loved all lessons that included felt.

Buy a few squares of orange felt and a few squares of black felt and start cutting.

I am sure you could make these pumpkins cute beyond belief. I however, was going for something fast and simple. I used no templates. And it shows. But I don't think most 3 year olds will mind. I did draw a couple pumpkins on a piece of paper though until I got a shape I liked (I am far from being an artist). Then I cut it out and traced that on sheets of orange felt.

With the eyes, I simply folded my black felt in half before I cut out my shapes so the eyes would all match exactly. And everything else I just cut out freehand.

There are so many possibilities with these pumpkins. You can make face pieces in all shapes so your preschooler can practice learning and matching shapes. You can make hats, hair, stems for the tops. You can add in different colored felt if you'd like to mix it up. If you make circular eyes in 4 different colors, then a young preschooler can practice color matching.

And the more parts you make, the longer you can keep your preschooler engaged (however, I would recommend introducing different pieces/concepts at different times so you don't overwhelm).

For a single preschooler, I made 4 different pumpkins with various face combos so more than one could be made at a time.

To store these, I place all the pumpkins in a gallon size Ziplock bag. Then I have separate envelopes labeled with words and pics (handwritten and hand drawn) for the eyes, noses, mouths, hats, etc. I put the envelopes in the bag too. Easy to get out and to put away.

Frozen Pumpkin Pie Treats

Frozen Pumpkin Pie Treats

1 box Nilla Wafers
5.1 oz box Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix
2 cups milk
15 oz can pumpkin
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temp
1 cup Cool Whip (plus more for garnish)

Beat cream cheese until there are no lumps.

In a separate bowl, mix pudding and milk. Whisk in pumpkin and spice until smooth.

Slowly beat pumpkin mixture into cream cheese, 1 scoop at a time.

Fold in Cool Whip.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Sandwich one small scoop pumpkin mixture between two Nilla Wafers.

Cut the corner off a ziplock bag, add thawed Cool Whip, and give a nice dollop to each cookie top.

Freeze at least 2 hours. After they are frozen, keep covered.

Even if you use an entire box of Nilla Wafers, chances are you'll have some filling left over.
 Scoop some in a bowl, top with leftover Cool Whip, and serve it as Pumpkin Pie Pudding.



Enjoy!

Simple Pumpkin Muffins

I believe this is the first pumpkin recipe I ever made. I remember I made mini muffins. I assume I got this recipe out of one of my mom's cookbooks, since that was the only source my young teenage self knew of. There were no blogs, there was no pinterest, and no I didn't really read baking magazines when I was a teenager.

This is a very simple recipe. Not just simple to make, but also a very simple pumpkin taste. Many pumpkin baked goods can be so overloaded with spices (I am not saying that is a bad thing, I am just saying). This recipe keeps it simple with just nutmeg and cinnamon.

Pumpkin Muffins

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup melted butter
1 egg

Mix all the ingredients just until flour is moistened. The batter will be lumpy. Coat 9 muffin cups with cooking spray and fill. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

If you want a little extra sparkle and sweetness, add 1/4 tsp sugar to the top of each muffin.

Also, the original recipe says this will make 12 muffins. However, I like my muffins big and plump so I only fill 9 cups.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese

What goes better with a pumpkin bagel than some pumpkin cream cheese?

Much like the pumpkin bagels of yesterday, I had multiple recipes set aside to get myself some homemade pumpkin cream cheese. However, since the pumpkin bagels were store bought it seemed only natural that my pumpkin cream cheese be store bought as well.

Still delicious and I can save my recipes for when I make my own pumpkin bagels.

I am sure most markets have a version of pumpkin cream cheese. You can buy the big brand name, your grocery store brand, or get a tub from your local bagel shop.

And yes it is delicious on plain bagels as well as pumpkin bagels.


Enjoy!

 

Pumpkin Bagels

Pumpkin Bagels. Delicious.

I had a recipe all tucked away and waiting just in case I had the time and ambition to try my hands at pumpkin bagels this year. I had neither. Maybe next year. Or maybe even next month.

But lucky for me (and lucky for you), bagel shops these days love to sell seasonal fun bagels. So even when I am pressed for time I can still enjoy a fresh, warm pumpkin bagel. Thank you Noah's Bagels.

Enjoy!

Orange Pumpkins

As much as I love to eat pumpkin, I also just love pumpkins.

And there's nothing like the classically shaped orange pumpkin.

What better way to spend a Saturday afternoon than perusing pumpkins at a local pumpkin patch?

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Parfait

If you made the delicious Pumpkin Pie Granola I posted about yesterday and you aren't exactly sure what you want to do with all of it, might I suggest these delicious Pumpkin Parfaits? These will step up your granola to full-on dessert.

I found this idea over at The Ease of Freeze. The original recipe is quite healthy, which is funny paired with such unhealthy granola. Also, the original recipe calls for plain yogurt but I would recommend vanilla to you unless you are used to the plain stuff. Even after mixing in sugar it can be quite sour if you are not used to it.

Pumpkin Yogurt

1 cup plain yogurt (or vanilla!)
1/2 cup pumpkin
4 tsp brown sugar
4 tsp granulated sugar
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of cloves

Mix ingredients together. I would recommend your immersion blender, Magic Bullet, mixer, or whatever you've got to make it nice and smooth.

Once you've whipped it up you are ready to build your parfait. Layer pumpkin pie granola, pumpkin yogurt, Cool Whip, and repeat.




Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pie Granola

I know I have already done some pumpkin granola bars, but I wanted to try this pumpkin granola too.

In the last couple of years I have tried quite a few granola and granola bar recipes. This one definitely is the sweetest I have made, and it's the first with no nuts. It was really delicious (of course! with 1 cup of sugar, Teddy Grahams, and white chocolate chips, how could it not be?) but I think if it's something we're going to make all Fall long then I will have to modify the recipe to include some nuts and take out some of the sugar and snacks.


That being said, I was asked if we could stock it all Fall long. So we'll see.

The original recipe (with a beautiful picture) can be found here. If you love granola, go check it out. The site also includes S'mores Granola and Peanut Butter Cookie Granola.


Pumpkin Pie Granola

4 cups old fashioned oats
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cups pumpkin
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 tbspn maple syrup

1 cup Mini Honey Teddy Grahams
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Whisk together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl mix the wet ingredients. Use a spatula and mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Add the teddies and chips.

Spread onto a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper and sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake at 325 degrees for 60-80 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes. (I realize 60-80 minutes is a big time frame, just check it at 60 to see if you want it crunchier. If you do, stir it and go another 20 minutes.)

After the granola cooled, I added another 1/2 cup of the mini Teddy Grahams and another 1/2 cup of the white chocolate chips.



Enjoy!

Panera's Pumpkin Muffin

I just tried the Pumpkin Muffin from Panera this Fall. My mil recommended it, and it is delicious.

You might think that any deli/bakery type place would have great muffins. But I don't think that is always the case. Last fall I tried a pumpkin muffin from my favorite deli/bakery (I won't mention any names here), and I thought it was pretty terrible. I don't think I even finished it. Very disappointing.

So I was a little skeptical about this muffin. Without reason. It is really good.

I now recommend this to you. It's a great fall treat.

And if you find yourself at Panera, my other two favorite sugary breakfast treats that I recommend to you are the Cinnamon Crunch Bagel (my favorite sweet bagel ever), and their apple muffin. I don't remember the exact name of it, but it's pretty good. This coming from someone who has been against baked apple products forever. This muffin has opened my eyes. Enough that I even baked my own Apple Cider Muffins last weekend.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pancakes

This is the first year I have made pumpkin pancakes. I have thought about it before but just never got around to it. This has a very mild pumpkin taste, a great texture, and they are just a tiny bit sweet- perfect to drizzle some syrup on top.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbspn sugar

3 tbspn melted butter
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tbspn sugar

1 cup milk

Whisk together the first 4 dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients except the milk.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.

Gently mix the milk in one quarter cup at a time.

Ladle onto a hot griddle.


Enjoy!

Pumpkin for Spa Day

Apparently I love pumpkin so much that I am not satisfied just eating it, I need to rub it all over my face.

I really do love this pumpkin face mask. Of course it smells wonderful. And I do have a weakness for face masks. I think it started when I was a teenager.

Usually I prefer a peel-off mask. This mask is not a peel-off mask. However, these days I rarely have time to devote to a peel-off mask. The beauty of this mask is it's a 10 minute mask that you just rinse off. That means if I have 10 minutes to devote to a shower (which I rarely do-- I've perfected the 5 minute shower; maybe once a month if I'm lucky), I can slather this on, and then at the end of my shower just rinse it off before hopping out.

About this mask: I bought it at the end of last year at Bath & Body works. I really can't tell you if it's still available. It's part of the True Blue Spa line they carry. Every year they have multiple pumpkin products that they bring out in the fall. This year I don't really like the pumpkin lotion that they went with. They change it up every couple years and I've liked various pumpkin products in the past. This year I couldn't find anything that I liked, so I am going with last year's. (They might still sell this. If you're a face mask junkie like me, go check!)



Enjoy!

Homemade Pumpkin Smoothies

Pumpkin Smoothie

5 oz (the small can) evaporated milk
1/2 cup pumpkin
1 1/2 cups vanilla yogurt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp brown sugar
2 gingersnap cookies
1/2 frozen banana, sliced
6-ish ice cubes

Put ingredients in a blender in order listed. Blend.

About this smoothie:

I'll admit it. No smoothie will ever live up to my love for the Pumpkin Smash from Jamba Juice. However, I can't afford to indulge in that as often as I would like, so every year I try a few homemade pumpkin smoothies. You can definitely taste the frozen banana in here. While I love the texture that it adds, I am not sure I love the taste it adds. Pumpkin banana- not the new best combo.
That being said, it was good enough that I would probably make it again.

Pumpkin Caramel Bread

This is another new recipe I just came across. This recipe was posted at the ease of freeze. However, that blog has since moved and I can't find it! I want to link up and give her full credit, so I will keep looking around for it. I found this recipe a few weeks ago, and just over the weekend I was able to find the recipe at the new site, and now I can't. The address I thought it was at takes me to some medical site.

This bread is delicious though! Very dense and moist (thank you buttermilk) and the caramel adds some extra deliciousness and texture.

I made this yesterday, and then again today. You see, I had just enough buttermilk, pumpkin, and caramel bits to whip up another loaf. I am sure I would have used up the pumpkin, but the buttermilk and caramels would have gone to waste. And this bread was delicious enough that I really didn't mind making a second loaf.

(The irony of that is I ran out of a staple ingredient, the brown sugar. Luckily I had some dark brown sugar in the pantry because I am trying another graham cracker recipe soon. It's the first time I have ever even purchased a bag of dark brown sugar. I ended up using 1/4 cup of light brown sugar and 1/2 cup of dark brown sugar. Still delicious).

Pumpkin Caramel Bread
-1 loaf

1 cup flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 t ground ginger
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup oil
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup Caramel Bits

Whisk together the dry ingredients (not including the brown sugar). In a separate bowl, mix the brown sugar and the wet ingredients, not including the buttermilk.

To the wet mixture, add about 1/4 cup of the buttermilk, stir, and add about 1/3 of the dry ingredients. Alternate buttermilk and dry ingredients until it's all mixed in. Then fold in the Caramel Bits.

Pour into a loaf pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.

The original recipe says to bake at 400 degrees for 50-60 minutes. My first loaf got a little burned after 50 minutes, but was still wet in the middle. For my second loaf I baked at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. It was perfect. So I recommend 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

Also, in my second loaf I only put the caramel bits in about 1/2 of the loaf. This bread can easily be made without the Caramel. It does add extra sugary goodness but it's definitely not necessary. You could also add 1/2 - 1 cups of mini or regular chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, or even dried cranberries.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Hot Chocolate

I came across this lovely little product at my grocery store a couple of years ago. And it is delicious.

I am all for home made goodness and scouring the web for recipes. However, sometimes I just need a quick treat.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Bars with Mini Chocolate Chips

Here is another pumpkin bar recipe that I enjoy. This recipe has been slightly modified from the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars recipe posted over at bakeat350. She had posted these before and she just reposted them. (I made a couple minor adjustments to work with our tastes). In case you didn't know, the cookies over at Bake at 350 are amazing. They are just a little too ambitious for me. Once I tried one of her icing techniques (marbling) and it was awesome. That's as far as I've ventured into her cookie ideas. Her other baking endeavors are more doable for me.

To make your own delicious batch of these pumpkin bars you will need:

1 cup flour
1 cup whole wheat white 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
1/2 tsp salt

1 cup softened butter
1 1/4 cups sugar

1 egg
2 tsp vanilla

1 cup pumpkin

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Line a 13x9 pan with foil (I love doing this to reduce clean-up mess and to not use grease or cooking spray).

Whisk together dry ingredients (not including sugar).

In a separate bowl, beat butter and sugar until smooth (I like to use my hand mixer for this recipe). Add egg and vanilla. Then mix in pumpkin.

Mix in dry ingredients. Use a spatula to stir in the chocolate chips.

Spread into pan and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

After the bars have cooled, use the foil to lift them out. Cut, peel from foil, and enjoy!

Pumpkin Decorating

Every year we paint pumpkins. It's a fun little craft to do with the kiddies.

I was at my neighborhood market the other week and I saw these Pumpkin Transfers. I thought to myself, hmm, that looks easier than painting pumpkins. No set up or clean up mess. And something new and refreshing. So I purchased them. If you have never done pumpkin transfers before, think kids' temporary tatoos.

Let me just say, no they were not easier than painting pumpkins. I think it took much longer even with no set up and clean up (and not the good kind of, "yea we're having fun and we get to do this forever" kind of longer). And it wasn't easy for a young school age child. And I can't tell if I like how they have turned out. But now I know for next year.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

There are so many endless recipes out there for pumpkin breads and muffins that all are very similar.

This recipe was put out in 2010 by Betty Crocker. I really love the density of this bread. Some pumpkin breads are a bit, what's the word, mushy? This one bakes up a bit firmer and I like it. The recipe calls for mini chocolate chips, but dried cranberries would easily replace those (maybe not as delicious but a bit healthier).

As for the glaze, it sweetened it up a bit, but I think they included it for looks. If you are baking this to enjoy for yourself or your family, I say omit the glaze and save yourself some sugar. If you're gifting it or bringing it to a party and you want it to look a little extra special, drizzle on the glaze.

1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 c mini semi-sweet chocolate chips or dried cranberries

Mix the butter, sugar, eggs, and pumpkin with a wire whisk. Stir in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice. Stir in chocolate chips or cranberries.

Spread in a 9x5 loaf pan (grease the bottom first).

Bake at 350 degrees for 55-65 minutes.

If you are adding the glaze, stir 1/2 cup powdered sugar with 2-3 tsp of milk until you get a consistency you can drizzle. Drizzle over the bread and let it sit and harden about 30 minutes before slicing.

Pumpkin Cake Pops

I don't know about you, but I love cake pops. And I love that they are easy to dress up for any occasion or Holiday.

I follow Bakerella's cake pop recipe. The simplified instructions are:

Make a cake (I prefer Betty Crocker's Yellow Cake Mix), grate it, mix it with 3/4 tub of frosting (vanilla works well with the yellow cake). Roll your mixture into balls. Refrigerate. Then let the decorating fun begin.

I love doing pumpkins because I think they are the easiest for Halloween yet they are so colorful and fun. Melt down your orange candy melts, dip your cake balls, and add a cute little pumpkin stem and you're done. If you want to take them to the next level, you can add Jack-O-Lantern faces. I love them plain though. I like the simple look. However if I were to do a whole Halloween bouquet with mummy's and cats, etc., I would probably add faces.

Technically you could make these into Pumpkin pumpkin cake pops by using pumpkin cake and some cream cheese frosting. But I still love the yellow.

The Best Pumpkin Smoothie Ever

Those of you who know me have heard me raving about this pumpkin smoothie for the last two years. It is hands-down, my favorite pumpkin treat.

The bad news is you can't make this at home. That's right. This is the Pumpkin Smash from Jamba Juice. The good news is it is mad delicious!

If you love pumpkin and have somehow missed this smoothie the last two years, I suggest you head to Jamba Juice right now! It's that good. They started offering this smoothie on Thursday. Yes I went and got one. I got it at night when I was nowhere close to home. So of course I had to go back and get another one to take a picture.



Enjoy!

Pumpkin Muffins- the healthy version

As much as I love all things pumpkin, let's be honest and admit that they are usually packed with sugar!

Not so with this recipe. If you enjoyed those sugar-free granola bars, you'll enjoy these muffins. Very spicy (in that pumpkin-baked goods way), but not super sweet.

The original recipe here. You'll want to check it out. If you've never been to 100 days of real food, go right now. I absolutely love Lisa's blog. The recipes are amazing if you are looking for ways to eat healthier. However, allow yourself time to adjust to them because they aren't filled with sugar or other processed junk. If you aren't used to such healthy food, your tastebuds need some time to transition.

Pumpkin Muffins

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup coconut oil (I have always used coconut oil in this recipe but I am sure you could substitute if you need to)
1/2 cup honey
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup pumpkin

Whisk together dry ingredients. Make a hole in the center and add the rest of the ingredients. Do not over mix. Grease or line your muffin tin -this recipe makes 12 muffins- and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Enjoy!!

Pumpkin Candles

Last year I fell in love with this candle made by Yankee Candle. This is my back-up. I've had one burning on the mantle all week long.

I believed I would never find another pumpkin candle to match this, let alone top this.

And then, look what I ran into last week.

I still can't decide which one I enjoy more.

So of course I decided to enjoy both of them.

I could burn these all day long. Somehow I have ended up at Target three times this week. And even though I bought my new Pumpkin Spice on the first trip, I still had to pause to enjoy these when I passed them on my next two trips.


And a quick note. I also absolutely love this year's Spice Cupboard. Perhaps as much as the pumpkin scents.

My Favorite Pumpkin Bars

This is hands-down my favorite recipe of the pumpkin baking season. I thought of saving it for last, you know like my finale. But then I decided what a waste. I'll put it in early to enjoy it all season long.

The back story is I don't know the source of this recipe. I got it about 15 years ago. From my Dad. I think he clipped it from some magazine or newspaper or something. And I only remember him making it one time. And I absolutely loved it. So much that it was one of the first recipes I ever collected.

And a little back story on my dad. His work schedule mixed with my mom's work schedule put him in charge of dinner 5 nights a week (Monday-Friday). And he took it upon himself to add in dessert night one or two nights a week. He was adventurous and tried many recipes and inventions (his secret chocolate cake has the best chocolate frosting I've had. Ever.). Praise to him for creating in the kitchen.

I am going to type the recipe as I have it.

Pumpkin Bars

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cloves
1 cup oil
4 eggs
1 15oz can (2 cups) pumpkin
1/2 cup chopped nuts and 1/2 cup raisins (I omit these every year)

Beat at low speed until moistened, then beat at medium speed for 2 minutes.

Stir in nuts and raisins (if you want them but I leave it plain). Pour into a greased 15x10x1" pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Cool completely, 40-50 minutes. (And if you'd like a little while it's hot, I say cut yourself a square or two. You'll end up with a bit more icing on the other bars, but I find that quite delicious with this recipe).

Combine until smooth:

1/3 cup softened butter or margarine (I have recently switched back to butter in my baking and this was  the first time I used it in these bars. Still delicious. And I put it out to soften with the cream cheese).
3 oz. softened cream cheese
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tbspn milk
1 tsp vanilla

 See what I meant when I said I would type it as is? I can't confirm or deny that the original recipe said just dump everything together and mix. However, I have done that as I have also taken the time to mix them in the ways those ingredients are usually mixed in recipes. I really don't think it does matter if you dump it all together and mix. These really are delicious.

Thanks Dad!