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!

Pumpkin Granola Bars

You know I love all things pumpkin. And every year it seems there are even more pumpkin recipes to try. This is a new one I found this year over at Craft Envy. I was very excited. I love easy snacks, and I love easy-to-make easy snacks even better.

A couple things. These have NO sugar. Okay, no white sugar. They do have honey. So they aren't too sweet. Don't try these after you've eaten something sweet. Try them when you haven't had sweets for a while.  Also, I recommend putting in all of the almonds, cranberries, and candy chips. I decided to make half of mine plain and I only put those 3 ingredients in the other half. These are just too bland to make plain. You really need the sweetness of the cranberries and chips. And I used white chocolate chips. I was going to use butterscotch but then found out all I had was white. I think white, butterscotch, or chocolate would all work well in these bars. I might melt some down and drizzle it over the plain bars for a little added something sweet.

Nicholette's recipe for these bars can be found here. You can make them chewy or crunchy. I went with chewy, and really, these make me think of a pumpkin baked oatmeal bar. Next time I am going to try crunchy with all the add ins.