pumpkin

06 Dec 2011 7 Comments

Pumpkin Deliciousness Cake

I have several enemy foods- foods I just do not like and do not intend to ever like. One of those things is Chicken Pot Pie. Before you yell at me, let me say that I don’t know why I don’t like Chicken Pot Pie. I like chicken and I like pie…but somehow all together it all turns icky. Like really icky. (And don’t tell me I haven’t had a “good” chicken pot pie. No such thing exists).

I remember one day when I was young (7 or 8) and my mom bought a Chicken Pot Pie for dinner. But she also bought Boston Cream Pie. And Boston Cream Pie is one of my all-time favorite desserts ever- I used to have it for my birthday cake every year. So anyway, that night I sat at the table for probably an hour (or more) trying to choke down that horrible horrible dinner. And you know what? I did it! And I got boston cream pie for dessert! Ahh good times :)

My mom has a dish that she makes called like Harvest Vegetable Pot Pie (or something like that) and my sister and I love it! But we refuse to call it “pot pie” so we renamed it “Pre-Spring Deliciousness.” Likewise, this cake is really good, but its given name is Pumpkin Dump Cake. Dump cake? That does not sound appealing at all! So I am presenting you with Pumpkin Deliciousness Cake :) This cake is seriously good. I can’t even tell you how good it is, you’ll just have to make it yourself! It’s also really easy to make. But I was having serious issues the afternoon I made it and kept being totally spacey! I’m so glad it turned out good :)

You start by mixing together a can of pumpkin puree, a can of evaporated milk, a cup of brown sugar, 3 eggs, and 3 tsp pumpkin pie spice and just whisk it all together!

Here’s the first place I went wrong. See that nice action shot of the box cake mix pouring in the batter? I thought it was a pretty nice picture. Too bad it was the wrong thing to do! Here’s what you should do: pour the batter into a 9 by 13 cake pan and sprinkle the cake mix on top. I realized my mistake before I mixed the whole box mix in, though, so I was able to salvage it.

It still looks pretty good! So I put it in the oven. Ohhhh mistake number 2. Geez! Airhead much, girl? I forgot to pour melted butter over the whole thing.

I realized before too much time had passed and pulled it out. I poured the melted butter (2 sticks) over the batter. Then I put it back in the oven and baked it.

It fluffed up nicely in the oven! And oh my goodness does it taste good. I think I already said that but seriously, this deliciousness cake is delicious!

Mmm cut yourself a nice piece and take a bite.

Oh wait, that’s better! So after you add some whipped cream do this:

I tried this cake with vanilla ice cream, chocolate ice cream, and whipped cream and thought it was best with whipped cream (see the things I do for you???)

Oh this looks so good…so good in fact that I might have to take another bite. Just one…

Wait??? How did that happen??? Look at the sacrifices I make for you guys. I’ve probably tried this cake a good dozen times, just to make sure it was acceptable to post ;)

Pumpkin Deliciousness Cake

Ingredients:

1 (15 oz) can Pumpkin Puree
1 (10 oz) can Evaporated Milk
1 cup light brown sugar
3 eggs
3 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup (2 sticks) butter melted
1 cup coarsely crushed graham crackers or pecans
1/2 cup toffee bits (optional) <– I didn’t do this but it sounds seriously good!

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 and butter a 9 by 13 cake pan.
  2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin, evaporated milk, sugar, eggs, and pumpkin pie spice. Stir to combine.
  3. Pour into your prepared pan.
  4. Sprinkle your entire box of cake mix on top, followed by your nuts or graham crackers and toffee chips.
  5. Pour your melted butter evenly on top.
  6. Bake for 45-50 minutes until center is set and edges are lightly browned.

Enjoy with whipped cream! (or vanilla ice cream or chocolate ice cream or more cake)

by Amilia @justeverydayme in Baking, Christmas, Dessert, Holiday/Seasonal Tags: , ,

25 Nov 2011 1 Comment

Pumpkin Pie Dip

Oh goodness! Are you guys still full from Thanksgiving dinner? I’m not! I woke up this morning and was huuungry. I was really wanting to eat some of this pumpkin pie dip on a waffle, but my littlest sister ate the last waffle! Oh well :) Some other time.

How was your Thanksgiving? Mine was really good.I spent the day with my parents, sisters, and grandparents which was really nice. We made our Thanksgiving dinner and ate around 2:30. We then went on our traditional post-big-meal walk (it was such a beautiful day!) and then we came home and watched Elf and ate pie! Watching Elf on Thanksgiving has become a family tradition and is the perfect way to kick off Christmas. My family loves Elf…we quote it all the time :)

I really enjoyed cooking. I was in charge of the appetizers, a side, and a pie. My middle sister always makes the deviled eggs so I decided to make Pumpkin Pie dip, Hot Spinach Dip, and then we had cheese and crackers, too. I’ll share all the recipes I made (because everything turned out great) but I’m sharing the Pumpkin Pie dip first. I’ll be posting a lot of Thanksgiving recipes the next few days, but you can certainly make them for occasions other than Thanksgiving…they’d be great everyday, party, or Christmas desserts as well!

I settled on making this dip last minute and didn’t know how it would taste. But I really liked it! My family doesn’t really like pumpkin pie, so it’s not a dessert we usually eat, but they all liked this. This dip was super easy to make and was very light and sweet with a slight tang from the sour cream. The blend of spices with the pumpkin make it a perfect seasonal appetizer or dessert. I served it with graham crackers and apple slices which was really tasty.

I got the recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything. I made some substitutions to make the dip a little lower in fat and calories, but it certainly didn’t taste like it! You can certainly use full-fat cream cheese, sour cream, and cool whip if that’s what you have at home (no judging…calories don’t count on holidays, weekends, birthdays, or days with vowels), but I promise the dip doesn’t taste light at all! We have a lot left over so I’ll be enjoying it the rest of the week. Maybe I’ll get another chance to eat it on waffles! I will make this again, perhaps for Christmas :)

Pumpkin Pie Dip

Recipe adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything :)

Ingredients:

One 8 ounce package of 1/3 reduced fat cream cheese

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1 cup frozen lite cool whip, thawed

Gingersnaps, apple slices, or cinnamon graham crackers for dipping

Directions:

  1. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and powdered sugar.
  2. Add in the cup of pumpkin puree, sour cream, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and ginger.
  3. Fold in the cup of thawed cool whip until incorporated.
  4. Keep it in the fridge until ready to eat!

Makes…umm a big bowl. We had 7 people munching on it and we didn’t even make a dent.

Enjoy!

by Amilia @justeverydayme in Appetizer, Dessert, Holiday/Seasonal, Snack, Thanksgiving Tags: , ,

22 Oct 2011 2 Comments

Pumpkin Spice Scones

Baking is a stress-reliever for me, especially when I’m not doing it under pressure or with a deadline. This morning I woke up and decided I would make breakfast. My parents and youngest sister are at her soccer game and my middle sister is still sleeping (it’s 11am! pshh..teenager). So the house was quiet and peaceful (something that never happens!) and I got to just relax and enjoy baking these delicious pumpkin scones.

I have a confession to make…I don’t really like Starbucks. I know, I know…craziness. But I can’t drink coffee because caffeine gives me migraines, and they don’t have a ton of non-caffeinated options. Their hot chocolate is just so-so and I don’t really like their frozen non-caffeinated drinks. I think I would like a lot of their coffee drinks (pumpkin spice latte sounds pretty amazing) but oh well! All this to say, I haven’t had the famous Starbucks pumpkin scones but I found a lot of people posting the recipe on their blogs and I thought they sounded really good! So that’s what I decided to make this morning.

I used to make scones all the time. There’s a Joy of Baking recipe for scones that is absolutely incredible (I’ll have to make those and blog about them…the recipe isn’t available online anymore for some reason). I think scones are fun to make. They take some time but it’s fun :)

These scones have a powdered sugar and spice glaze. They have a nice pumpkin spice flavor. I can’t say if they’re better than the Starbucks version but they’re pretty darn good :) The only thing I didn’t like were that they came out a little dry and weren’t as flavorful as I would have like. My usual scone recipe still reigns supreme, but these are a very nice seasonal version.

Here are the scones without any of the glaze.

Action shot!

Umm yeah pretty tasty looking :)

Pumpkin Spice Scones
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Scone Ingredients:

1/2 cup canned pumpkin or pumpkin puree
3 tablespoons half-and-half
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I added 1 tsp)
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
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Powdered Sugar Glaze
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
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Spiced Glaze
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch of ground ginger
Pinch of cloves
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Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (I used aluminum foil because we were out of parchment paper).
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, half-and-half, and egg. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. Add the pieces of cold butter and, using a pastry blender or fork, cut the butter into the flour until the mixture is crumbly and there are no large pieces of butter left. (You can use a fork, I have before, but a pastry blender makes everything much easier!)
  4. Gradually mix the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture, using wooden spoon. The mixture will be dry at first but will come together once all the wet ingredients are mixed in.
  5. On a well-floured surface, flatten and form the dough into a 12 inch x 4 inch x 1 inch-thick rectangle.
  6. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, divide the rectangle into three equal pieces (you want each section to be a square), then cut each square into four smaller triangles by making an “X” through them. (I kinda failed at this leaving some deformed scones…don’t stress about it. It adds character :)
  7. Place scones on baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until just light brown. Remove to cooling rack and let cool before icing.
  8. To make the powdered sugar glaze, mix all ingredient together, then brush over the tops of cooled scones using a pastry brush.
  9. After the glaze has set (about 10 minutes or so), make the spiced glaze by mixing all ingredients together. Drizzle onto scones (I put mine in a Ziploc bag with the tip cut off).
Makes 12 Scones
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The original recipe says to let the spiced glaze set for about an hour! Craziness. I was hungry and wasn’t having any of that. It was still tasty :) I like my scones warm so I microwaved mine. And I put a little butter on mine. Because I’m health-conscious like that.
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Enjoy!
I shared this on Sweet as Sugar Cookies :)

 

by Amilia @justeverydayme in Baking, Breakfast, Holiday/Seasonal Tags: , ,

20 Oct 2011 12 Comments

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have a problem. I’m a night eater. I’m usually not very hungry all throughout the day and then at night the munchies attack! (Attack of the Munchies…the movie) (haha sorry…only my sister would get that and she doesn’t even read this blog). Anyways! I think my problem would be solved if I went to bed earlier. But I tend to stay up later than I should, looking at lots of foodblogs, and by the time I know it it’s 11pm and I’m hungry again! That’s what’s happened to me now as I type this even though I just ate like 4 cookies. Hem hem. I think a good weight loss tool for me would be going to bed earlier. Or, you know, work out more. I’ve been good about working out except for the past couple of weeks. I get home from school and either I don’t have the time to work out, or I just don’t have the motivation. But don’t judge me! Chances are I work out more than you do! Unless you’re a professional athlete..or trainer…or athlete of any sort…or someone who worked out at all this week…Hem hem…new subject!

It’s time for another cookie for the 12 Weeks of Christmas!

Yesterday I left for school and it was so cold and gross out! The bus was cold, school was cold, and my house was cold when I got home. I felt like a icicle. I turned on our fireplace and cuddled with a blanket and my warm laptop on my lap. I worked on some homework and then decided to bake since I wouldn’t have any time to do it today. Ever since I made those delicious Oatmeal Raisin cookies, I haven’t been in the mood to eat a lot of chocolate (I know! Craziness!). I’ve really been wanting more pumpkin treats and seasonal yummies (is that even a word?). So I decided to make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. I found a lot of different recipes for these cookies but decided to make ones from Kirbie’s Cravings. I made half of the cookies as the recipe stated and added oats to the other half of the batch. They were easy to make and came out looking plump and tasty! The oatmeal ones are my favorite, but I just like the texture of oats in cookies.

There are some things I’m not so crazy about in these cookies. First of all, they have a very cakey texture. Now I don’t have a huge problem with that per-se (before I made these I wasn’t even sure how cookies have a cakey texture) but it is a tad over-the-top. I think the oats help cut back on that texture by adding some more dimension. Also I think if I made these again, I would add some pumpkin pie spice to enhance the pumpkin flavor. With all that said, baked goods with pumpkin tend to taste better with age. These already tasted better the next day. And I ate about 4 of these last night so clearly I didn’t think they were too bad ;) I did find a recipe for more chewy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies that I think I want to try. Although after these, I may be pumpkined out for a while…besides pumpkin muffins. Because I was going to make those soon. Haha :) Maybe I’ll be ready to return to chocolate baked goods. Or at least switch to a different seasonal flavor…like apple!

These cookies are definitely worth a shot. And who knows, you may end up loving them!

Remember to check out all the other super-awesome cookie posts for 12 Weeks of Christmas, as well as our host blog, Meal Planning Magic!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe from Kirbie’s Cravings

Ingredients:

1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (or pumpkin pie spice)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cup oatmeal (optional)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350F and line baking sheets with parchment paper (I used aluminum foil and it worked well).
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, vanilla and egg.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together together flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon (pumpkin pie spice), and salt. Add the flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and stir until combined. The dough is very wet.
  4. Stir in the chocolate chips and oats, if you so desire.
  5. Using a medium (1 tbs) ice cream scoop, place dough onto the cookie sheet. The cookies don’t change shape much when baking. If you want prettier cookies, shape them a bit before baking them.
  6. Place the cookie trays in the refrigerator for 15-30 minutes (this is optional but I like doing this because I feel like it helps the flavors meld more).
  7. Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm. It’s a little hard to know when they’re done exactly but about 10 minutes does it.

Enjoy!

I shared this on Fusion Fridays!

by Amilia @justeverydayme in Baking, Christmas, Dessert, Holiday/Seasonal Tags: , , ,

18 Oct 2011 3 Comments

Pumpkin Donut Holes

I visit a whole lot of other food blogs and love seeing all the neat and tasty recipes that other people come up with. I want to start making up my own recipes, but I don’t feel like I know enough about baking to do it quite yet, so I tend to make other people’s recipes. Usually I’ll see someone’s recipe and save it and come back to it later, but when I saw these Pumpkin Donut Holes on Two Peas & Their Pod, I knew I had to make them that day. These donut holes are baked in a mini muffin tin (genius! I never would have thought of that) and taste so good. Too good maybe! I hadn’t eaten dinner and ended up eating like 5 of these instead…hem hem. But they’re baked not fried so they must not be too bad for you! Or at least that’s what I’ll keep telling myself :) They are seriously delicious. The only downfall is that they don’t keep particularly well…but it’s really not a problem because they don’t last long enough to go bad! I made these in the evening when my whole family was out. They didn’t get home until 9pm but by the time I went to bed, they were almost gone. When I woke up this morning, there were only five left and now they’re all gone! Needless to say, these were amazing. I will definitely be making these again…as soon as I work off all the ones I ate this time around ;)

Sorry for these less-than-impressive picture…I took them the morning after I made them and I was a little rushed. Just take my word for it, though, that these donut holes were one of the best things ever!

Pumpkin Donut Holes

Recipe from Two Peas & Their Pod

Ingredients:

For the Donuts:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice (we didn’t have this so I substituted it with ginger)
1/8 teaspoons ground cloves
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup canned plain pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/2 cup milk

For the Coating:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven 350°F. Spray a 24-cup mini muffin tin with baking spray and set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice (or ginger), and cloves.
  3. In a large bowl, mix together oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin and milk until smooth.
  4. Add the dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
  5. Use a small ice cream scoop to put the batter in the muffin cups.
  6. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  7. Now make the topping! Melt the butter in one bowl and mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon IN A SEPARATE BOWL (I accidentely put everything in one bowl the first time…oops!)
  8. Dip each donut hole in the butter and roll it in the cinnamon sugar.
  9. Serve the muffins warm! And enjoy!

Makes 24 donut holes.

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by Amilia @justeverydayme in Baking, Breakfast, Dessert, Holiday/Seasonal Tags: , , ,

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