Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze

Pumpkin time is here and I couldn't be more thrilled. Expect to see lots of pumpkin posts around here in the coming months.  I started out the pumpkin making season with this recipe for Pumpkin Coffee Cake.  I've never made a coffee cake using a cake mix.  It was definitely easier to make but I could tell the difference in the taste and texture.  While this isn't my favorite pumpkin recipe, I still wanted to share it.  I was looking more for a breakfast item and to me it was more of a dessert.  If I make it again, I will add walnuts or pecans and more spices.  If you make it, let me know what you think!

Recipe Courtesy of Pretty Good Food 

Serves 18

Ingredients

⅓ cups Water
1 can Pureed Pumpkin (15 Oz)
2 whole Eggs
1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
2 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 box Yellow Cake Mix (18 Ounce Box)
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 cup Brown Sugar, Divided
½ cups Flour
4 Tablespoons Butter, Melted
¼ cups Granulated Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
¼ cups Heavy Whipping Cream

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.

2.In a large bowl mix together the water, pumpkin, eggs, 1 Tablespoon of vanilla, and pumpkin pie spice until well combined. Add the cake mix and baking soda and mix until just combined.

3. Grease a 9×13 pan with butter and pour batter into pan.

4. In a small bowl mix together 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup flour and melted butter. Use your fingers to sprinkle over the top of the cake. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

5. For the glaze, combine the other 1/2 cup brown sugar, granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and heavy cream in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and stir until all sugar is dissolved.

6. When cake is finished baking, poke holes in the top with a toothpick. Pour glaze over the cake, making sure to cover all surfaces. Serve cake warm or at room temperature.

Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate

A few weeks ago we had some pretty chilly temps here in FL.  Right when I got home for work (on the one day it was cold) I made sure to light candles, bring out the blankets and made some hot chocolate.  I didn't just want the usual hot chocolate and I remembered this recipe from Pinterest.  It's from one of my favorite sites, Cookies and Cups.   Took only a few minutes to make and was a great spin on the old boring hot chocolate! Enjoy!

Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats

This treat has been floating all over pinterest lately. Here is the recipe I used as my guide.   I decided to make them at the last minute to take to work for my team. I followed normal rice krispie treat directions.  After the marshmallow is melted, I added yellow and red food coloring to create the orange marshmallow.  I added the rice krispies and made sure they were coated with marshmallow.  After the mixture had cooled a bit I shaped a handful of the mixture into a round ball.  I used a Tootsie Roll as the stem and stuck it in the middle of the ball.  I used green icing to make the leaf and vine.  I will say that these were a lot easier to make than I thought they would be.  Enjoy! 

Pumpkin Chili

Pumpkin Chili

1/2 cup chopped onion 

1 cup chopped red bell pepper 

1 clove garlic, finely chopped 

1 lb. ground turkey 

2 cans (14.5 oz each) diced tomatoes, undrained 

1 can (15 oz.) LIBBY'S 100% Pure Pumpkin 

1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce 

1 can (15.25 oz.) kidney beans, drained 

1 can (4 oz.) ORTEGA Diced Green Chiles 

1/2 cup whole kernel corn 

1 tablespoon chili powder 

1 teaspoon ground cumin 

1 teaspoon salt 

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Brown the meat then throw everything in the crock pot for 3 1/2 hours on high.

  Love this spin on chili!

Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Blossoms

What better way to start a new week than with another tasty pumpkin recipe? This one was from Pinterest.  I made them last Sunday when my mom came over and spent the day baking with me.  Even though these were delicious cookies, they weren't as easy as we thought they'd be.  I didn't have the time to cool the dough over night (which I would recommend) so I decided not to coat the dough in cinnamon sugar.  Instead, I scooped the dough onto the cookie sheet and sprinkled the cinnamon sugar mixture on it.  They baked perfectly and the house filled with a sweet pumpkin aroma.  Out next little issue came with putting the kisses on the cookies.  The directions said to put them on immediately after they come out of the oven.  That did not work for us, see picture below.  Instead we let them cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet, moved them to a wire cooling rack and after a few minutes pressed the kisses on top.  After two attempts, we finally had success.  And they were totally worth it.  Enjoy!

Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses (about 30, unwrapped)

1 pouch Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix

1/3 cup butter, softened

1 egg

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon, mixed

Preheat oven to 350. 

  

Mix sugar cookie mix, butter, egg, pumpkin, and pumpkin pie spice with a mixer or by hand until well blended. Dough will be very soft. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.

I tried the dough after an hour, and after sitting in the refrigerator overnight. I preferred it after it had sat all night (firmer and less messy) but it’s really up to you.

Scoop the dough out with a small cookie scoop (or a tablespoon), roll into a ball, and roll in the cinnamon sugar. If your dough is less firm due to refrigerating it less, drop it in the cinnamon sugar before you shape it. The coating will keep it from sticking to your hands.

Place cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes, or until bottoms are golden brown and centers are firm. Remove from oven and immediately press a Pumpkin Spice Kiss in the center of each.

                                                                               Woops! 

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Are you surprised to see another pumpkin recipe?  You shouldn't be.  As soon as these gems caught me eye on Pinterest, I knew I had to make them.  Fortunately, I had all the ingredients at home so I didn't have to wait.  My Mr. has a busy season at work that is starting this week and I always try to send in lots of goodies for that 12 week period.  This was my first treat that I sent.  I followed all directions but did add a tsp of pumpkin pie spice into the cookie dough mix.  I chilled my dough overnight.  You definitely want to chill the dough, it will make it easier to work with.  I used the Pampered Chef small scoop to make the cookies, so I ended up with over 4 dozen. Enjoy! 

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Yield: about 3-4 dozen cookies
Ingredients:
For the cookies:
3¾ cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
¾ cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the coating:
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground ginger
Dash of allspice

Directions:
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Whisk to blend and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.  Blend in the pumpkin puree.  Beat in the egg and vanilla until incorporated.  With the mixer on low speed add in the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated.  Cover and chill the dough for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.  Combine the sugar and spices for the coating in a bowl and mix to blend.  Scoop the dough (about 2½ tablespoons) and roll into a ball.  Coat the dough ball in the sugar-spice mixture and place on the prepared baking sheet.  Repeat with the remaining dough to fill the sheets, spacing the dough balls 2-3 inches apart.  Dip the bottom of a flat, heavy-bottomed drinking glass in water, then in the sugar-spice mixture, and use the bottom to flatten the dough balls slightly.  Recoat the bottom of the glass in the sugar-spice mixture as needed.

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until just set and baked through.  Let cool on the baking sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Repeat with the remaining dough.  Store in an airtight container.
From Annie's Eats. 

Skinny Pumpkin Cupcakes

If you haven't visited Skinny Taste, you have to check it out.  It's where I go to find healthy, low fat recipes.  I made these cupcakes for hubs to take to work. The pumpkin icing is what had me sold.  I've made pumpkin cupcakes time and time again, but never before with pumpkin icing. Of course, I taste tested and they are pumpkin lover approved! Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cupcakes 

Ingredients:

• 18.25 oz Betty Crocker Golden Vanilla Super Moist Cake Mix*
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 cup canned 100% pure pumpkin
• 1 cup water

For the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 8 oz Philadelphia 1/3 fat cream cheese (do not use fat free)
• 1/2 cup pureed pumpkin (canned is fine)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 5 tbsp packed brown sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake wrappers.
Combine cake mix and pumpkin spice in a large bowl. Add pumpkin puree and water, mix about 2 minutes.
Fill

 cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake about 20 - 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

 For the frosting, 

combine

 the cream cheese, pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and brown sugar until smooth. You can use a spatula to ice the cupcakes or pipe them which may require making more frosting.

Makes 24
*Betty Crocker has reduced their cake mixes, so read the labels on your box. Dunkin Hines still carries 18.25 oz boxes.

Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip Brownies

This recipe was one of my Pinterest pins, originally from Pennies on a Platter. I should probably have my own pin board devoted to pumpkin with all that I pin.  Honestly, if it says pumpkin there's a 95% chance I've already pinned it or I will pin it.  I picked up 3 large cans of pumpkin from Target this past weekend just to make sure I didn't run out this year.  It was so hard to find last year and I was not going to let that happen again.  I made this recipe for hubs to bring to work with him.  His team is long overdue for sweet treats and since it's now officially fall I had to celebrate with a pumpkin recipe.  


This recipe is AMAZING.  I wish I could keep the entire pan for myself.  They are so light, moist and fluffy. The pumpkin is there but not overpowering.  Just simply amazing.  I used white chocolate chips in this mix instead of chocolate.  I wanted to change things up a bit.  Do yourself a favor and add this to your list of things to make.  Your friends and tummy with thank you! HAPPY FALL!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Brownies Yield: 24 small brownies 1/2 cup pumpkin puree 1 whole egg 2 egg whites 1 tbsp vegetable or canola oil 1 cup flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp ground allspice 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg 1/4 tsp salt 2/3 cup brown sugar, packed 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used white chocolate chips) Preheat oven to 350˚F.  Line an 11″- x 7″-inch pan with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin puree, eggs and oil until smooth.  Set aside. In a separate medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, spices, salt and brown sugar.  Add to the wet ingredients and mix until thoroughly incorporated.  Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour into prepared pan and spread evenly.  Bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until passes toothpick test.  Cool completely before cutting.

Tasty Pumpkin Muffins

When I saw a pumpkin recipe with over 4,000 reviews, I couldn't pass it up.  I have a pumpkin obsession- probably not the healthiest obsession. But cheaper than shoes right? 

When this time of year comes around, pumpkin takes over my life.   I'm at Dunkin Donuts everyday for their pumpkin coffee-no lie.  My house smells like Bath & Body works, with 7 pumpkin scented plug ins and pumpkin candles burning non stop.  What can I say....it's the little things that make you happy! Anyhow, I made this recipe right away.  I made a few big changes to the mix, which I noted below.  Then, I decided to make muffins instead of bread.  I'm more of a grab and go kind of girl.  I was able to make about 40 muffins.  I did one batch of just plain muffins.  I did another with dark chocolate chips.  And the last batch had cranberries and walnuts.  All of them were fabulous.  I couldn't pick a favorite if I tried.  And since I made so darn many, I can have a different kind each day.  I couldn't even part with these muffins, they went straight to the freezer.  I'll be enjoying them every morning for the next month! 

INGREDIENTS:

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree 4 eggs 1 cup vegetable oil (1 cup applesauce) 2/3 cup water 3 cups white sugar (1 cup brown & 1 cup white) 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans.
2.	In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
3.	Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. The muffins took 20 minutes to bake.

Iced Pumpkin Cookies

By now you should be well aware of my love for pumpkin-anything pumpkin. Today, my husband sent me a message from work saying the people at work were wondering if I was mad at them, because I haven't sent in any goodies lately. Well, that is completely HIS fault because the pumpkin brownies I made last week are still in the fridge. SOMEONE forgot to bring them to work. Anyways, I wanted to make something today, but didn't feel like going to the store. I've stocked up on cans of pumpkin, so I went to All Recipes on a search for a new pumpkin recipe. And viola....Iced Pumpkin Cookies. I followed some of the recommendations from the reviews: I used the entire can of pumpkin, let them cook for 12 minutes, used Crisco instead of butter, and used pumpkin pie spice. I iced only half of my batch because the fewer calories for me...the better. On the ones without icing, I used a little brown sugar on the top. I LOVED these! For the icing, I just used boiling water, a little vanilla and confectioners sugar. It worked perfectly for me!

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Icing:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.
In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork.
To Make Glaze: Combine confectioners' sugar, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add milk as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency.

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

One of my favorite combinations....chocolate and pumpkin! You've got to try these!
Thank you Betty Crocker.
Filling:
1 package (3 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1 egg
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Brownies
1 box Betty Crocker® Premium Brownies Ultimate Fudge
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons water
1 egg

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease bottom only of 9-inch square pan with shortening or cooking spray. In small bowl, beat all filling ingredients with electric mixer on low speed until smooth. Set aside.
2. Make brownie batter as directed on box, using 1/4 cup oil, 2 tablespoons water and the egg. Spread 3/4 of the batter in pan. Spoon filling by tablespoonfuls evenly over batter. Spoon remaining brownie batter over filling. Cut through batter several times with knife for marbled design.
3. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted 1 inch from side of pan comes out almost clean. Cool completely. Cut into 4. rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.

Makes 16 brownies

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Loved these! Took me no time at all, will definitely make these again!
Note: I only made one batch using one box of cake mix, 1 15oz. can of pumpkin and 2 cups of chocolate chips.

Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
2 spice cake mixes (Duncan Hines, although not pictured, is the best for this recipe)
1 30-oz. can pumpkin
1 12-oz. bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350. Combine cake mixes and pumpkin. Add in chocolate chips. Spoon mixture into lined muffin tins. This can make as many as 48 muffins or as few as 36, just depending on how full the tins are filled. These really don't rise very much, so you can fill the tins pretty full. If aesthetics are a concern, keep in mind that how they look going into the oven is very much what they will look like coming out of the oven. So a cookie scoop works great to keep things on the prettier side.
Bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of one of the muffins comes out clean.

Pumpkin Biscotti

Well, I tried my first pumpkin recipe for 2010 this week. It will be the first of many! I found this recipe at simplyrecipes.com. It took no time at all to make and I was pleased with the results. I could have baked it a bit longer, but they've been fabulous for breakfast everyday this week. I definitely think that this recipe would be even better with some mini chocolate chips and some nuts. Keep your eye out for a few variations to come.

Pumpkin Biscotti Recipe
INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups of flour
1 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
Pinch of ginger
Pinch of cloves
Pinch of salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup of pumpkin purée
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
METHOD
1 Preheat oven to 350°F. Sift together the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, and spices into a large bowl.
2 In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin purée, and vanilla extract. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture. Give it a rough stir to generally incorporate the ingredients, the dough will be crumbly.
3 Flour your hands and a clean kitchen surface and lightly knead the dough. Lightly grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper. Form the dough into a large log, roughly about 15-20 inches by 6-7 inches. The loaves should be relatively flat, only about 1/2 inch high. Bake for 22-30 minutes at 350 F, until the center is firm to the touch. (Feel free to also form two smaller logs for cute two-bite biscotti; just cut the baking time to 18-24 minutes.)
4 Let biscotti cool for 15 minutes and then using a serrated knife cut into 1 inch wide pieces. Turn the oven to 300 F and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes. Cool completely.
Biscotti may be still a tad moist and chewy, so if you prefer it crisp let it sit uncovered overnight in a dry space. Serve and enjoy.
Makes approximately 15 cookies.

PUMPKIN COOKIES

Those who know me well, know I LOVE anything Pumpkin. I was so excited for October to be here so I made these pumpkin cookies for work. They were pretty simple to make and came out great. The cookies were a little cake like (which was good), and I added a little extra pumpkin than the recipe called for. Many people have asked for this recipe, so here it is! Happy Fall =-)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies III from All Recipes.com

Ingredients

• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
2. Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts.
3. Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.