Pumpkin Pie Biscotti

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 Our weather has been perfection this week. Crisp cold nights followed by clear cerulean blue sky days with hardly a cloud to be seen. The perfect weather to pick back up my afternoon hot tea ritual. What goes better with a mug of hot tea than a crunchy, not too sweet piece of biscotti. My love for all things pumpkin has been well documented on this blog. I'm pretty sure that I have posted more recipes with pumpkin as the star than any other ingredient. My love for that orange squash runs very deep ! I've been craving pumpkin pie for a couple of weeks now. So of course when I came across a recipe for pumpkin pie biscotti, I HAD to make it immediately. The biscotti contains all the spices found in pumpkin pie as well as pumpkin puree. The pumpkin puree gives the biscotti a beautiful orange color and really ups the pumpkin flavor. It's perfect if you are needing an afternoon pumpkin pie fix to go with you cup of tea!

Pumpkin Pie Biscotti
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2/3 cup mashed canned pumpkin
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter
1cup pecans , coarsely chopped


Method:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl; stir well. In another bowl, combine pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla, stirring well with a wire whisk. Slowly add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. (Mixture will be very crumbly; it will gradually become moist after stirring.) Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add pecans. Cook, stirring constantly, until nuts are slighty browned. Remove from heat and cool completely. 

Knead or gently stir cooled nuts into dough. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and divide into 2 portions. Lightly flour hands and shape each portion into approximately 2 x 12" long log. Place logs  lightly greased cookie sheets. Bake for 25-28 minutes; cool logs 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300. Cut each log diagonally into 1/2" slices using a serrated knife. Place slices on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 15 minutes or until they reach the desired crunchiness. The biscotti will get a bit crisper as it cools. Cool completely on wire racks.

source: Southern Living 1996 (adapted)

All that's missing is a piping hot cup of Chai tea!

Halloween Wreath

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I realize that no baking is involved with this post. However since this blog is my little corner of the internet and I do occasionally do more than bake, I thought I share this little Halloween project I did this week. I have to start by saying that I am not a crafty person. Not. At. All. I don't have the patients for things like scrap booking or sewing. Which is kind of strange since I have no problem working on a cake for hours at a time or decorating dozens of cupcakes. 

 I blame my decision to do this little project totally on Pinetrest. I have seen so many cute crafty things posted there that I began to feel like a loser for not even owning a glue gun. When I came across this wreath, I thought it was adorable. It looked pretty easy so I thought I'd try my hand at making one. I didn't want to spend much on the supplies because I wasn't sure if I'd be able to make a wreath I actually wanted to hang! This wreath not only looked fairly easy to make but the supplies were inexpensive as well. I think all total (including purchasing a tiny glue gun for $3.00) I spent under $15.00 to buy everything I used to make it. 

This project is definitely on the easy side. Pretty much the only skill you need is knowing how to tie a knot. Perfect for the craft challenged person, such as I. 

I really like how the wreath turned but next time would do a sturdier base for my wreath. Because was trying not to spend too much and bases can cost as much as $10.00, I bought a foam piece from Lowes for .97 cents and cut it to the size I wanted. I saw this idea on Pintrest and thought I'd give it a try. It was okay but was definitely not as sturdy as a foam base would have been. I also thought it was a bit too narrow. I liked that it was black so I didn't have to worry about it showing through the tulle. However if you make this wreath I would recommend using a different wreath for the base. One like this or this would work better. 

Supplies:

1 base for wreath between 12 and 14 inchs

2  25yard spools of black tulle ( I found them at Wal-mart the amount you need will depend on how large around your base is. I used 2  25yard spools.)

1 yard large rick-rack (also found at Wal-mart. Hancock Fabrics carries it as well)

2 yards of wide orange ribbon for bow and to hang the wreath (again Wal-mart)

Decorations of your choice. (I found mine at Hobby Lobby for 30% off so they cost me less then $2.00 total.)

How To:

Cut your tulle into about 16 inch lengths. I measured out 16" on my table and marked it with two pieces of painters tape. This way I could just unroll and cut between the marks and not have to measure out each piece.

Next tie the tulle around the wreath and knot it in a basic knot. Like if you were tying you shoe laces in a knot: right over left, left over right. Continue to tie the strip all the way around the wreath. Try to keep the knots lined up. As you tie the strips, push them tightly together so that there are no gaps. The more piece of tulle you put, the fuller your finished wreath will look.

Hot glue your rick-rack around the edge where the knots are. Can I just tell you how much I love this orange rick-rack!

My lack of glue gun experience can be seen where I got some on the tulle!

 Now your ready to add the fun stuff. This is where you can be creative and do whatever you want. I made a bow using 2"wide orange ribbon and hot glued a tiny spider in the center. I like the way the ribbon bow came out but wired ribbon would have probably been easier for a novice at bow making. I glued the bow and the Beware sign to lower right side of the wreath

I looped a piece of the orange ribbon around the wreath and hung the Trick-Treat sign from the ribbon. How long your ribbon needs to be depends on how far down on the door you want the wreath to hang.

I had fun making this wreath. Watch out, I have a glue gun now. Who knows whats next!!

Not too bad for a first time wreath maker.

Candy Corn Sugar Cookies

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Hubs tells me all the time that I like to do things the hard way. He says this when I choose to make something rather than buy it or make do with what I have rather than buy something new. Even if that something new would make my life easier. Usually it's because I'm being cheap thrifty. However sometimes it's because I get an idea and just want to see if it will work. That's how these cookies came about. I was wasting time doing important research on Pinterest. In the interest of public safety, I feel I must warn those that don't already know about Pinterest. I'm not sure what happens, maybe a quantum time leap, or perhaps it's in its own time zone or something. All I know is that when you visit Pinterest, what feels like 5 minutes in Pinterest time is actually an hour in real time. Consider yourselves warned! Anyhooo, back to the cookies, so I saw some cute candy corn shaped sugar cookies while surfing around Pinterest. I liked that they looked like candy corn but didn't have to be decorated. They looked easy, a departure from my usual way of doing things. This was a week or two ago and I didn't pin the picture, which I realize kind of defeats the purpose of Pinterest. I couldn't find the picture again so I decided I'd just wing it and see if I could make some cookies like the ones I had seen. I have since seen other ways to make candy corn cookies but I like how these came out and they really are easy to make.

These are perfect for when you need a fun Fall/Halloween dessert, like school parties. You could go super easy and use store bought sugar cookie dough to make these cookies. No judgement here! However this recipe for sugar cookies is simple to make and tastes delicious. The dough doesn't need to be chilled before using, so it's quick to make as well.

Easy No-Chill Sugar Cookies
Source: Food.com submitted by Chef.Jules
Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

orange and yellow gel food coloring
candy corn cookie cutter (or you could cut out triangles)

Method:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In mixing bowl, cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla.
Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl; add to butter mixture 1 cup at a time, mixing after each addition. Divide dough into two balls.

To make Candy Corn Cookies:

Divide your cookie dough into three equal pieces. Knead orange gel food coloring into one piece and yellow into another. Leave the third piece white. Roll the dough into logs about 1 inch wide and 6-8 inches long. Put each of the logs side-by-side and slightly push them together like in the picture below.

Roll the cookie dough out approximately 12" wide and about 1/8" thick and cut out with a candy corn shaped cookie cutter. If you don't have a candy corn cutter you can just cut out triangles.

Kind of has a 70's vibe going!

I sprinkled some with sanding sugar and left some plain.

Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 6 - 7 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned. I line my pans with parchment paper or a silpat for easy cookie removal.

I didn't waste the leftover pieces of cookie dough. I gathered them all together, added more orange gel coloring, rolled out the dough again and cut out pumpkins.

I got a little over a dozen candy corn cookies. I made small and large pumpkins and had a dozen pumpkin cookies when I was done.

Chewy Pumpkin Granola Bars

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With the first day of Fall just around the corner, I'm so ready to break out the pumpkin and spices! I was in the grocery store a few days ago and noticed that Kashi has pumpkin granola bars. I like Kashi products and considered buying the bars but at over $4.00 for 6 bars, I put the box back on the shelf. Making granola is fun and super easy so I decided I'd try to make my own pumpkin granola. When I got home I decided to adapt the recipe from the Silver Palate for Outrageous Granola that I've made countless times but I wasn't sure what I wanted to use to bind the granola so that I could cut it into bars. I Googled pumpkin granola bars and sure enough some of my fellow bloggers had already beaten me to the pumpkin granola idea. Several linked back to this recipe from Two Peas and their Pod. I sort of used a combination of the two recipes and threw in some toasted wheat germ to up the healthfulness of the bars. I used things I already had in my pantry to make these bars but they are easily adapted so feel free to use any combination nuts, chocolate chips, or dried fruit that want. 

Chewy Pumpkin Granola Bars

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

3 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup toasted wheat germ (optional)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup applesauce cup
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1/2 cup slivered almonds

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8 by 8 baking pan with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, mix oats, spices, salt, and wheat germ (if using), together. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk brown sugar, pumpkin, applesauce, maple syrup, and vanilla extract until smooth. Pour over oats and stir well, until all of the oats are moist. Stir in chocolate chips, pumpkin seeds, and almonds.
Evenly press oat mixture into prepared baking pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. The pumpkin and applesauce add a lot of moisture to the bars so bake them until they are golden and set or they will be too soft. Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes. Using a sharp knife, cut into bars. Remove from pan and cool completely. 

The pumpkin keeps the bars very moist for several days if kept sealed in an airtight container and refrigerated.

Recipe adapted: Two Peas and their Pod and Silver Palate Outrageous Granola 

Pumpkin and spice!

Apple-Butterscotch Blondies

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with praline frosting.

I thought about calling these stress relief bars. Not because they have any magical stress relieving ingredients or powers. They don't. Although they taste so good, you might momentarily forget about your worries. No, while the blondies themselves are not stress relieving, the act of making them is, at least for me. I'd have to say, and I'm sure those that know me would agree, I inherited  more traits from my father then my mother. I look more like my dad than I do my mother but I also, for better or worse, share more of his personality traits. He would say that's a good thing but the jury is still out on that one.
One thing that I most definitely inherited from mother was my love of baking. Mom is a great cook, but baking is her true love. Growing up there was always some freshly baked good being made or consumed in our home. Mom bakes all the time, but if life ever gets a little stressful or she's really worried about something, look out. She turns into a baking maniac. We laughingly joke that we can gauge moms stress level by how much baking she's done. If only one pie is being made, it's okay, she's fine. During one particularly stressful time several years ago, my sister called and said that she knew mom was stressed out because she'd made two loaves of fresh bread, two pies and a pan of cinnamon buns. Another time when a hurricane was headed our way, she was in the kitchen furiously whipping up a batch of cookies. When asked why she was making cookies, she said that they were "emergency cookies".  Just in case, you never know the power might go out, hence the emergency cookies. Mom has always said baking makes her feel better. Baking is about more than just the end product, for me as well. Don't get me wrong, I love a good (emergency) cookie, but many times I enjoy the act of making the cookies almost as much as eating them...almost!
 Life has thrown us for quite a loop in the past couple of weeks. I know things will work out in the end, but change is rarely easy. So lately I, like mom, find myself wanting to measure, chop, and stir. Perhaps its being in control of that little bit of life that makes it so satisfying. I don't know what it is but I do know it's a lot cheaper than going to a therapist, so hand me a whisk!

The original recipe was just the blondies but when they came out of the oven they looked a little plain jane so  I added the praline frosting. I'm sure they are good without the frosting but they are superb with the frosting!

Apple Butterscotch Blondies with Praline Frosting
Printable recipe
Ingredients:
Blondies:
1 cup chopped pecans
2 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup butter, melted
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced  (about 2 cups)

Praline Frosting:
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar

Toffee pieces, optional

Method:
Preheat oven to 350º. Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 8 to 10 minutes or until toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through.
Stir together brown sugar, melted butter, eggs and vanilla.
In a separate mixing bowl, stir together flour and next 2 ingredients; add to brown sugar mixture, and stir until blended. Stir in apples and pecans. Pour mixture into a greased and floured or foil lined, 8-by-8-inch pan; spread in an even layer.

I line my brownie/blondie pan with foil with about an inch overhang. It makes getting them out of the pan a snap. When cool simply lift them out and cut.

Bake at 350º for 40 to 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely (about 1 hour).
To prepare frosting:

Bring 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter, and 3 Tbsp. milk to a boil in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly; boil 1 minute, whisk constantly. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Gradually whisk in powdered sugar until smooth; stir gently 3 to 5 minutes or until mixture begins to cool and thickens slightly. Pour immediately over cooled blondie. Top with more toasted pecans and toffee.

Source: Southern Living
September 2011 (Adapted)

Two-Bite Peanut Butter S'mores

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Can you improve a classic s'more? The simple delicious combination of graham crackers, chocolate and toasted marshmallows, what could be better? How about crushing the graham crackers, combining them with peanut butter, making them into little cups filled with rich chocolate ganache, topped with toasted marshmallows? Oh yeah. It's are like having a Reese cup and s'more all in one delicious bite. Or make that two-bites... truth be told, although I called these Two-Bite Smore's, I can totally eat these little smore's in one delicious bite.

Two Bite Peanut Butter S'mores
Ingredients:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs (or about 7 graham crackers, crushed)
1/4 cup sugar
5 tablespoons peanut butter, softened in the microwave for 10-15 seconds
1tablespoon butter, melted

1 recipe of ganache, recipe below
12 large marshmallows

Method:
In a bowl, mix together the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, softened peanut butter, and melted butter. 
Place about 1 tablespoon of crumb mixture in each cup of mini muffin pan. Press crumbs to form shallow cups with your fingers or a mini tart press, in you have one. Bake 4-5 minutes until slightly browned. Remove from oven and allow to cool, in the pan.

Chocolate Ganache Filling
Ingredients:
6 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped finely (or use chips)
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Method:
Pour chopped chocolate (or chocolate chips) into a mixing bowl.
Heat whipping cream and butter in the microwave in 30 second intervals until it's almost to a boil but don’t let it actually come to a boil. You should see bubbles forming around the edges. If you’re using a thermometer, heat it to about 180 degrees. Stir in vanilla.
Immediately pour hot cream mixture over chocolate and use a small whisk to mix until completely smooth. Allow ganache to cool and thicken somewhat. I put in into the fridge for about 20 minutes. When cool, stir the ganache a few times. It should be a scoop-able consistency. If it seems too firm, microwave it in 10 second intervals until you get the right consistency. Fill the peanut butter graham cracker cups with the ganache. I used about 2 teaspoons of ganache for each cup, give or take.

Cut marshmallows in half horizontally with kitchen shears or a sharp knife, dipped in cold water. Place one marshmallow half, cut-side down, into each cup. Return to oven with the broiler turned on. Broil on high for 1-2 minutes or until marshmallows start to get a little color. Do not walk away from the oven the s'mores burn quickly. Remove from oven and cool for 15 minutes. Carefully remove cups from pan.

* Note: I found that a small off-set spatula worked great for getting the s'mores out of the mini muffin pans. If the bottoms of the s'mores are sticking to the pan, dip the bottom of the pan into warm water. This will warm the graham cracker crust slightly making it easier to remove them from the pan.

Who needs two bites?

Caramel Cheesecake Apple Dip

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Is anyone else starting to crave the flavors of Fall?

I know there's a good bit of summer still left but I'm already looking forward to a change of season and all the flavors of Fall. Caramel apples always bring Fall-ish thoughts to mind. Growing up, my mom would buy those caramel apple kits from the grocery store. The kits came with those flat sheets of caramel that we had to stretch and wrap around an apple with a popsicle stick stuck in it. Then we'd heat them in the oven, while waiting in anticipation for them to be ready to bite into. As a kid I thought those apples were the best thing ever, even though the caramel really stuck to my teeth. I haven't had one of those apples in years but I still love the caramel and apple combo. This dip is caramel apples for grown-ups. It has all the things you like about a caramel apple layered between sweet cream cheese. It's creamy, caramely, goodness with a little chocolate and toffee thrown in for good measure. It's seriously good stuff.  This cheesecake dip looks pretty on a serving plate, which makes it a great to serve at parties. Plus unlike those caramel apples we'd make as kids, you won't have any caramel stuck to your teeth! 
 

As pretty as it is delicious!

Caramel Cheesecake Apple Dip
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:
12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3 Tbs. heavy cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Caramel sauce (recipe below) or store bought
Heath milk chocolate pieces
mini chocolate chips
2-4 Granny Smith or other crisp tart apples, sliced and soaking in lemon juice/water until ready to serve

Method:
This is the method is to make a layered dip, for a quick method see note below.
Line a six inch cake pan or springform pan with plastic wrap. Use enough plastic wrap to hang over the sides of the pan about 2 inches.

Place softened cream cheese in a mixing bowl and beat on medium speed until smooth. Scrap down the sides of the bowl. Add the heavy cream and powdered sugar, mix well, until smooth. Place half of the cream cheese mixture in the lined pan and smooth with the back of a spoon. (If you dip the spoon into warm water before you start to smooth the cream cheese, it will be much easier to spread.) Spoon on a layer of caramel. Sprinkle with a layer of chocolate chips and the Health pieces. How much you use is up to you but don't go to overboard or you may have trouble spreading the top layer of cream cheese.

Oh yeah, that's the stuff!

Place in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes. This will let the caramel set up a bit and make topping it with the remaining cream cheese much easier. Scoop the remaining cream cheese on top and smooth out using the back of a dampened spoon, like you did for the first layer. Fold the overhanging plastic wrap over the top and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to overnight. Pull back the plastic wrap so that the top of the cheesecake is exposed. Place a serving plate on top of the pan and invert. Remove the pan and the plastic wrap. Spoon caramel sauce over the top of you cheese cake and top with more of the Heath pieces and chocolate chips. Place the sliced apples around the dip and serve.
*Note: If you want to throw this together super fast, just spread all the cream cheese on a serving platter and top with the caramel, Heath bits, and the mini chocolate chips.

Caramel Sauce

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla (or 1 teaspoon vanilla and 2 teaspoons bourbon)
pinch of sea salt

Method:
Place sugar in a small heavy sauce pan. Pour water evenly over the top. Turn stove top to medium-high heat. Hold sauce pan by the handle and swirl occasionally until sugar has dissolved. Turn heat to high, and boil until syrup turns brown around the edges of the pan, about 6-8 minutes. Swirl the syrup occasionally until it turns a deep amber and just begins to smoke.
Remove pan from heat. Add butter and whisk, until all butter is mixed in. Stir in cream. Take care adding the butter and cream as the caramel will boil up and sputter quite a bit.
If sauce has any lumps, set pan over low heat and stir until smooth then turn off heat again.
Stir in vanilla and salt.