Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Walnut Cake

This is an amazing fall recipe and I made it for work, as usual, and it was an absolute hit. Everyone loved it. It was moist and chocolaty  with the perfect amount of pumpkin.

I have made this recipe before I included the recipe in both posts.  I didn't have any pumpkin spice in the house so I made my own. Recipe below.

original recipe

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake Recipe


Ingredients

1 3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice - I made my own, recipe below
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup canned pure pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup whole milk
3/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts


Directions

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour 9x5x2  loaf pan.

Sift first 5 ingredients into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Gradually beat in sugar, then beat in eggs 1 at a time. Beat in pumpkin and vanilla. Beat dry ingredients into pumpkin mixture alternately with milk. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake loaf cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 55 - 65 minutes. Cool in pan on rack 15 minutes. Turn cake out onto rack; cool completely. 


pumpkin pie spice

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground ginger

3/4 teaspoon ground all spice

~Michelle

Pear Pandowdy

It's time for FALL BAKING!!

What do yo do with 4 ripe pears?  You make a pear pandowdy. What is a pandowdy you ask? It is a fruit dessert with a biscuit crust that is sometimes stirred into the fruit before serving.  I tossed this together and took it over to the in-laws house for dessert during the Buffalo Bills game. The cinnamon and pears cooking made the most wonderful smell that the boys couldn't wait to dive right in. The biscuit crust was very delicious I love the flavors. Happy Fall baking.

Pear Pandowdy

Filling

4 cups sliced peeled pears (about 4 pears)
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Topping
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon sugar

Directions

Heat oven to 375F. Grease 8-inch square (1 1/2 quart) baking dis or 2-quart casserole. In medium saucepan, combine all filling ingredients. Cook over medium heat until mixture is hot, stirring occasionally.

In small bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder and salt; mix well. Using pastry blender or fork, cut in 1/2 cup butter until mixture forms coarse crumbs. Add water, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour hot filling into greased baking dish. Drop topping by rounded tablespoonfuls onto hot filling. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon sugar. Bake for 30-40 minutes.  
I used my temptations baking dish. I love using it for baking. 

Contains affiliate links

The recipe is from Pillsbury The Complete Book of Baking

~Michelle

Coconut Lime Cookies

This is my second coconut lime cookies in as many days. The first one was ok I used vanilla chips in them and I think that they overpowered the flavors a bit. I also didn't use actual coconut in the first batch; I used a coconut cream pudding. I didn't take any photos but I will write the recipe.

The second recipe came out much better and the co-workers said they could taste the flavors much better.

Zest and Juice

Coconut Lime Cookies - I liked this recipe

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
zest of one lime
4 TBSP lime juice
1/2 cup sweetened coconut

1/2 cup sugar for rolling cookies

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Using a mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and very fluffy. Beat in egg, vanilla, lime juice and lime zest. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients and coconut. Roll rounded teaspoon full of dough into balls and roll in sugar. Space them 1 1/2 inches apart because they do spread. Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

The first recipe that I tried went like this.

Coconut-Cream Lime with White Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 TBSP baking soda

1 cup butter

1/4 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar

1 package coconut cream pudding

2 eggs

1 TBSP vanilla

2 cups white chips

2 TBSP lime juice

1/2 tsp lime zest

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and baking soda and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the vanilla pudding mix until well blended, followed by the eggs and vanilla extract.  Blend in the flour mixture slowly, just until incorporated  Finally, by hand, stir in the white chocolate chips until everything is evenly combined and no flour remains at the bottom of the bowl.

Using a cookie scoop (I suggest a 1 1/2 tablespoon scoop) for even portions, scoop the cookies and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes just until edges are golden brown. Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes then place on wire racks to cool completely.

~Michelle

I Won a Gift Basket

I did, I won a gift basket.

My Brother is getting married in November.  His bride-to-be is a wonderful woman and I can't wait to have a sister-in-law. I was so happy when they finally got engaged.  Her shower was recently and I made some cake pops for the occasion. I also made the one where you make the chocolate cup, put the cake ball in and dip it in the candy coating.. oh, so yummy.  She loves candy and my cake pops. So I did win a baking gift basket, how perfect, right? I made the Mrs. Fields cupcakes for work and they came out great. Very moist and good flavor. On to the wedding. :)

The Happy Couple

The Bride-to-Be loves my cake pops and I made some to add to the beautiful candy table that her sisters put together.

Look at this beautiful  candy display.

My Gift Basket

The Contents

The Mixes

Cute Kitchen Towels.... from Kitch Towels on Etsy ♥

Confetti cupcakes with homemade strawberry buttercream frosting.

White Cupcakes with canned Vanilla Frosting, I added chocolate chips.

 ~Michelle

Lemon Cookies

I seem to always choose to make recipes that include chocolate.. That is probably because I LOVE chocolate. I decided to make something lemony. I found this nice recipe for lemon cookies.  

I thought the dough was a little sticky and I had to cook the cookies for 11-13 minutes instead of the 9-11 that the recipe calls for.  They came out crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.  The flavor was delicious.  My son really loved them.  He was very upset when I took the cookies to work and didn't bring any home for him.  I think I may try a recipe for Lemon Coolers soon.

recipe from Lauren's Latest

The cookies get rolled in powder sugar before baking so you get the crackle effect.

Lemon Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated suger
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 tsp lemon zest
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray set aside.  I use air-bake sheet so I do not have to grease them.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powder sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until the bottoms to barely brown. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

I got about 2 dozen cookies. :)

~Michelle

No-Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

I found another great recipe to try. I love granola bars. I really don't know why I haven't tried to make some before now. Maybe I thought they would be difficult or complicated, I really don't know why they were not on my radar before. Boy, I'm glad I gave these No-bake bars a try. YES, so good. 

I think that these granola bars are very delicious, chewy and have a great texture. The taste is wonderful the peanut butter really add a great flavor. And of course, the chocolate is always a necessary addition. Great mix of salty and sweet. It is so great eating and giving the kids a snack that is homemade and doesn't have any preservatives. They get enough of that sometimes.

recipe from twopeasandtheirpod

No-Bake Granola Bars

Ingredients

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups quick oats

1/2 cup crispy rice cereal

3/4 cup chopped pretzels

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions

Cut out an 8x8-inch square of parchment paper. Place the parchment paper in the bottom of an 8x8-inch baking pan.

In a large sauce pan, add butter, brown sugar, honey and peanut butter. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until the mixture starts to bubble. Once bubbling, cook for 2 minutes while stirring.  (keep time). Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

Stir in the oats, crispy cereal and pretzels. Stir until well coated. Pour into the prepared pan. Press the mixture evenly into the pan. Sprinkle the mini chocolate chips over the top and gently press into the granola bars with your hands or a spatula.

Place the bars in the refrigerator and let cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting.

I ended up cutting them into bite sized pieces.

~Michelle

There are so many wonderful baking/cooking blogs out there, cookbooks and old recipes that I have, and I wish I could just bake everything, at least once. :) 

Snickerdoodle 2

When I'm actually home at night and the kids are over a friends house I find myself looking for something to do.  That gives me the chance to BAKE. I decided to try another snickerdoodle recipe.  I came across this recipe from Cooking Classy. This is also where I found the coffee creamer cookie recipe that I made, and totally LOVED.

I thought that the batter was too sticky to handle and roll with my hands.  I took the ice cream scoop and just plopped the dough into the cinnamon-sugar mixture, flipped it over and gently place it on my air-bake cookie sheets.  They tasted delicious. The kids, their friend and I each ate 2 right away. Just a little crunch and very tender in the center. Yum

They spread out quite a bit so for the rest of the batches I just made 9 per sheet.

Snickerdoodle Cookies 
about 3 dozen cookies


Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt 
3/4 cup butter 
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light-brown sugar 
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
3 Tbsp sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract 


1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon


Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, 3/4 tsp cinnamon, nutmeg and salt, set aside. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, whip together butter, 3/4 cup granulated sugar and light brown sugar until pale and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes. 

Mix in egg and egg yolk. Stir in sour cream, vanilla and almond extract. Add in dry mixture and mix just until combine. 

Allow mixture to rest 20 minutes at room temperature. In a separate small bowl, combine 1/4 cup granulated sugar with 1 1/4 tsp cinnamon. 

Scoop dough out by the heaping tablespoonfuls (each ball should be about 1 1/2 Tbsp) and roll into balls, then roll balls in cinnamon sugar mixture (give them a good coating). 

Bake on Silpat lined or buttered cookie sheets in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. I used air-bake sheets and didn't butter them. Allow to cool several minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container.


~Michelle