4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

I have recently been trying to cut wheat/gluten and dairy out of my diet as a way to try and eliminate some digestive issues I have been dealing with for some time now. I am not really sure if I do have a tolerance issue with these items, but I have determined that by cutting those out I do feel much better, so for now I am going to continue to do what I am doing.

So far I have been doing pretty well with finding healthy alternatives that do not contain wheat/gluten and dairy, but one thing that I am struggling to replace is baked goods. All baked goods seem to have both of these ingredients, and even gluten free items sometimes contain dairy.

I have been craving cookies, which are my weakness, and when I came across this 4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies recipe the other day I had to immediately try it. I then realized that I had posted a similar recipe a while back including chocolate chips, but since I am cutting out dairy, I thought I would try them without the chocolate chips and see how they were. This time I also made sure to criss-cross smash them with a fork to help them spread out a little more. I didn't do that when I first made these, and they were kind of like little round ball cookies. Smashing them did help them to spread out and look more like typical peanut butter cookies.

These cookies taste like the real thing, and are SO satisfying! They are a little more delicate since they do not include the flour. I also used all natural peanut butter which contains ONLY peanuts. This peanut butter is a little softer than original peanut butter, so it was really easy to mix by hand, no need to pull out the mixer. The recipe I made below is very simple, and actually easy to remember since it's 1 of everything.

4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of peanut butter
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients into a bowl and then spoon onto a cookie sheet. Please note that I did place mine on foil so that they did not stick. Smash with a fork in a criss-cross pattern. Then bake for 7 minutes and enjoy!

White Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Happy Friday everyone! I am so glad the weekend is here. I was able to take advantage of summer hours today and spent the afternoon at my pool catching up on my reading and enjoying the HOT HOT HOT weather!

I decided to forgo my Friday Favorites post to share with you a fun dessert from our 4th of July cookout. I asked my Mom if there was a fun recipe of her's that I could share on my recipe blog, and we decided that we should make her White Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie for our cookout and then I could share our fun dessert with everyone. We decorated our pie with fresh berries to make it festive and fit with our holiday theme.

My mom took the basis for her recipe from a few peanut butter pie recipes she found online. She then put her spin on things and used White Chocolate pudding. It's a chilled pudding pie, so it is very chill and refreshing for a hot summer day, and the white chocolate/peanut butter combo satisfies everyone's sweet tooth! It's always a big hit with our family and it's a perfect ending to a perfect day.

White Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

• 1 (9 inch) pre-baked chocolate pie shell
• 1 (4 oz.) instant white chocolate pudding mix
• 1 3/4 c. milk (we used skim milk)
• 1/2 c. peanut butter
• 1 c. confectioners' sugar
• Cool Whip for topping (we used the sugar free version)

Mix pudding and milk as directed on package. We mixed our's up in the blender. Then mix the confectioners' sugar and peanut butter together until crumbly.

Place 1/2 of peanut butter crumbs on the bottom of the pie shell. Pour the mixed pudding over the crumbs. Then top with the remaining peanut butter crumbs. Cover second layer of crumbs with Cool Whip.

You can save some of the peanut butter crumbs to put on the top as a topping, or you can top with fresh fruit like we did in the picture above.

M&M Blondies

I made this recipe last fall for a football party. I love blondie brownies and this was a very simple from-scratch recipe. What's great is that I pretty much had everything in my pantry, so it's something you can whip up rather quickly without needing to stop off at the store for extra ingredients (or a box mix!). Please note that this recipe was modified from a recipe on The Little Kitchen.

M&M Blondies

Ingredients:

·         3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp packed light brown sugar

·         1 large egg

·         2 tsp vanilla extract

·         8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

·         1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

·         1/2 tsp baking soda

·         1/8 tsp salt

·         3/4 cup M&Ms, chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Take an 8-inch square pan and cover in foil and spray with baking spray.

Using an electric mixer, cream brown sugar and egg until it's light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract and melted butter, mix well with electric mixer.

In a separate bowl, mix together with a rubber spatula the flour, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture in batches and incorporate with a rubber spatula. Be careful not to over mix your batter.

Stir in M&Ms, using rubber spatula. Again, do not over mix. Add batter to pan. Spray an angled spatula with baking spray and use it to smooth over the top.

Bake for about 25-28 minutes. The top will be dry and flaky and a toothpick test should come out clean with a few crumbs attached. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes on a wire rack. Hold using foil sides and remove from square pan. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

So who knew our secret family recipe for Chocholate Chip Cookies comes from the back of the Nestle Toll House chocolate chips bag! Yep it's the same recipe that my mother and my grandmother uses. I guess don't mess with perfection right!

Now we do a few things a little differently. We add 1 cup of chocolate chips and 1 cup of M&M's instead of the usual 2 cups of chocolate chips. We will use red and green M&M's for Christmas and you could really use whatever colors you want depending on the season/holiday!

Another modification is we use 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup shortening sometimes, or sometimes we use all butter flavored Crisco. If you use half butter/half shortening your cookies will spread out nicely and won't be too puffy or too flat...just perfection!

This weekend I was visiting with my niece and nephew at my parents house and we decided we just needed some chocolate chip cookies. Luckily I had two helpers to help me make them.

Helper #1 helped mix all the ingredients

Helper #2 taste-tested the M&M's to make sure they were all good!

Helper #1 then helped put the cookies out on the baking sheets.

Helper #2 says the cookies are the best

Helper #1 was too busy eating cookies, cookies and more cookies!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients: 

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened, or shortening or 1/2 cup of each
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups chocolate chips (or 1 cup chocolate chips/1 cup M&M's)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and M&M's. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake  for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Enjoy!

Knock Ya Naked Brownies

This was on The Pioneer Woman's cooking show about a month ago, and I just loved the name. Oh and they looked sinful, so of course we had to try this! I have made 3 batches in about a month...ooops! Ok one for the family, one for a Superbowl party and one for some friends. So far no one has been knocked naked (thank goodness...wouldn't that be kind of weird), but my brother claimed on Facebook that they kind of made him want to go streaking, so just beware...you have been warned!

Just look at those layers of goodness!

A couple of things to note:

1. When adding the top layer to the brownies, don't worry about it being perfect. If there are some small holes, don't worry the batter will puff up and fill in these holes.

2. It really helps to have some kiddos help with unwrapping the caramels, but beware they may eat a few of them.

 Helper #1

Helper #2

Helper #1 also assisted with stiring the brownie mixture

3. These are really gooey when you first make them, so either be prepared for them to look like a hot mess when you first get them out of the pan, or you can put them in the fridge a set the caramel. They are really tastey though when they are still warm and gooey!

4. These are NOT healthy, but who cares!

Knock Ya Naked Brownies

Ingredients:

• 1 box (18.5 Ounce) German Chocolate Cake Mix
• 1 cup Finely Chopped Pecans
• 1/3 cup Evaporated Milk (get the whole milk, tried 2% version and it was ok, but not as good!)
• 1/2 cup Evaporated Milk (additional)
• 1/2 cup Butter, Melted
• 60 whole Caramels, Unwrapped
• 1/3 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• 1/4 cup Powdered Sugar (optional, we did not do this and it was still just as awesome!)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, chopped pecans, 1/3 cup evaporated milk, and melted butter. Stir together until totally combined. Mixture will be very thick.

Press half the mixture into a well-greased 9 x 9 inch square baking pan. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and set aside.

In a double boiler (or a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of boiling water) melt caramels with additional 1/2 cup evaporated milk. When melted and combined, pour over brownie base. Sprinkle chocolate chips as evenly as you can over the caramel.

Turn out remaining brownie dough on work surface. Use your hands to press it into a large square a little smaller than the pan. Use a spatula to remove it from the surface, then set it on top of the caramel and chocolate chips.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for several hours (or eat it as an ooey gooey mess like we did!). When ready to serve, generously sift powdered sugar over the surface of the brownies. Enjoy!

Flour-less Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe was in the October 2011 issue of the Rachael Ray Magazine. When I saw that these were flour-less and had only 5 ingredients I totally did not believe that these were going to turn out. But Rachael Ray never does you wrong. They were just like regular peanut butter cookies and I totally wanted to eat ALL of them!

The dough is kind of like wet sand, so you do kind of have to pack them together, but they are not too bad like other gluten-free mixes. They do bake up a little puffier than typical cookies, but they still have a good combination of fluffy and chewyness. Oh and the chocolate chips make them AWESOME!

Flour-less Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
October 2011 issues of the Rachael Ray Magazine Makes 2 dozen

Ingredients:
-- 1 cup peanut butter (I used reduced-fat)
-- 1 cup of brown sugar
-- 1 egg
-- 1 tsp vanilla
-- 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Pre-heat the oven to 350°F.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon until combined.

Roll the dough into approximately 1-tablespoon-size balls and place on ungreased cookie sheets, about 1 inch apart.

Use a fork to press down on the balls and make a cross hatch pattern on each (I forgot to do this, but they still turned out great).

Bake the cookies, rotating the racks halfway through, for 10-12 minutes, until puffed and golden. Let cool for a few minutes on the sheets, then remove with a spatula.

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

So I originally came across this recipe via Iowa Girl Eats, and I totally didn't think this was going to taste like Pumpkin Pie, but it totally does! This was so rich and decadent and perfect for breakfast or even dessert. I actually thought it was a little rich for me for breakfast, but it would be perfect for an after dinner dessert. You totally forgot you are eating oatmeal. This will totally become one of my new favorite fall desserts, and it might actually be fun to make for the family for Thanksgiving.

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal
Good Life Eats
**Please note I halved the recipe and then spooned into 3 ramikins which were really small (I totally need to find some smaller baking dishes, or bigger ramikins!)

Ingredients:
-- 1 cup old fashioned oats, not quick cook
-- 1 Tbs whole flax seeds, optional
-- 2 1/2 Tbs brown sugar, packed
-- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
-- 1/4 tsp allspice
-- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
-- 1/2 tsp lemon zest
-- 1/4 tsp salt
-- 1/2 tsp vanilla
-- 2 tsp butter, softened
-- 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
-- 3/4 cup milk

Topping:
-- 1/4 cup pecans, chopped
-- 2 tsp butter, softened
-- 1 Tbs brown sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 4 individual sized ramekins. Set aside.

Combine the oats through salt in a medium sized bowl. Stir well. In a separate bowl, combine the vanilla, butter, pumpkin, and milk. Whisk thoroughly. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the oats. Stir until combined.

Divide mixture evenly between 4 individual sized ramekins. Place ramekins on a baking sheet (this makes it easier to move in and out of the oven.). Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the ingredients for the topping: chopped pecans, butter, and brown sugar. After the oatmeal has baked for 10 minutes, remove and divide topping mixture evenly between the ramekins. Bake and additional 7 minutes. Cook for 5 minutes before serving. Top with a splash of milk and raisins, if desired.

Butterscotch Apple Crisp - Gluten Free

This recipe was on The Neelys on Food Network last spring, and as soon as I saw it I think I instantly ran out and bought the ingredients to make this. I have actually made this a couple of times, but was excited to try it out again since this is a great Fall time dessert. It works best with really tart apples like Granny Smiths (which are my favorite!), because the tart apples work really well with the sweet butterscotch chips. I'll warn you this is addicting and I totally could not stop eating it. Definitely do not make if you are on a diet...ha!

Because I am attempting to go gluten free (about 75% of the time it seems), I totally wanted to try out gluten free flour. It worked really well and I totally did not notice a difference. I ended up using this baking mix and although it was about $5, and was the cheapest flour I could find, you really don't use that much and it was totally worth having something so tasty that was also gluten free.

Source

Butterscotch Apple Crisp

Servings - 8

Recipe from The Neelys

**Please note that I halved the recipe, so if you make the full recipe your dish will be much fuller than mine above.

Ingredients:

Filling:

• 5 Granny Smith apples (about 2 pounds), peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 (11-ounce) bag butterscotch chips
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (I used Gluten Free flour)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed, plus more for greasing

Topping: 

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup quick oats
• Pinch kosher salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup pecans, chopped (optional - I didn't include these this time)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 2-quart baking dish.

For the filling: Toss the apples, butterscotch chips, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, allspice, and lemon juice together in a large bowl. Add to the buttered baking dish and dot with butter.

For the topping: In a separate bowl, combine the flour, sugar, oats, and salt. Blend the butter into the mixture until it forms pea size lumps. Stir in the pecans and sprinkle over the filling.

Bake until the apples are tender and butterscotch is bubbling, about 45 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving. Plate with a scoop of butter pecan ice cream on top.

Italian S'mores

***Update: I have added a note about browning the marshmallows under the broiler below***

Giada was on the Today Show last week sharing some Labor Day grilling tips and recipes, and she shared this recipe for Italian S'mores. I have been craving some s'mores lately, and my Mom has been wanting to try Nutella, so I just knew we had to make these.

Giada's Italian S'mores from The Today Show (Source)

Now please note we did things a little differently than Giada but you can find her original recipe here. She used a baguette instead of a graham cracker, but we had graham crackers on hand so that is what we used. I still call them Italian S'mores because they use Nutella instead of a chocolate bar.

I then recreated the recipe again when I got home using gluten free graham crackers. You can also either roast the marshmallows over the flames in your grill, or you can roast them under the broiler as I have done below. My Mom did find us some fun skewers to roast marshmallows, so I do need to try those out, but it was too cold and dark out when I tried these at home, so I just made them under the broiler.

Italian S'mores

Ingredients:
-- Graham Crackers
-- Nutella
-- Marshmallows

Directions:
Spread a little (or a lot) of Nutella onto one graham cracker square. Make sure to lick your knife clean =) Roast your marshmallow (either the old fashioned way or under the broiler). Place roasted marshmallow on top of the graham cracker with Nutella. Eat immediatly for be results. Repeat as needed.

To broil your marshmallows, I placed a piece of foil on a baking sheet and then sprayed some cooking spray just so I could ensure the marshmallow would not stick. Then place under the broiler and watch very carefully. As the top starts to turn brown, pull the baking sheet out of the oven and flip the marshmallow over. Then put back under the broiler until the other side becomes brown and the marshmallow starts to puff up.

Please note the gluten free graham crackers in the above picture are not too bad. They are a little harder than typical graham crackers, but they taste just like the honey flavored graham crackers. They remind you of a hard cookie you would dunk in your coffee. I would recommend trying them out if you are trying to go the gluten free route.

***Update: Since I have made this recipe about a hundred times this week (I am obsessed), I have discovered some tricks with broiling the marshmallows. If you have a custom temp setting on your broiler, set it on the higher temp (around 300 degrees). This will allow your marshmallows to brown quickly, and not get too puffy and mushy. Please note that they will brown quickly, so please keep constant watch on them, and as soon as they start to turn brown, take them out and turn them over. If you broil them at too low a temperature, they will just melt and get gooey and won't brown. They will also get really sticky, and will stick to the foil/pan and to everything else, and that's not fun. I also read on a Nutella recipe website that you could use marshmallow fluff. You won't get the campfire taste, but it would work in a pinch.

Pioneer Woman's Pecan Pie and Whisky Maple Cream Sauce

I saw Pioneer Woman make this recipe on Bobby Flay's Throwdown, and I just had to make it. The pie itself was pretty easy to make (although my mom told me I was cheating when I used a premade pie crust..opps!) but the Whisky Maple Cream Sauce just makes it amazing! I totally recommend you try both together. You could probably drizzle the sauce over anything and it would make it taste wonderful as well!

Pioneer Woman's Pecan Pie:

Ingredients:

-- 1 whole Unbaked Pie Crust (Ree uses "Sylvia's Perfect Pie Crust" recipe, I used a premade one)
-- 1 cup White Sugar
-- 3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
-- ½ teaspoons Salt
-- 1 cup Corn Syrup
-- ¾ teaspoons Vanilla
-- ⅓ cups Melted Butter (Ree suggests salted, but I used unsalted and it turned out fine)
-- 3 whole Eggs Beaten
-- 1 cup (heaping) Chopped Pecans

Preparation Instructions:
First, whip up your pie crust using “Sylvia’s Perfect Pie Crust” found on Tasty Kitchen or purchase one like I did (which my Mom said was cheating).

Next, mix sugar, brown sugar, salt, corn syrup, butter, eggs, and vanilla together in a bowl.

Pour chopped pecans in the bottom of the unbaked pie shell.

Pour syrup mixture over the top. Cover top and crust lightly/gently with foil. Bake pie at 350º for 30 minutes. Remove foil, then continue baking for 20 minutes, being careful not to burn the crust or pecans.

NOTE: PIE SHOULD NOT BE OVERLY JIGGLY WHEN YOU REMOVE IT FROM THE OVEN. If it shakes a lot, cover with foil and bake for an additional 20 minute or until set. Required baking time seems to vary widely with this recipe. Sometimes it takes 50 minutes; sometimes it takes 75!

Allow to cool for several hours or overnight. Serve in thin slivers.

Whisky Maple Cream Sauce:

Ingredients:

-- 1-½ cup Heavy Cream
-- 5 Tablespoons Pure Maple Syrup
-- 3 Tablespoons Light Corn Syrup
-- 1 Tablespoon Whiskey (can Add More If Desired)

Preparation Instructions:
Combine cream, maple syrup, and corn syrup in a saucepan and stir to combine. Cook over medium-low to medium heat, stirring constantly, for 15 minutes or until sauce is reduced and thick (sauce should bubble slightly as it’s cooking.)

When sauce is thick, remove from heat and stir in whiskey. Return to heat for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly.

Pour into a container and refrigerate until completely chilled. Stir before serving.

Drizzle over pies (or anything)!

Sugar Crinkles

One of my favorite christmas cookies is Sugar Crinkles. They are a sugar cookie that is rolled into balls, and then rolled into sugar. They are similar to a molasses sugar cookie because they have that crinkled sugary coating. What I love about them though is they have a slight lemon flavor. Sugar and lemon to me is a great flavor combination. I love to add red and green sprinkles to my sugar to make them even more festive. Below is a picture from last year's baking fest.

Sugar Crinkles

Yield: about 5 1/2 dozen

Ingredients
-- 1 cup shortening
-- 1 1/2 cups sugar
-- 2 large eggs
-- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
-- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
-- 2 teaspoons baking powder
-- 1/2 teaspoon salt
-- 1/4 cup sugar

Directions:
Beat shortening and 1 1/2 cups sugar at medium speed of an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs and flavorings, beating until blended.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; gradually add to shortening mixture, beating well. Cover and chill dough.

Shape dough into 1" balls. Roll balls in 1/4 cup sugar. Place balls on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake at 350° for 8 to 9 minutes or until barely golden. Let cool 2 minutes on cookie sheets. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Chocolate/Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

This recipe was on Down Home with the Neely's and was part of their Halloween episode this year. I have been wanting to make whoopie pies since I had one on our vacation back in May. I also love chocolate and pumpkin together (which I know sounds so weird, but is so good!), so I just had to try them.

I made these for one of my Thanksgiving dinners. Since I was traveling 3 hours, I put them in the freezer the night before to help keep them cool. The chocolate cookie part isn't too sweet, which is great since the pumpkin cream cheese filling is very sweet. The two parts compliment each other very well.

I also purchased a whoopie pie pan from Crate and Barrel. It was only $12 but it didn't work out as well as I had hoped. I think if you just put some parchment paper down, it would work just as well.

Chocolate/Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Ingredients:

Cookies:

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• Pinch salt (aka 1/16 teaspoon) 

Filling:

• 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Using a stand mixer, add the butter and sugar and beat together until light and fluffy. Add the egg, then the buttermilk and the vanilla. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the dry ingredients in increments to the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined.

Drop heaping tablespoons of the batter onto parchment lined sheet trays, leaving a 2-inch space between each cookie. Put in the oven and bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on rack.

Beat together the cream cheese and butter, in a small bowl, until smooth. Slowly add in the confectioners sugar. Once smooth, add the pumpkin puree, the cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Beat until smooth and well mixed.

To assemble the cookie, spread a heaping tablespoon of the filling to the flat side of a cookie and sandwich with another. Repeat with the remaining cookies. Transfer to a serving platter and serve.

Pumpkin Streusel Cheesecake Bars

This recipe was on my Betty Crocker calendar as the recipe for November. All month long I have been looking at this recipe and dreaming of making it. I made this for one of my Thanksgiving dinners this year (we had 2 Thanksgiving dinners this year, one on Thurs and one on Fri). It was so very good, and the gingersnap crust made my kitchen smell a-maz-ing!

 

 

Pumpkin Streusel Cheesecake Bars

 

Ingredients:

 

Cookie Base

1

pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® oatmeal cookie mix

1/2

cup crushed gingersnap cookies

1/2

cup finely chopped pecans

1/2

cup cold butter or margarine

 

Filling

2

packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened

1

cup sugar

1

cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

2

tablespoons Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

1

tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

2

tablespoons whipping cream

2

eggs

 

Toppings

1/3

cup chocolate topping

1/3

cup caramel topping

 

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, stir together cookie mix, crushed cookies and pecans. Cut in butter, using pastry blender or fork, until mixture is crumbly. Reserve 1 cup mixture for topping. Press remaining mixture in bottom of ungreased 13x9-inch pan. Bake 10 minutes. Cool 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add remaining filling ingredients; beat until well blended. Pour over warm cookie base. Sprinkle with reserved topping.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until center is set. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate about 2 hours or until chilled.

Before serving, drizzle with chocolate and caramel toppings. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.

 

Makes 24 bars

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

One of my very favorite fall recipes is Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. I used to get these from the bakery at Kroger’s, and then one day I decided to search foodnetwork.com to see if I could find a recipe that was similar. I swear these are just like the ones I got at Kroger’s. They are very moist and are more like a cake cookie. And although pumpkin and chocolate may not seem like they should go together, they really do complement each other very well. I highly suggest you try this recipe!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

-- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

-- 1 cup white sugar

-- 1 cup light brown sugar

-- 2 large eggs

-- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

-- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree (small can)

-- 3 cups all-purpose flour

-- 2 teaspoons baking soda

-- 1/2 teaspoon salt

-- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

-- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

-- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

-- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

-- 2 cups (12-ounce bag) milk chocolate chips, not semisweet

-- Nonstick cooking spray or parchment paper

Directions:

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray or line them with parchment paper.

Using a mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Beat in the white and brown sugars, a little at a time, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time, then mix in the vanilla and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the batter in thirds. Stir in the chips. Scoop the cookie dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies are browned around the edges. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let them rest for 2 minutes. Take the cookies off with a spatula and cool them on wire racks. Enjoy!

Skinny Girl Recipe: Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe is from the book Naturally Thin by Bethenny Frankel. They are extremely healthy and have very little oil, no eggs and they use oat flour instead of regular or wheat flour. They also use raw sugar because Bethenny says this is better for you because it hasn't been processed. And they are pretty darn tasty!

I couldn't find oat flour in my store, so I ended up making my own by taking 1.5 cups of old fashioned oats and putting them in my mini-food processor and grinding them up until they are a flour consistency. There will still be some chunks, but because I add even more oats, you don't have to worry about getting it completely fine. Just try and get it ground up the best you can.

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

-- 1 1/2 cups oat flour
-- 3/4 cups rolled oats
-- 1/2 tsp baking powder
-- 1/2 tsp baking soda
-- 1/2 tsp salt
-- 1/2 cup raw sugar
-- 1/3 cup chocolate chips (I used special dark chips!)
-- 1 tsp canola oil
-- 1/3 cup soymilk (I used skim milk b/c I don't like soy milk)
-- 1/2 cup banana puree (1 med sized banana)
-- 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine all of the dry ingredients into a bowl. Combine all of the wet ingredients into a separate bowl. Mix dry and wet ingredients together until well combined.

Using a med-sized ice cream scoop, drop the batter onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake for 6 mins, then turn the pan and bake for an additional 4 – 6 mins until golden brown.

The recipe says you get 10 large sized cookies, but I made mine a little smaller and got about 18 cookies. Enjoy!

Low Fat Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I love the chocolate chip banana coffee cake at Starbucks, and have been wanting to try and recreate it. I came across this recipe the other day which is very similar. I used Hershey's Special Dark chocolate chips, which make anything good. It was pretty close, I just should have added some chocolate chips to the top before baking. I didn't think about it until it was half way done.

Low Fat Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Ingredients:
-- 3 ripe bananas mashed
-- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
-- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
-- 1/2 cup sugar
-- 4 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
-- 1 egg
-- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-- 1 teaspoon baking soda
-- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
-- 1/2- 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Mix wet ingredients together: bananas, sugar, applesauce, egg, vanilla. Mix dry ingredients together: both types of flour, baking soda, baking powder. Slowly mix dry ingredients with wet ingredients. Once mixed well, scraping bowl to make sure everything is incorporated, mix in the chocolate chips (I used 3/4 cups).

Pour mixture into greased loaf pan, and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 - 50 mins. I put a piece of foil over the bread for the first 35 mins and then removed for the remaining 15 mins to make sure the bread didn't get too brown.

Homemade Applesauce

I love making homemade applesauce. It's so very easy and a great way to use up extra apples. The brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg make it so sweet and it’s even better when served warm. Enjoy!

Homemade Applesauce

Ingredients
-- 4 large apples, peeled, cored and cut into pieces
-- 1/2 cup of water
-- 1/4 cup brown sugar
-- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
-- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions
Bring water and apples to a boil. Simmer for 10 mins, stirring occasionally to break up the apples. Then stir in brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 min. Then take off the heat and let cool slightly. This is best when enjoyed warm.

Peach Cobbler

I had been wanting to try and make peach cobbler for some time, and I had some extra peaches that I needed to use, so I thought this would be a great way to get my fruit serving for the day. I got this recipe from the Paula Deen cookbook The Lady and Son's, which I picked up at her store in Savannah, GA. It was so delish, I ended up eating some before we even got a picture.

The Lady and Son's Peach Cobbler

For peach mixture

-- 2 cups peaches, peeled and sliced (about 6 peaches)
-- 1 cup sugar
-- 1 cup water

Mix peaches, sugar and water together in a saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. Stir often, making sure the sugar is completely dissolved.

If you don’t have fresh peaches, you can use 1 (28-oz) can of sliced peaches in heavy syrup, un-drained.

For Cobbler
-- 1 stick of butter
-- 3/4 cup sugar
-- 3/4 cup self-rising flour
-- 1 cup milk
-- Peaches mixture (see above)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Put butter in a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish and place in the oven to melt. Stir sugar and flour together and mix well. Slowly add milk and continue stirring to prevent the batter from lumping.

Being careful not to burn yourself, remove hot baking dish containing melted butter from oven; pour batter directly over butter in baking dish. Do not stir.

Spoon fruit on top of batter, then gently pour syrup on top. Do not stir. Sprinkle cinnamon on top of batter, if using. (The most important part of this dish is not stirring the mixture at this point in the recipe.)

Bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until golden brown (I baked mine for 45 mins). Your batter will rise above your fruit, producing the most wonderful of crusts. You can serve warm with vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream, but it was just as good without!