Wordless Wednesday: Happy Pumpkin Spice Latte Week!!

They are back!! Have you had your first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season? P.S. I hear the Salted Carmel Mochas are also amazing.

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.

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 Spice Latte (take 2)

So after making about 100 pumpkin spice lattes in the last couple of weeks, my Mom and I have found another way to make these that is much easier than my original recipe found here. Also, the pumpkin we were using wasn't really mixing well, and left a bunch of grit at the bottom of our drinks.

Easy Pumpkin Spice Latte

1. Make a single serving espresso or other strong coffee (you will probably want 1/4 to 1/2 of your cup to be the strong coffee depending on the flavor you want).

2. Heat up about half mug of milk (skim, 2%, whole, or whatever) for about 1 - 2 mins (don't let is scortch though).

3. Mix espresso in with the milk.

4. Mix in about 1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract and sugar to taste.

5. Top it off with some whipped topping and a few more shakes of pumpkin pie spice.

6. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pancakes

I have been all about trying pumpkin flavored things lately. I came across this recipe through a blog I follow and just had to try it. You can find the original recipe here.

My pancakes didn't turn out very pretty (it's been a long time since I made pancakes, and I turned them over to quickly and made a mess), but they were very tastey anyway. Check out the original recipe for pictures that are much prettier =)

Pumpkin Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup pancake mix
• 1/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp butter/margarine
• 1 egg white
• dash of pumpkin pie spice
• dash of cinnamon
• splash of vanilla
• Water

Directions:

Mix everything together except the water. Then add a little bit of water at a time until they become pancake consistency (I think I used about 1.5 tablespoons, but I am sure this will vary depending on your pancake mix). This made about 3 small pancakes, which was a perfect serving for me.

Pumpkin Spice Latte (similar to Starbucks) & Pumpkin Pie Spice

I love Starbucks a little too much, so when I came across this recipe on The Kitchn, I just knew I had to try it. It's a little bit of work, took about 10 mins or so to heat everything on the stove, but it is very tastey. Great idea for a lazy weekend morning. I actually needed a little more espresso than what was called for below, but it was so tastey! I enjoyed mine with a pumpkin donut that we got from Lindsay's Bakery at the Circleville Pumpkin Festival the other day.

Pumpkin Spice Latte
makes 1-2 servings
Ingredients:
-- 2 cups milk
-- 2 tablespoons canned pumpkin
-- 2 tablespoons sugar or sugar substitute
-- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
-- 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (I made this, see below)
-- 1-2 shots espresso (about 1/4 cup of espresso or 1/2 cup of strong brewed coffee if you don't have an espresso machine.)

Directions:
In a saucepan combine milk, pumpkin and sugar and cook on medium heat, stirring, until steaming. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and spice, transfer to a blender and process for 15 seconds until foamy. If you don't have a blender, don't worry about it - just whisk the mixture really well with a wire whisk.
Pour into a large mug or two mugs. Add the espresso on top.

Optional: Top with whipped cream and sprinkle pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, or cinnamon on top.

I did not have any pumpin pie spice, so I found a recipe for this online:

Pumpkin Pie Spice
-- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
-- 1/4 tsp ground cinger
-- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
-- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

Mix all spices together, makes 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice

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!