Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

It's officially Fall now and that means it's time for all things pumpkin!  You're seeing pumpkin beer, coffee, pastries and even scented room fresheners in all the stores!  I love this time of year, for all the beauty and color, the smells, and of course the food!  I was scanning Pinterest the other day when I cam across this pin someone had for Pumpkin Whoopie Pies.  I have never made whoppie pies before and figured what better way to try them out for the first time than to make them pumpkin flavored!

I pinned it and grabbed some of the ingredients the next time I hit the supermarket, waiting for some free time to try them out.  Well that turned out to be yesterday.  It was rainy and gloomy and David's soccer practice was cancelled so what better way to feel better on a blah day than to bake!  I opened up the link to the recipe and started to read her blog post.  Since I had never made whoppie pies before I wanted to make sure I read all her tips and suggestions before having another baking kitchen disaster on my hands.  There are too many to list, baking has never been my thing!

After reading I felt ready to try my hand at this and I was honestly surprised just how easy they were!

What You Need:
3 cups Flour
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar  (the site I got the recipe from used Splenda, so that could be an option)
1 cup vegetable oil
1 - 15 oz. can of pumpkin
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Cream Cheese Filling:
1 - 8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened
1 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature
1 - 16 oz. package of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
A pinch of cinnamon (to taste) 

The Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients.
3. In your stand mixer bowl or another large bowl, add the the sugars, oil and pumpkin and beat together. Add eggs one at time, mixing well after each addition, followed by the vanilla.
4.  Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined.
5. Now time to make the cookies, on a greased cookie sheet, plop some batter and swirl a tiny bit.

She used a pastry bag with a round tip but I'm not that fancy!  She suggested using a zip lock bag and snipping the corner, but I'm just not that good with stuff like that.  Maybe next time I will get more ambitious.  This time I took my large Pampered Chef scoop and plopped it on the pan.  At first I tried to swirl it out and flatten it myself since she had suggested in her post that the reason she pipes them is because they didn't rise the way she wanted.  When I flattened them they just spread out flat.  Not bad and still tasted awesome, but not the affect you want in a whoppie pie.  So the best batch was just plopping the scoop of batter on the sheet and spreading it into a tiny bit.  I think this is one of those things that everyone is going to have a different way they do it to get their own best results.  Trial and error!

6. Bake for about 11 minutes and cool on a rack.
7. While the cookies are baking, prepare the cream cheese filling.  Beat together the butter and cream cheese and then add in the powered sugar, vanilla and cinnamon.
8. Add filling to one cookie and top it with another.  I wrapped mine in plastic wrap and stuck them in the fridge to set.  She had suggested that they will taste better that way, plus I think the filling will set better anyway.  But that wasn't before the boys and I each tried one of my failed, super flat cookies with some frosting.  YUM!

The Verdict:
These were AWESOME!  I am seriously amazed at how easy these were to make!  I felt like a baking pro, of course only after I mastered my technique on the proper whoppie pie shape!  But honestly, even the failed cookies still tasted good so who really cares if it doesn't look like a "real" whoppie pie, right!  I can't wait to make these again.  I have to go stock up on some canned pumpkin and get to it!  I think I found my signature Fall recipe!

Rootbeer Float Cupcakes!

The boys school is closing at the end of this school year and so we are having our Farewell Festival tomorrow. One of the games they play is called a Cupcake Walk (similar to a musical chairs type game) and we needed cupcake donations for the game. I thought it was the perfect chance to try this recipe I pinned for Root Beer Float cupcakes! It's a rather simple batter, I did not have all the exact ingredients (like I used root beer concentrate in place of the root beer extract and vanilla extract in place of the vanilla bean paste) but they still tasted awesome! And I would highly recommend making them in the very near future!

What you Need:
For the Cupcakes:
1 cup of Root Beer soda
1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of canola oil
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 teaspoons of root beer extract
1 1/3 cups of all purpose flour
 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
Pinch of salt

For the Frosting:
1 1/2 cups of confectioner's sugar, sifted
1/2 cup of butter, room temperature
4 teaspoons of vanilla bean paste
1 tablespoon of milk

The Steps:
For the cupcakes:
1. Stir the Root Beer soda and vinegar together and let it sit for about 2-3 minutes.
2. Add in the sugar and oil, whisking vigorously for a couple of minutes. It should look frothy.
3. Stir in extracts.
4. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together, stirring in about 1/2 cup at a time. Do not overmix!


5. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake at 350 F for 18-20 minutes. (Makes 12 cupcakes)

For the frosting:
1. Beat the butter until you get a smooth consistency.
2. Beat in the vanilla bean paste.
3. Beat in 1/2 cup of confectioner's sugar at a time.
4. Beat in the milk until all ingredients are completely combined.

The Verdict:
Like I said, these were really amazing and tasted just like a Root Beer Float!  I think I will try and make sure I have the vanilla bean paste next time I make these because I didn't get the same look in the frosting using the vanilla extract.  Definitely yummy and really easy to make!

Fudgy Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars

I was browsing on Pinterest one night when this dessert recipe caught my eye. I made these the other day at my parents house so that I could see if they would work for a potential Holiday treat for the mailman. They were super easy to make and that is important when searching for dessert recipes since I am not very much a fan of baking!

What You Need:
1/2 C butter, melted
2 C graham cracker crumbs (32 squares)
1 8 oz. bag toffee bits
1 roll refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
1 12oz. bag chocolate chips
1 14oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 T butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

The Steps:
Grease 13x9 baking dish and heat oven to 350.

Have the roll of cookie dough sitting out for around 10 minutes to soften up.


In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the 1/2 cup of melted butter, 1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs and 3/4 cup of toffee bits.




Pour mixture into the greased pan and press evenly until mixture covers bottom of pan. Refrigerate for around 15 minutes.

In a 2 qt saucepan, heat the milk, chocolate chips and the tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Stir frequently until the chips are melted and the mixture is smooth.




Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Spread the mixture over the graham cracker crumb mixture.

In another medium mixing bowl, break up the cookie dough and stir in the remaining 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs until blended.


Crumble the mixture evenly over the chocolate layer and the sprinkle the remaining 3/4 cup toffee bits on top.


Bake for about 25-35 minutes or until it's golden brown. Cool completely before cutting, probably around 2 or more hours.

The Verdict:
Well as I said not only were these easy to make, but they were a HUGE hit with everyone! I made them again today to take to a Christmas party tomorrow and I'll also package some up to give out with Christmas gifts! What I liked so much about these bars was that they weren't too sweet. Often times desserts like this can be almost too sweet, these were just right!

Ricotta Orange Pound Cake

This months issue of the Food Network Magazine, featured this recipe for Ricotta Orange Pound Cake as an idea for Holiday gift giving. I thought the recipe looked so good and that it would make a really nice teacher gift. It would be something that David would even be able to help make. So we headed to the Christmas Tree Shop and picked up some really cute holiday bread pans and the ingredients for the cake. Baking is NOT my thing so unfortunately the first try was a disaster. I tried again a few days later and came a lot closer. I was going to just go to my go to banana bread recipe (passed down from my Nana Scott) that I have been making for years, but the cake tasted so good, I just needed to tweak my execution! I gave it one last go tonight and third time was definitely a charm! David is very excited to be giving out this recipe to his teachers.

What You Need:
1 1/2 cups cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature, plus more to grease the baking pan
1 1/2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 orange, zested
2 tablespoons Amaretto
Powdered sugar, for dusting

The Steps:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 5 by 3-inch loaf pan with butter. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine.

Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, ricotta, and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. With the machine running, add the eggs 1 at a time. Add the vanilla, orange zest, and Amaretto until combined. Add the dry ingredients, a small amount at a time, until just incorporated. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean and the cake is beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 45 to 50 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Using a mesh sieve, dust the cooled cake with powdered sugar.

The Verdict:
Obviously with 1 1/2 sticks of butter, it's not exactly figure friendly, but it's so good it's worth it! I am so happy that I was finally able to figure it out. They will be given to David's teachers tomorrow. I wrapped each loaf in plastic wrap and then put it back into the pan.

I obviously omitted the powdered sugar, I thought it would be too messy since I needed to wrap them to keep them fresh.

Simple Summer Dessert

So need something to do with the rest of that heavy cream? Make dessert!

This is quick and easy and you can start preparing while waiting for dinner to cook, but I recommend you do the whipped cream right before serving.

This will make about 4 servings so adapt for your family accordingly.

Ingredients:
*1 large firm peach, cut into small pieces
*1c fresh blueberries
*Juice from 1/2 an orange (try Mineolas) or 2 tablespoons OJ
*1 teaspoon brown sugar
*1/2c heavy cream (or more if you want more whipped cream)
*2 tablespoons granulated sugar
*1 tablespoon Amaretto liquor (optional- and this is not enough to get your kids drunk!)

The Making:
In a plastic container or bag mix the peaches, blueberries, brown sugar and orange juice. Mix well and let sit in fridge for at least an hour and up to 24 hours (good to do this step while dinner is cooking in the oven).

Right before serving beat on high the heavy cream, sugar, and Amaretto until it forms peaks when lifted.

Spoon the fruit mix into bowls, top with whipped cream and EAT!

Tips ans talk:
Everyone loved this and it is a nice cool treat to substitute for that nightly ice cream. Play around with the fruits and add or substitute whatever you like!