More Pumpkin Sweetness

Yes, we’re at it again. Pumpkin! We just can’t get enough of it this time of year. This time we are trying Pumpkin Cookies with Cinnamon Frosting. They just scream fall. And all things fall is where we’re at right now. Pumpkin Spice Everything!!!

INGREDIENTS

2 cups butter, softened

2 cups granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 egg whites

2 teaspoons vanilla

15-ounce can pumpkin

4 cups unbleached flour

1 Cream Cheese Frosting Container

ground cinnamon sprinkled on top (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl beat the 2 cups of butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, the 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and the nutmeg. Beat until combined. Beat in the egg whites and 2 teaspoons of vanilla until combined. Beat in pumpkin. Beat in as much of the four as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour with a wooden spoon.

Drop dough by heaping teaspoons 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until tops are set. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

Frost with cream cheese frosting and sprinkle with cinnamon.

*recipe inspired by Dear Crissy

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Apples Sweet Apples

It’s Saturday! To the apple orchard we go. We’re off to pick a bushel of sweet, delicious apples to bring home for baking up a pan of Apple Crisp Shortbread Bars. Oven and aprons ready! Can’t wait!

INGREDIENTS

Shortbread Base:

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unbleached flour

Apple Filling:

• 3 large fresh orchard picked
• apples, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 Tablespoons unbleached flour
• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Topping:

• 1/2 cup unbleached flour
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter – melted or room temp to cut in.

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F and line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper. Be sure to bring the parchment up the sides as it makes it easier to lift out later.
2. Shortbread Base:
3. Place butter into your mixer and turn on high for 5 minutes or until the butter turns white rather than yellow, that’s how you’ll know it’s creamed. Next mix in the brown sugar, vanilla, and salt. Once combined, add in the flour and stir well. Press the mixture into the parchment lined pan and bake in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes.
4. Apple Filling:
5. In a bowl, combine the apples, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg until the apples are well coated.
6. Topping:
7. Mix flour, ¾ up brown sugar. Cut in the butter and knead together.
8. Remove the crust from the oven and turn the heat up to 350 degrees F. Sprinkle one half of the Topping over the short bread, then layer the apples on top. You will have multiple layers so try to keep it level. Once this is finished, sprinkle the remainder of the Topping evenly on top and place in the oven to bake for 30 minutes.
9. Remove from the oven and allow to cool fully before placing in the fridge to set for at least 2 hours. Once it’s set, remove from the baking dish by lifting out the parchment paper and cut into bars. Top with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.

*recipe inspired by Life Straight Up

Sweet Summering

It’s Saturday and its summertime. No need to ask if you have plans! But are you in need of a no-melt dessert for your outdoor party, camp out, road trip, or daily driveway surf? How about Toffee Rolled Cookie Butter Cookies! With cookie butter baked right in they’re mess free. And doubling the batch makes the perfect amount for a crowd. Take it from us they’re mom approved and you won’t even need the Fels Naptha when every last crumb is gone! Happy Summering!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter flavored Crisco
• 1/3 cup creamy cookie butter spread
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg whites
• 2 Tbs water
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 cups unbleached flour
• 1 cup Heath Butter Brickle

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Line baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.
3. In bowl of stand mixer cream together Crisco, cookie butter, milk, water and both sugars about 2 minutes.
4. Add in egg white and vanilla and mix until combined.
5. With mixer still running add in salt, cornstarch and cinnamon and mix until incorporated.
6. Turn mixer to low and add in flour, mixing until dough comes together. Stir in brickle.

1. Roll 2 Tbs scoops of dough into remaining back of brickle. Then drop onto prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.
2. Bake for 10 minutes until edges just begin to become golden. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for a few minutes and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

*recipe inspired by Cookies and Cups

Sweet with a Hint of Spice

We’ve been told, mostly by our husbands, that we’re mostly sweet with a hint of spice. I guess we can be a bit sassy from time to time. But isn’t sugar and spice what girls are made of??? So with Cinco de Mayo just around the corner we’ve decided to add a little bit of spice to our Saturday sweet treat. Our half adult/half kid friendly version of Mexican Magic Bars have a hint of cinnamon which gives them just enough of a kick to remind you that sweet and spicy are a perfect combination. We think our husbands will agree. That’s if they know what’s good for them😉!

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups crushed graham crackers
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup pecans
• 1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
• 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

Preparation

In 9×13-inch baking dish, mix crackers, cinnamon, and melted butter; press onto bottom. Layer with chocolate chips. Sprinkle half the pan with pecans (adult side) and the other half with coconut (kid side). Pour condensed milk over the top. Bake at 375 degrees until browned, 25 minutes.

*recipe inspired by Rachael Ray Every Day

Extra Sweet Learning

Hmmm…what to do with extra pumpkin leftover from last week’s treat? Tossing it would be a crime! We have just enough to try our hands at Brown Butter Pumpkin Toffee Oatmeal Scotchies. And as avid bakers (we think baking every Saturday qualifies us for this!) we’ve never made brown butter. This yummy recipe is not only a great way to be resourceful, but also a way to learn a new technique. It’s a win all around!

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces

1 1/4 cup cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin spice

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large egg whites

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

3/4 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

3 cups old-fashioned oats

1 1/2 cups butterscotch chips

1 cup Heath Butter Brickle

Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting recipe

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with Silpat baking mats or parchment paper and set aside.

Place butter pieces in a medium skillet. Melt the butter over medium heat, swirling it in the pan occasionally. The butter will foam and pop, so be careful. Continue to swirl the pan often. Remove pan from heat once the butter starts to brown and smells nutty. There will be small brown bits on the bottom. The butter should be an amber color. Pour butter into a small bowl and cool to room temperature. You can put it in the fridge to speed up the process, that is what I do.

While the brown butter is cooling, whisk together the flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the browned butter with brown sugar and granulated sugar. Beat until creamy and smooth, about 3-4 minutes.

Add the egg whites and vanilla extract and mix until combined. Beat in the pumpkin and mix until combined.

Turn the mixer to low speed and slowly mix in the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Stir in the oats and butterscotch chips and Heath. Chill dough in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.

When dough is chilled, form cookie dough into 2 tablespoon sized cookie dough balls. Place on prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake cookies for 12 minutes or until slightly brown around the edges. Remove from oven and allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool completely. Top with cream cheese frosting. YUM!

*recipe inspired by Two Peas & Their Pod

Sweet Fix

Are you hooked? Pumpkin spice is all the rage and we’re not immune to it. We’re skipping the coffee shop drive thru this morning and getting our fix from the oven instead. Our doctored up Pumpkin Spice Latte Mini Loaves with definitely satisfy our sweet tooth and caffeine cravings all in one!

Bread Ingredients

• 1 box Libby’s Pumpkin Bread Mix, plus ingredients on the back of the box
• 2 Starbucks Vias
• Follow the directions on the back of the box. Stir in Vias.
• Fill a greased mini loaf pan 3/4 full. Tip each loaf with streusel topping. Directions below.

Streusel Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons butter

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup light brown, dark brown

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 to 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

1 Place the butter in a small pot over medium-low heat, until melted.

2 Stir in the remaining ingredients with a fork, until evenly distributed.

Bake the loaves for 18 min at 350 or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool then top with cream cheese frosting.

Annual Sweet Outing

It’s that time of year again…time for our annual trip to the apple orchard. This has easily become one of our favorite fall outings. There’s a little something for everyone: apple cider donuts and coffee for the dads, hayrack rides and apple pie smoothies for the kids, and fresh picked apples that are perfect for baking for us! This time we’re bringing home a stash of apples to make Apple Pie Dump Cake.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

pinch of cardamom

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup melted butter

1 large egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups freshly picked, roughly chopped apples (peeled and cored, about 2 apples)

vanilla ice cream

caramel

pecan pieces

Heath Bits

INSTRUCTIONS

1 Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a 8×11 inch baking dish.

2 In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom. Set aside.

3 In a mixing bowl, use a wooden spoon to mix the brown sugar, white sugar and melted butter together. Add the beaten egg and vanilla extract and mix until sugar mixture is wet. Slowly add the set aside dry ingredients and mix until just wet. Fold in the apples.

4 Pour the apple mixture into the set aside baking dish and put it in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven when the top is brown. Let cool for 10 minutes.

5 To prepare an apple cake sundae, place 2 spoonfuls of apple cake in a bowl. Top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, drizzle caramel, and handful of pecan pieces on top.

* recipe inspired by Honey And Birch

Sweet Seasonal Switch

Have you ever wished for something you can hardly stand it? That’s us this Saturday! Now that summer is unofficially over, it’s PUMPKIN SEASON! We’ve been waiting months and months for this and now it’s here! Baking Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Muffins are pumpkin spice and everything nice! A true wish come true!

Ingredients

• 2¾ cups all purpose flour

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 2 cups sugar

• ⅔ cup brown sugar

• 3 eggs

• 1 15 oz can pumpkin

• ¾ cup coconut oil

• 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Cinnamon Sugar Topping

• ⅔ cups sugar

• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

•. 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

•cream cheese frosting

•Heath Bits

Instructions

1 Preheat oven to 350F.

2 Line two muffin pans with muffin liners (24 total) and set aside.

3 Combine flour, salt, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and baking soda in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.

4 In a large bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar, eggs, pumpkin, coconut oil, almond milk, and vanilla extract. Whisk to combine.

5 Slowly fold dry mixture into wet mixture just until combined.

6 Fill muffin liners about three-quarters full.

Cinnamon Sugar Topping

1 Combine sugar, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice in small bowl. Stir.

2 Sprinkle a teaspoon or more of the topping on top of the muffins.

3 Bake for 25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes in muffin pan before removing to a cooling rack.

Once cool frost with cream cheese frosting and sprinkle with Heath Bits.

*recipe inspired by Mom ON Timeout

Sweet Spice & Everything Nice

Isn’t it nice when opposites collide and create something magical? We have proof that it is! Toffee Snickerdoodle Blondies have the perfect amount of sugar and cinnamon to guarantee you’ll be back for seconds!

Toffee Snickerdoodle Blondies

Ingredients:

1 cup Crisco

2 cups packed brown sugar

2 egg whites

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 and 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup Heath Bits

2 tablespoons granulated sugar (for topping)

2 teaspoons cinnamon (for topping)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9×13 inch pan with parchment paper.

In a large bowl cream the Crisco and the 2 cups brown sugar and continue beating for 1 minute, scraping the sides and bottom of bowl.

Add 2 egg whites and vanilla extract. Beat well.

Add the flour on top of the mixture but don’t mix it in.

Use a small spoon to stir the baking powder, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt into the flour.

Beat the flour mixture in until barely combined. Once the flour streaks are gone you’re done. Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom.

Use a spatula to scrape the dough (it’s a very sticky dough) into the prepared pan. Use a spatula with nonstick spray to press it. Smooth the surface.

In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons sugar with2 teaspoons cinnamon. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the top of the pan. Add Heath to top. Pat it down with your hands a little bit.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out of the center with no batter stuck to it.



Sweet Sharing Season

Saturday is here! Eeep!!! Let the Christmas baking festivities begin. Whether you have a neighborhood cookie exchange, office party, or early family get together, we’re here to help you bake something special to bring along. A little goodie called Frosted Snickerdoodles. They are just your regular cinnamony-sugary snickerdoodles elevated with tasty cream cheese frosting. ”Tis the season to share some sweets!

Frosted Snickerdoodles

INGREDIENTS

1 3/4 cups sugar, divided
1 stick Crisco Baking Sticks Butter Flavor 

2 large egg whites

2 tablespoons almond milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 3/4 cups Pillsbury BEST™ All Purpose Flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 

1 can cream cheese frosting 

DIRECTIONS

HEAT oven to 400°F.
COMBINE 1 1⁄2 cups sugar, shortening, eggs, milk and vanilla in large bowl. Beat with electric mixer at medium speed until well blended.

COMBINE flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Add gradually to shortening mixture at low speed. Mix just until blended.

COMBINE remaining 1⁄4 cup sugar and cinnamon in small bowl. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE 7 to 8 minutes. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheets. Place on cooling racks to cool completely, then frost with cream cheese frosting.