Sautéed Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta

I’ve decided that my next couple of recipes will be dedicated to lightened-up Thanksgiving recipes. We all know Thanksgiving is about gorging, splurging and indulging. But, hopefully these recipes will show you that dishes can be healthy, yet still be awfully tasty.

First up, Brussels sprouts – everyone’s favorite vegetable (not!). You’ll quickly change your mind when you taste them sautéed with pancetta, garlic and oil. And it doesn't get any easier than this - prepare this the night before and warm it up when you are ready to serve if you decide to make it for Thanksgiving.

Sautéed Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta
Makes about 7 cups

Ingredients
2 ounces pancetta, minced
2 pounds Brussels sprouts
1 ½ tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

Directions
With a large knife finely shred the Brussels sprouts after thoroughly washing.
In a deep, heavy sauté pan, sauté pancetta on medium-low heat until fat melts and pancetta becomes golden, about 5 minutes.

Add olive oil and garlic and sauté until golden.

Add shredded Brussels sprouts, salt and pepper to taste and sauté on medium-low heat for about 4 to 5 minutes until tender crisp.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies with Dried Cranberries and Chocolate Chips

I’m on a baking kick and this past weekend I made these pumpkin oatmeal cookies with dried cranberries and chocolate chips. Can you say yummy? They are super scrumptious and perfect for sharing. And they’re indescribably delicious when they’re right out of the oven! After all, who doesn’t like a freshly baked cookie?

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies with Dried Cranberries and Chocolate Chips
Makes 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon all ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup pure pumpkin puree
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and salt. Set dry ingredients aside.

In a large mixer bowl, beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla extract. Beat until combined. Gradually add flour mixture and mix until ingredients are incorporated.

Stir in oats, chocolate chips, and dried cranberries. Drop cookie dough by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheet.

Bake cookies for about 12 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Sausage, Potato and Kale Soup

Yay! It’s soup weather! This is a make-at-home version of Olive Garden’s “Zuppa Toscana.” If you have an Olive Garden nearby, you may choose not to make this. You may choose instead to drive to Olive Garden, get out of your car, go inside, order Zuppa Toscana, and then eat Zuppa Toscana. But if you’re like me and don’t leave your house, making it at home is the next best thing.

Sausage, Potato and Kale Soup
Serves 12

Ingredients
2 bunches kale, picked over, cleaned and torn into bite-sized pieces
12 whole red potatoes, sliced thin
1 whole onion, chopped
1 ½ pound Italian sausage
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (more to taste)
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 cups whole milk
4 cups half-and-half
Splash of heavy cream
Fresh or dried oregano
Black pepper to taste

Directions
Prepare the kale and set it aside.

In a medium pot, boil sliced potatoes until tender. Drain and set aside.

In a large pot, crumble and brown the Italian sausage. Drain as much as the fat as you can. Stir in the red pepper flakes, oregano, chicken broth, milk, and half-and-half. Simmer for 30 minutes.

Give it a taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Add the potatoes, a splash of heavy cream for richness, then stir in the kale. Simmer an additional 10-15 minutes, and then serve.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

I love broccoli cheese soup. There’s something about it that triggers a happy, peaceful memory. I just don’t know what the memory is. Tee hee! So, technically, it isn’t a memory at all. There are so many great broccoli cheese soup recipes out there. I don’t think I’ve ever met one I didn’t like. Anyhow, here’s a great recipe for it. Enjoy!

Broccoli Cheese Soup
Serves 10

Ingredients
1 whole onion, diced
1 stick ½ cup butter
1/3 cup flour
4 cups whole milk
2 cups half-and-half
4 heads broccoli cut into florets
1 pinch nutmeg
3 cups grated cheese (mild cheddar, sharp cheddar, jack, etc.)
Small dash of salt (more if needed)
Freshly ground black pepper
Splash of chicken broth if needed for thinning

Directions
Melt butter in a pot over medium heat, then add the onions. Cook the onions for 3 to 4 minutes, and then sprinkle the flour over the top. Stir to combine and cook for 1 minute or so, then pour in milk and half-and-half. Add nutmeg, and then add broccoli, a small dash of salt, and plenty of black pepper.

Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the broccoli is tender. Stir in cheese and allow to melt.

Taste seasonings and adjust if needed. Then either serve as is, or mash it with a potato masher to break up the broccoli a bit, or transfer to a blender in two batches and puree completely. (If you puree it in a blender, return it to the heat and allow to heat up. Splash in chicken broth if needed for thinning.)
 

Corn and Cheese Chowder

Today’s recipe is a scrumptious, thick, delicious corn chowder made extra luscious with cheese. Go ahead and serve it in a bread bowl because corn chowder in a bread bowl is one of life’s great extravagances.

Corn and Cheese Chowder
Serves 12

Ingredients
4 tablespoons ½ stick butter
1 whole onion, chopped
3 slices bacon, cut into pieces
3 whole bell peppers, finely diced (red, yellow, orange)
5 ears corn, kernels sliced off
¼ cup all-purpose flour
3 cups chicken stock or broth
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup (heaping) grated Monterey jack
1 cup (heaping) pepper jack
1/3 cup sliced green onions
Bread bowls

Directions
In a large pot, melt butter over medium-high heat. Cook onions for a couple of minutes. Add bacon and cook for another minute or so, then add diced bell peppers and cook for a couple of minutes. Finally, add corn and cook for a minute.

Sprinkle flour evenly over the top and stir to combine. Pour in broth and stir well. Allow this to thicken for 3 or 4 minutes, then reduce heat to low. Stir in half-and-half, then cover and allow to simmer/thicken for 15 minutes or so.

Stir in cheeses and green onions. When cheese is melted and the soup is hot, check seasonings. Add salt and pepper as needed.

Ladle into hollowed out boules and serve immediately.

Caramel Pumpkin Blondies

This recipe is ooey gooey deliciousness. You know it’s good when it’s ooey and gooey. The caramel definitely makes these blondies ooey and gooey in the most amazing way and the way the caramel and chocolate melt together.... ooh! They create such a divine filling to these pumpkin spiced blondies. Serve with vanilla ice cream and you’ll be in heaven. Addictive. Festive. Total heaven in your mouth.

Caramel Pumpkin Blondies
Makes 16 blondies

Ingredients
For the Blondies:
¾ cups butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 whole eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoons nutmeg
1-¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoons salt

For the Filling:
½ cups chopped walnuts
¼ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
14 ounces, weight caramels, unwrapped (1 bag)
¼ cups heavy cream

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9×13 pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in eggs, vanilla and pumpkin until combined. Slowly incorporate the remaining ‘blondies’ ingredients into the batter. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly to ensure a smooth batter. Spread about 2/3 of the batter evenly into the prepared pan.

For the filling: Sprinkle nuts and chocolate chips over top of the batter.

Place caramels and cream into a heat-proof bowl. Microwave on high until caramel is smooth and completely melted, being sure to stir every 20 seconds. Stop as soon as it’s melted and smooth.

Pour melted caramel over chocolate and nuts. Spread around evenly with a butter knife or spoon. Place dollops of the remaining batter over the top of the caramel layer. Spread those dollops out to try and get a smooth layer of batter over top. (It’s fine if some of the caramel layer is peeking through.)

Bake for 25 minutes or until edges are golden and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted. (It might come out with a little caramel on it which is fine. You don’t want batter on the toothpick.)
Cool completely before serving. Or be prepared to get a whole lot of oozing caramel if you serve it warm.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Twix Caramel Popcorn

Caramel popcorn is one of our favorite fall snacks. One day I decided to jazz it up with one of my favorite candy bars – Twix. All I can is, “Wow!” Sweet and crunchy, this is the perfect sweet snack for movie night, game day and Halloween. This is super easy to make but looks oh-so-gourmet.

Twix Caramel Popcorn
Makes a lot!

Ingredients
5 quarts plain air popped popcorn
1 cup butter
2 cups light brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
20 "fun size" Twix candy bars, chopped
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted-to drizzle over popcorn

Directions
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Place popcorn in a large bowl and set aside.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil without stirring for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla extract. Pour caramel in a thin stream over popcorn, stirring to coat. Gently stir until all of the popcorn is covered.

Place popcorn on two large shallow baking sheets and bake in preheated oven, stirring every 15 minutes, for about an hour. Remove popcorn from oven and let cool completely.

Break popcorn into pieces and mix in chopped Twix candy bars. Drizzle popcorn with melted chocolate. Let the popcorn sit until chocolate hardens, about 30 minutes. Store at room temperature in an airtight container.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

I’ve gone through many simple no-bake cheesecakes in premade graham cracker crusts. And they were good. But they were nowhere near as good as making one from scratch. And this one is about as perfect a pumpkin cheesecake that you will make. You’re welcome.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients
For the crust:
1-3/4 cup gingersnap cookie crumbs, from about 40 gingersnap wafers
3 tablespoons brown sugar
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled down
For the filling:
3 8-ounce packages regular cream cheese (not low fat or nonfat), at room temperature
1 15-ounce can pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
3 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1/4 c. sour cream
1-1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
2 T. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare a 9″ spring form pan by lightly spraying with cooking spray.

For the crust, pulse the cookies in a food processor until the crumbs are uniform. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt and pulse to combine. Transfer to a medium bowl and add the melted butter. Combine thoroughly with a fork. When the mixture is evenly moist, crumbly, and holds together when you squeeze a handful, it’s ready. Press the mixture evenly over the bottom, and very slightly up the sides, of your spring form pan. Chill for 5 minutes, and then bake for 10 minutes. Let cool completely.

Prepare a water bath while the crust cools. Heat a kettle or pan of water to a soft boil. Have a larger baking dish or roasting pan ready to set the spring form pan inside of. Once the crust is cooled, set the spring form pan on a double layer of heavy duty aluminum foil and wrap the foil up around the outside of the pan.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

I’ve said it before. I like to bake though I am not the best decorator, which is why I love bundt cakes. They are pretty and don’t require frosting (besides, I don’t really like frosting and usually scrape it off). If you like frosting, don’t worry; you won’t miss it with this cake.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 ¼ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
¾ teaspoon ground allspice
Pinch of fresh nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups canned solid-pack pumpkin
¾ cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
Chocolate chunks or chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 10 inch bundt pan, then dust with flour, knocking out excess.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, fresh nutmeg, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together pumpkin, buttermilk, and vanilla in a separate bowl.

Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until creamy. Add in eggs one at a time, while mixing on low. On low, add flour and pumpkin mixtures in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix just until combined, don’t over mix. By hand, stir in the chocolate chunks.

Spoon cake batter into pan, smoothing top. Pound the pan on the counter to settle the batter. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean in the center of cake, about 45- 50 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan, on a rack, for 15 minutes. Invert rack over cake and reinvert cake onto rack. Cool completely before serving. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.

Cinnamon Streusel Pancakes

These will be the most amazing pancakes you have ever tasted, trust me. They are light and fluffy and the cinnamon streusel on top goes perfectly with the fall spices. I wish I could tell you how delicious these pancakes are, but there are really no words to describe them. They are too good! You have to make these pancakes. I guarantee that you will fall head over heels for these babies. You won’t be able to get them out of your mind.

Cinnamon Streusel Pancakes
Makes 4

Ingredients
For the cinnamon streusel:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks

To make the pancakes:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup milk
1/2 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 large egg
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
First, make the cinnamon streusel. In a medium bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter. Mix together with your hands or a fork, until you have a crumbly mixture. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flours, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, egg, pumpkin, canola oil, and vanilla extract. Add wet ingredients to the flour mixture and whisk until combined.

Heat a griddle or pan to medium low. Coat with cooking spray. Drop 1/3 cup of batter onto heated skillet. Add 2 tablespoons of the cinnamon streusel. Cook on the first side until bubbles begin to form, about 2-3 minutes. Carefully flip pancake over and cover very generously with cinnamon streusel. Cook for another 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Continue this process to make the rest of the pancakes.

Serve pancakes warm with maple syrup and butter.

Pumpkin Granola

Obviously, you can see a theme here. This week it’s all about the pumpkin. I love homemade granola. Not only does it taste good, but it makes the house smell amazing. This batch has a fall theme. Pumpkin, applesauce and maple syrup bind the oats together so there is no need for butter or oil. When you make this, the pumpkin spice aroma travels throughout the house and lingers for hours – much better than a pumpkin candle!

Pumpkin Granola

Ingredients
5 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¾ tsp. salt
¾ cup brown sugar
½ cup pumpkin puree
¼ cup applesauce
¼ cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup dried cranberries
½ cup pepitas

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325° F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a large bowl, combine oats, spices, and salt. Mix well.

In a medium bowl, whisk together brown sugar, pumpkin puree, applesauce, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth. Pour wet ingredients into oat mixture and stir until the oats are evenly coated. They will be moist. Evenly spread the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and stir. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes or until the granola is golden and crisp. Remove from the oven and stir in dried cranberries and pepitas. Let cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

*Note: Serve granola with yogurt, milk, or enjoy plain.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

This recipe will be a staple in my house this fall. You can’t go wrong with pumpkin and chocolate together and these bars are dotted with chocolate chips. The pumpkin bars are soft, moist and have a cake-y texture. They are perfect for dessert or snack time. If you like pumpkin, I bet you will be making this pumpkin chocolate bar recipe over and over this fall.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars
Makes 24 bars

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon pumpkin-pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

With a stand or electric mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until smooth; beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Add pumpkin puree and mix well. The mixture will look somewhat curdled. Reduce speed to low, and mix in dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake bars for 35-40 minutes or until edges begin to pull away from sides of pan and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached.

Cool bars completely in pan. Cut into squares and serve.