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.

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.