`Tis the Season for Pumpkin Recipes

 `Tis the season for pumpkin recipes!  If you love all things pumpkin, give one of these recipes a try!

Pumpkin Crunch

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Blondies

Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin Spice Cake

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Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Since I had leftover pumpkin from making these Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Blondies, I decided to make Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars!

I love all things cheesecake, and these bars have flavors of fall mixed right in!

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients:

• 1 c butter, softened
• 1 c packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1 c pumpkin puree
• 2 c flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t ground cinnamon
• 2 1/2 t pumpkin pie spice
• 3/4 t salt
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened 
• 1/4 c sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1/2 c pecans, chopped 

Directions:

• In a large bowl combine the butter and brown sugar until creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla on high speed. Mix in pumpkin. 
• In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. 
• Mix flour mixture into butter mixture. 
• Spread 2/3 of the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
• In a medium bowl beat the cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Drop spoonfuls on top of the pumpkin batter.
• Drop the remaining pumpkin batter on top of the spoonfuls of cream cheese, and swirl together with a knife.  
• Sprinkle pecans.
• Bake the bars for 35-40 minutes in a 9x13 parchment-line pan at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Cool completely before cutting into bars.

You can find the original recipe here on Sally's Baking Addiction.

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Blondies

`Tis the season for all things pumpkin!  

With that in mind, I made these scrumptious Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Blondies!

The only change I made to the original recipe was adding more chocolate chips!  You can never have too many!

I love blondies, and the pumpkin makes the blondies soft and chewy.  And gotta love that pumpkin + chocolate chip combo!

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Blondies

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 c flour
• 1 T pumpkin spice
• 1 1/2 t baking soda
• 1 t salt
• 1 c unsalted butter
• 1 3/4 c sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 c pumpkin puree
• 2 T vanilla
• 2 c chocolate chips

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. 
• In a large bowl mix together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt.
• In a separate bowl, combine the butter and sugar until fluffy. 
• Mix in the egg, pumpkin puree and vanilla. 
• Slowly add in the flour mixture and mix until combined. 
• Fold in the chocolate chips, then pour batter into parchment-lined 9x13 pan. 
• Bake for approximately 35 to 40 minutes.
• Cool completely before cutting into bars.

You can find the original recipe here on I Heart Naptime.

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Pumpkin Bread

It's funny how over the holidays I always buy cans of pumpkin, but I never make pumpkin desserts for any get-togethers.  Since pumpkin is not a pantry staple for me, I forget the cans of pumpkin are in my pantry, so I'll make other desserts.  I actually still have a can of pumpkin in my pantry!

When I do remember about the pumpkin, I end up making cookies or muffins.

Recently I decided to make pumpkin bread.

Since the original recipe made two loaves and I only had one loaf pan, I ended up baking one loaf and a pan.  I guess you could consider the pan version a cake!

Either way, the bread (cake) came out moist and fluffy.  Perfect for a snack, dessert, or even breakfast!

Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

• 2 c flour
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1 t ground nutmeg
• 2 c sugar
• 1-1/2 sticks butter
• 2 large eggs
• 1 15-oz can 100% pure pumpkin 
• 1 c chopped walnuts
• 1 c powdered sugar
• 1/4 t vanilla
• 1 T milk

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit
• In a small bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and ground nutmeg.
• In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar.
• Mix in eggs.  
• Stir in flour mixture.
• Pour batter into prepared pans (2 loaf pans, or I used 1 loaf pan and 1 9x9 pan).
• Top with chopped walnuts
• Bake for approximately 60-70 minutes. 
• Meanwhile, mix together the powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk.
• Drizzle on bread / cake when done baking.

Original recipe can be found here on Once Upon a Chef.

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Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Whenever the holidays roll around, I always buy cans of pure pumpkin, with no specific use in mind.

I figure inspiration will eventually hit me.

Well, I actually forgot that I bought the cans of pumpkin.  Thanksgiving came around, and I ended up making these Cranberry Cream Cheese Bars.

It wasn't until I saw Nadia post a bunch of Pumpkin goodies on Instagram did I remember I had pumpkin too!

Since my kids are always ravenous when they get home from school (and they are sick of all the leftover candy we still have from Halloween!!), I decided to make muffins.

The muffins were so scrumptious!  I loved that the pumpkin flavor was not too strong, and I purposely did not mix the cheesecake mixture until smooth - I love cheesecake and I wanted to bite into chunks of that creamy goodness.  So delish!

I don't normally like sweets for breakfast (I'm more of an eggs & bacon kinda gal), but I often found myself eating these Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins for breakfast!

Next time I'm making a double batch so I can freeze some!


Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 c flour
• 1 T pumpkin pie spice
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 15 oz can pure pumpkin (I bought those gigantic 29 oz cans, so I simply used 1/2 of the large can)
• 1 c sugar
• 1/2 c packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 c vegetable oil
• 1 T vanilla extract 
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 1/4 c granulated sugar
• 1 large egg 
• 2 t vanilla extract

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375°F. 
• In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt.
• In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, sugar and brown sugar.
• Beat in eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla extract. 
• Slowly add the flour mixture, and stir until combined.  
• Fill paper-lined muffin tins 3/4 full.
• In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla extract until smooth (or if you like chunks of cheesecake like I do, stir until just combined)
• Top each muffin with about 1 tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture and use a toothpick to swirl the cream cheese and muffin batter. 
• Bake muffins for 18-20 minutes.

If you want to make mini muffins, just bake for 10-13 minutes in a mini muffin pan.

Original recipe found here on The Novice Chef.

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Pumpkin Spice Cake Recipe

Pumpkin Spice Cake is my go to dessert when I am short on time because it's easy to make and still super yummy. 

Start by mixing 1 box of spice cake mix with 3 eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 3/4 cup oil, and 1 15oz can of pumpkin.  Pour into a greased 9x13 pan and top with a mixture of 1/2 cup chopped nuts, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 cup sugar.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. 

The cake is very moist and fluffy and the crumble on top makes it even more special.   

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

After I made these Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars, I found myself with some leftover pumpkin, so I decided to make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (recipe found on Allrecipes).

The pumpkin made these cookies delightfully soft and chewy - just the way I like them, and the pumpkin flavor was not too overpowering.

Delicious!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (recipe slightly adapted from Allrecipes)

Ingredients

• 1 c canned pumpkin
• 1 c sugar
• 1/2 c vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 2 c flour
• 2 t baking powder
• 2 t ground cinnamon
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 T vanilla extract
• 2 c chocolate chips
• 1/2 c chopped walnuts 

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Mix together the pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. 
• In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda.
• Combined the flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
• Add the vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts.
• Drop by spoonfuls on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake for approximately 10-12 minutes.

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Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

I never baked with pumpkin before until I made these Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars (recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything).

I made them for a Thanksgiving gathering, and they turned out so delicious!

I'll definitely be baking more of these bars during the holidays!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars (recipe credit The Girl Who Ate Everything)

Filling:

• 1 8oz package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 c sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 t vanilla extract

Batter:

• 1 c canned pumpkin puree
• 1 c sugar
• 1 egg
• ⅓ c vegetable oil
• 1 c flour
• 1½ t pumpkin pie spice 
• 1 t baking powder
• ½ t baking soda
• ½ t salt
• 1 cup chopped pecan pieces

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375° F.
• Create the filling by combining all ingredients until smooth. 
• Create the batter by mixing the pumpkin, sugar, egg and oil in medium mixing bowl.
• Stir in the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 
• Pour the batter into a parchment-lined 9x13 inch baking pan.  
• Pour cream cheese filling over the batter, and cut through with a knife to make a marbled effect.  
• Sprinkle the top with chopped pecans.
• Bake for 25 - 28 minutes.
• Cool and cut into bars.

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