BBQ Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

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If you're going to make your Pumpkin Pie from scratch for Thanksgiving, definitely roast your pumpkin seeds instead of throwing them away. It's super simple to do and they're a healthy snack for the whole family. You can roast them plain with a dash of salt, or spruce up the ingredients to make a BBQ version like I did here. Enjoy!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup unshelled, raw pumpkin seeds
• 1 1/4 tsp. onion powder
• 1 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp. ground mustard
• 1/4 tsp. light brown sugar
• 4 to 5 squirts olive oil spray

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Remove the seeds from the pumpkin and separate them from the stringy pulp. Rinse the seeds in a colander under cold water. Shake off any excess water.

Spread the seeds on a baking sheet and roast for about 10 minutes or until seeds are dry, tossing halfway through.

In a small bowl, combine the onion powder, garlic powder, mustard, smoked paprika, cayenne, salt and brown sugar.

Remove the seeds from the baking sheet and place the seeds in a medium bowl. Lightly spray with oil. 

Add 3/4 of the spice mixture to the pumpkin seeds and toss to evenly coat.

Cover the sheet pan with parchment paper and spread the seeds evenly on top. Roast for 20 to 30 minutes or until brown and crunchy, tossing half way through. 

Remove from oven and immediately spray more olive oil over the seeds. Toss with the remaining spice mixture. 

Source: Skinnytaste

Pumpkin Nutella Cookie Bars

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Want to switch up your Thanksgiving dessert a little this year? You should make something that still includes pumpkin…but also includes NUTELLA!! Sounds like a winner, doesn't it? Cookie bars are exactly what they sound like: a moist cookie-like dessert that is made into thicker bars. And then stuffed with Nutella :) They would be great on your Thanksgiving table and a surprising new treat everyone will enjoy!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. ground allspice
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup Nutella

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x9” pan with foil and spray with cooking spray.

Place melted butter, pumpkin, and both sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. You can also use a hand mixer, if you prefer. Mix until smooth, about 30 seconds. 

Mix in egg yolk, baking soda, salt, spices, and vanilla. Mix in flour until batter is smooth. It’ll be a soft batter.

Press half the batter in the bottom of the pan. The batter is sticky so you may want to spray your hands with cooking spray. It’ll be a thin layer in the bottom of the pan. Bake for 8 minutes.

Place Nutella in a microwave safe bowl. Heat for just a few seconds until pourable. Pour evenly over the top of the partially baked crust. Spread it carefully so it doesn’t rip the cookie bars. Scoop tablespoons of batter over the top and carefully spread with your fingers. It won’t be a smooth layer but will mostly cover.

Bake an additional 17-20 minutes until the top is no longer glossy and the edges are golden brown. Cool completely before slicing.

Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 1 month.

Source: Adapted from Crazy for Crust

Apple Cinnamon Fruit Leather

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Fruit roll-ups used to be one of my favorite treats as a child. I can still hear that thin layer of plastic being peeled away from the sticky leathery treat. But with all the preservatives and sugar buried in the ingredients list, it's one of the last things I want to give Bradley. It was SO simple to make my own fruit leather at home and it came out amazingly similar to the store-bought stuff. I made this one with fall ingredients, but I can't wait to try it out with fresh strawberries and blueberries! Enjoy!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 medium-large apples (about 4 cups)
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup apple cider
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 170 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Core and peel apples. Chop into large chunks. Toss in lemon juice to avoid browning while prepping the remaining apples.

Drain the lemon juice from the apples and place them in a large saucepan. Add the apple cider, sugar and cinnamon. Cook over medium heat. When apples are tender, use a potato masher to slightly mash the apples. Continue cooking for an additional 5 minutes.

Carefully pour mixture into a blender or food processor to purée.

Divide purée evenly between pans. Use an offset spatula to smooth out the mixture.

Bake for 3 hours or until leather is slightly tacky and no longer wet. (*Time will vary depending on the thickness of your mixture.) Every hour, rotate pans 180 degrees and swap rack levels.

Allow leather to cool before slicing. Using a pizza wheel or knife, carefully slice fruit leather into desired sizes. Wrap in wax paper. Store in an airtight container.

Source: Adapted from Baked by Rachel

Soft and Chewy M&M Cookies

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I don't know about you all, but I still have a ton of Halloween candy floating around my house. At first I was ecstatic that Bradley was going trick-or-treating because that meant I was left to eat all of his candy, but I think my eyes were bigger than my stomach. There's so much of it! And there's no way I'm going to let it all go to waste.

I used those mini M&M packets from his jack-o-lantern bucket for these cookies. Since he can't eat them (yet), I don't feel guilty for stealing his candy. Next year might be a different story, but for now I'm doing it while I can get away with it. These are basically the softest and chewiest chocolate chip cookies you'll ever have with M&Ms in the place of chips. To. Die. For. You can even use holiday colored chocolates to make them more festive. Enjoy!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups M&Ms

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in M&Ms. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Source: Adapted from Nestle Toll House

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Fluff Frosting

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Happy Halloween everyone! I'm so excited to bring my little monkey door to door for candy this evening. Yes, I'm aware he can't really eat any of the candy yet, but his mommy can...

So, I'm obsessed with these cupcakes. Not only do they scream FALL (pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, etc., etc.) but they have my new favorite frosting on them! Cream cheese and marshmallow fluff. Mixed together. And on top of these babies. I'll clean up that drool for you...

The cupcakes themselves are perfectly moist and full of that fall pumpkin flavor that you see everywhere this time of year. A little cinnamon and nutmeg really go a long way in these cupcakes, and the sweet frosting balances everything out. Definitely make these today! For Halloween! Go!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients
Makes 24 cupcakes

• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
• 1 tsp. ground allspice
• 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil, plus more as needed
• 4 large eggs
• 1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin purée 
• 2 recipes Cream Cheese Fluff Frosting (optional)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F and arrange a rack in the middle. Line 2 (12-well) muffin pans with paper liners. Alternatively, coat the wells with vegetable oil; set aside.

Place the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl and whisk to aerate and break up any lumps; set aside.

Place the sugar and measured oil in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until the sugar is incorporated, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle with a rubber spatula.

Return the mixer to medium speed and add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, about 1 1/2 minutes total mixing time. Reduce the speed to medium low, add the pumpkin, and beat until just combined, about 30 seconds. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle with a rubber spatula.

Turn the mixer to low speed, slowly add the flour mixture, and beat until almost completely incorporated, about 1 minute. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in any unincorporated flour at the edges with a rubber spatula, making sure to scrape to the bottom of the bowl.

Fill the muffin wells three-quarters of the way (about a heaping 1/4 cup per well). Place the muffin pans side by side in the oven and bake for 12 minutes. Rotate the pans front to back and side to side and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean, about 10 minutes more.

Place the pans on wire racks and let them cool for 5 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the pans and cool completely on the racks.

Frost with Cream Cheese Fluff Frosting. Store in the fridge in an airtight container.

Source: Adapted from CHOW

Melt-In-Your-Mouth Pumpkin Cookies

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These are probably the best cookies I've ever had, holiday-themed or not. The cookie part has a cake-like texture and is extremely soft and moist. The frosting is probably the best frosting I've ever had. Bottom line. The name of these cookies is definitely appropriate because they melt on your tongue with each bite.

The frosting is a rich brown sugar frosting. If you didn't know, brown sugar is the ingredient in chocolate chip cookies that makes them so flavorful. So replacing some of the powdered sugar with brown sugar in this frosting gives them that same flavor profile. I could eat it by the spoonful. Enjoy some this Thanksgiving!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup margarine, softened
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin
• 4 cups all-purpose flour

Frosting:

• 1/2 cup margarine
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp.  vanilla
• 2 3/4 cups powdered sugar
• Ground cinnamon (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, beat butter and margarine with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Beat until combined, scraping bowl occasionally. Add eggs and 2 teaspoons vanilla; beat until combined. Beat in pumpkin. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour.

Drop dough by heaping teaspoons 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until tops are set. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool.

In a small saucepan, heat 1/2 cup margarine and brown sugar until melted and smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl. Stir in milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in powdered sugar until smooth. Spread frosting on cookies. If desired, sprinkle with additional cinnamon. Makes about 60 cookies.

Source: Adapted from Better Homes and Garden

Pumpkin Nutella Swirl Loaf Cake

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This month I was assigned Annie's Noms for the Secret Recipe Club. With Thanksgiving only a week away, I wanted to make a holiday-themed recipe. So when I saw this loaf cake that combined pumpkin AND Nutella, I knew I had found a winner.

Annie has a ton of awesome looking recipes on her blog, and if I wasn't so insistent on picking a Thanksgiving recipe I really would have had a hard time picking one out! I'm glad I landed on this one, though. The Nutella swirl throughout the cake is really impressive looking. The Nutella actually compliments the pumpkin nicely in this moist and flavorful cake. Perfect for a Thanksgiving dessert (or even breakfast!). Enjoy!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 stick butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup pumpkin purée (not pie filling)
• 2 1/2 cups cake flour*
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
• Pinch ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup chocolate hazelnut spread (Nutella)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 2 lb. loaf tin.

Place the butter and sugar into a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes on med-high speed.

Add in the eggs and vanilla extract and mix until well incorporated. Add in the pumpkin purée, flour, baking powder and spices and mix until light and smooth, about 1 minute on med-high speed.

Take 3/4 cup of batter and place into a medium sized bowl. Place 1/2 cup chocolate spread into the medium bowl and mix with a spoon/spatula until well combined.

Spoon 1/3 of the pumpkin batter into the loaf pan and level off. Spoon 1/3 of the chocolate batter on top, then mix slightly with a fork until swirled. Repeat with the pumpkin batter and chocolate batter until the loaf pan is filled.

Place in the oven for 50 minutes or until risen and an inserted skewer into the center comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the pan for at least 1 hour before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once cooled, slice and store in an airtight container at room temperature for 4 days.

Source: Annie's Noms

Pumpkin Hand Pies

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The dessert portion of holiday dinners is something I always look forward to. There is always a vast assortment on hand and I love trying new things. Mini or personalized desserts are always my favorite, so I decided to try out a smaller version of one of my fall favorites: Pumpkin Pie. These would be a perfect addition for both Halloween and Thanksgiving!

Mini hand pies are individualized versions of the larger pie. The taste stays the same, but everyone feels a little more special from having their own personal dessert. I even chose to cut jack-o-lantern faces into half of the hand pies I made for a more festive feel. The traditional version is great for adults, but I know kids would get a kick out of a more playful display. Enjoy!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 refrigerated pie crusts
• 1 cup pure pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 egg
• Cinnamon
• Sugar

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

In a small bowl, stir together pumpkin puree, sugar, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla. 

Roll out one of the pie crusts using a rolling pin. Using a 3-inch biscuit cutter or round cookie cutter, cut out circles. Take the leftover dough and roll into a ball. Use rolling pin to roll out the leftover dough. Cut out as many additional circles as you can. Repeat with other pie crust.

Place half of the circles on the baking sheets. Scoop a heaping teaspoon of the pumpkin mixture into the center of those circles. Place the remaining circles on top of the circles with the filling. Press down edges and seal by pressing the prongs of a fork around the edges. Pierce four slits on the top of each pie to allow steam to escape. (You can also cut a jack-o-lantern shape into the top circles prior to placing them on top--perfect for Halloween!)

Whisk egg. Brush tops of each pie with egg. Sprinkle a small amount of both cinnamon and sugar over the top.

Bake for 20 minutes. Allow to come to room temperature and store in an air-tight container.

Source: SK Original

No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites

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I was ecstatic when I came up with the idea to make these bite-size desserts in the form of miniature pumpkins. I just thought it was brilliant. But when I originally made these, there was just something not right about them. I added sugar, vanilla, more sugar. I couldn't get it right. I was running late and needed to get them done and plated to bring to my parents' house, so I just brought them how they were.

Wrong move.

They were anything but good. They just tasted like processed pumpkin, which is exactly what they were. I mean a whole can will do that to you. So there I had it....too much pumpkin. Duhh.

I tried again and reduced the amount of pumpkin puree to half and I had it: a beautiful, creamy pumpkin cheesecake mixture. Scooping these into pre-made phyllo cups makes a fool-proof crust. You can either dust these with powdered sugar or place a pretzel in the middle to make mini pumpkins. Either way, these are a festive Halloween treat that all ages will enjoy!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 (8 oz.) package reduced-fat cream cheese
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4-1/2 cup sugar
• 1 package frozen phyllo cups, thawed
• Pretzel sticks, for serving

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin puree and mix until combined. Add vanilla and 1/4 sugar and mix just until combined. Taste and add more sugar as necessary.

Spoon 2 tablespoons of filling into each phyllo cup. Spread the filling so it is smooth.

Break the pretzel sticks in half and place one half in the center of each cup (for the pumpkin stem). Refrigerate until ready to eat.

Source: SK Original