Pumpkin Crunch Cake

This is possibly the richest pumpkin dessert I've ever had. It is really really good, but a little goes a long way. Also, the term "cake" is misleading. This is definitely not cake.. I think it's more of a pumpkin cobbler/custard? Maybe? Anyways, here it is:

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

Ingredients:

1 box yellow cake mix

1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree

1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans (the original recipe called for 1/2 cup)

1 cup butter, melted

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  

2. Grease bottom of 9 x 13″ pan.  

3. Mix pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, and salt.  Pour mixture into greased pan.  

4. Sprinkle dry cake mix over pumpkin mixture and top with pecans.  

5. Drizzle melted butter over pecans.  

6. Bake 50-55 minutes (mine baked closer to 65 minutes). I also had a scoop of vanilla ice cream with it. Yum.

(that picture really doesn't do it justice... but I swear it's good!)

Pumpkin Smoothie

Okay, so amidst my high-calorie pumpkin desserts, here is a recipe that won't make you feel too guilty! This smoothie is not only good for your health, but it is delicious! I am obsessed. 

Pumpkin Smoothie:

1/2 banana
1/3 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt (I use Chobani)
3/4-1 cup vanilla soy milk (or milk of choice) 
Few shakes of pumpkin spice (Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice) 
Few shakes of cinnamon
Pinch of cloves
1tsp vanilla 
5-10 ice cubes
1-2 packets of truvia (optional- depending on how sweet you want it)

Put all of the ingredients in a blender and blend for 20-30 seconds. Sometimes I have to add more ice to get the appropriate thickness. 

Battle of the Pumpkin Breads

I found two great pumpkin bread recipes online, and I decided I had to try them side by side to find a winner. The first recipe is different than traditional pumpkin bread in that it has a pecan topping. 

Ingredients:

1 cup brown sugar 

2 eggs 

1/2 cup vegetable oil 

1/3 cup water 

1 (15 ounce) pumpkin puree 

1 3/4 cups plain flour 

1 teaspoon baking soda 

1/2 teaspoon baking powder 

1 teaspoon salt 

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 

1 teaspoon cinnamon 

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice 

TOPPING:

1 tablespoon butter 

1/4 cup brown sugar 

3 tablespoons milk 

1/4 cup pecans, chopped 

1. In a medium size bowl beat eggs and mix with sugar, oil, water and pumpkin.
2. In another bowl mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. Combine wet ingredients with dry ingredients only until just blended. Do NOT over-mix.
3. Pour into a greased and floured loaf pan. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 50 to 60 minutes.
4. For topping: In a small saucepan mix butter, brown sugar and milk. Boil only 2 1/2 minutes while stirring constantly. Immediately drizzle on top of loaf. Sprinkle with chopped pecans and press pecans lightly into topping.
5. Wrap and store until next day for serving. This will keep moisture inside.

Pumpkin bread with pecan topping

The second recipe I tried was also not "traditional" pumpkin bread in that it uses dry vanilla pudding mix. The pudding mix helps keep the bread soft and moist.

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup vegetable oil
5 eggs
1 16-oz can of pumpkin
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
2 pkg. instant vanilla pudding (dry)

Directions:
1. Grease 2 loaf pans. 

2. Mix oil, eggs, and pumpkin in mixing bowl and beat well. 

3. In a separate bowl sift together flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking soda. Add to pumpkin mixture and mix until blended. 

4. Stir in pudding mix. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour (my bread was still goopy in the middle and had to be put back in the oven for about 15 more minutes).

Moist pumpkin bread

So which one is the winner? Well, I don't know. I loved the topping in the first recipe, because I am a huge pecan fan. However, I actually liked the bread of the second recipe better. The vanilla pudding mix made the pumpkin bread extremely moist. It also had a slightly different flavor, which I preferred compared to the first recipe. In the future, I think I might just add the topping of the first recipe to the second recipe. Best of both worlds?

White Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

So I made this blog to document what I bake/cook. I love to bake, especially in fall, because I am obsessed with pumpkin! First up: pumpkin white chocolate chip muffins. They turned out so good! These muffins are very moist. Although, next time I might add a few more chocolate chips  :) 

Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip Muffins

1/2 cup of pecans

1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup pumpkin

4 oz unsalted butter, melted

6 oz white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, spices, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

3. In another bowl, mix together the eggs, pumpkin, and unsalted butter. Add in the chocolate chips and nuts.

4. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix until the dry ingredients are moistened. Do not over mix.

5. Scoop batter into greased or paper cup lined muffin cups. Bake for about 20 minutes or until puffed and springy to the touch. Cool then remove from cups. Makes 12 muffins (and a few mini muffins with the leftover batter).