To Die For

 

As promised in yesterday’s post, here is the DELICIOUS recipe for my Pumpkin Pie Bars.  Although not the most figure friendly, they are by far the tastiest fall treat of all.  This recipe initially came from a Kraft Food & Family magazine, but with a few minor tweaks, I have mastered the perfect crust consistency and made it my own.

 

 

After making the original recipe (found here) many times, I finally found a way to not have a crumbly crust when cutting the finished bars…softened (not cold) butter.  Most recipes with a shortbread/crumble type crust instruct you to use cold butter and “cut it in” with either two knives (a pain) or a pastry blender (not the most fun). 

I found that even after working it in with all my might, I still didn’t have the consistency that I wanted.  There was always too much flour left over and the butter wasn’t dispersed properly.  By using softened butter, the ingredients clump together nicely and the crust stays together even after the dessert is cooled and cut.  In my opinion, much better than the original!

 

Pumpkin Pie Bars

Print this recipe!

• 1-1/3 cups  flour
• 3/4 cup  granulated sugar, divided
• 1/2 cup  packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup  butter, softened
• 1 cup  old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats, uncooked
• 1/2 cup  chopped pecans or walnuts
• 1 pkg.  (8 oz.) reduced fat cream cheese, softened
• 3 eggs
• 1 can  (15 oz.) pumpkin
• 1 Tbsp.  pumpkin pie spice

For crumb topping (mix together in a small bowl and set aside):

• 1/3 C flour
• 1/4 C butter (1/2 stick)
• 1/3 C oats
• 1/4 C brown sugar
• 1/4 C nuts (optional)

 

 

HEAT oven to 350°F.

LINE 13x9-inch pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides; spray with cooking spray. Mix flour, 1/4 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar, and softened butter in medium bowl until blended.  (Best to use hands – warning:  your hands will be messy).  Mix in oats and nuts (again, with hands).

**tip for easier lining of foil:  Mold foil over bottom of pan leaving 3 inches extending over the short sides.  Pop pre-formed  molded foil into pan and crunch extended sides of foil to form handles.  Use handles to lift baked item out of pan when cooled (see pictures below).

 

PRESS oat mixture onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake 15 min. Beat cream cheese, remaining sugar, eggs, pumpkin and spice with mixer until blended; pour over crust. Sprinkle with crumb topping.

BAKE 25 min.; cool 10 min. Use foil to transfer dessert from pan to wire rack; cool completely before cutting.

 

 

 

This will be a crowd pleaser any where, any place, any time…you have my word.

Enjoy!

Munch-worthy

 

I love that people know me so well. 

My instructional assistant, Debbi, knows that I love granola, pumpkin and Pinterest.  So, when I got her email the other day for Pumpkin Pie Granola pinned from Pinterest, I knew I would have to give it a shot.

So, last night before heading to a Pampered Chef party at my dear friend Susie’s house, I whipped up a batch.  Even though the granola made the house smell delicious, the end result was a little bit different than I had imagined.

 

 

The “chunks” of granola were pretty big, and the crispiness was good, but parts were still a little bit soft in the middle.  To be honest, I wasn’t sure I was in love with the recipe, but as I was letting it cool I kept going back for more, and more and more.  I couldn’t stay away (especially after adding walnuts, cinnamon chips and dark chocolate chips).

In a nutshell, this granola may not be the best recipe ever, but it is definitely munch-worthy and makes a healthy fall snack to have around. Try it out and see what you think!

Enjoy!

 

 

Pumpkin Pie Granola

Print this recipe!

4 cups old fashioned rolled oats
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp . pumpkin pie spice
1 cup sugar
½ tsp salt
1 tsp . baking powder
¾ cups pumpkin
½ cup Applesauce (unsweetened)
3 TBSP maple syrup (or honey or agave nectar)

Optional add-ins: chocolate chips(white, semi-sweet, dark), 1 cup honey teddy graham lightly crushed, walnuts, almonds, dried cherries

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet by spraying with cooking spray. Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, and the wet ingredients in another. Mix wet and dry ingredients together until it is well combined.

Dump granola on baking sheet, spread out, and bake for 20 minutes. Take out of the oven, stir, and then bake for an additional 20 minutes or until the granola is golden brown and is crisp. (Mine wasn’t completely crisp out of the oven but after it cooled it was better – I ended up putting it in for an additional 10 minutes to crisp even more).

Let cool completely and then add in the optional add-ins at this point if desired.  Can be stored in an airtight container for up to one week.

 

Sa-weet!

 

While visiting my family this past weekend, we were lucky enough to partake in my mom’s 3rd Annual Neighborhood Dessert Party. 

This casual get together initially started as just that, a neighborhood gathering, but this year it turned into a pretty big shin dig with about 30 people joining in the festivities. 

There were a total of 5 different desserts served that could all be made ahead of time and pre-portioned into bite size pieces. This made for easy serving and quick clean up.  No stress, no mess.

If you are looking for a way to throw a holiday party or casual get together, but don't want the worries of serving and funding a main course event, a dessert party is a great alternative. We had a ball and loved munching on the leftovers the next day.

The guests seemed to enjoy the party as well.  Good sweets, good wine and good friends.

Menu:
Cheese Danish
Brownies (with and without nuts)
Lemony Cake with Glaze
Buttercup Cakelettes with Lemon Curd
Pumpkin Walnut Bread Pudding

-assorted nuts, Red and White wine and Moscato Spritzers
 
My contribution was the Pumpkin Walnut Bread Pudding.  I adapted this recipe from Sweetpeaskitchen.com and cut out some of the heavy cream and butter, making it lower fat.  I also switched the raisins for walnuts.  It turned out pretty yummy and got rave reviews at the party!

Pumpkin Walnut Bread Pudding

(Please note that this recipe is doubled in the pictures!)

Print this recipe!

For the Bread Pudding-

1 T dark rum

1/2 C sugar

1/2 t salt

1 t cinnamon

1 1/4 t pumpkin pie spice

2/3 C fat-free half and half

2/3 C fat free milk

3/4 C pumpkin puree

3 large eggs

1/2 C chopped walnuts

5 cups of any firm textured bread, cut into 1 inch cubes

For the Butter Rum Sauce-

1/4 C butter

1 1/2 C confectioners sugar

4 T heavy cream

2 T rum

Top with store-bought light whipped cream and sprinkle with lightly with cinnamon.

Directions:

1.  Spray 8 inch baking dish with non-stick spray.

2.  In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, salt, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, fat free half and half, milk, pumpkin puree, eggs and 1 T of rum.

3.  Cut bread into 1 inch cubes.  Transfer to a baking pan.  Pour the pumpkin-cream mixture over the bread and gently press down, submerging the layers in the liquid.

4.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator at least half an hour, pressing down occasionally to make sure the top layers of bread are soaked through.

5.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake until pudding is puffed up in the center and the top is golden brown, about 25-30 minutes.  Let pan cool slightly on a wire rack while preparing butter rum glaze.

6.  While bread pudding is cooling, make the butter rum glaze by melting the butter in a small saucepan over low heat.  Slowly whisk in the heavy cream and rum.  Remove from heat and whisk in confectioners sugar.  This part of the recipe is not great for you, but you only need a little bit.  Everything in moderation!

7.  The original recipe found here from Sweet Pea's Kitchen calls for home made cinnamon whipped cream, but to save calories and time, I opted for store bought light whipped cream.  Either way will be delicious!