Vegan Pumpkin White Chocolate Bars

ANOTHER vegan recipe... I am really starting to like this whole vegan thing. It gives me a bit of a challenge, adapting recipes so that they are completely vegan, and I LOVE a good challenge! This one turned out scrumptiously! I was trying to adapt a blondie recipe, but I wouldn't call these blondies, they have a moister, fudgy consistency (thanks to the pumpkin), but they retain that delightful chewiness with caramel undertones that blondies are so famous for. They don't have to be made vegan, so I included tips for making a regular version as well. The pumpkin flavor is just perfect for this time of year and who can say no to a little white chocolate? Not me!

Pumpkin White Chocolate Bars

Adapted from Coconut Blondie recipe by Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

4 ounces vegan "butter" (I used Earth Balance), softened to room temperature (or for non-vegan, use 4 ounces unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature)

1 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)

1 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1 1/2 cups vegan white chocolate chips (can buy them here, or use regular)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper and mist with non-stick spray (or butter, or grease).

Mix together butter, sugar, pumpkin puree, and vanilla until smooth. Add flour, salt and pumpkin pie spice.

Mix until combined.

Fold in white chocolate chips.

Smooth batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until set but still a bit soft in the middle.

Happy Monday!

Whisked Away Wednesday: GIANT Pumpkin Molasses Cookies

Like pumpkin? Like molasses? I happen to love both, so these cookies are like a dream come true for me, and to top it all off, they are pretty healthy (for a cookie). They are made with whole wheat flour and no butter! In the original recipe (which I found on theungourmet.com) flax seeds replace the egg. I didn't have any flax seeds so I used an egg instead. The cookies turned out light, fluffy, and soft on the inside, the raw sugar coating on the outside adds a beautiful sparkle and wonderfully sweet crunch. The flavors come together in a particularly lovely combo of pumpkin and rich molasses. Just the smell of them baking is worth giving the recipe a try, they filled my whole apartment with all the lovely spicy smells of Fall.

Recipe thanks to Kim from The Ungourmet Blog

Makes about 1 dozen really big cookies

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1/4 cup molasses

1/3 cup canola oil

1 egg

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup raw sugar (for rolling)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

Whisk all dry ingredients together except the sugar. In a seperate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, molasses, oil, egg and brown sugar. Combine wet and dry ingredients, mix well. Put the raw sugar in a small bowl.

Form about 2 tablespoons of dough into a ball and cover with raw sugar - the dough is sticky at this stage, so I just used an ice cream scoop and dropped scoops into the sugar, swirling to cover. Continue until you have used up all the dough.

Before placing the cookies in the oven, use a fork to press the cookies down to about 1/2 inch thick (like you do with peanut butter cookies).

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until slightly firm.

All sparkly with sugar... mmmmmmm.....

You should probably go make these... right about now...

you wont regret it, I promise!

Happy Baking!

Apple Pumpkin Pie Bites

Happy Wednesday! This recipe was definitely a learning experience. I wanted to make pumpkin hand pies. So I used the recipe for the filling off of the pumpkin pie can and I bought two refrigerated pie crusts (cause I still have never made a pie crust... i know, how lame of me... but I WILL do it some day....). I figured I would just cut circles out of the refrigerated pie crust, add the filling, and top with another circle of pie crust, easy peasy. The problem turned out to be that the pie filling I made was waaay too liquidy, and I ended up with A LOT of it. A BUNCH more than I needed!

I am solution oriented though, so I added some flour to thicken it up, and used the extra filling to make these bars from picky palate. At the last minute, I was inspired to dice up an apple and add it to the pies. I had an extra one left over after making this cake, so I ended up with pumpkin apple pocket pies! They are delightful, flaky little bites of fall. The apple adds a great texture and flavor to the creamy pumpkin filling. The crust is nice and flaky, I'm sure homemade would be better but Pillsbury worked for me. I have posted the recipe I used (the one that makes a ton of filling), if you don't want extra pumpkin pie filling, just halve the filling recipe and that will make about the right amount of filling for 12 pie bites.

Apple Pumpkin Pie Bites

Ingredients

Original Ingredients

Plus...

Last Minute Add-Ins

1 can pumpkin

1 12 oz can nonfat evaporated milk

3/4 cup white sugar

9 tablespoons flour

2 eggs

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 small apple, diced

2 refrigerated pie crust doughs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a small tart pan (you could also use a muffin pan or a muffin top pan) and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, milk, sugar, flour, eggs, salt, and spices.

Set aside.

Roll out pie crusts, and using a three inch circle cookie cutter, cut out 12 circles from each crust (you will need to bundle up the scraps and re-roll them).

Place 12 of the crusts in the prepared tart pan.

Sprinkle on a few pieces of diced apple, cover with a scant tablespoon of pumpkin filling. Brush the edges of each bottom crust with a bit of water and top with another circle of crust.

Pinch the two crust edges together (make sure they seal or else you will get filling seeping out the sides). Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar. Bake at 350 for 20-25 min or until lightly golden brown.

Frosting

Ingredients

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1-2 tablespoons milk

Whisk together sugar and milk making sure to break up any lumps. Drizzle over mini-pies before serving.

Yay Fall!!

Pumpkin-Pecan Pie Oatmeal

Yay for the first day of autumn being this week! I happen to love fall. The leaves change, the squirrels gather acorns, pumpkins and squash abound... but mostly I love the warm, comforting flavors that fall brings. Waking up to the cinnamony, yeasty smell of fresh baked cinnamon rolls, enjoying a hearty stew with home cooked biscuits, succulent low baked apples bursting with juicy raisins and spicy cinnamon.... but my favorite fall treats are pumpkin and pecan pies. My dad is the king of the pecan pie and last year for thanksgiving he made the ultimate pie - a combination of creamy, spicy pumpkin and crunchy, sugary pecans. The best of both worlds! When I woke up this morning, the crisp feel of fall was in the air and I was craving that pie something fierce. I figured that making a pie for breakfast wasn't the best idea so I googled pumpkin pie oatmeal and came across this scrumptious looking recipe from Good Life Eats. Perfect! It combines pumpkin puree with thick cut oatmeal and a pecan streusel topping. I bought some pecan pie glazed pecans when I was grocery shopping, and while absolutely delicious on their own (seriously, buy some now), they were the perfect way to top off this oatmeal. The oatmeal smelled like pumpkin pie while baking and was ready in about 20 minutes. The flavors of pumpkin and cinnamon along with the crunch of the pecan-brown sugar topping and the hearty warmth of the oats sent me to autumn breakfast heaven. Is it Thanksgiving yet? Cause it sure tastes like it!

Pumpkin-Pecan Pie Oatmeal

Recipe from Good Life Eats

Ingredients

1 cup old fashioned oats, not quick cook

1 Tbs whole flax seeds, optional

2 1/2 Tbs brown sugar, packed

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp butter, softened

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

3/4 cup milk (I used almond milk)

1/4 cup pecans, chopped (optional)

Topping:

1/4 cup pecans, chopped

2 tsp butter, softened

1 Tbs brown sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 4 individual sized ramekins. Set aside.

Combine the oats through salt in a medium sized bowl. Stir well. In a separate bowl, combine the vanilla, butter, pumpkin, and milk. Whisk thoroughly.

Pour the pumpkin mixture into the oats.

Stir until combined.

Divide mixture evenly between 4 individual sized ramekins. Place ramekins on a baking sheet (this makes it easier to move in and out of the oven.). Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the ingredients for the topping: chopped pecans, butter, and brown sugar.

After the oatmeal has baked for 10 minutes, remove and divide topping mixture evenly between the ramekins. Bake an additional 7 minutes.

Cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Have a wonderful Sunday!