National Pie Day?

I saw a post this morning on my Facebook wall that said, "Happy National Pie Day! What's your favorite pie?" After answering that my favorite is a toss-up between Peach and Kentucky Derby pies, I started really wanting some pie today! So when I ran to the store to get a rotisserie chicken for my Chicken & Gnocchi soup I'm making for dinner tonight, I grabbed a few other things as well. Here's what I did:
The Ingredients

1 3/4 cups milk
graham cracker pie crust (I got the minis)
1 package Instant Pudding and Pie Filling (any flavor). I bought a vanilla and then discovered I still had a Pumpkin Spice one in my cupboards!!

Whisk the milk and pie mix together for 2 minutes.

Pour into shells.

Refrigerate until set. Because I am an awesome Mom and he's so stinkin' cute, I made some Chocolate ones for my Clay-Clay.

Pumpkin Spice Quick Bread

This recipe is quite possibly the easiest one I have ever found! You literally put all the ingredients into the bowl of your mixer and turn it on. Once it's all mixed you pour it into a loaf pan and bake it. Awesome!
The Ingredients

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup pumpkin puree

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 stick (1/2 cup) softened butter

2 large eggs

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice **

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a loaf pan. Combine all ingredients in a large mixer bowl.

Turn on the mixer to medium and when it's well mixed, pour into prepared pan.

Bake 45 - 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean. Cool in loaf pan for about 10 minutes, then turn out and cool completely on a wire rack.

This bread is so good as is but you could add chocolate chips or pecans and it would be even better. My hubby likes it plain so this first loaf I made that way for him. It is so wonderful the next morning after the flavors have had a chance to merge..... or fresh from the oven with a little butter spread on it.... or some cream cheese..... or some peanut butter..... or some Nutella..... oh, boy! I better go make another loaf :) 

**If you don't have pumpkin pie spice, you can make your own.
**UPDATE** So yummy with 1 cup of semi-sweet chips added just before pouring into loaf pan!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

I saw this recipe posted on my Facebook News Feed the other day by the wonderful people who write Two Peas and Their Pod. This is a quick, easy, delicious snack that you have GOT to try if you are a pumpkin-lover like me!
The Ingredients

3 1/4 cups rolled oats
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8 x 8 pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine the oats, spices and salt. In another bowl combine all the remaining ingredients except chocolate chips.

Pour wet mix over oat mix

and combine until all the oats are moist. Add chips.

Press into the prepared pan and bake for 25 - 30 minuutes.

Remove from pan and let cool.

Cut into bars and enjoy!

I like to bag them up in a snack-sized ziplocs for the kids lunches (and mine too!)

Pumpkin Spice Chex Mix

The Ingredients:

1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups Cinnamon Chex® cereal
2 cups Wheat Chex® cereal**
2 cups Honey Nut Chex® cereal
8 oz pecans

In small bowl, mix brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice; set aside. In small microwave-safe dish, microwave butter on High about 30 seconds or until melted. Stir in vanilla. In large microwavable bowl, mix all cereals and pecans.


Best way to stir this is with your hands!!

Pour butter mixture over cereal mixture, stirring until evenly distributed. Add sugar and spice mixture and stir until coated.

Microwave uncovered on High 5 minutes or until mixture begins to brown, stirring every minute. Spread on wax paper or a cookie sheet to cool. Store in airtight container.


nomnomnom

**I often sub in Rice Chex instead because the wheat is hard on my teeth! I also like to use Vanilla Chex when I can find it.

Pumpkin Pancakes

When I logged in to Facebook this morning I scrolled through the posts on my news feed since I went to bed last night. Among them was a link from a friend of mine about the Pumpkin Pancakes she was going to make in the morning. Pumpkin is a magic word for me so I clicked the link and found Martha! With Jayme working nights, I like to make a late, late breakfast on Sunday afternoon when he wakes up. We also have a Breakfast-For-Dinner night almost every week. I decided to try this recipe out since I had all the needed ingredients. (I keep hearing about pumpkin shortages again this year so every time I go to the store I buy a can or two)
The Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves (really Martha? Couldn't give us a measurement?) I used my 1/8 tsp and filled it halfway so I guess I used a 1/16 tsp?
1 cup milk
6 Tbsp pumpkin puree
2 Tbsp melted butter
1 egg

Whisk together all dry ingredients.

Mix together all wet ingredients.

Heat skillet or griddle and grease with a little butter.

Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients.

Drop by 1/4 cup full onto hot griddle.

Cook for 2 -3 minutes per side and serve with butter and syrup. These were FANTASTIC! Every bite was better than the last. I got 11 pancakes out of this single recipe of batter. These would be really good with chocolate chips in them too, or with some icing-type creamy syrup! Yummalish!!

Pumpkin Spice Syrup

I am a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte fiend!! When I got the e-mail this year that they were coming back I made sure to plan a trip to town and swing by Starbucks to get one. Even though it was hot and I usually drink iced lattes, I could not resist the allure of the PSL. Now it had been a while since I had gotten anything at Starbucks and it was a nice treat but it only served to drive the urges. I have had three PSLs since they came back earlier this month. Luckily I had birthday money to spend. A couple years ago I bought myself a Mr. Coffee Espresso Maker with some money I got for Christmas and I started to make my own lattes and caramel macchiatos at home. I buy the Torani syrups at the grocery store and it's great. Every once in a while I buy a syrup at Starbucks. One day a couple weeks ago I was googling for recipes for the base Starbucks uses for the PSL and I came across this recipe. I decided as soon as I found some pumpkin and some time I would give it a try. Yesterday was the day!
The Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups water
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 Tbsp pumpkin puree
1 small (8-10 ounce) bottle

Simmer together water and sugar in a saucepan until sugar is dissolved.

Measure out the pumpkin and spices while you wait.

Add the pumpkin and spices to the sugar water and simmer 6 to 8 minutes.

Strain mixture, if desired and once it cools, pour into container. Store in the refrigerator.

Fast forward to this morning and I am ready for my first attempt at the homemade PSL!!
The Ingredients:

Milk
ground espresso
pumpkin spice syrup
water

Start the espresso brewing in your machine. While you wait, add some pumpkin spice syrup to a coffee cup.

Once the espresso begins to brew and reaches the correct level...

...switch over to steam for frothing the milk.

When the milk is finished, switch back to brewing and add some of the steamed milk to the pumpkin syrup in your cup. Stir it up.

When the espresso finishes brewing add your shot(s) and then fill your cup with milk and froth.

This turned out okay. It is a little cinnamon-heavy for me though. I think I will make it with more pumpkin and less cinnamon in the future. In the meantime I may try to make another batch without any cinnamon and mix the two together. Also, I don't know why but  this is very gelatinous (for lack of a better word). It mixed okay with the hot milk though. I think maybe I cooked the sugar water too long. It doesn't seem to have hurt the flavor though.
If I do go back and make a modified version I will post the results here. In the meantime, the latte goes really well with a couple of these:

**UPDATE**

I made another syrup base using 3/4 cup water and 3/4 cup sugar with 2 Tbsp pumpkin and added that to the previous batch. It's not as thick now and I will see how it tastes next time I make a PSL. I also found and made this recipe and I will let you know how it tests as well!

**FURTHER UPDATE**

So I made myself a PSL this morning using the second recipe (link above) and it was very good. One of the problems I have run into is the chunks of spice and pumpkin floating around in my drink. I'm not a fan of chunks! The syrup itself proved too thick to strain, but I have had success straining my drink once it is made. I also found I need to add sugar to my drink for it to have the correct sweetness for me, again a personal preference not a fault of the recipes.

The next time I make it I think I will make more of an infusion by adding the pumpkin and spices to the water and bringing to a low boil/simmer. Then I will strain that mixture and add the sugar to make it a syrup. If/when I do that, I will update again. Happy Fall!!

Pumpkin Spice Donut Muffins

I found this amazing recipe over at Strawberry Cake. I believe she said in her post that she created these with an adaptation to Pioneer Woman's French Breakfast Puffs. I have been dreaming about the wonderfulness waiting for me ever since. Today was the day!!
The Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup sugar
2/3 cups Crisco shortening
2 large eggs
1/2 cup +1 tablespoon buttermilk
1 cup canned pumpkin (no sugar or spices added)

Cream together sugar, shortening and eggs in a stand mixer, if you have one. Look at mine...it's older than I am but it is the only one I've got so I love it. But if you feel bad for me and want to send me a new one, that'll be just fine *bats eyelashes*

Once that mix is well blended, add the pumpkin. While that blends, mix together all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and measure out the buttermilk. Begin alternating adding the dry mix...

...and the buttermilk...

...until all ingredients have made a lovely batter, like so:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare your muffin pan(s). I had to resist using my new jumbo pan today. It was calling to me...

In the end I decided I would use my new mini muffin pan. NO! The fact that I can put an entire mini muffin in my mouth most certainly DID NOT color my decision! HMPH!

Spray with no-stick cooking spray (or grease in whatever way you prefer) and fill cups 2/3 full. I used a cookie scoop.

When the pan is ready

cook at 350 for about 15 minutes. While they were cooking I put the rest of the batter in regular sized pans.

When the mini muffins came out...

I dumped them out onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Oh Dear!! One of them is horribly misshapen and deformed! Do you see it? There on the left? I shall have to put it out of it's misery...

But first, I had another job to do!
The Ingredients:

2 sticks butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tsp cinnamon

Mix together sugar and cinnamon.

Set up an assembly line with your melted butter, cinnamon sugar and cooked muffins.

Take each muffin and dunk it in the melted butter...

...then roll it around in the cinna-sugar until coated on all surfaces.

Oh, there it is again, the sad little misshapen one...there on the right by itself.

Come here little one...it'll be okay.

MMMMMMMMMM! There, now...isn't that better? The regular sized muffins cooked for about 22 minutes and then were treated to the butter bath and cinna-sugar coating. Now try to fight off the rest of your family long enough to snap one last picture and then ENJOY!!