Tina's Perfect Pumpkin Spiced Pancakes

Good morning! It's time to wake up and smell the pancakes. Pancakes on a Tuesday morning? Sure, why not? Or you could wait until the weekend to make these. But you must, must make these pumpkin pancakes. They're perfect!

My friend Tina created this recipe the other day, and jotted it down for me. Thank you, Tina! You know how to make some good pancakes! (You all would love her. She has a good aura. She's the biggest foodie I know; she's like a walking food encyclopedia.)



The first step is making your own "buttermilk" by whisking together milk and fresh lemon juice. You set it aside to curdle and thicken up. I hate the word curdle, but that's what's happening there.

Here are the ingredients. You sift together flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. After whisking together the milk, melted butter, egg, pumpkin, and vanilla, you fold in the dry ingredients and toasted nuts. I used pecans because that's what I had, but Tina recommends walnuts.



Use fresh eggs if you got em'. These eggs are from Tina's chickens! I've never had a fresh egg before. I made an omelet with them, and they're delicious.


The batter sits for a few minutes to "puff" up a bit before cooking. It will look like this:



Then, you griddle the cakes in some butter. I added some chopped Hershey's kisses to Ericcakes cakes. You could do the same and use left over Halloween candy! Just think of the possibilities... Butterfinger Pumpkin Pancakes, Reeses Pumpkin Pancakes. Sigh.



Serve with real maple syrup...



Real butter, and real coffee. (And no, I didn't drink the coffee. Staying strong!)








Tina's Perfect Pumpkin Spiced Pancakes

1 cup milk
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 large egg
3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together milk and lemon juice until combined; allow to sit 10 minutes. Whisk in butter, egg, pumpkin and vanilla until well combined.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Whisk in pecans until combined. Fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just combined. Allow batter to sit 5 minutes.

Heat a greased skillet over medium heat. Add about 1/4 cup batter, per pancake, to skillet. Cook 1-2 minutes per side, or until golden brown and set. Serve with maple syrup and bacon!

Pumpkin Ghost Cakes

Happy Halloween, everyone! I hope you're having a fun day. Are you eating lots of candy? Preferably not orange and black peanut butter kisses, candy corn, or Smarties. Or are you watching any scary movies? I'm in the mood to watch one. Not IT. No, no. I haven't watched that one since I was about seven years old. Scared the crap out of me.

I have the day off today, so I'm just relaxing, juicing, and blogging. It's also Ericcakes and my anniversary today! We started dating on Halloween, three years ago. Happy anniversary, Eric! I love you! You're the best boyfriend I could ask for.



We went to a Halloween party on Saturday night and dressed up as:



Can you guess who we are?




Eating Bugles and cookies from his baseball glove.




Wendy Peffercorn and Michael "Squints" Palledorous!

Eric came up with the costume idea. He's a genius. The costumes went over well, and everyone seemed to know who we were. My mom made my dress and headband! She's so talented.



I made these little chocolate cakes the other night, and they came out well. I plan on using this recipe again for a one layer 9-inch round cake, or for cupcakes. The title of this recipe is confusing, because there isn't actually any pumpkin in the cake. I called these Pumpkin Ghost Cakes because of their appearance. I used my Wilton Pumpkin-Ghost cake pan. I only get to use it once a year.

I made a cream cheese buttercream icing and used it to decorate the cakes with. It took forever! I don't think I have enough patience for cake decorating. It took a long time just to make the frosting and dye it. I'm really trying to get better at decorating, though.

Happy Halloween!!


Pumpkin Ghost Cakes

1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup oil
2 large eggs
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Cream Cheese Buttercream
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
4 tablespoons shortening
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray desired cake pan with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together granulated sugar, milk, oil, eggs, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt and vanilla for 2-3 minutes, or until well combined. Beat in flour until just combined.

Divide batter into cake pan. For this pan I baked the cakes for 12 minutes. Cupcakes would take a few minute longer. Transfer cakes to wire racks to cool.

To make the cream cheese buttercream, combine cream cheese, butter and shortening in a large mixing bowl. Mix, using a mixer on medium speed, until creamy - about 1 minute. Beat in confectioners' sugar and vanilla until well combined - about 3-4 minutes. Pipe frosting over cakes.

Thomas Keller's Nutter Butters

I'm on day two of not drinking coffee. Cold turkey (Mmm turkey!!). I had this brilliant idea to try and not drink coffee for one week. I don't think it's really that bad for you, but I don't like the idea of being addicted to it. I feel like I'm kind of addicted to coffee. I always drink a huge tumbler of it every day. And oh man is it good. Just thinking about it makes me want some right now. Piping hot with a little Bailey's Irish creamer stirred in.

Instead of drinking coffee, I've been juicing. (Not that kind of juicing.) I've had two big glasses of fruit and vegetable juice the past two days. I hope I can keep it up for the rest of the week.

Anyway, where I was going with this is, I have a headache. I've had terrible headaches both days. I get headaches often, and now I'm wondering if it has to do with the caffeine....



A friend from work told me about Thomas Keller's famous Nutter Butter Cookie recipe and how good they were. (I love having foodie friends at work.) I got home, googled the recipe and discovered a lot of bloggers out there had already made the recipe. So, I guess I'm a little late to the party. But at least I'm here now.
And I brought the booze.



This is my slightly adapted version of the recipe, and they came out quite well. I thought they turned out pretty. I proudly took them into work, and they were devoured shortly after.

I loved, loved this recipe. These cookies are amazing. Just amazing. I don't know what it is about them... the delicious peanut butter buttercream? The toasted ground oats? The perfect marriage of butter, sugars and egg?

I do know that a stack of these would cure my coffee withdrawals.


Thomas Keller's Nutter Butters

Cookies
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups coarsely ground old fashioned oats (toast them for more flavor)
1 cup all purpose flour

Filling
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup + 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat cookie sheets with cooking spray.

To make the cookies, in a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together butter, peanut butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until creamy - about 3 minutes. Beat in egg, baking soda, baking powder and vanilla until combined. Beat in oats and flour until just combined.

Drop rounded spoonfuls of dough onto cookie sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool cookies on sheet for 5 minutes, before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

To make the filling, in a large bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together butter, peanut butter and confectioners' sugar until well combined and creamy - about 2 minutes. Spread filling in between cookies.

Makes about 12 big cookies

Dark Chocolate-Pumpkin Spoooky Pies

Good morning! Today I have created a spooooky Halloween (It's only a week away!) treat for you. Dark Chocolate-Pumpkin Spoooky Pies.

But first, I have to tell you about something magical that happened last week. The Fairy Hobmother from Appliances Online visited me. Her mission is to bring joy and happiness to the world’s bloggers by providing treats for great, hard work in the blogosphere. She saw my comment on another blogger's post, and decided to email me and grant my wish. She gives bloggers $50 Amazon gift vouchers to buy a new appliance. I know, right? So if you leave a comment on this post, she might visit you!

I bought a new juicer with the gift voucher. My hand-me-down Jack LaLanne broke over a year ago and I've been juice-less. Not anymore! I'll have to give you a full review of the juicer and some juice recipes. I have the ingredients to make some apple-orange-carrot-kale-ginger juice. Mmm so healthy. I have to balance out all of my cookie eating.




Aren't these cookies so spooky? They've been giving me nightmares.

They're actually whoopie pies. I adapted a recipe from The Neely's. I saw in Food Network Magazine. I'm not one to make The Neeley's recipes (In fact, I never have.), but this one looked good. I changed a few things, but it's about the same.



Dark chocolate sandwich cookies are filled with a mixture of cream cheese, pumpkin, butter, powdered sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. Yum! These are delicious! I'm a believer in the chocolate-pumpkin combo. I don't know why it took me so long to love it.

I decorated the tops of the whoopie pies with melted white almond bark and chocolate, and made little ghosts. This is my attempt at making something cute.

Anyway, that's all I have to say about that. And Aldi has pumpkin now; ninety-nine cents a can. I thought you should know. I stocked up and bought five cans. Teehee.



Dark Chocolate-Pumpkin Spoooky Pies

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup canned pumpkin puree
2 cups confectioners' sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat cookie sheets with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together butter and sugar until creamy - about 1 minute. Beat in egg, buttermilk and vanilla until combined. Beat in cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt until well combined. Reduce mixer speed to low; beat in flour until just combined.

Drop rounded spoonfuls of dough onto cookie sheets. Bake 8 minutes or until set and slightly crisp. Cool 2 minutes before transferring cookies to wire racks to cool.

To make the filling, in a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together cream cheese, butter, pumpkin, confectioners' sugar, cinnamon and vanilla until well combined and creamy - about 2 minutes.

Fill cookies with pumpkin filling.

Makes 10 whoopie pies

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Butterscotch-Pumpkin Glaze

It's Friday! Yaay. I hope everyone has a good weekend! I'm looking forward to doing some baking; I've had that baking itch all week, but have been resisting it. There may be a trip or two to Hyvee in my future, too. :)

I can't believe I don't have a recipe for pumpkin cinnamon rolls on my blog. I searched and searched, and couldn't find one. Well today is the day. You have to make these Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Butterscotch-Pumpkin Glaze.



They're amazing! I actually tested this recipe a couple of times before I got it right. They're flavorful, flaky and moist. The dough is a sweet yeast dough made from pumpkin, milk, yeast, sugar, oil, eggs, flour and lots of spices.

The dough is rolled out and slathered in brown sugar-cinnamon butter, then rolled up, sliced and baked. The glaze is made from melted butterscotch chips, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, milk, vanilla, and a little bit of pumpkin. I love that the glaze uses pumpkin, too.



These rolls would be perfect for an autumn weekend brunch, served with coffee. Or pumpkin spice lattes. They're great as a dessert, too. I had one for dessert one night. Later on I found cinnamon roll icing in my hair. I hate when that happens.

Oh! I forgot to tell you the most important part! These are no-knead cinnamon rolls. No mixer or kneading required!


Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Butterscotch-Pumpkin Glaze

Dough
1/3 cup warm milk (not hot) (around 100-110 degrees F.)
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
2 tablespoons oil
1 large egg
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground clove
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Glaze
3 tablespoons butterscotch chips
2 tablespoons cream cheese
1 tablespoon pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon milk
2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

To make the dough, in a large mixing bowl whisk together 1/3 cup milk, yeast and granulated sugar until well combined. Allow to sit for 10 minutes until yeast is activated and bubbly. Whisk in pumpkin, oil, egg, baking powder, salt, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and clove until well combined. Stir in flour until combined, and a dough ball forms. Lightly cover and allow to rise in a warm area for 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until doubled in bulk. (I used my oven. I preheated it on the lowest temperature, turned it off, then allowed my dough to rise in there.)

On a floured surface, roll out dough to a 1/4-inch thickness, into a rectangle. In a medium bowl, stir together butter, brown sugar and 1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon until well combined; evenly spread on top of dough. Roll up dough, jelly-roll style. Slice into 10 equal pieces. Place in a greased 9-inch cake pan. Lightly cover and allow to rise in a warm area for 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Bake rolls for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool pan on a wire rack. To make the glaze, in a medium bowl, stir together butterscotch chips, cream cheese, 1 tablespoon pumpkin and 1 tablespoon milk until combined. Microwave for 30-60 seconds, stirring frequently until melted (It doesn't take long! Don't scorch your butterscotch!). Whisk in confectioners' sugar and vanilla until well combined and smooth. Drizzle glaze over cinnamon rolls.

Makes 10 cinnamon rolls

Hyvee Opens in Springfield, Missouri

Today I had the pleasure of visiting the newly opened Hyvee grocery store in Springfield. I've only been to one other Hyvee, and it was only a few months ago when we visited Columbia. Have you ever been to a grand opening of a grocery store in your town? I hadn't and didn't know what to expect.

There wasn't a spot in the entire parking lot. There wasn't a parking spot in the parking lots of nearby businesses. It was packed!



Our first stop was Caribou Coffee when we got inside. YIPPIE. I love Caribou Coffee! My family drank it while we were on vacation one year in Chicago. I've missed it. We had pumpkin lattes, and they were okay. Starbucks makes a better P.S.L., I think.



Yup, that's my mom. You've probably seen her before. She was on my Food Network video and she was on a news segment I linked to one time. She's awfully cute!



I went with my sister, Hannah, too. They're both good food shopping companions; they never make you feel rushed. She's holding a baby pineapple! Isn't it cute? I wanted one, but I think they were $6.



I'm so thankful we have this Hvyee now, because the produce was amazing! You wouldn't believe it. I had no idea there would be so much variety. They had different types of baby squash, baby artichokes, mushrooms, yellow carrots, Buddah's Hand, heirloom tomatoes...

Kiwi berries. I died.



Dragon Fruit. It's so pretty. Does it taste good?



Oh hey there, Sleepy. Is that a Gold Nugget squash in your hand?


(I'm bringing back the old hairstyle; I missed it. The bangs + the blond = too much maintenance. Now I just need my bangs to grow out so they don't look so awkward.)

I adore cauliflower.



Mom picking out her produce.



Starfruit! I've never had this one, either; is it good?



Radishes, beets, squash...



They had a lot of deals going on, so it's worth stopping by if you live in the Springfield-Branson area. The bakery had a good selection, as well as the cheese case and deli. They also had some Chinese food that smelled delicious. I wanted some. Maybe Ericcakes will take me there on a hot date some night.

Look how full the aisles were. It took ten minutes to get to the end! We weren't in any hurry so it wasn't a big deal, but it did make us feel claustrophobic.



This Hyvee had a huge liquor department in a separate room. I didn't buy any, but I did see some wines I might want to try in the future. Are The Naked Grape wines any good?



Hannah and I ran in to the Pillsbury Dough Boy. He was pretty nice. Didn't say much. I asked him why Pillsbury doesn't allow food bloggers with advertising on their sites to enter the Pillsbury Bake-Off. He didn't have an answer for me.


My teeth are the same color as my hair. Note to self: tone down blond hair color, buy white strips, drink less Caribou Coffee.

And that concludes my trip to Hyvee! It was a nice little afternoon. I got to spend time with my mom and sister, and I learned some family-Hyvee secrets: my Grandma knew Charles Hyde when she was a little girl and lived in Lamoni, Iowa. She was friends with his daughter. She used to go over to their house for dinners, and the food was always good. Haha. She used to call him Charlie. (I'm just repeating everything my Mom told me today.) My mom also told me that my Grandpa worked as a butcher in the Hyvee in Lamoni when he was going to school, and my great uncle was a general supervisor of all the Hyvee stores, back in the day.



So much family history at Hyvee! Who knew? Hyvee is in my blood! That's why I love it so much. It's all making sense now.

The damage.



Pumpkin, brown sugar, pecans, chocolate chips, strawberry-raspberry granola, cream of wheat, pom Naked juice, pretzel bread, oranges, apples, ginger, goat gouda, Gold Nugget squash, maple syrup, baby kale, and boxed mac and cheese. One of these things is not like the other.