Pumpkin Pie Snickerdoodle Bars with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

This recipe comes from Julia, author Of Dozen Flours. I was a little hesitant towards using my last can of pumpkin towards this recipe but took the plunge anyways and the result was well worth the trepidation that I may not find any more canned pumpkin until fall. The caramelized cinnamon sugar and snickerdoodle strata sandwich a creamy pumpkin pie layer. Drizzle that in a cinnamon cream cheese frosting? Perfecto. Its a bit more time consuming than, say, a chocolate chip cookie recipe, but the resulting deliciousness (yes, deliciousness) is completely worth it. My impatient self found that they are actually just as good sans the icing, so if you're looking to cut down on time, that'll save you a couple minutes. Regardless of your preferred mode of assembly, this recipe won't disappoint.

INGREDIENTS:

Snickerdoodle Layer

1/2 c. AP flour
1 t. Baking powder
1/2 t. Salt
1 c. Packed brown sugar
1/2 c. Butter, room temperature (1 stick)
1 egg
1 T. vanilla

Pumpkin Pie Layer

1/2 c. AP flour
1/2 c. Sugar
1/4 c. Butter, room temperature (1/2 stick)
1/2 t. Baking powder
1/2 t. Salt
1/2 t. Pumpkin pie spice
1 egg
3/4 c. Canned pumpkin

Topping*

1 T Sugar
1 t. Cinnamon
* (You can sub this with pre-made cinnamon sugar)

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing

2 oz. Cream cheese, softened
1/4 t. Ground cinnamon
1.5-2 c. Powdered sugar
2 T. butter, softened (not margarine)
1/4 t. Vanilla

HOW ITS DONE:

Snickerdoodle layer

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease an 8×8 inch line with parchment paper (optional, but it will be easier to get the bars out later)

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt- set aside.
3. In large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Blend in egg and vanilla until smooth.
4. Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Spread evenly into pan.

To make pumpkin pie filling:

1. In a bowl (you can use the same one you used to make the snickerdoodle batter) cream butter and sugar.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until well combined. Pour over the snickerdoodle layer - smooth out the top
3. Combine sugar and cinnamon for topping - sprinkle over the top of the batter.
4. Bake 40 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean)
5. Let the bars cool completely

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing

1. Cream together butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and cinnamon
2. Gradually add in powdered sugar and stir to your desired consistency
3. Place in a ziplock bag, cut off a SMALL portion of one corner and squeeze bag to drizzle over bars. Cut.
ENJOY

Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites

For most of you avid food bloggers out there seeing this post, this will merely be a recap of a well-loved, super simple recipe. Its gained notoriety as one of the top all-time most favorited items on foodgawker in addition to being sourced by countless others prior to me. For those of you that have never tried this, many words have been used to express the nature of these little gems. Sweet. Salty. Crunchy. Creamy. Its a brilliant combination only made possibly by what seems to be a buckeye ball sandwiched between pretzels. Addictive.

INGREDIENTS:

1 c. Creamy peanut butter
2 Tablespoons softened butter
1/2 c. Powdered sugar *
3/4 c. Light brown sugar
Pretzels
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate (or almond bark**)

* I actually ended up adding a little more than half a cup
** The almond bark actually melts better and has a little less over-powering chocolate taste. It also dries on its own, outside the fridge.

HOW ITS DONE:

1. Line a baking sheet with wax paper and set aside
2. Blend together the peanut butter and butter (with a mixer or spatula - mixer is easier)
3. Blend in sugars - add more as needed to make a relatively easy to roll dough
4. Using about 1 teaspoon of the mixture, roll into a ball and sandwich between two pretzels *
5. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave or using a double boiler. If you use almond bark, the microwave is sufficient.
6. Individual dip each pretzel bit in as little or as much chocolate as you want. Set on the wax paper.
7. If using chocolate chips, place baking sheet in the refrigerator to dry and store there as well. If using almond bark, they will dry on their own and may be stored outside the fridge as well.

*Use your own judgement for how much of the peanut butter mixture to use - you can add as little or as much as you want.

Dulce de Leche "Baked" Brownie

This was an easy decision for me. I had been wanted to make something using the dulce the leche in my fridge before the temptuously tacky stuff started to crystalize. I had also been wanting to try my hand at the famous "Baked" brownie. You know, the Oprah-acclaimed and America's test kitchen-applauded brownie from those guys up in NYC. Well, combine and conquer. The subsequent dulce de leche brownies are probably some of the best I've had and the brownie recipe itself definitely merits the approvals its been given. I made these in an 8x8 pan and did some modifications to compensate for the change in quantity since its not exactly half. If you want to use the original recipe (9x13), here it is courtesy Brown Eyed Baker.

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 c. AP flour
1 T. cocoa powder
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c. butter (unsalted)
3/4 tsp. instant espresso powder
5 oz. semisweet chocolate (I used ghiradelli chips)
3/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. light brown sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 t. vanilla
3/4 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 c. Dulce de Leche

HOW ITS DONE:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8×8'' pan. (or use buttered parchment paper)
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, and salt; set aside.
3. At low heat, combine butter and espresso powder in saucepan and heat until butter has melted. Add chocolate, and stir constantly until smooth.
4. Remove from heat. Stir in both sugars until combined. Let cool slightly.
5. Whisk in eggs and vanilla and stir until no longer grainy-looking.
6. Add flour mixture to batter and stir just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
7. Pour half of batter into prepared pan; Layer dulce de leche over this. Pour in the rest of the batter.
8. Bake 28 to 30 minutes. Don’t over bake! Let cool completely. Or not. I didn't.

Pumpkin Caramel Bars with Bacon

This is a recipe courtesy Noble Pig and let me just begin by saying that my preconceived uncertainties towards the modern trend of bacon and desserts have been thrown out the window- these are outstanding. The pumpkin bars are perfectly accented by the caramel frosting, but its the bacon that yields that complementary salty-sweet composite while braiding in a subtle smoky flavor. If I had had the pecans, I would have added them to the bar batter, because the slight crunch even from the bacon on top added a little complexity. I will say that these bars are not for everyone. They have a very distinct flavor and, accordingly, deter certain people. But, in my opinion, the non-traditional spin on such a conventional fall dessert is perfect for a unique holiday treat!

INGREDIENTS:

For the Bars-
8 oz. bacon, diced
2 c. AP flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. salt
1-1/2 c. pumpkin puree
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 egg
2 T. butter, melted
1 t. vanilla
*1/4 cup chopped, toasted pecans (optional)

For the Frosting-
2 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. water
Pinch of salt
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 stick unsalted butter, cubed
4 oz. cream cheese, cut into 1-inch cubes

HOW ITS DONE:

For the Bars-
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan
3. Cook bacon in a saute pan over medium heat until crisp; drain on a paper towel lined plate and set aside. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the drippings.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt for the bars; set aside.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, egg, melted butter, bacon drippings and vanilla in a large bowl until well blended
6. Stir in flour mixture and pecans.
7. Spread pumpkin batter evenly into prepared pan;
8. Bake about 20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.

For the Frosting-
1. Boil 2 c. brown sugar, water and pinch of salt in large saucepan over high heat, 5 minutes, swirling occasionally to prevent scorching.
2. Whisk in cream and butter pieces (Mixture will bubble furiously; keep whisking).
3. Boil 2 minutes more.
4. Transfer caramel to the bowl of a stand mixer; whip on high speed until sides of bowl are cool to the touch and caramel is thick, 10-minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
5. Add cream cheese, 1 cube at a time, until frosting is smooth.
6. Spread on cooled pumpkin bars
7. Top with diced bacon bite, if desired
8. ENJOY

~Store in the fridge~

Carrot Cake...Meet Whoopie Pie.

I guess it's a bit more like an oatmeal cream pie. And I only say that because my initial endeavor was to replicate the Little Debbie oatmeal cream pies with a copycat recipe I stumbled on a while back. With that harboring in my mind, I made the dicey call of fusing this idea with my next recipe lined up for execution- a carrot cake with maple cream cheese frosting. Now, instead of trying to create my own recipe which would undoubtedly be the result of countless trial and errors, I did the next best thing- I googled it. I figured I wasn't reaching too far with my description and, sho nuff, got a top rated recipe from the queen herself. The cookie recipe is courtesy Martha. The final product- a carrot cake whoopie pie with maple cream cheese frosting. Bon appétit!

INGREDIENTS:

1 c. Light-brown sugar
1 c. Sugar
1 c. (2 sticks) Unsalted butter, room temperature
2 Large eggs
1 t. Vanilla
1 c. AP flour
1 t. Baking soda
1 t. Baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 t. Cinnamon
1/2 t. Nutmeg
1/2 t. Ground ginger
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups finely grated carrots, (about 3 large carrots)
*1 cup raisins (I left the raisins out- just didn't have any on hand)

HOW ITS DONE:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine sugars and butter in mixing bowl; beat until light and fluffy
3. Add eggs and vanilla; beat on medium speed until well combined.
4. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger; stir to combine.
5. Gradually add flour to butter mixture; mix on low speed until just blended
6. Fold in oats, carrots, and raisins.
7. Chill dough in refrigerator, about 1 hour. (I omitted this step for time's sake- not chilling the dough will cause your cookies to fall a little flatter, buuuttt I figured, if you're making sandwich cookies, who cares?)
8. Scoop dough onto baking sheets lined with Silpat mats or parchment paper using a 1/2 oz. cookie scoop. (NOTE; 1/2 oz = 1 Tablespoon)
9. Bake 12 to 15 minutes (10-12 if you didn't chill the dough)
10. Once cooled, spread desired amount of frosting onto a cookie (I used a little less than a tablespoon) Sandwich together with a second cookie. Repeat and enjoy!

*Store in refrigerator for up to 3 days

FROSTING INGREDIENTS: (***I Halved the cookie recipe so if you use the exact cookie recipe as stated above, double the frosting amount!)

1 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
3/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

HOW ITS DONE:

1. Beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth
2. Add vanilla and maple syrup. Stir until well combined.
3. Add powdered sugar- beat until smooth.

Tar Cookies

Look again- those aren't burnt. That, my friend, is dark chocolate- and they actually may be a tad undercooked. They are adapted from a Dorie Greenspan recipe, taken from Caviar and Codfish. I wasn't sure what to call them, but during the assembly of these little beauties, my boyfriend took a gander at the cookie dough and, obviously not sharing the same innate affliction with chocolate (especially dark), pronounced that it looked a bit like tar. I can't really argue- the color is just about that of asphalt. Ah, but only for the reason that they are packed with a delightfully superfluous amount of dark cocoa. Like Robin from Caviar and Codfish, I would have to say this has easily become "My Favorite Cookie." Semi-sweet chips amid a matrix of dark chocolate make for an insanely rich morsel of decadence (yeah, that may be a bit over the top, but these are worth the adjectives).

PS. I like making the cookie dough ahead of time and chilling it for 12-24 hours. I think it makes a huge difference texturally.

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/4 c. All-purpose flour
3/4 c. Dark cocoa powder (wahoo!)
1 1/4 t. Salt
3/4 tsp Baking soda
1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temp.
1 c. Sugar
2/3 c. Light brown sugar (packed)
2 t. Vanilla extract
2 Large eggs
12 oz Semi-sweet chocolate chips**

**Robin's version incorporates 6 oz. milk chocolate chips and 6 oz. white chocolate chips. I didnt have either so I used semi-sweet. I think this part is a whatever-floats-your-boat kinda thing.

HOW ITS DONE:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, silicone mats, or foil
2. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda.
3. With a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, (or a hand mixer) beat the butter at medium speed for about 2 minute, until smooth.
4. Add the sugars and beat for another 3 minutes or so, until well-blended and fluffy.
5. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each egg goes in.
(**"I’m always careful here to make sure the mixture is very fluffy. If unsure, beat a little more. The fluffier the better in my opinion" -Robin"
6. Reduce mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients (Please, please don't over-mix at this point- it causes too much gluten aggitation in your flour and makes for a tough cookie!)
7. Stop the mixer and fold the chips in with a rubber spatula.
8. Spoon the dough by slightly rounded tablespoonfuls onto baking sheets
9. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until they are crisp at the edges and gooey in the center.
10. Pull the sheet from the oven and allow the cookies to rest for 1 minute, then transfer to racks to cool to room temperature.

Red Velvet Gooey Butter Cookies

So I found a version of this recipe on a blog and traced it back the Food Network website. The original recipe calls for a box of chocolate cake mix so use that if you want a bit more intense cocoa confection. However, after ruminating on some possible alterations, I naturally went with my long-term obsession with red velvet. It was super simple and they came out incredibly! I found that the powdered sugar was semi-absorbed into the unbaked cookie and that the best cookies were the ones I rolled for a second time, after letting the first coat seep in a bit. I gotta hand it to Paula Deen- That accent can be really vexatious but this recipe is A-1!

INGREDIENTS:

8oz. (1 brick) Cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 c. Butter, softened (1 stick)
1 egg
1 t. Vanilla
1 (18-ounce) box red velvet cake mix
Powdered sugar, for rolling/dusting

HOW ITS DONE:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth.
3. Beat in egg, then the vanilla.
4. Beat in the cake mix.
5. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up.
6. Roll batter into tablespoon-sized balls and then roll them in powdered sugar.
7. Place on ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 12 minutes. The cookies will remain soft and "gooey." Cool completely and sprinkle with more confectioners' sugar, if desired.