Pumpkin Truffle Pops

Even though here in Texas it’s barely getting out of the triple digits, I know fall is right around the corner. I can’t wait for that crisp fall air and cozy sweaters! One thing I love about this time of year is all the fall flavors, pumpkin being a favorite. There is just something about the smell of pumpkin, cinnamon, and ginger wafting through the house while the leaves blow around on the ground outside.  I've already found myself longing for that time, yet it’s still like summer outside. So for the best of both worlds, I chose to try making a pumpkin no-bake dessert to experience the flavor, without my oven heating up the house. I think these beauties did the trick.

If you want to try these little yummy bites of autumn, you’re going to have to head over to Ashley’s blog, Diary of a Reporter, to check out my guest post. Ashley asked me to do a fall dessert for her, and I couldn't be more honored. Ashley’s not only a great writer, but she shares her creativity in other ways as well, her art, her photography and videos, and the outfits she puts together just to name a few. So go get the recipe, and stay a while and enjoy.


***It was brought to my attention that the link to the guest post for this recipe no longer exists. Now I can't just leave you guys hanging, these are too delicious! So just in case you are looking I'm posting the recipe.***

Let me tell you guys about these pumpkin truffle pops. This is a no-bake dessert that you can whip up anytime you need a little sinful chocolate fix. You really can play around with this recipe and try out different cookies, coatings, or sprinkles. The flavor combos are endless. I want to try a peanut butter and chocolate version soon using nutter butters.

Pumpkin Truffle Pops 

Ingredients: 

1 pkg. (8oz) cream cheese (softened) 

1 pkg. (16.6oz) Golden Oreo Cookies 

2 pkg. (6oz) white baking chocolate 

2 – 4 tbsp pumpkin puree (to taste or desired consistency, I used 4) 

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice 

Lollipop sticks 

Directions: 

Ok after you round up all the ingredients, now comes the fun part. You have to turn all those Oreos into finely crushed cookie crumbs. There are two ways to go about this, either throw them into a food processor and blitz them (easy), or throw them into a plastic storage bag and pulverize the bajeezus out of them with any large object you can find. (I personally used my large rolling pin) Now take your time and let out all that pent up hostility, it’s been a long week.

Pour the cookie crumbs into a large bowl and save about 1/4 cup or so and set aside.

Mix the cookie crumbs, cream cheese, pumpkin puree, and pumpkin pie spice until well blended. (Try not to eat it right off the spoon) 

Using a tablespoon or small scoop, shape into 1-2in balls (make them as big or small as you’d like) Then place them on a parchment paper or foil lined cookie sheet. Pop them in the fridge or freezer to chill out for a while. (I used the freezer and let them set for about 30 minutes. If you skip this step you risk the chance of the truffles sliding down the lollipop sticks) 

When you are ready to assemble, start by melting the white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl at 30 seconds intervals stirring in between. 

Take a truffle out of the fridge or freezer and gently stab the lollipop stick in the truffle a little more than half of the way through. 

Then dip away! I top them with a little of those cookie crumbs we sat aside and a good sprinkling of the pumpkin pie spice. Now put them in a short glass, coffee mug, or piece of Styrofoam, and pop them back in the fridge to set. In about an hour, viola! you have some nice fall pumpkin pops.


Adapted from the original recipe here.

Strawberry Cheesecake

I received a request at work to make a strawberry cheesecake. I found this beautiful cheesecake on a fellow blog, and it looked gorgeous. This little recipe did end up giving me some trouble though. First of all I had to convert it from grams, which was a first for me so I was a little worried about the outcome. Then when it came to the technique of swirling the colors, well let’s just say my technique was a little lacking. It was swirled inside, but not on top so it ended up looking totally different than the one I was trying to recreate. Now to be honest this wasn’t my favorite cheesecake, but strawberry cheesecake is not my favorite and I’m a chocoholic and think that chocolate should always be involved with cheesecake. The coworkers did seem to enjoy it though.

Crust
Ingredients:
10 graham crackers
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1/4 C superfine sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F and wrap the outside of a 9in spring form pan three times with foil, making sure to alternate direction. Wrap it tightly as without tight foil barrier, water can seep through the pan.

Combine graham crackers, melted butter, sugar, and cinnamon in a food processor and pulse until it all mixed together well and moistened.

Press mixture into spring form pan. Make sure you pack it together solid so the cheesecake mixture doesn’t leak through to the bottom.

Cheesecake
Ingredients:
3 (8oz) packages cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 C superfine sugar
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
16oz bag frozen strawberries, thawed and drained (of course you can use fresh here if you’d like)
3 drops red food coloring

Directions:
Place 2 1/2 blocks of cream cheese in a food processor along with the lemon juice, vanilla and sugar and process till the mixture is completely smooth. Scrape down the sides, add the eggs and egg yolks then process again till smooth and well combined.

Remove about 2/3 of the cheesecake mixture and set aside, then add the berries, remaining 1/2 block of cream cheese and food dye to the 1/3 cheesecake mixture remaining in the processor and blitz till the berries are smoothly incorporated. The food dye is optional, but will help make the layers more striking once baked.

Pour the white and strawberry cheesecake mixtures into the pan, alternating flavors and trying to keep each addition fairly even. Once all the mixture has been added, drag a skewer from the edges to the middle to make a pattern. At this stage, you can also add a little natural strawberry preserve or roasted strawberries to be found as little surprises in each slice.

Bake the cheesecake for 45 minutes – 1 hour, or till the top of the cheesecake feels set to the touch. (I baked mine for 45 minutes and checked it and it felt set, but it was a little too soft when I served it the next day, it should have baked a little while longer) Once the cake is baked, chill overnight in the fridge to allow it to set completely, then slice and serve.

Recipe by the Kitchen Wench (Re-printed and converted with a few changes)

Chocolate Coconut Porter Cupcakes

Thank goodness I am not one of those types of people that just run into the grocery store for exactly what I need and run out. I enjoy going to the grocery store; I like to look around and find new things and ingredients.  If I didn’t do that I would have never found the coconut porter by Maui brewing company. I enjoy beer very much, in fact the other half and I brew our own beer, but I love to try new ones. When I saw the coconut porter I knew I had to try it and I knew I had to bake with it. So you guys get to reap the reward of my fondness of beer and cupcakes.

When I took them out of the oven, I couldn’t believe how perfect they looked. These were the best looking cupcakes I have ever baked. I could smell the chocolate and coconut and a faint smell of the beer. (Maybe it was the one I was drinking, but I still smelled it none the less) I could not wait to get these put together so I could devour one. And boy did I! They are perfectly moist with just right balance of chocolaty and coconuty goodness. The beer just adds richness to the cupcake. The co-workers loved them, and a couple even said they were the best cupcake they have ever had.

Chocolate Coconut Porter Cupcakes 

(Makes 24 cupcakes) 

Cupcakes 

Ingredients: 

1(12oz) can Maui coconut porter 

1 stick unsalted butter

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1 ½ tsp coconut extract 

1 tsp vanilla extract 

2 eggs

1 (8oz) container sour cream 

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350F and line muffin tin with cupcake liners. 

In a medium saucepan, combine coconut porter and butter and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Then whisk in cocoa powder until smooth and let cool.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. 

In a large bowl, beat eggs, sour cream, and coconut and vanilla extract until smooth. Add cooled chocolate mixture to the sour cream and eggs and beat until just combined. 

Slowly add dry ingredients and beat briefly on a slow speed, scraping down sides as needed. 

Fill each cupcake paper 3/4 of the way full. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 17-18 minutes  (Mine baked for 17 minutes and came out perfect) 

Remove cupcakes from oven and let cool 10 minutes before removing from pan and placing on wire rack. 

Cool completely before filling.

Filling 

Ingredients: 

1 (5.1 oz) box vanilla pudding 

1 (13.5 oz) can coconut milk 

1/4 cup heavy cream 

1 cup flaked coconut 

¼ tsp coconut extract 

Direction: 

Whisk together until thick and creamy. Stir in coconut. Chill until ready to use.

Frosting 

Ingredients: 

1 cup butter (2 sticks, room temp) 

4 oz unsweetened chocolate

3/4 cup cocoa powder

6 cups confectioners’ sugar, divided

5 fl oz coconut milk 

1 tbsp Maui coconut porter

1 tsp coconut extract 

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

toasted shredded coconut (for garnish, I made about a cup) 

Directions: 

In a small, microwave safe bowl, melt unsweetened chocolate. Heat in 30-45 second intervals, stirring frequently, until mixture is smooth. (I let mine sit on top of the stove, in a glass bowl, on top of a burner, while the oven preheated and in melted perfectly.) Let cool to room temperature. 

Transfer chocolate to a larger bowl. Beat in butter, cocoa powder, confectioners’ sugar, coconut milk, coconut porter, coconut and vanilla extract, and salt, (basically everything else) :) beating until frosting is smooth and fluffy.  

Add more confectioners’ sugar for a thicker frosting if desired.

Nutella Cookies

So I received a little promotion at work and it’s my last week in my current department. So we (I) am celebrating this week. I ended up going to happy hour this evening after work and decided to indulge in much deserved beer and happy hour food which included fried pickles. I love them! Afterward, I get home to my empty apartment (the other half is at work) and decided I want to bake something! So what is super easy, fast, with the fewest ingredients so I can get my tipsy sweet fix? Oh yeah, those nutella cookies I read about on Lemon Drop! Two ingredients and I don’t have to operate heavy machinery, perfect!! 

As I write this, they are in the oven and they smell A-MAZING! So chocolaty! Now they spread quite a bit so make sure and space them about 2” apart. 

OMG! (I don’t even say OMG and I’m saying OMG) How in the world can two ingredients taste so good!? This one is too easy for you not to try! 

About 15 minutes later I’m eating these incredibly chocolaty, chewy, fudgy cookies. They are so good warm right out of the oven. Awesome! Thank you Linda for posting this recipe! 

Nutella Cookies (Even easy when you’re tipsy)

Ingredients

1 cup Nutella
1 egg

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F

Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper

Whisk together Nutella and egg until fully combined

With a cookie scoop or teaspoon, drop small dollops of batter onto prepared cookie sheets leaving 2 inches space between each one

Bake 8-10 minutes. I baked mine for 10 min because I liked a crispier cookie.

Let cool on rack 5 minutes then transfer cookies to cooling rack.

Found this one on Lemon Drop.

Snickerdoodle Muffins

Oh boy, are these addicting! Honestly, I have never had a Snickerdoodle cookie before but if they are anything like these, count me in. They smell heavenly while baking, and fill the house with a warm comforting aroma. These little beauties come out of the oven very moist, (which is great for a muffin, because no frosting is involved) and they are perfectly sweet. Can you believe the other half wouldn't even try one? He’s on his diet/working out routine again. It’s probably better anyway, more for me. Although, I did have three the night I baked them so I decided to get out of the house and go to the gym before I ate number four. I wonder if those 40 minutes on the elliptical actually burned them off. I took the rest to work with me today and received the same reaction. I think my boss had at least three as well, every time I went into the break room I caught him sneaking another bite, made me feel better. :) You will have no problem making any friends if you make these babies. It’s pure unadulterated cinnamony sugar goodness. 

Cake – Part Deux

Happy Tuesday Ya’ll! (I say “ya’ll” because I live in Texas and say it all the time anyway, and also because once you see how much butter is in the following recipe you will think I’m Paula Dean.) Well I did another cake this weekend, a baby shower cake. It wasn't for anyone I know so of course I had to do a tester cupcake to try it out (quality control, you know). I made a butter cake with strawberry filling and vanilla buttercream. I always make a double batch of the frosting, just in case. You never know when you might need a little extra, or are tempted to eat a spoonful. Is eating a peanut butter and buttercream sandwich a bad thing? The butter cake turned out great, really moist, and the strawberry filling complimented it well. The filling technique will work great for any type of fruit filling, not just strawberry. The other half actually ate the left over strawberry filling with all the cake scraps from leveling mixed in, like cereal with a bowl and spoon. I’m assuming his muffled “mmm hmmm” is his stamp of approval. 

Summer Berry Cobbler

Hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th of July. I had a great holiday weekend, but it just wasn’t the same without fireworks. Here in Texas all fireworks were banned due to the fire danger. So we had to settle for great food. Hopefully this Summer Berry Cobbler will provide fireworks…in your mouth. :) I ended up taking this beautiful cobbler full of fresh berries made with blueberry scone dough along with homemade vanilla bean ice cream, and refreshing white sangria to our gathering. This cobbler would fit in great with a summer BBQ or just a relaxing meal at home. Berries are everywhere right now, and you can find a variety at your local farmer’s market, so throw in what you like or any kind of seasonal berry and enjoy.