Fall Favorite – Pumpkin Spice Hot Cocoa

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Jackie

Happy Friday! Today one of my best online friends is here sharing a delicious, warming recipe with you…. pumpkin spice hot cocoa! Perfect for these cold evenings that we’ve been having too.

I’ve know Jill almost as long as I’ve been blogging I think and we’ve been great friends almost the entire time. One of the best things about online friends is how quickly they can become the closest and best friends you ever had. This has to be one of my favorite reasons for blogging…. the friendships. They alone are worth all the time and effort that we put into blogging.

Jill is an awesome mom to three incredible boys (19, 17 and 10-going on 32). Two of whom still live at home. And fill her social calendar faster than she can… I can attest to this too! Just check out her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and see all of their travels, adventures, and of course the great money saving deals that she writes about on her blog, Single Mom on a Budget.

Temperatures are dropping, snow is starting to fall and the trees are near bare. Halloween candy is a distant memory and Thanksgiving and Christmas are on the mind.

Here in Colorado we have already had snow twice and because of that we had a beautiful fall season. The ‘pretty’ is over though, and the ground is covered in leaves. (And by covered I mean I’ve done the back-breaking job of bagging a total of nine trash bags full so far and it ain’t over yet.) The days are beautiful, but the nights are downright cold.

Something about that – the temps falling part, not the leaf bagging part – has gotten me in the holiday spirit early this year. And that never happens so I’m enjoying it.

As we settle in one chilly evening I had visions of cinnamon sticks and cans of pumpkin dancing in my head so I whipped up a pumpkin spice hot cocoa concoction and ooh la la it is delicious. Even my picky 10 year old liked it. And by picky I mean he won’t eat mac n cheese, peanut butter and jelly or cupcakes. I KNOW.

You can make your cocoa one of two ways, from a little packet or from a homemade hot cocoa recipe that we’ve used in my house for years. I make it and store it in a mason jar (recipe below).

Pumpkin Spice Hot Cocoa Directions (here is a printable version of the Pumpkin Spice Hot Cocoa recipe):

Ingredients:

Hot cocoa (make your own mix with 1 c. nonfat dry milk, 1 c. sugar and ¾ c. cocoa)
Milk
Canned pumpkin
Nutmeg
Cinnamon
Cinnamon Stick
Whipped cream or marshmallows

Directions:

These directions are per cup of hot cocoa.

Heat milk on stove on medium-low and watch so that the milk doesn’t boil over, because speaking from experience that is a big mess. It can also be heated in the microwave.

I like to drop a cinnamon stick in it to infuse the milk with cinnamon.

Pour milk into your favorite mug and add about 2-3 tbsp of hot cocoa mix depending on how chocolaty you like it.

Add 1 tbsp of pumpkin and mix thoroughly. Add more/less to your taste.

Add a dash of cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg.

Top of with a big dollop of whipped cream (or marshmallows) and sprinkle with nutmeg.

Curl up and enjoy.

Fall Favorite – Pumpkin and Sage Pasta

Posted on November 8, 2013 by Jackie

Happy Friday! Today I have Amanda here from The Sunny Vegan sharing a tasty recipe. What I love about her pumpkin sage pasta is that it’s just like a pumpkin ravioli but made so much easier and much healthier than anything that you could get from the store or restaurant because it’s made fresh.

I first met Amanda through an incredible Facebook group that we belong to and from there started slowly stalking her blog because I love food and she takes some awesome food pics!

Amanda shares all sorts of delicious vegan recipes on her blog and you’ll love them… I know that I do. She is also a Certified Yoga Teacher and is pursuing Certification as a Fitness Nutritional Specialist and Holistic Life Coach. All that in addition to raising two beautiful little girls, Weimaraner and a cat.

After you read her blog check her out on Facebook, Twitter, and of course Pinterest too!

Think pumpkin is only for pie? Well think again!
Savory pumpkin recipes are a fun way to keep the flavors of autumn around throughout the holiday season. Pumpkin is low calorie and full of Vitamin A, C and K as well as iron, potassium and magnesium so adding more to your diet is certainly a good thing.
I ususally use whole wheat pasta but my daughter picked out the orecchiette because it reminded her of little pumpkins. It really held the sauce well which made me happy.

Pumpkin Sage Pasta

Fresh sage is so beautiful and flavorful, combining it with the slightly sweet pumpkin makes for a gorgeous, earthy and tasty sauce. So shake up your regular pasta routine and try this pumpkin and sage sauce. One of the best things I have ever made! ( and my daughter agreed )

Ingredients: 4-6 servings

1 pound pasta
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 small yellow onion – diced
3 cloves garlic – diced
1 15 ounce can organic pumpkin puree
2 cups plain almond milk
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast * optional
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh sage, plus more for garnish
salt and pepper

Method:

pasta – prepare as directed on package.
sauce – heat olive oil over medium-low heat, add onions and cook until translucent or approximately 5 minutes. add garlic and heat another 2 minutes. stir in pumpkin, almond milk, sage and nutritional yeast, salt and pepper to taste. heat over low heat for 5 minutes. serve over prepared pasta and garnish with additional fresh sage.

Fall Favorite- Pumpkin Pie Bars

Posted on October 30, 2013 by Jackie

Welcome to Wednesday! Today’s Fall Favorite is another sweet treat that is full of pumpkin flavor… you know what? I think that after all these delicious sweets we’re going to need a a diet plan to fight all the weight we’ll gain trying these. But then again it is the beginning of the holiday season and if I remember correctly all sweets during this time are calorie free.

Today’s Fall Favorite is pumpkin pie bars and they come to you from a great friend and blogger, Natalie!

Natalie is a wife, mom of a six year old son and four year old twin girls, wannabe foodie, lover of wine and of all things social media. She blogs at Mommy of a Monster and Twins and also works as a freelance writer and virtual assistant. You can find her tweeting as @NatalieHoage, Facebooking all day long, and pinning more recipes than she can ever possibly try.

One of my favorite things to bake during the fall season is this recipe for Pumpkin Pie Bars. The reason I love them so much is because they are so versatile – you can add nuts, cranberries, chocolate chips (or a combination of the three!)

These Pumpkin Pie Bars can be made in just one bowl, which makes them both easy to make and to clean up. I know it looks like a lot of ingredients, but I bet you already have most of them in your pantry. Enjoy!

Ingredients

8 tablespoons butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 light brown sugar, packed

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1-1/3 cups pumpkin puree

1-2/3 cups of flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1-1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 cup of chocolate chips, cranberries, or nuts, if desired.

Preheat the oven to 375. Spray an 8×8 baking dish with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, stir first 4 ingredients until combined. Whisk in the eggs and oil, then stir in the pumpkin. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until combined.

Spoon mixture into the baking dish. Bake for 20-23 minutes, until the top is springy. Let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before cutting into bars. Serve warm or at room temperature.

I hope that you’re enjoying this little series that I have put together for all of you and I would LOVE it if you’d guest post too! Just drop me an email, or tweet, or message on Facebook and I’ll get you added to the list of amazing bloggers.

Fall Favorite – Brown Butter Pumpkin Blondies

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Jackie

How could I let another week go by without another pumpkin recipe? Hopefully, you’re not getting tired of them. I mean there has been a pretty decent variety of pumpkin recipes and this week it’s a little unique. It’s a brown butter pumpkin blondie recipe topped with a rich & creamy cream cheese frosting. I dare you to try and eat more than one of these and not get a stomach ache!

I made mine very simply and left out all of the various extras that you could put in them like nuts, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and butterscotch chips. Besides I really wanted to add the cream cheese frosting and I didn’t have any of the extras.

So are you wondering about brown butter? Brown butter is butter that has been slowly warmed until it is a light brown color and has a nutty flavor to it. The butter is cooked long enough to turn the milk solids and salt particles brown while cooking out any water present. It has a more complex flavor than melted or clarified butter. Brown butter can replace the butter in just about any dish and gives it an extra layer of depth. Honestly, in this recipe you can use regular butter if you want.

This was my first attempt at making brown butter even though I’ve known about it forever. I was always to chicken to try it and didn’t want to ruin it. It was so easy and I’m glad that I added it to the blondies.

Brown Butter Pumpkin Blondies

Ingredients

2½ cups all-purpose flour
2½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 cup brown butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 cup brown sugar - dark or light
½ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 (15-ounce) can pure pumpkin puree (about 2 cups)

Instructions

Brown Butter

In a heavy bottom pan heat, whisk sliced butter occasionally while it warms over medium heat. As it heats it will foam a little bit... just remember to keep whisking and don't let it burn.
Cook, stirring constantly, until the butter becomes a light tan color. Remove the pan from the heat. The butter will continue cooking even after you remove it from the burner. I poured mine into a small bowl to cool.

Blondies

Sift the flour and pumpkin pie spice together and set aside.
Whisk the brown butter and sugar together until smooth and then add in the egg and vanilla. Mix well.
Whisk in the pumpkin.
Stir in the flour. At this point you can stir in some of the extras I mentioned before if you want.
Pour into a prepared 13x9 pan and bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 30 - 35 minutes. A toothpick should come out clean when inserted into the middle.
Let cool before frosting if you're want them frosted.

https://withjustabitofmagic.com/brown-butter-pumpkin-blondies

Now grab a cup of coffee and enjoy!

Don’t forget… if you have a favorite fall recipe that you’d like to share here I would love to have you guest post here.

Fall Favorites – Ooey Gooey Pumpkin and Chocolate Cake

Posted on October 25, 2013 by Jackie

It’s Friday and we’re rounding out this week with an awesome Fall Favorite! Ooey gooey pumpkin and chocolate cake from Amber of Amber Page Writes. This cake sounds sinfully rich, delicious, and full of flavor and I’m sure that it’s something that I’d want to eat all of in one sitting if I could. I’ve been waiting all week to share this with you… and now you have something to do on Saturday!

So who’s Amber? She is the mommy of one sweet, sassy toddler. Wife of a handsome, kind and very, very patient man. Copywriter for an ad agency. And blogger, of course. You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

Some foods beg to be made in front of an audience. Delicious-smelling, yeasty breads, perfectly-charred steaks, fancy cocktails… the list goes on. And then there are those that should be made in private. Not because they’re not delicious, but because you don’t want anyone to see what goes into them. The recipe I’m about to share you is one of the latter. How do I know? Because this was the conversation I had with my husband this evening.

“Is that a whole stick of butter?”

“Yep.”

“And a whole cake mix?”

“Uh huh.”

“And that’s just the crust?”

“Yep. Now go away.” (He didn’t)

“Oh my god. A whole package of cream cheese?”

“You better believe it.”

“And another stick of butter?”

“Didn’t I tell you to go away?”

“Tell me you didn’t just put that whole package of powdered sugar in there.” (I did)

“Are you trying to kill me?”

“…”

In other words, this cake, it’s not good for you. At all. Although it does have pumpkin it. So you know. There’s fiber. And vitamin A. And beta carotene. Oh, and calcium from the cream cheese.

Hey, it’s a regular health bonanza!

Healthy or no, it is 100 percent delicious.

This is the conversation we had after he took a bite.

“Wow.”

“Wow good, or wow bad?”

“Wow, you should take this to work so I don’t eat it all in two days.”

So there you go. Bake it in private. Share it with everyone you love (or don’t. It’s up to you).

Ingredients

Crust:

1 chocolate cake mix

1 stick of butter (melted)

1 egg

Filling:

1 15 oz. can of pumpkin (plain, not the pie mix)

1 8 oz. package of cream cheese (room temperature)

1 stick of butter (melted)

3 eggs

1 tbsp. vanilla

Pumpkin pie spice (to taste)

1 16 oz. package of powdered sugar (about 4 cups or so)

.5 cup of chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Crust:

Dump cake mix, melted butter and egg in a bowl
Mix until well combined
Empty into 9 X 13 pan and press down until it forms a smooth crust along the bottom and sides of pan
Set aside

Filling:

Cream together the pumpkin and cream cheese
Add butter, eggs, vanilla and spice, then mix until well-combined
Slowly add powdered sugar (while you continue to mix) until it’s all combined
Pour on top of crust and smooth it out
Top with chocolate chips (optional)

Bake for 45-50 minutes. The sides should be set, but the middle will look more like pudding (it is a gooey cake, after all).

Enjoy!

Fall Favorites – Pumpkin Apple Cake

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Jackie

Fall is upon on us and that means baking season is here! Pumpkin, apple, pies, cakes, soups, casseroles, and all sorts of amazing dishes will be enjoyed at every day meals and special occasions.

And to celebrate the season I am going to be featuring a different recipe and a different blogger each Wednesday and Friday until we reach the holiday season. By that time you’ll have an arsenal of recipes for all of your holiday parties!

Because of my love of pumpkin and apple I have a cake that has both of them in it. It’s the best of both worlds! This pumpkin apple cake is sweet, dense, and delicious. It has rich pumpkin flavor with little bits of apple scattered throughout the cake. It’s the perfect end to a chilly fall day with a warm cup of chai… tea… coffee… or even warm spiced cider.

When I made the cake over the weekend I was going to leave it plain or just give it a dusting of powdered sugar and then my daughter stepped in. Cream cheese frosting was required to make it perfect. And just so you know, it was perfect. It added a little bit of extra… oohmp… to the cake.

Fall Favorites – Pumpkin Apple Cake

Ingredients

3 eggs
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup apple sauce
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin not pumpkin pie filling
1/3 cup apple cider or juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups peeled apples (finely chopped, about 2 medium)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Spray a 13x9 or bundt pan with vegetable pan spray.
In large bowl, beat eggs with electric mixer until they turn a light yellow color. Gradually add sugars, oil, apple sauce, pumpkin, cider, and vanilla; beat thoroughly.
Sift flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda together; add to egg mixture and mix well. Stir in apples.
Pour into pan.
Bake 55-60 minutes for a bundt pan and 35 - 40 for a 13x9 pan, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan 15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack if you're using a bundt pan.
When cool frost with your favorite cream cheese frosting or glaze.

https://withjustabitofmagic.com/pumpkin-apple-cake

If you wanted you could even use a couple of 9in cake pans and make this into a layer cake. But in the essence of time and ease I used a 13×9…. meaning I wanted to be able to eat it sooner rather than later.

Are you interested in guest posting and sharing your favorite fall recipe here? If so, I’d love to have you here with me so just email me or leave me a comment.

Make sure to come back and check out all of the incredible guests that will be sharing their favorite fall recipes with you!

Monday Menu ~ Cider Glazed Pumpkin Donuts

Posted on September 30, 2013 by Jackie

I’ve mentioned it about a half dozen or more times but I love fall & pumpkin treats! One of my favorite treats lately has been pumpkin donuts… crisp on the outside, soft and warm on the inside, a little spicy, and a sweet from the cream cheese frosting that is spread over the top… the downside is that those delicious deep friend treats are pretty high in calories and it can get expensive to buy them every day.

So what did I do? I baked some up cider glazed pumpkin donuts this weekend to have for breakfast with some fresh cider that we picked up at the the local farmers market. Baked donuts can be just as delicious as their deep fried siblings but are a little healthier and a lot easier since you don’t have to deal with a vat of super hot grease.

To try and keep the calories down a little more I substituted fresh applesauce for the oil and egg substitute for the regular eggs. The only downside is that the donuts tend to be a little more dense but the flavor is exactly the same and they are very moist, full of pumpkin & spice flavor.

As these baked the house filled with the smell of spices and pumpkin. It was such a warm, inviting smell that I couldn’t wait to eat one… or two.

I think that the cider glaze gives them a little extra flavor… and it’s better than just a regular glaze made with water. The flavor is delicious but subtle enough that it doesn’t overpower the pumpkin, which is the star of these tasty donuts. You also leave them plain for dipping in coffee, rolled in powdered sugar, cinnamon sugar, or topped with a bit of cream cheese frosting.

These might just become a weekend staple around here this fall and winter.

Adapted from Can You Stay for Dinner’s recipe.

Monday Menu – Pumpkin Cheesecake

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Jackie

I love baking and I think that if I had a choice I would open a bakery. All day I would make delicious pies, cakes, cookies, and all sorts of other delicious treats! But for now I will settle for making all of those things in moderation for my friends and family.

Fall and winter are the perfect times to bake because those warms smells of fresh baked good fill your house and fill you with joy…. Maybe that’s just me. As soon as the cold weather hits I start baking again in full force.

This year I was tasked with bringing dessert for Thanksgiving and one thing that I knew for sure was that it had to include pumpkin. There are a couple reasons for that too. First because it is one of my favorite fall foods and second because it simply is not Thanksgiving without it.

I wanted to change things up though and instead of the traditional pumpkin pie I decided on a pumpkin cheesecake. The mere thought of the creamy cheesecake mixed with the spicy pumpkin pie had my mouth watering.

Monday Menu – Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients

Crust

• 1 package of Biscoff (http://www.biscoff.com/) Cookies (You can use gingersnaps or a regular graham crust if you want)
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted
• Nonstick cooking spray, for the sides of the pan

Cheesecake

• 4 8-ounce bars cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
• 3 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin puree

Instructions

Heat oven to 350° F.
In a food processor, pulse the cookies until fine crumbs form. Add the butter and pulse to combine. Press the mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan (preferably nonstick), using a straight-sided dry measuring cup to help. Spray the sides of the pan lightly with the cooking spray.
Now, you can use a water bath for this cheesecake if you want but it isn’t absolutely necessary. If you choose to then you will need to wrap the springform pan in a double layer of heavy-duty foil. This will prevent water from getting into your cheesecake and ruining it.
Place the springform pan on a cookie sheet if you are not using a water bath.
If you are using a water bath place the springform pan in a large baking dish.
Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and brown sugar on medium until smooth, about 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the flour, pumpkin pie spice, and salt and then beat to combine. Add the pumpkin and beat to combine again.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan.
Pour hot water into the baking dish (if you use a water bath) so it comes up about 1 inch on the sides.
Bake for about 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 45 minutes. You want the cheesecake to be set but still a bit wiggly in the middle. If the top starts to get to dark while baking cover it loosely with foil.
Let the cheesecake cool completely in the pan, and then refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.
When you’re ready to serve run a knife around the outside edge to loosen it from the pan.

https://withjustabitofmagic.com/pumpkin-cheesecake

Serve with whipped topping!

I will tell you that this is very rich and creamy, but so delicious. You should be able to get at least 12 slices out of this cheesecake and the calories on this one simply don’t count!

When I started out pondering this recipe I knew that I didn’t want the traditional graham cracker crust. It would not do a pumpkin cheesecake justice so the next thought that I had after that was to make the crust with gingersnaps.

Gingersnaps are a bit spicy to me and I knew that all of my kids would not like it and that led me to one of our favorite cookies, Biscoff. The best way that I can describe them is that they are like a cross between graham crackers and gingersnaps. Regardless, they are very good and I knew they would make the perfect crust.

Now, I am one of those people who really like pumpkin so I see no reason why you couldn’t service this anytime of the year.

What about you? Pumpkin anytime of the year or not?

Monday Menu ~ Fall Favorites

Posted on September 9, 2012 by Jackie

Fall is my favorite time of year. There is just something about the crisp clean air coming in through the open windows, the bright blue flawless sky, and all of the gorgeous colors the trees change into as summer fades slowly away.

It could be that after a long summer and all those hot and humid days the cooler weather is the reprieve that we all have been waiting for.

It also could be that we can finally pull out all those comfy sweaters, tall boots, and cute scarves that have been hidden in the backs of our closets. Of course there is shopping for new ones too!

Football games… back to school… half time band performances…. visiting apple orchards….

The girl in the middle is my daughter! So proud of her!

One of my favorite parts of fall is the change in the cooking and baking! Truth be told I love being able to create fun new treats with pumpkin and comforting casseroles.

The other day I got the October issue of the Rachael Ray magazine and fell in love with it… it was packed with tasty pumpkin treats and my favorite is the pumpkin risotto. I seriously can’t wait to give it a try one of these weekends!

That one recipe led me on a hunt for other pumpkin based recipes… sweet or savory it didn’t matter. And I hit the jackpot! Holy cow… Two Peas & Their Pod scoured the internets and found 50 of the best pumpkin recipes! The hard part now is trying to figure out what one to make first and hoping that I can do it in a way that is healthy!

This fall I decided to get a bit crafty and make a fall wreath and sew some pumpkins from cute Halloween fabric that I found at JoAnns… then in the Rachael Ray magazine I found 36 different ways to decorate a pumpkin… I’ll have to find the easiest one and give it a shot. There are a few there that look pretty complicated…. or time consuming… actually it’s both.

I’ve shared a few of my favorite fall type recipes in the past. Check them out! Pumpkin Pecan Bars… these are beyond delicious! Sweet potato casserole that is perfect for a side dish for Thanksgiving but is sweet enough that you can eat it as a dessert! So, if you’re looking for something just a little bit healthier try the Pumpkin Crunch Cake. But if you want to skip healthy and go for purely sinful then try the Pumpkin S’more Bars!

I may have a slight addiction to pumpkin… I throw a spoonful or two into my oatmeal, use it as the wet ingredient with a cake mix, and even add a bit to a vanilla shake.

What’s your favorite part of fall?

With Just a Bit of Magic

Tag Archives: Pumpkin

Fall Favorite – Pumpkin Spice Hot Cocoa

Fall Favorite – Pumpkin and Sage Pasta

Fall Favorite- Pumpkin Pie Bars

Fall Favorite – Brown Butter Pumpkin Blondies

Fall Favorites – Ooey Gooey Pumpkin and Chocolate Cake

Fall Favorites – Pumpkin Apple Cake

Monday Menu ~ Cider Glazed Pumpkin Donuts

Monday Menu – Pumpkin Cheesecake

Monday Menu ~ Fall Favorites