{ Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies }

In my search for a chewy - NOT cake-y - pumpkin cookie, I found this incredible

recipe from Yammie's Noshery. I made the cookies, and they were perfect. 

Then I made them a second time. Still perfect.

These cookies are buttery, chocolatey, cinnamon-y, and 

just the right amount of pumpkin-y. But most importantly, they're CHEWY!

The key to the amazing chew of these cookies is that there's no egg in the recipe. 

Basically, the moist pumpkin replaces the need for any egg. 

Which coincidentally makes it safe/acceptable to eat the dough by the spoonful. Hehe.

Start by creaming the butter and sugars. 

(I made a double batch in these photos.)

Then, add in the pumpkin and vanilla.

Next, add the spices and oat flour.

Add the flour, baking soda, and salt right on top of the wet ingredients - and fold it in.

Lastly, fold in the chocolate chips.

Scoop the dough onto a parchment lined sheet and bake at 350 F for 15 minutes.

Top with M&M's if desired, and enjoy!

~INGREDIENTS~

Yields 15 large cookies (sized out

with a regular ice cream scoop)

1 stick softened butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1 tsp. vanilla

5 tbsp. pumpkin puree

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1/4 cup oat flour (rolled oats, blended until fine)

(Oat flour is optional - I added it to give the cookies even more chew. 

You can easily replace it with 1/4 cup more of all-purpose flour.)

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ginger

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. cloves

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup M&M's (optional)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~STEPS~

(1) Cream the butter and sugars.

(2) Add in the vanilla and pumpkin.

(3) Add in the spices and oat flour, stir.

(4) Pour on the flour, baking soda, and salt - and fold

in until thoroughly combined.

(5) Fold in the chocolate chips, scoop the dough onto a parchment

lined baking sheet, and bake cookies at 350 F for 15 minutes.

Top with M&M's and enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{ Recipe adapted via Yammie's Noshery }

enjoy*

{ Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies }

YAY!

It's Winter Break! 

Meaning there's finally time to take a breath, 

relax, and enjoy time with family and friends.

And of course, time to bake cookies.

I have a few amazing recipes coming your way before Christmas, and first up are these
Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies - honestly, the best cookies I've ever made.

No, seriously. They're so, so good. Crisp on the outside, chewy and gooey on the inside.
I found this recipe on The Little Kitchen as a copycat recipe for those deliciously warm
cookies you get upon checking into a Doubletree Hotel.

The recipe has a few unique ingredients compared to a typical cookie recipe (lemon juice, 

cinnamon, oat flour) - it's these odd ingredients that give these cookies such 

a distinct, delicious flavor. Trust me.

Follow the video above for step-by-step instructions, and find the full recipe below!

Happy Holidays!!!

~INGREDIENTS~

Yields about 24 cookies, depending on their size

2 sticks of softened butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup white sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
2 large eggs

1/2 cup oat flour (rolled oats, blended until fine)

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

2 cups semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts

{Recipe adapted slightly via The Little Kitchen}

enjoy*

{ Moist & Fluffy Zucchini Bread }

Happy Friday!!!

Earlier this week I made the most delicious zucchini bread.

Really, though. It is so delicious.

For those of you who haven't ever had zucchini bread, make it NOW!

It's basically like an ultra moist, cinnamon-y cake that is acceptable to eat for breakfast.

Sound good?

Here's how it's made...

Just 5 easy steps!

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F and grease a loaf pan.

2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the egg, sugars, oil, zucchini, and vanilla.

3. In a larger bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

4. Add the wet into the dry and mix with a spatula just until it comes together - don't over mix!

5. Pour the batter into your greased loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes, until a knife comes out clean.

(Tip: You may want to cover the loaf with tinfoil after about 30 minutes of baking, 

so that the top of the zucchini bread doesn't burn.)

~INGREDIENTS~

1 egg

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup grated zucchini

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

(For a healthier option, try replacing

 1/4 cup of the oil with applesauce.)

{Recipe adapted via Sally's Baking Addiction}

enjoy*

{ Orange Oreo Halloween Fudge }

Going along with the "Homemade Halloween Candy" theme, 

from Monday's post... today we're making 

Orange Oreo Halloween Fudge!

Because after all, there's no such thing as "too much sugar" on the week of Halloween. 

And of course, there's no such thing as Halloween without Orange Oreos. 

(These are my philosophies.)

To begin, grease & line an 8x8 inch pan (or cake pan) with parchment paper. 

In a saucepan, combine the butter, sugar, and 1/2 a can of evaporated milk on medium-high heat.

Stir constantly as the mixture comes to a boil, then continue to cook & stir for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Once removed from the heat, pour in the bag of white chocolate and add 1/2 the jar 

of marshmallow fluff. Stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.

Finally, fold in 1 and 1/2 cups of the crushed Orange Oreos and a pinch of salt. 

(The fudge will turn orange!)

Pour the fudge into your parchment lined pan, and smooth it out. 

(Eli finally found a use for this mallet...)

Sprinkle on the remaining 1/2 cup of crushed Orange Oreos, and press them in lightly.

Chill the fudge for about an hour, until firm. Then slice and enjoy!

~INGREDIENTS~

Makes about 25-30 small fudge bites.

1/2 cup of sugar

3/4 stick of butter

1/2 of a (5 oz) can of evaporated milk

1/2 of a (7 oz) jar of marshmallow fluff

1 (12 oz) bag of white chocolate chips

2 cups crushed Orange Halloween Oreos

A pinch of salt

(This recipe is cut in half from the original - which made more than enough for me! 

However, if you're making this fudge for a larger crowd, double the recipe above.)

{Recipe adapted via Lilyshop}

enjoy*

{ Homemade Halloween Candy: Twix Bars }

It's officially the week of Halloween!!!

In celebration, I'm sharing this super fun recipe for 

Homemade Halloween Candy!

Everyone has a favorite Halloween candy - and mine happens to be 

the crispy, caramel-y, chocolatey Twix bar. (What's yours?!)

These homemade bites of goodness taste just like the real thing, and they're such 

a yummy alternative to store-bought candy. Plus, baking & assembling them 

is a fun (and surprisingly simple) little Halloween activity, for all ages!

{This recipe & photography is also being shared with Lexi of Glitter, Inc. 

For additional photos, be sure to click here!}

~INGREDIENTS~

For the shortbread layer…

1 stick of softened butter

¼ cup sugar

1¼ cup flour

1 tbsp. milk

½ tsp. vanilla extract

A pinch of salt

Preheat your oven to 350 F, and prepare an 8x8 inch pan by greasing

and lining the bottom with parchment paper.

(I used a cake pan, since I don't have an 8x8 for some reason... 

It worked fine, though - just trimmed off the rounded edges!)

In a bowl, cream together the softened butter and sugar using an electric mixer. 

Once smooth, slowly incorporate the flour. Lastly, add in the milk and salt. 

The dough will be very crumbly, (this is normal!) 

Pour dough into the greased pan, and press down until packed in tight. 

Bake for about 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.

Once the shortbread is cooled, remove it from the pan and use a sharp knife to 

slice about 18 rectangles. (They don’t have to be perfect!) 

Line them up on a parchment lined baking sheet.

For the caramel layer…

About 20 unwrapped caramel squares (Kraft works well)

1 tsp. cream, or milk

Next, unwrap and microwave the caramels and cream, until melted. 

Using a spoon, carefully spread caramel onto the tops of each shortbread rectangle. 

(It helps if you let the caramel cool slightly after melting so that 

it doesn’t run off the sides of the shortbread.)

Place the caramel-layered shortbread into the freezer for about 5 minutes to set. 

For the chocolate coating…

1 (11.5 ounce) bag of milk chocolate chips 

2 tsp. coconut oil (optional)

While they are chilling, microwave the chocolate chips and 

coconut oil in 30-second increments, until melted.

Remove the caramel shortbread from the freezer. 

Flip each of the cookies over, and spread a thin layer of chocolate on the bottom.

Place the chocolate covered bottoms down onto the parchment paper, 

and refrigerate for another 5 minutes until the chocolate is set.

Finally, spread a thin layer of chocolate on the top and sides 

of each caramel shortbread cookie—in order to completely coat them.

For decorating…

Halloween sprinkles (optional)

Place them back onto the tray, decorate with each 

with Halloween sprinkles, and chill.

 Cover and store in the fridge or freezer until you’re ready to eat them! 

You could also wrap each individually and give them away to friends.

Sharing is caring! :)

Little side note...

(The only issue I had with this recipe is that the shortbread was not as crisp as an original Twix bar. To fix this, you could bake the shortbread off for another 5-10 minutes after slicing, like you would biscotti, to make it extra crisp. They’re still delicious either way, though!)

~INGREDIENTS~

{Makes 18 "fun size" Twix bars.}

For the shortbread layer…

1 stick of softened butter

¼ cup sugar

1¼ cup flour

1 tbsp. milk

½ tsp. vanilla extract

A pinch of salt

For the caramel layer…

About 20 unwrapped caramel squares (Kraft works well)

1 tsp. cream, or milk

For the chocolate coating…

1 (11.5 ounce) bag of milk chocolate chips

2 tsp. coconut oil (optional)

For decorating…

Halloween sprinkles (optional)

{Shortbread recipe adapted via Tablespoon}

enjoy*