My PB + J

the great mini pumpkin treats

It’s no secret that I love Halloween. Whenever a holiday rolls around I love sending and secretly dropping off cards and a little treat to the children in our lives. Over the weekend I was baking breast cancer awareness ribbons for The Dailey Method donation class and had some leftover dough. I decided it would be cute to bake mini pumpkins for our tricksters. Now, I am not a professional cookie baker. I have tried a few recipes and finally found the best one that works for me, it’s simple to put together and there is no chilling. Like any new recipe you should clearly read all the directions and make sure you have everything on hand. I first made this recipe for Brayden’s mushroom cookies seen here. I probably spent a good hour reading the adventures of sugarbelle blog to ensure I was knowledgeable on the recipe and technique. I cannot urge you to this before beginning. If you want to impress your friends and family with gorgeously iced cookies with a great tasting cookie to boot you must try this recipe.

When I bake I tend to do so in the middle of the night. It’s quiet and I don’t have a certain toddler begging to taste something. My baking time is my zen time. I love perfecting something and with these cookies I think I’ve finally gotten it. I am looking forward to my Christmastime baking, I will finally be able to gift pretty cookies!

Here is how I created my mini pumpkins (ignore that these cell phone pictures, it was nearly 2 am).

watch her videos on royal icing. she even has one on pumpkins and I used the technique to make a dimensional pumpkin. You basically outline and fill the immediately. Once I finished the outer parts of the pumpkins I went back in to finish the middle. I love the way they turned out. The orange of this icing was achieved my taking my leftover red from the mushrooms and mixing in gold gel. 

I took cellophane bags and added our favorite chocolate minis to the bags. Tie it off with some ribbon and you will have one impressive treat this holiday. I mailed these along with the Peanuts holiday collection to my nieces and nephew. 

Do you do something special for Halloween? If so, what is it?

bates nut farm 2012

Yesterday morning we took a drive to Bates Nut Farm with auntie Jinger, uncle Geoff and baby Bri. It wasn’t an ideal crisp Fall morning but we dealt with the 80º temps and crossed a few of our Fall bucket list items off our list! This year was slightly different from last year since I was twenty-eight days out from my official due date, little did we know our little pumpkin would arrive a week later. It was fun seeing all the kids interact, enjoy the hay ride and Payton was slightly scared of the few actual scary scarecrows. After three hours we called it a day, we made some great memories and look forward to next year when all the kids are walking!

pumpkin steel cut oatmeal {recipe}

Like every other pumpkin loving fiend out there I have found myself trying to incorporate the beta-carotene packed purée into just about anything. I would love to indulge into a silky slice of custardy pumpkin pie everyday, however, my waistline would not thank me. I began The Dailey Method Fall 30-Day challenge this past Sunday and with that came a plant-based whole/clean eating meal plan. So far on day three I am enjoying the change. My biggest problem no matter what day it is or what kind of meal plan I am following, breakfast is always the hardest meal for me. I love cheerios with sliced banana and maple oatmeal. Since I am following the diet 99% of the time I mixed my Fall favorite with a breakfast item I know I will eat. I introduce to you, an overnight slow-cooker version of pumpkin steel cut oats.

Pumpkin Steel Cut Oatmeal
inspiration from the yummy life

ingredients:

1-3/4 cups plant based milk such as unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1-1/2 cups water
1 cup uncooked Bob’s Red Mill steel cut oats
1/4 cup Wholesome Sweetners maple flavored agave (Sprouts)
1 can organic pumpkin purée (trader joe’s)
1 tsp vanilla
2 TB pumpkin pie spice
1 TB chia seeds (I used whole chia seeds not ground)
toppings: chopped toasted pecans and walnuts, agave, fresh fruit, toasted pumpkin seeds, organic frozen blueberries.

directions:

If your slow-cooker will fit a medium sized heat safe mixing bowl go this route, if not spray your slow cooker with cooking spray. In a medium bowl combine all the ingredients and mix until combined. Place the bowl into the slow cooker and fill water into the slow cooker around the bowl, about half way. Set your slow-cooker onto low and cook for 7 hours. I turned mine on at 11:30 PM and it was all ready to go for the hubby before he left for work at 6:30 AM.

The oatmeal is really thick, you can add in additional almond milk if you wish. I added in a swirl of maple agave and nuts. It was perfect and really filling.

*I prepped the mixture earlier in the evening so all I had to do was place the bowl into the slow cooker late at night. I will be doing this a lot more, it was nice having breakfast ready for all us before we even woke-up. Great for busy mornings!

mini pumpkin whoopie pies with browned butter buttercream {recipe}

Yesterday my little family ‘o mine headed to our friends, Janelle and Nelson’s house for a little game day fun. Janelle had all the food covered and despite her and Tessa telling me not to bake anything I still decided to whip up a new recipe for pumpkin whoopie pies. If you haven’t noticed by now, I don’t listen very well. I am so in love with these mini cake sandwiches and even more so that there were about a dozen left that I am going to freeze to see how they handle. I have been doing a lot of this lately, I guess I am just trying to prepare myself for a possible mayhem that might develop once having a second child and who knows I might want to make dinner and bake once we’re home. I do highly doubt this so this is why I am stocking my freezer up! These “cookies” are sweet but let me tell you they went fast! Even the toddlers went back for a second round! 

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies: Recipe adapted from joy of baking

makes roughly 30 cookies 

3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups light brown sugar (I used dark to give a more robust flavor)
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 – 15 ounce can pumpkin puree


To make the whoopie pies:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place oven rack in the center of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper (I used my silpat to ensure no sticking would occur) 

In a bowl combine: flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, salt, baking powder and baking soda. 

In the bowl of your electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and pumpkin puree. Beat in the flour mixture just until incorporated, do not over mix!

Fill a 16 ounce pastry bag with mixture, cut a big enough hole to where the batter with come out with ease. On your lined baking sheet pipe a silver dollar sized amount of batter going upward. I went around three times which looked like mini bee hives. With the back of a spoon, dip into water and smooth out the tops of the cookie. This will ensure that you receive the flattened look. Make sure to not put a lot of water on the cookie because once they’re baked they will come out with soggy tops. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes just until the tops spring back. 


Remove cookies from baking sheet and place on a paper towel or a surface that the moist cookies will not stick to. 

Take your cooled cookies and frost every other cookie with buttercream to the edges. Place tops on gently. 
Enjoy! 
For the Browned Butter Buttercream: (my recipe) 
4 cups powdered sugar
2 1/2 sticks of butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk 

In a small saucepan take the 1/2 stick of butter and melt over medium to low heat until it becomes frothy and brown. You will need to watch this carefully after the five minute mark to ensure the butter doesn’t burn. You want to see the residual at the bottom of the pan with small brown flakes that are a deep brown in color. Remove from heat and cool. I began this step prior to beginning the cookie process.  

In the bowl of your electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment cream the two sticks of butter until fluffy. Slowly incorporate the browned butter and vanilla mixing until well combined. Next, slowly add in the powdered sugar in one cup increments. Once all the sugar is combined whip the frosting on medium speed for about five minutes. The color will go from a yellow/brown to white with brown specks. Slowly add in the milk and beat again for another minute or so. 

Fill a 16 ounce pastry bag and cut a small hole from the bottom. Pipe the cookies from the outside in, make sure not to go completely to the edge otherwise the frosting will ooze out from the cookie.