Coconut M&M Blondies

Looking for an easy, kid-friendly treat? Try these blondies. They’re so simple, but so amazingly good. This recipe takes virtually no time to throw together, and you don’t need any fancy tools or anything like that. The hardest part for me was resisting the urge to nibble on M&Ms as I added them to my batter.

coconutmandmblondies

Coconut M&M Blondies

Recipe from RecipeGirl

Ingredients:

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temp
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup M&Ms
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8×8-inch pan with nonstick spray and then line the bottom with parchment paper.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter and sugars.
  3. Stir in the egg, vanilla, and salt.
  4. Stir in flour, coconut, M&Ms, and chocolate chips until well-combined.
  5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle a few additional M&Ms on top if desired.
  6. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
  7. Let the blondies cool completely in the pan before turning them out onto a cutting board and cutting into squares.

Pumpkin Nutella Bread

Pumpkin bread is one of my favorite fall treats, and I especially love it because it’s a) quick and easy to make, and b) so adaptable to a variety of additional flavors. Case in point: this awesome Nutella-swirled version. I basically just took the recipe I used for my pumpkin butterscotch bread, threw in some Nutella, and let the combination do its magic. The result? A moist, yummy version of a classic. Now if only I could pry myself away from the pan and stop eating this stuff by the plateful…

pnutellabread

Pumpkin Nutella Bread

Ingredients:

1 cup AP flour
1/2 tsp baking soa
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 large egg
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup packed pumpkin puree (canned or fresh)
1/3 cup Nutella

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan and set aside.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.
  3. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, and then whisk together with the sugar, oil, water, pumpkin, and vanilla.
  4. Stir in the flour mixture until well-combined.
  5. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and then add in the Nutella. Use a knife or the back of a spoon to swirl it around.
  6. Bake the bread for one hour, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
  7. Let the bread cool in its pan for at least an hour before cutting and serving.

pnutellabread_sliced

Pumpkin Pie Cookies and Impromptu Brownies

Sometimes things don’t go the way we plan in the kitchen. Case in point: these pumpkin pie cookies. Don’t ask me what happened, but basically I used the same recipe I do every year (one of my favorites, at that), and this time around my cookies came out looking like miniature pancakes. Thankfully, they still tasted delicious – as in, think pumpkin pie in a moist, cakey cookie form. But they were kind of unattractive to look at, and relatively tricky to transport. So when I found myself with about two dozen extra pancakes – er, cookies, I decided to get creative.

A few days ago I made pumpkin brownies, and so I decided to use that same recipe and incorporate my leftover cookies into the batter. The result? One incredibly awesome combination. In fact, even if your cookies don’t come out as pancake-like as mine, you can still crumble up a portion of your batch and bake them into your favorite brownies – that is, if you manage to stop eating them long enough to reserve a few for experimentation.

pumpkinpiecookies

Pumpkin Pie Cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups AP flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 cup soft butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a few baking sheets with greased foil or parchment paper and set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and spices. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and shortening until light and fluffy.
  4. Add the sugar, pumpkin, egg, and vanilla, and beat well.
  5. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients and mix until well-blended.
  6. Scoop into small, round balls, making sure to leave a decent amount of space between each cookie (these babies will spread).
  7. Bake for about 12 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies turn golden brown and the tops start to brown ever so slightly.
  8. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for a minute or two, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. You’ll get anywhere from 24 to 36 cookies out of this recipe depending on how big you scoop.

 

pumpkinpiecookiebrownies

Pumpkin Pie Cookie-Stuffed Pumpkin Brownies

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temp
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar (dark or light – either will work)
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons AP flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (canned or fresh)
12 pumpkin pie cookies, flattened and/or crumbled up

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8×8 pan and set aside.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, sugars, butter, pumpkin, and vanilla.
  4. Stir in the flour mixture until well-combined.
  5. Pour half of the batter into your prepared pan. Evenly spread the pumpkin pie cookies on top, and then pour remaining brownie batter on top of the cookie layer.
  6. Bake for about 35-40 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool for at least one hour in the pan before cutting and serving.

Pumpkin Brownies

I’ll put pumpkin in just about anything – soup, stew, pasta, you name it. So when I found myself craving chocolate, I decided to whip up a batch of pumpkin brownies.

What I like about these brownies is that they’re moist and dense without being overly sweet – we can thank the pumpkin for that. You can easily eat them on their own, but what I like to do is warm them up and serve them with pumpkin ice cream on top. I mean, if you’re going to have dessert, you might as well go all out, right?

pumpkinbrownies

Pumpkin Brownies

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temp
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar (dark or light – either will work)
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons AP flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (canned or fresh)
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips or chunks (semisweet will also work just fine)

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8×8 pan and set aside.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, sugars, butter, pumpkin, and vanilla.
  4. Stir in the flour mixture until well-combined.
  5. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and sprinkle chocolate chips/chunks on top.
  6. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool for at least one hour in the pan before cutting and serving.

Pumpkin Butterscotch Bread

Fall is finally here. I mean, technically it’s been here for awhile, but this past week, the weather got much cooler, the leaves all around me completely changed color, and the idea of planning my Thanksgiving menu suddenly didn’t seem so silly. And so to celebrate the more in-your-face version of fall that I’ve come to love, I decided to whip up this easy recipe for pumpkin butterscotch bread.

Now I’ve had different versions of pumpkin bread, some much sweeter than others. And of course I love them all. This particular recipe makes a sweeter, dessert-type of bread. You can thank the butterscotch flavor for that.

I happen to really enjoy the combination of pumpkin and butterscotch, but if you’re not a fan, you can easily swap out the butterscotch chips for semisweet chocolate, dark chocolate, cinnamon, or even white chocolate. Or, you can omit the chips completely and just enjoy the pumpkin flavor on its own.

Whatever you decide to do, just make sure to add pumpkin bread to your list of fall baking musts. With a recipe this easy and quick, you’d be silly to miss out.

pbutterscotchbread_sliced

Pumpkin Butterscotch Bread

Ingredients:

1 cup AP flour
1/2 tsp baking soa
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 large egg
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup packed pumpkin puree (canned or fresh)
3/4 cup butterscotch chips

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan and set aside.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.
  3. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, and then whisk together with the sugar, oil, water, pumpkin, and vanilla.
  4. Stir in the flour mixture until well-combined.
  5. Stir in the butterscotch chips, mixing well.
  6. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake for one hour, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
  7. Let the bread cool in its pan for at least an hour before cutting and serving.

Monster Cookie Bars

I’ve been on a pretty big pumpkin and apple kick lately, so I was surprised to find myself craving something peanut buttery the other day. Fortunately, these monster bars did the trick, and they gave me an excuse to finally use up the open bag of M&Ms that was sitting around taking up space in my pantry.

These bars are really easy to make, and because they’re so colorful and fun-looking, they’re a great thing to bring to parties or potlucks. They also freeze pretty well, so if you’re not like me and can’t finish an entire pan in a few days’ time, storing them that way is also an option.

monsterbars

Monster Cookie Bars

Recipe from The Baker Mama

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 cups AP flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 and 1/2 cups peanut butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup rolled oats (the old-fashioned kind, not the quick kind)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup M&Ms

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350. Grease a 13×9 baking pan and set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
  3. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and peanut butter until smooth.
  4. Add the sugars and beat until well-blended.
  5. Add the vanilla and eggs and mix until light and fluffy.
  6. Gradually incorporate the flour mixture into the wet mixture until just combined.
  7. Mix in the oats until well-combined.
  8. Stir in the chocolate chips and M&Ms.
  9. Press the dough into your prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let the bars cool in the pan for an hour or so before slicing and serving.

When stored in an airtight container, these bars should keep for a good 4-5 days. Or, as mentioned above, you can easily freeze your leftovers.

Pumpkin M&M Oat Bars

One of my favorite things about October is the abundance of seasonal pumpkin items available in stores. Case in point: Pumpkin Spice M&Ms. From what I hear, these babies can only be found at Target, and even though they’re not overwhelmingly pumpkin-flavored, they’re worth picking up for the color scheme alone. I decided to incorporate them into an oatmeal bar, and that actually really worked to bring out the pumpkin taste.

Believe it or not, these bars aren’t as sweet as your typical brownie or blondie, even with the candy pieces incorporated throughout. I really happen to enjoy the combination of pumpkin and chocolate, so in my book, these are a hit (and my coworkers, who helped me polish off the batch, seemed to agree).

pumpkinoatbar

Pumpkin M&M Oat Bars

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 cups AP flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup pumpkin
1 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup Pumpkin Spice M&Ms (if you can’t find these, dark chocolate chunks or semisweet chocolate chips should work just as well; you can even use regular old M&Ms)

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350. Grease a 13×9 baking pan and set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
  3. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugars until smooth.
  4. Whisk or beat in the egg and vanilla, and mix until light and fluffy.
  5. Stir in the flour and oats, mixing until well-combined.
  6. Stir in the M&Ms.
  7. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let the bars cool in the pan for at least an hour before slicing and serving.

Apple Cranberry Walnut Coffee Cake

Okay…there are still apples in my fridge. Lots and lots of apples.

You know what that means: another apple cake, this time with some dried cranberries and walnuts for good measure. This recipe is essentially the same one I used for my last apple cake, only without the brown sugar topping. You can add the topping if you’d like, but I really don’t think this cake needs it.

I’ll stop making apple cakes (at least for a little while) until my supply is depleted. Till then, please bear with me.

applecrancofcak

Apple Cranberry Walnut Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 cup AP flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup apples, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup raisins (not really necessary, but I wanted to use some up)

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8×8 baking pan and set aside.
  2. To make the cake, in a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg until well-combined
  3. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, alternating with the sour cream and vanilla.
  4. Stir in the apples, dried cranberries, walnuts, and raisins (if you’re using them).
  5. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
  6. Let the cake cool in its pan completely before serving.

Apple Oat Bars

Clearly I’m not quite done with apples. That’s right: You’ve got another apple recipe coming your way, but I promise it’s a good one.

My latest creation combines rich, hearty oats with fresh, hand-picked apples. And while I tend to incorporate a variety of fall spices whenever I bake with apples, for this recipe, I exercised some restraint and limited myself to cinnamon only. The result? An easy-to-make, easy-to-eat snack cake that’s perfect for breakfast, dessert, or anytime in between.

appleoatbars

Apple Oat Bars

Ingredients:

For the crust and topping:

1 cup AP flour
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/8 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick of butter, melted and cooled to room temp

For the apple filling:

1 cup of apples, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Grease an 8×8 baking pan and set aside.
  2. To make the filling, combine the apples, lemon juice, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Stir to combine and let sit while you make the crust and topping.
  3. To make the crust and topping, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugars, oats, and salt. Stir in the butter and mix well to combine.
  4. Press half of the mixture into your prepared pan. Spread the apple mixture on top of the crust, using the back of a spoon to distribute it evenly throughout the pan. Sprinkle the remaining oat mixture over the apple layer, once again using the back of a spoon to spread it out evenly.
  5. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the top starts to brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
  6. Let cool completely in the pan for two hours before slicing and serving.

Apple Pumpkin Cake

For me, September is the time to indulge in everything apple. But come October, I tend to be all about the pumpkin. This year, I decided to make the transition from apple- to pumpkin-centric baking just a bit smoother by using both in a single cake.

This recipe is incredibly easy to whip up, and it produces a cake that’s soft, moist, and full of my favorite fall flavors. You can use canned pumpkin without a problem, but because I happened to go pumpkin picking recently, I chose to cook and puree some fresh pumpkin for my batter.

I’m really excited to start experimenting with some new pumpkin recipes, both sweet and savory. But for now, I’ll most likely be focused on eating this cake for the better part of the week until it’s gone.

pumpkinapplecake

Apple Pumpkin Cake

Ingredients:

1 and 1/4 cups AP flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup apples, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup pumpkin (fresh or canned)

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8×8 baking pan and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and spices.
  3. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl. Add the oil, apples, and pumpkins, and stir together until well-combined.
  4. Pour the apple-pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture, stirring until thoroughly combined.
  5. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. The cake should be soft and springy, so try not to overbake.
  6. Let the cake cool completely in the pan before cutting into it.

Notes:
Looking to feed a larger crowd? Just double the recipe and use a 9×13 pan instead.
If you choose to use canned pumpkin for this recipe, make sure to buy regular, unsweetened pumpkin, as opposed to pumpkin pie filling.