Black Forest Brownies

Today is my birthday! To celebrate I make my favorite treat, Black Forest Brownies. With chocolate, cherries and pecans it has to be good. I clipped this recipe from a Taste of Home Magazine it was submitted by Toni Reeves from Medicine Hat, Alberta. Thank you Toni, we have enjoyed this recipe for years.

Black Forest Brownies
1 1/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1 cup cocoa
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup chopped maraschino cherries, well drained
1/2 cup nuts

Icing:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups confectioners' sugar
6 tablespoons cocoa
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup chopped nuts

Combine flour , baking powder and salt; set aside. In a large saucepan melt butter. Remove from heat and stir in cocoa until smooth. Blend in eggs, sugar and extracts. Gently stir in flour mixture, cherries and nuts. Pour in greased 9x13 baking pan. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. For icing blend all ingredients until smooth; spread over hot brownies. Cool.

Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

I think we may as well continue with pumpkin recipes--I do love pumpkin! I almost feel like I'm eating something healthy when a treat contains pumpkin. These muffins though far from healthy were delicious, near perfect was hubby's comment.

My girls all came to town so I was able to share the goods. I have to share my treats because I have no self-control especially when a treat is this yummy. Variations of this recipe are all over blog land, I saw it first on Ezra Pound Cake. Here is my version.

Pumpkin Streusel Muffins
Cream Cheese Filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla

Mix together till smooth. Form the mixture into a log on a piece of plastic wrap, wrap  it and freeze for an hour. Don't cheat on this step!

Streusel:

1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons melted butter
Mix ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.

Pumpkin Batter:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 1/4 cups solid-pack pumpkin
3 eggs lightly beaten
1/3 cup oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a medium bowl lightly beat the pumpkin, eggs, oil and vanilla. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the well and gently mix with a fork just till moistened.

Remove the cream cheese from the freezer and cut it into 18 slices. Evenly divide half of the muffin batter among 18 greased muffin cups. Place a slice of cream cheese in the center of each muffin, press gently into the batter without submerging it. Fill cups with remaining batter. Sprinkle pecan streusel on top of each muffin.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Cool on wire racks. Makes 18 delicious muffins

TWD Caramel Pumpkin Pie

For 34 years my sweet hubby has been asking when I would be old enough to make pie. I would smile and sweetly say 'in 10 years'. Well Greg, the wait is over!

Thanks to Dorie's Good for Almost Everything Pie Dough I did it. I read the directions over several times and was ready to tackle it. Jill was here to help, she wanted to learn this skill also. Dorie is an excellent teacher, we followed every step. We are happy to say that pie crust in many forms will be on our future menus.

The Caramel Pumpkin filling was excellent too. This tasty pie was chosen by Janell, check her blog for the complete recipe. The caramel was made by almost burning sugar. Our first attempt was burnt but we would succeed. We reread the directions and were happy with our second attempt. The cool caramel was mixed with pumpkin, spices and eggs. The filling was poured in our partially baked crust and baked some more. We enjoyed the pie warm and cold. Both were great, and the crust was flaky. I'm ready for Apple Pie next week. There are many great TWD bakers, see what they did with this delicious pie.

Welcome Delaney

We have spent the last few days in the Great Northwest getting to know Miss Delaney. Isn't she a doll!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

This cookie is full of soft, chewy fall! Pumpkin mixed with oats, walnuts and Burgundy Chocolate Chunks. Pure wonderful! The chocolate chunks are made by Peters and can be purchased at King Arthur Flour.
This recipe comes from My Baking Addiction a great blog!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

2 cups all purpose flour
1 ½ cups old-fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (1/2 t. cinnamon, 1/4 t. ginger, 1/8 t. allspice or cloves, 1/8 t.nutmeg)
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter; softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1 cup pure pumpkin puree
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup white chocolate chips (I used Peters Burgundy Chocolate Chunks)
1 cup dried cherries; roughly chopped (I used chopped walnuts)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line your baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
2. Combine flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and salt in medium bowl. Beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until light and fluffy.
3. Add pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract; mix well. Add flour mixture; combine until all ingredients are incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips and dried cherries/nuts.
4. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets. I used a medium Pampered Chef Scoop and got 4 dozen cookies.
5. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

TWD Double Apple Bundt Cake

Things I liked about this recipe:

I had everything in the pantry to make it.

Apple Butter adds a wonderful depth to a recipe.

Grated apple makes one great texture.

Fall spices are my favorite.

This cake was yummy with vanilla ice cream.

This cake was good for breakfast.

This cake aged well, day 3 it is delicious, probably won't last till day 4.

The cake slid right out of my 2 new half size bundt pans.

I think this is my new favorite apple recipe.

Check Lynne's blog Honey Muffin for the complete recipe.

Check other TWD bakers to see how they liked this excellent cake.