Pumpkin Cheesecake Monkey Bread

Hi friends,

Missing you dearly so hoping that with re-engaging our blog we'll feel closer than the miles between us.

This recipe is the perfect fall sweet treat.  May not be the healthiest dessert, but it sure is tasty!

1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
4 cans (7.5 oz each) Pillsbury® refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (sold in a 4-pack)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1 package (3 oz) cream cheeseDirections
  * Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 6-cup fluted tube cake pan with cooking spray.
  * In large food-storage plastic bag, mix granulated sugar and pumpkin pie spice.
  * Separate each can of dough into 10 biscuits. Cut each biscuit into quarters, adding biscuit pieces to bag and shaking as you go. When pieces are coated, arrange in pan. (If you run out of mixture, remove dough pieces from bag and add 1 to 2 more tablespoons granulated sugar to bag.)
  * In 1-quart saucepan, heat brown sugar, butter, pumpkin and cream cheese over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until butter is melted. Beat mixture with whisk until mostly smooth (there may be some tiny pieces of cream cheese, but that’s okay). Pour mixture over biscuit pieces in pan. Place pan on cookie sheet to catch any spills.
  * Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan 2 minutes. Place heatproof plate upside down in the pan; turn plate and pan over. Remove pan. Cool 10 to 15 minutes before serving. Store in refrigerator.

-Pillsbury.com

Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour (I used whole wheat)
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup pumpkin purée*
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (if you like nuts in your bread)

Preparation

1 Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Sift together the flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda.

2 Mix the pumpkin, oil, eggs, 1/4 cup of water, and spices together, then combine with the dry ingredients, but do not mix too thoroughly. Stir in the nuts.

3 Pour into a well-buttered 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. Bake 50-60 minutes until a thin skewer poked in the very center of the loaf comes out clean. Turn out of the pan and let cool on a rack.

Can easily double the recipe.

*Recipe from http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/pumpkin_bread/

- Sarah


**Apparently grocery stores only sell pumpkin during the fall season so it was really hard to find this time of year.  I had to go to Walmart; they, of course, had it.**

Pumpkin Pancakes with Bananas

My friend Ellen made these when we visited her a couple weeks ago - they were so good!

Ingredients


1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat, inspired by Ellen)
2 T sugar
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. ginger
1/2 t. salt
1/8 t. nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
1 cup milk
6 T pumpkin puree
2 T melted butter
1 egg
1 chopped banana (my addition)


Preparation


In a medium bowl mix all dry ingredients together.  In a small bowl mix milk, pumpkin, butter and egg together. Fold the pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients.  Melt some butter in a skillet and pour 1/4 cup batter for each pancake.  Drop banana pieces onto the poured pancakes before flipping.


These are really good and a refreshing twist to regular pancakes.  I added bananas because they make everything better!

*Recipe from http://www.marthastewart.com/271839/pumpkin-pancakes

- Sarah

Trick or Treat?

This post is definitely a treat.

SO...there's a great chance that the Five Foodie Friends (and one of the friend's off-spring) are getting together over Halloween weekend! We desperately need this time together so we can re-charge our friendship spirits, and of course, cook...it's inevitable!

Since it will be the season for pumpkins when we next meet, I thought it'd be fun for us to try out some great pumpkin recipes.

I just found a Pumpkin Divine martini recipe that looks...well...divine. Simply beautiful and completely delightful!

Ingredients:

• 1 part Grey Goose La Poire vodka
• 1 part pumpkin butter
• ½ part triple sec
• ½ part simple syrup
• pinch each of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and ginger
• grated nutmeg and apple chip for garnish

Preparation:

1. Pour all the ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
2. Shake vigorously until the outside of the shaker is frosted and beaded with sweat.
3. Strain into a cocktail glass.
4. Garnish with nutmeg and an apple chip.

I think we might even accompany this martini with a pumpkin carving contest! Oh...this could be disastrous. :-)

I love this initial carving idea...

We might even carve some pumpkins that we can decorate our table with (full of pumpkin dishes I might add)...

Stay tuned for how the night of drinking recipe turns out...

What are your favorite pumpkin recipes?

-Priscilla