Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies with Brown Sugar Icing

Honestly the texture of pumpkin cookies usually grosses me out a bit. These didn't however. These melted in my mouth and with the brown sugar icing they are heaven. The only thing I would change is make them a little smaller because they are so rich. We took these to our Scout's spaghetti dinner and they were gone quickly.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies with Brown Sugar Icing
by the Sisters Cafe

Cream together:
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened

Then add:
1 cup pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg

Sift together dry ingredients then add to above wet mixture.
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp salt

Add 1 cup milk chocolate chips.

The dough we be very wet still. Bake cookies at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes depending how large your cookies are. I cook all my cookies on parchment paper. Allow to cool then frost.

Icing:
3 T butter
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. milk
2 c. powdered sugar

Icing:
In saucepan, heat butter and brown sugar over medium to med-high heat until bubbling and thick. Cool 10 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup milk. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth.

Chicken Avocado Enchiladas

When I was a baby my mom used to spoon feed me avocados. All my life I have preferred eating an avocado with a sprinkle of salt to almost anything else.

My friend Kaela is always cooking and has her own blog, Clawson Kitchen. I saw these on there and knew I had to try them. For some reason putting the avocado inside of the enchilada is what got me. I loved cutting into the enchilada and seeing the bright green. I know, I'm weird. I loved the taste the cream cheese added to the filling. We used a spicy salsa so they were too hot for the kiddos, but we loved them.

Chicken Avocado Enchiladas
by Kaela Clawson

3 c. chopped, cooked chicken
2 1/2 c. your favorite salsa
2 heaping tsp. ground cumin
1 1/2 c. chopped red or green pepper
6 oz cream cheese, cubed and softened
1 c. sliced green onions, with tops or a medium purple onion
2/3 c. sliced ripe olives
2 ripe avocado, peeled, pit removed, and cubed
4 (12 inch in.) flour tortillas
Cheese
1 can of enchilada sauce for dipping (optional)

Optional
Sour cream
Extra olive slices
Diced tomatoes

Throw pepper and onion in with chicken last minute or two of cooking it. Combine chicken mixture, 1 cup of salsa, and cumin in saucepan. Simmer and stir 5 minutes. Add cream cheese and olives. Stir until cream cheese melts.

Divide avocado pieces evenly between tortillas. Put avocado pieces in a strip down the center of each tortilla. Top with a strip of a heaping 1/2 cup of chicken mixture. Roll up tightly. Cut in half and place each half seam side down in greased 7 by 11 inch baking dish. Spoon remaining 3/4 cup salsa over enchiladas. Cover tightly with foil. Bake in 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until hot. Top with a sprinkle of cheese and remain to oven uncovered for a couple minutes just until cheese is melted.

Serve with optional toppings, hot enchilada sauce for dipping, refried beans, and rice.

Southern Chess Squares

This is a classic Southern dessert that tastes great with little effort. It has a buttery cake and "pee-can" crust topped with a sweet cream cheese filling. Make sure to cut these small because they are rich. If you can't handle it, you must not be from the South! Not that I am, but very few things are too rich for me. These taste similar to cheesecake so if you want you could even add cherry or blueberry sauce on top. I think they are best when they have been chilled.
Southern Chess Squares
by Allrecipes.com

1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 cup melted butter
1 egg
1 cup chopped pecans

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
4 cups confectioners' sugar
2 eggs

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan. Mix together the cake mix, melted butter and the egg. Stir in the chopped pecans. Press mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Set aside.
2.In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese with the confectioners' sugar. Beat in the eggs one at a time until blended.
3.Pour cream cheese mixture over crust. Bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes. Cool in the pan, then cut into squares before serving. I think they are best served chilled.

White Chicken Chili

It was 88 degrees on Halloween. John said he feels like we're faking the holidays around here because it feels like summer year round. I love the heat but I miss making the warm comfort food on cold winter days. So screw it...I'm making it anyway. This recipe was given to me a couple of years ago by my friend Tricia who's basically good at everything she does, especially cooking. My mom makes this recipe all the time back home and just made it for her annual Halloween party. Always a hit!

Don't try counting calories on this one...

As Paula Deen says, "I'm not your nurse, I'm your cook!"
White Chicken Chili
by Tricia Thomas

1 large onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 cup flour
2 cubes of butter
4 cups half and half
1 1/2 cups of chicken broth
4 cans white beans (navy, great northern, or garbanzo), drained and rinsed
2-3 (4 oz) cans chopped green chilies
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts cooked and sliced into small pieces
2 cups grated Monterrey Jack cheese
1-2 tsp. Tabasco sauce
1-2 tsp. of chili powder (depending how spicy you want it)
1 tsp. cumin
1 cup sour cream (optional)

Cook onion and garlic in a couple tablespoons of butter until soft, not brown. Set aside. Make a roux by melting the 2 cubes of butter and whisking the 1/2 cup of flour in. Boil for 3 minutes stirring constantly. Add the onion and garlic to the roux.

Add the half and half and chicken broth. Simmer 3 minutes or until thick.

Pour mixture into a crockpot then add the white beans, chilies, chicken, cheese, Tabasco sauce, chili powder, and cumin.

Simmer 20 minutes. Right before serving add salt and pepper to taste and sour cream (optional). Garnish with cilantro.

Pumpkin Fluff Dip

Are you burnt out on pumpkin recipes yet? I'm getting there but I am still on a search for the perfect pumpkin cookies. If you like pumpkin pie, you will like this dip. If you don't, you won't like it. I couldn't find the cinnamon graham cracker sticks at the store for dipping so I just used regular graham crackers. Nilla wafers are good too. If you are ambitious it's fun to serve it in a cleaned out pumpkin!
Pumpkin Fluff Dip
adapted from Allrecipes.com

1 (16 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
1 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (adjust this to how "pumpkiny" you want it.)

In a large bowl, mix together instant vanilla pudding mix, pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice. Fold in the thawed frozen whipped topping. Chill in the refrigerator until serving. Serve with ginger snaps, Nilla wafers, or cinnamon graham crackers.

Pumpkin Spice Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting

I love the Pioneer Woman. She cooks real cowgirl food and everything I have tried of hers is good. I always enter her amazing giveaways and think I'm going win even though 10,000 other people enter it too.
Today I took my boys to the park and we got rained out after 10 minutes. More than rained out...torrential downpour. We came home threw our soaked clothes in the dryer and got them all nice and warm. Then we made these...

They were good. Really good. Question...what makes a muffin a muffin because I'm pretty sure this was a cupcake disguised as a muffin. The cream cheese frosting was one of the best frosting recipes of its kind.

Moist Pumpkin Spice Muffins (With Cream Cheese Frosting)

by The Pioneer Woman

Muffins:
1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces

1 heaping cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup golden raisins (optional!)

Cinnamon Sugar Mixture:

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously grease 12 muffin tins (Mine only made 10).

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Cut in butter with two knives or a pastry blender until all incorporated. In a separate bowl, mix together pumpkin, evaporated milk, egg, and vanilla. Pour pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture. Add raisins.

Fold gently until mixture is just combined. Pour into greased muffin pan—batter hardly ever fills all twelve unless you keep it down to 1/2 full. Sprinkle generous amounts of cinnamon-sugar over the top of each unbaked muffin. Bake for 25 minutes. Allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes, then remove and allow to cool. Ice with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1/4 cup softened butter

4 ounces cream cheese

1/2 pound powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all ingredients on high until soft and whipped. Spread onto completely cooled muffins, or place into a large pastry bag with a large star tip and go crazy!
Store in fridge, as icing will soften at room temperature.

Fancy Schmancy Food: Bruschetta with Gorgonzola Cheese and Honey

I have never been a fan of fancy food. You know...the weed salads and small portions. I prefer Outback where the food is good and you get more bang for your buck. However, I recently had this at a fancy luncheon at the coach's house for the player's wives and couldn't stop eating them. I asked the caterer what it was and then went home and googled the ingredients and Giada's recipe came up.

Don't be scared by the Gorgonzola. It wasn't overpowering. At least mine wasn't. The sweet/salty combo is perfect. It's easy and appears gourmet. I was on the phone with my sister when I fixed these and John had just walked in the door from work. When I got off the phone only three were left...THREE. The only drawback to these is they are best when right out of the oven so probably best to be made at your own home instead of taken to a function.
Bruschetta with Gorgonzola Cheese and Honey
by Giada De Laurentiis

36 slices (1/2-inch thick) baguette bread, about 1 loaf
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
8 ounces Gorgonzola, sliced (I used crumbled)
3 tablespoons honey (I used more)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Arrange the sliced baguette on a baking sheet. Brush with olive oil. Bake until the bread is pale golden and crisp, about 10 minutes (I only needed 5 minutes).

Arrange the cheese on the toasts and bake until the cheese is melted, about 3 minutes.
Drizzle the toasts with honey. Place on a serving platter and serve immediately.

Zesty Italian Crescent Casserole

This must be MAN food. I got a "Oh babe, this is good" from John and Austin asked for seconds which is unheard of. It was good but it's not exactly diet friendly for this chick. It's hearty for my growing boys. I saw this over on Taste and Tell. It was in the Pillsbury bake-off in 1978. It's easy, easy, easy. Great for weeknights. I had to steal this picture before they finished the whole thing off.

Zesty Italian Crescent Casserole

from Best of the Bake-Off

1 lb. lean ground beef
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 cup spaghetti sauce
6 oz. (1 1/2 cups) shredded mozzarella or Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1 (8-oz.) can Pillsbury® Recipe Creations (or Crescent Dinner Rolls pressed together along the perforations)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Heat oven to 375°F. In large skillet, cook ground beef and onion over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until beef is thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently. *I added salt and pepper here and a 1/2 tsp. of Italian seasonings. Drain. Stir in pasta sauce; cook until thoroughly heated.Meanwhile, in medium bowl, combine mozzarella cheese and sour cream; mix well.Pour hot beef mixture into ungreased 9 1/2 or 10-inch glass deep-dish pie pan or 11x7-inch (2-quart) glass baking dish. Spoon cheese mixture over beef mixture.Unroll dough over cheese mixture. In small bowl, mix Parmesan cheese and butter. Spread evenly over dough.Bake at 375°F. for 18 to 25 minutes or until deep golden brown.

Marshmallow Blondies

It's no secret that I've been a marshmallow kick lately. The marshmallows melt into these bars making them super chewy and mixed with the chocolate and butterscotch chips they're a super sweet bar. You'll get a cavity just looking at them. The hardest part is letting these cool all the way before trying them. Make sure you do...it's worth the wait.

Marshmallow Blondies
Seen on TwoPeasandtheirPod

1 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups mini marshmallows
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13 x 9 baking dish with cooking spray.

In a sauce pan over medium heat, melt the butterscotch chips and butter, stirring constantly until smooth. When melted remove from heat and transfer the contents of the pan to a mixing bowl. Don't over heat the butter and butterscotch chips or they will separate, so make sure you watch them carefully and don't cook them too long.

Cool the butterscotch and butter mixture to room temperature. In a large bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, vanilla, and eggs into the butter and butterscotch mixture. Make sure you blend everything together really well. The batter will be thick. Mix in the chocolate chips and marshmallows. Spread the blondie batter into the pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. The center will feel a little soft, but will firm while cooling. Let cool 2 -3 hours before cutting.

Fantastic Thursday...Gorilla Bread

This is monkey bread on steroids. Cream cheese is stuffed inside the biscuits then the outside is covered in butter, cinnamon sugar, and nuts.

Four years ago I was living at my moms with Austin trying to save money while John was in Miami trying to secure a spot on the team. For four months I lived there and in order to maintain my keep I pitched in cooking when I could. There were seven of us in transition living with my parents at the time so we had quite the crew to cook for. My mom and I tended to get in ruts with the same old meals so every Thursday she dubbed "Fantastic Thursday" in which we had to venture out and make something new that we found online or in a cookbook.

I remember on a certain Fantastic Thursday we attempted this Gorilla bread for dessert by Paula Deen. As we were opening the biscuits my mom's can exploded and biscuits rained all over the kitchen. She screamed like a little girl! We laughed so hard. As I made these for Conference last weekend I laughed out loud when I thought about it. Sorry not the best pics but I had company over and didn't want to keep them waiting while I took pictures.

Gorilla Bread
by Paula Deen

1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 8-ounce package cream cheese
2 12-ounce cans refrigerated biscuits (10 count)
1 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray. Mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon. In a saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar over low heat, stirring well; set aside. Cut the cream cheese into 20 equal cubes. Press the biscuits out with your fingers and sprinkle each with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar. Place a cube of cream cheese in the center of each biscuit, wrapping and sealing the dough around the cream cheese.

Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the nuts into the bottom of the bundt pan. Place half of the prepared biscuits in the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, pour half of the melted butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle on 1/2 cup of nuts. Layer the remaining biscuits on top, sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar, pour the remaining butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of nuts. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Place a plate on top and invert.