Pumpkin Streusel Coffee Cake

With time off school and leftover pumpkin in the freezer, I decided to whip up these bars last night. They are loaded with spices, topped with crumble, and have a brown sugar layer in the middle that kind of melts into the cake. They're warm, soft, thick, and cakey, and it took all the self-control in me not to inhale them when I pulled them out of the oven.
I hope you enjoy this fall-themed treat in January!

Pumpkin Streusel Coffee Cake
recipe from: The Baker Chick

For the Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2¼ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon  nutmeg
¼ teaspoon  cloves
1¼ cups light brown sugar
4 large eggs
¾ cup vegetable oil
One 15-ounce can pumpkin puree ( roughly 2 cups)
½ cup  milk

For the Cinnamon Filling:
1 cup brown sugar, light or dark
1½ tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon cocoa powder (optional)

For the Crumb Topping:
2 cups of flour
⅔ cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
6 tablespoons butter, melted


Mix the ingredients for the cinnamon filling together in a bowl.

Use your hands or a fork to mix together the crumb topping ingredients until crumbly.

Preheat the oven to 350 F and prepare a 9 by 13 inch pan.

Whisk together all the dry ingredients except the sugar in a large bowl. In another bowl, beat together the brown sugar and the eggs until fluffy. Add the oil, the pumpkin puree, and the milk. Stir in the dry ingredients until just combined.

Pour half the batter into the pan and then sprinkle the cinnamon filling on top. Pour the rest of the cake batter on top and then top with the crumb topping. Bake for 30 to 50 minutes, or until it passes the toothpick test.

Maple Banana Blondies

Hi friends(I don't know if anyone still reads this blog)!  It's been a long time so I figured I'd do a post to keep this blog alive. These blondies are incredible. They're just cakey enough but they're also rich and gooey.

On a side note, there's a talented artist on Tumblr that really inspires me. She draws super realistic pictures of food with colored pencils, and she has a place where people can submit photos that she will then draw. A few months back I submitted a photo of those pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and she drew them! Her drawing is amazing and you can check it out here. 

Banana Blondies:

recipe from: Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen

2 c. flour

1 1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. white sugar

1 c. butter

2 eggs

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 mashed banana

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Melt the butter then whisk in the sugars, salt and the vanilla. Add the eggs. Stir in the flour and the mashed banana. Spread into a 8x 8 inch prepared baking pan and bake for 20-28 minutes or until the center is set ( they taste better slightly undercooked).

Maple glaze: 

4 tbsp butter

1 c. powdered sugar

4 tbsp maple syrup

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Spread the glaze onto the blondies while they're still hot.

Cake batter blondies

 These blondies are fudgy and taste like half-baked cake batter. I guess they might not be considered a " recipe" because you just add a few things to cake mix, but they're really easy to make and you only need one bowl. Mine weren't very photogenic because I used blue sprinkles, which turned the batter blue. I found some of those vanilla cupcake flavor goldfish in our cupboard so I added those for some extra crunch, and they were great.

 Cake batter blondies:
Makes an 8 by 8 inch pan.
Recipe from Girl Meets life

Ingredients:
1 box white or yellow cake mix ( I used Betty Crocker)
1/4 c. oil
1 egg
1/4 c. + 2 tbsp milk
1/2 c. white chocolate chips
1/2 c. broken up vanilla goldfish cookies
SPRINKLES!!!!

Whisk together the oil and the egg and stir in the cake mix. Add the milk and mix in the chocolate chips, sprinkles, and cookies.  Pour into a prepared 8 by 8 inch pan and bake for 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees. You want the edges to be golden brown but the center will still be gooey. Don't over cook or else the center will not be gooey and cake batter ish. Let it cool completely before cutting.

S'mores bars

 

I've got a killer recipe for you guys. At first, I was hesitant to post these because I'm kind of a perfectionist and I wasn't too happy with the photos. I took them around 6:30pm on a Wednesday night ( because they were going to school the next day), so it was already starting to get dark out, but I figured I can't not post the recipe for these because they are so stinkin' delicious. These bars are one of the most deliciously fudgy, sweet, and chocolaty desserts I've ever made. The brownies are dense, the marshmallows are soft,  the crust crunches and the chocolate peanut butter on top is just deadly. It took all the self-control in me to not eat the entire pan.

 Graham cracker crust:

3 1/2 c. of crushed graham crackers or digestive biscuits

1/4 c. brown sugar
1 c. melted butter

Mix all the crumbs, butter, and sugar together and press it into the bottom of a pan lined with baking paper. Bake at 325 degrees for 5-8 minutes.


Brownie Layer ( recipe from: Inspiredtaste.net)
1 1/4 c. butter
2 3/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. cocoa powder
4 eggs
1 c. flour

Put the butter, sugar, and cocoa powder in a bowl and microwave, stirring the batter at 30-second intervals. Microwave until melted ( it's okay if the batter looks gritty) Whisk in the eggs one at a time and then add the flour. The batter will look thick and shiny. Pour the mixture onto the graham cracker layer and bake for 20-30 minutes at 325 degrees F.


Topping:
1 bag of marshmallows
2/3 c. melted peanut butter
2/3 c. melted chocolate

Next you want to put the marshmallows on top of the brownies and put them in the oven for about 5 minutes. Keep an eye on them and take them out when the marshmallows are golden brown

Drizzle the melted peanut butter and chocolate on top and let it cool before slicing.






Enjoy!!!

Banana Cake Bars

Its cake and there's no chocolate, or peanut butter, and there's' fruit inside it but it's still delicious and definitely worth your while. They're super sweet, full of flavor, and moist ( sorry couldn't think of a better word)

Ingredients:

Recipe from: Taste of Home

1/2 c. butter

1 1/2 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 c. sour cream

2 c. flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2-3 mashed bananas

Beat the butter and sugar together on high speed for about a minute. Add in the eggs and sour cream. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix the 2 mixtures together and stir in the mashed bananas. Pour into a 9 by 13 in pan lined with baking paper and bake at 350 degrees for 20-40 minutes ( or until a toothpick comes out clean, it depends on your oven.)

Icing:

 8 oz block cream cheese

1/2 cup butter

3-4 cups icing sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon( optional)

Beat the cream cheese, and butter together. Add the icing sugar until its your desired consistency and add as much cinnamon as you would like.

Apple Pie cheesecake bars

 

I made these to bring to a church bakesale and they were ddddeeeeaaadddllllyyyyy. If you're making dessert and there's no chocolate I think brown sugar and cream cheese is the next best way to go ( or maybe with CARAMEL too). I promise you won't regret making these.

( excuse the beautifulness of the pan, my mom's had it since she was a college student)

Use a fork to mix the flour, butter, brown sugar and oatmeal until the butter is evenly mixed in and resembles a crumb type mixture. Set aside one cup which you will use for the topping later. Press it into a pan lined with baking paper and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Beat the cream cheese, vanilla, brown sugar, sour cream or yogurt, and the egg. After the crust has chilled pour the cheesecake onto it.

 Mix the peeled and chopped apples with the cinnamon and sugar and then put them on top of the cheesecake.

 Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture on top. 
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes and let it set before cutting into squares.

Apple Pie Cheesecake Bars:
yield: a 9 by 9 in pan
Recipe found  here


 Ingredients:

CRUST:

• 1 c. flour
• ½ c. butter
• ¾ c. brown sugar
• ¾ c. oatmeal 
•  

CHEESECAKE FILLING:

• 1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• ¼ c. brown sugar
• ¼ c. sour cream or yogurt
• 1 egg

APPLES:

• 3 apples, peeled and diced
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 1/2  tbsp sugar 

Use a fork to mix the flour, butter, brown sugar and oatmeal until the butter is evenly mixed in and resembles a crumb type mixture. Set aside one cup which you will use for the topping later. Press it into a pan lined with baking paper and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Beat the cream cheese, vanilla, brown sugar, sour cream or yogurt, and the egg. After the crust has chilled pour the cheesecake onto it.

Mix the peeled and chopped apples with the cinnamon and sugar and then put them on top of the cheesecake. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes and let it set before cutting into squares.

Enjoy!



 

(Healthy) Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

 These lightened up brownies are really good ( event if my word choice isn't) They're not just "good considering they don't have any butter, oil, or flour," They're actually great and according to my calculations they come out to about 110 calories and 15g of carb for a decent sized brownie ( based on 16) which is not too shabby if you ask me. They're a different texture then the brownies you're probably used to but they're still fudgy and chocolatey which I think we all can agree is the important thing.

Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies
recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of peanut butter
6 oz. yogurt
1/4 cup skim milk
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup sugar ( or 1 cup if you want them sweeter)
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup cocoa powder


Throw all the ingredients except for the peanut butter into a blender until the oats no longer look like oats ( they'll be ground up). Pour the batter into a greased 8 by 8 pan. Melt the peanut butter and pour/drizzle it onto the raw brownie batter and use a knife to swirl it around. Bake at 350 degrees for around 20 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test. Wait for them to cool COMPLETELY before cutting them or they'll fall apart ( I put mine in the freezer for an hour first).





Nutrition Facts:

Peanut Butter Granola bars

Peanut Butter Granola Bars
makes: a 9 by 9 inch pan


Ingredients:
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
2 1/2 cups oats
2/3 cup almonds
2/3 cups walnuts
whatever other add ins you want


Melt the peanut butter and stir everything together. Press it into a 9 by 9 inch pan with baking paper and then freeze until its firm enough to be cut into squares.



Enjoy!!!

Caramel Oatmeal Mars Bars

Caramel Oatmeal Mars Bars
adapted from: Cooking Channel

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of flour
• 1 3/4 cup oats
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/4 cups butter
• 4 chopped up Mars Bars
• as much caramel sauce*** as you want ( I used just over a cup and mine where really sweet)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the baking soda, brown sugar, oats, flour, and butter together. Divide the mixture in two and press one of the portions into the bottom of a 9 by 9 inch pan lined with baking paper. Bake for about 10 minutes. Next half the caramel sauce on top along with the mars bars. Cover with the remaining flour/oats mixture and then the remaining caramel sauce on top of that and bake for around 20 minutes or until the crust looks mostly baked. Cool before cutting.

***Caramel sauce:

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1 cup heavy cream

3 1/2 tbsp butter.

Without stirring, boil the sugar and water together for about 7 minutes ( until its light brown and the sugar is dissolved) Remove from heat and add cream and butter.

Enjoy!!