I am so over this crazy hot weather! It’s October and topping 80 degrees, which just feels wrong. I’m ready for boots, sweaters, bonfires and all the delicious seasonal eats. I naturally find myself baking a lot more during the fall, but that hasn’t happened yet because of the nonstop heat. Bring on the crisp, cool fall days!

I couldn’t totally resist turning on the oven the past couple of weeks because I started to see so many pumpkin and apple goodies popping up at stores and bakeries around town. It made me want to create some of my own! As a result, I’ve made far too many batches of cookies in pursuit of the perfect pumpkin chocolate chip version. I’ve always loved the combination of pumpkin and chocolate, but found one of the flavors always overshadowed the other in most recipes. So, I started experimenting and used my beloved banana cookies as inspiration. I wanted the pumpkin cookies to have a similar, cake-like texture.

The first cookies I made were a little too dense and you could barely taste the pumpkin. The second batch had a better texture, but still not enough pumpkin flavor. So, I kept messing with the spice variations and increasing the amount of pumpkin puree and finally found a cookie that was just what I wanted. It doesn’t taste like you’re eating a scented candle when you bite into these and the semisweet chocolate chips complement instead of overwhelm the pumpkin flavor. I gave a couple dozen to my husband so he could share them with his co-workers and they were gone within minutes, which is always a good sign.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

[ingredients title=”Ingredients”]

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. cloves
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tbsp. plain Greek yogurt
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips

[/ingredients]

[directions title=”Directions”]

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set cookie sheet aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg until just combined.
3. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream sugar and butter together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Add eggs, yogurt, vanilla and pumpkin to bowl and mix on medium until smooth.
4. Turn mixer speed down to low and slowly add flour mixture to bowl, scraping down the sides as needed. Mix until just combined then slowly stir in chocolate chips.
5. Use a cookie scoop or spoon to drop Tablespoons of cookie dough onto the parchment-paper covered cookie sheet, leaving 2 inches between each cookie. Place cookie sheet on the center oven rack and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until cookies are set and just starting to turn golden on the bottoms.
6. Use a spatula to carefully remove cookies from sheet and place on a cooling rack. Repeat process until cookie dough is gone. Allow cookies to cool to room temperature before storing in an airtight container.

[/directions]

The post Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies appeared first on The Broadcasting Baker.

It’s way too early to be up. I’m heading to Washington, D.C. for the first half of this week to cover a former Indiana Congressman being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. I’m so excited for the opportunity and I’m hoping to squeeze in a couple quick visits with friends in between shoots.

I’ll arrive back on Wednesday, head into work to put together a couple stories and then hit the road so I can be home to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family. Something tells me I’ll have to squeeze a few naps in!

It’s been years since I’ve made it to my folks’ for Thanksgiving and I’m so excited to spend time with family and enjoy some of our favorite foods. My sister and I will be preparing everything but the turkey because my parents and husband are spending the day before Thanksgiving driving to Michigan and back to pick up beer advent calendars from our favorite brewery. Yes, it’s just as crazy as it sounds.

One of my favorite Thanksgiving desserts is these delicious pumpkin bars my mom’s been making for years. The filling tastes like a slightly creamier pumpkin pie, nestled on top of a yellow cake crust. YUM!

If pies intimidate you, bake these for your holiday get together with family and friends. And have a very happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Pumpkin Bars

[ingredients title=”Cake Ingredients”]

• 1 package yellow cake mix
• 1 egg
• 8 Tbsp. butter melted

[/ingredients]

[ingredients title=”Filling Ingredients”]

• 1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese, softened
• 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 8 Tbsp. butter, melted
• 1 (16 oz) box powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. nutmeg

[/ingredients]

[directions title=”Directions”]

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine all of the cake ingredients in a large bowl and mix well with an electric beater. Pat mixture into the bottom of a lightly-greased 13 x 9 baking pan. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth.
4. Add the eggs, vanilla and butter and beat together until combined. Add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and mix until smooth.
5. Spread pumpkin mixture over cake batter and bake 40 to 50 minutes. Do not over-bake — the center should be slightly gooey.
6. Refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.

[/directions]

The post Thanksgiving Pumpkin Bars appeared first on The Broadcasting Baker.

So, what’s the problem? I don’t like drinking liquid potpourri.

There are few varieties of beer I don’t like and pumpkin beer is one of them. It just doesn’t taste like beer to me — so what’s the point?

This week I found myself staring into our fridge at a couple bottles of Schlafly Pumpkin Ale wondering what to do with them. Schlafly beer is great, but I just couldn’t bring myself to drink them. I did something even better — I baked them.

That’s how I came up with this Double Chocolate Bundt Cake with Pumpkin Ale Glaze. The cake recipe is one of my favorites from Picky Palate. I’ve used that cake recipe nearly a dozen times and it always turns out perfectly moist. It’s crowd pleaser! The pumpkin spice buttercream listed in the recipe is amazing, but the glaze I use is lighter. If you aren’t a beer fan, don’t worry — the pumpkin ale itself is very sweet and you can barely taste the beer flavoring.

This recipe does only use a small portion of a bottle of beer, but save the leftovers! I’ve got a recipe for Pumpkin Ale Ice Cream coming your way tomorrow.

Double Chocolate Bundt Cake with Pumpkin Ale Glaze

Cake recipe from Picky Palate 

[ingredients title=”Cake Ingredients”]

• 1 box devil’s food cake mix
• 1 box instant chocolate pudding
• 1/2 cup coconut, canola or vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 15 oz. pumpkin
• 2 cups semi-sweet dark chocolate chips

[/ingredients]

[ingredients title=”Glaze Ingredients”]

• 4 Tbsp. pumpkin beer
• 1 Tbsp. milk
• 2 cups powdered sugar

[/ingredients]

[directions title=”Directions”]

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat bundt pan in butter then lightly coat with flour, shaking off any excess. Set aside.
2. Combine all cake ingredients in a large bowl or stand mixer and mix on medium speed until combined. Pour batter into bundt pan and even out top by using a rubber spatula.
3. Place cake on middle oven rack and cook for 45 to 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
4. Place pan on cooling rack for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, run a knife along the edges of the cake before flipping it out of the pan and straight onto the cooling rack. Cool completely.
5. While cake cools, make the glaze by combining beer, milk and powdered sugar. Stir with a fork or whisk until smooth. Once cake is cool, spoon glaze all over cake.

[/directions]

The post Double Chocolate Bundt Cake with Pumpkin Ale Glaze appeared first on The Broadcasting Baker.