New release: Chicken Soup for the Soul: It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas: 101 Tales of Holiday Love and Wonder
The holiday season draws near, and as always, the good folks at Chicken Soup for the Soul have a new book that celebrates it. I’m happy to share a true story about how my family adapted Christmas for the sake of my autistic son–in particular, about his deep love of chocolate-filled advent calendars. You’ll find “The Advent of New Holiday Traditions” on page 206 of Chicken Soup for the Soul: It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas: 101 Tales of Holiday Love and Wonder.
Needless to say, it makes a great holiday gift! Get it most anywhere, including the major places:
Read MoreBready or Not: Chocolate-Swirled Pumpkin Bars
Chocolate-Swirled Pumpkin Bars. Because I will never feature enough iterations of this perfect pairing.
Yeah, every year I do a new take (or a couple) on this lovely Voltron-saving-the-galaxy team-up between pumpkin and chocolate. You know why? Because it’s AWESOME. Like Voltron. With a lot less death and destruction.
This recipe gets extra oomph from cream cheese, but by no means do these taste like cheesecake bars. Here, the cream cheese adds umami richness rather than straight-out cream cheese flavor.
I was amazed by how thick these bars ended up. Really, these are more akin to cake than standard blondies or brownies.
Bake these up and brighten someone’s day. You don’t need to summon up Voltron to save a person’s world. Sometimes, baked goods can do the trick.
Need more pumpkin X chocolate OTP? Check out past posts on Bready or Not!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars
Pumpkin Nutella Swirl Muffins
Triple Chocolate Pumpkin Bundt Cake
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Shortbread
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread (2 loaves)
Bready or Not: Chocolate-Swirled Pumpkin Bars
Equipment
- 15x10-x1 jelly roll pan
Ingredients
Pumpkin base layer
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 4 eggs
- 15 ounces pumpkin puree
- 1 cup vegetable oil
Chocolate swirl
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 Tablespoon milk
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Topping
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
Prepare the base layer
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a jelly roll pan (15x10x1) with aluminum foil, making sure the edges are covered. Add nonstick spray or grease.
- In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and cloves. Add the four eggs, the pumpkin, and oil. Pour into the prepared pan.
Start the chocolate swirl
- Microwave 1/2 cup of chocolate chips, zapping in short increments and stirring well between each pass, until it is melted. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with the sugar; it's okay if it's still a little lumpy. Follow up with the one egg, milk, and melted chocolate. Dollop the chocolate mixture atop the pumpkin batter. Use a narrow spatula or butter knife to swirl layers together in a marbled effect. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips on top.
- Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until it looks puffed and the middle passes the toothpick test. Cool on a rack for at least an hour, then chill in fridge before cutting. This will make it easier to cut.
- Use foil to lift onto a cutting board. Slice into bars then store chilled in a sealed container with waxed paper between stacked layers.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Buttery Pumpkin Cookies
It’s October! That means Bready or Not resumes its traditional month of pumpkin recipes, starting with these Buttery Pumpkin Cookies.
These cookies are a dream come true for pumpkin lovers. They are soft and tender, like handheld cake, really.
But of course, the cookies are better with a little extra sweetness. These babies need ICING–a brown sugar icing that comes together quickly on the stovetop.
This is a recipe to make to share: the end result is about 70 tablespoon-sized cookies!
Modified from Fall Baking 2016 from Better Homes & Gardens.
There are more pumpkin recipes to look forward to this month! Here’s the full schedule:
Buttery Pumpkin Cookies (today)
Chocolate Swirl Pumpkin Bars
Pumpkin Raisin Cookies
Pumpkin Chocolate Cake
Pumpkin-Ginger Coffee Cake
Bready or Not: Buttery Pumpkin Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks, room temperature
- 2 cups white sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 15 oz can pumpkin puree
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
Brown sugar icing
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/4 cup milk or half & half
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups confectioners' sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Mix in the white sugar, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Beat until fluffy, scraping bowl as needed. Add the eggs and vanilla, followed by the pumpkin. Mix in the flour until just combined.
- Use a tablespoon scoop to dole out dough onto the cookie sheet, spacing out to allow for expansion. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until tops are set and edges golden. Cool on wire rack.
- Once cookies are completely cool, make the icing. In a small saucepan, cook the butter and brown sugar, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved. Stir in the milk and vanilla. Mix in the confectioners' sugar until smooth, adding more if necessary to reach a spreadable consistency. Use the back of a spoon to spread the icing onto the cookies. If the icing in the pot begins to harden, stir in a few drops of hot water to make it pliable again.
- Store cookies in a sealed container, with waxed paper or parchment between the layers.
- OM NOM NOM!
