pumpkin chocolate chip bread

sunday, december 1st

pumpkin chocolate chip bread

i really meant to make these earlier in the week so i wouldn't make them for sunday baking. that didn't happen. i wanted to retire my pumpkin recipes, at least for a little while, for two reasons. one, i feel i've gone overboard (yes, i am well aware that four of my recipes last month involved pumpkin-i'm obsessed and i'm fine with it) and two, it's the first day of december. now i can officially listen to christmas music, post about christmas-y things, and bake christmas themed goodies without being judged. but for one last night i'll thoroughly enjoy my fresh, perfectly moist, wannabe healthy pumpkin bread. #myhubbybetterbeready for many novembers filled, and i mean filled, with pumpkin recipes. 

chocolate chip pumpkin bread

2 c all purpose flour (spoon flour into cup and level with knife)

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 c brown sugar

1 1/2 c white sugar

6 oz plain yogurt

3 eggs, slightly beaten

15 oz pure pumpkin

1/2 c canola oil

1 tsp vanilla 

1 c chocolate chips 

preheat oven to 350F. spray bread loaf pans with nonstick spray. 

combine dry ingredients in a large bowl: flours, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. whisk gently to combine and set aside.  

in a separate bowl combine brown and white sugars and whisk to break up any clumps of brown sugar. add yogurt, eggs, pumpkin, oil, and vanilla extract. whisk until smooth.

slowly add dry ingredient to wet and mix together. do not over mix. when combined, gently stir in chocolate chips. divide batter between loaf pans and sprinkle a few extra chocolate chips on top. bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out with a few crumbs attached. try not to overbake. keep checking often if they need more time. 

let cool for 10 minutes and then run a knife around edge of pan and remove loaves. 

(i doubled the recipe and used four 7.5 x 4 pans and five 3 x 6 pans).

original recipe found at our best bites

pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

wednesday, november 27th

easiest pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

i realize i've done this recipe before but i needed to make these for thanksgiving dinner. if you missed the recipe before you're a lucky human because here it is again. you probably won't even need to write it down. it's that easy.

pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

1 box spice cake mix

1 15 oz can of pure pumpkin  

enough chocolate chips to satisfy you

mix it all together with a wooden spoon (no need to use a bosch or hand blender). drop cookies by the spoonful on greased or parchment lined cookie sheet. bake at 350F for about 10-13 minutes. cooking time may vary, so start checking them around 10 minutes.

there ya go. super easy and extremely delicious. #myhubbybetterbeready to make them for me from time to time--i'm not going to be the only one using the oven. 

pumpkin pie peanut butter cups

sunday, november 24th

pumpkin pie reese's

so i've discovered chocolate-covered katie: the healthy dessert blog and it's bad news. well, it's great news because i love her recipes. it's bad news because i want to make and (more importantly) eat them every day, all day. this week's sunday baking recipe came from her site and it was a success. with it being the beginning of thanksgiving week, i thought it fitting to do another pumpkin dessert. this was unlike any i've tried and it was a nice change. homemade reese's cups really aren't that hard. i don't know why i haven't tried them before now. it's fun to play with the filling and cater it to a specific time of year or party. #myhubbybetterbeready to try all sorts of homemade reese's cups. this girl ain't gonna stop making them.

pumpkin pie peanut butter cups

melt 1 cup chocolate chips, melted

2 tbsp pumpkin puree (sweet potato would work, too.) 

2 tbsp peanut butter 

1/8 tsp cinnamon (and optional pinch pumpkin pie spice)

melt chocolate chips. fill just the very bottoms of cupcake liners, mini cupcake liners, or candy molds with chocolate, reserving the rest. then freeze 8-10 minutes. meanwhile, combine all other ingredients and stir to form a paste. (if using refrigerated peanut butter, it’s best to heat before mixing). take liners from freezer and top each with filling (1 teaspoon in each of twelve, if using regular cupcake liners). cover with more chocolate, and freeze until solid. best if kept in refrigerator. 

**i ended up using 1 cup of melted chocolate chips just for the bottom of 12 regular sized cupcake liners. i melted another cup or so to put on top of the pumpkin/pb filling. i also used semi-sweet chocolate chips because that was all i had. milk chocolate would have been better im guessing.  i also wish i would have used my mini cupcake pan because my reese's turned out short and squatty. next time. 

(i changed a few things from the original recipe. click here if you want to see it.) 

pumpkin pie brownies

wednesday, november 20th 

chocolate pumpkin pie brownies

sunday baking has become so dear to me that i decided to add another day of baking to my week. i now introduce #whatchagonnabakewednesday to the blog. wednesday baking will be a day for me to share my baking experience with those around me. i usually choose to do sunday baking in solitude but wednesdays will bring friends to the kitchen and good memories will be formed and friendships will be found or strengthened while baking delicious goodies. 

this week i attempted healthy chocolate pumpkin brownies. big success. they turned out so moist and fudge like. the pumpkin flavor was mild but there was just enough to give it that holiday flavor. #myhubbybetterbeready for lots of these in the future. 

chocolate pumpkin pie brownies

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup ww pastry flour (or white, spelt, or even oat flour) *i used white

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp plus 1/16 tsp salt

2/3c sugar or xylitol (or 1/2c maple syrup or agave: it’ll be a bit less cakey with liquid sweetener) *i used xagave

1 packet nunaturals stevia (or 1/32tsp uncut stevia), or 1 more tbsp agave or sugar

1/2 cup canned pumpkin (or pureed pumpkin or sweet potato)

3 tbsp oil (you can omit, but be warned: the brownies will be gummy) *i used the oil

2 tbsp milk of choice

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup chocolate chips (not optional)

combine dry ingredients, and mix very well. combine wet ingredients, then mix into dry. pour into a greased pan (it will fill up half an 8×8). cook for about 23 minutes at 330F. these taste great fresh out of the oven but they're even better after sitting for a while. enjoy and don't feel too guilty--these aren't half bad for you!

original recipe found here. 

skinny chocolate peppermint cake pops

sunday, november 17th

skinny chocolate peppermint cake pops

the holidays are just around the corner and i couldn't be more excited. i'm starting to try out those typical holiday flavors already because there just too many and a couple months isn't enough time to try them all. today i tried cake pops for the first time. they taste delicious, they look great, but they do take time and patience. i found my recipe from gina's skinny recipes in hopes to have this be a little more on the healthy side--how healthy can you get with chocolate, peppermint candies, and cake though. it was worth a shot. my cake pops didn't turn out like the picture (of course, i swear that's always the case) but i did dip my cake pops in crushed peppermints instead of using peppermint chocolate. they still turned out great and i'll keep experimenting so #myhubbybetterbeready for many more holiday treats to come. 

skinny chocolate peppermint cake pops

1 pkg chocolate cake mix

6 oz plain fat free greek yogurt

1 c water

2 large egg whites

1 tsp vanilla extract

approx. 20 oz candy melts (i tried with chocolate chips also) 

peppermint candy, crushed 

cake pop maker

preheat oven to 350F. spray cake pop maker with baking spray. 

combine all the cake ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat until combined. place the batter into a pastry bag or large ziplock bag with the tip cut off. 

pipe the bater into the prepared cake pop maker (the one i used is the baby cakes brand, found here) and bake about 5 mins-each batch makes 12 cake pops. place on cooling rack, then refrigerate balls for at least 45 mins. 

melt chocolate in microwave safe bowl (don't add chunks of peppermint candies like i did--it made the chocolate not melt correctly). dip lollipop stick in chocolate, then into the cake ball to hold the stick in place. did the cake pops into the melted chocolate, let the excess drip off (or realistically help spoon it off---it's never as easy as it sounds, darn it), roll in crushed peppermints, then place stick on cake pop cooling rack, styrofoam block, or gift box with holes poked into it (sometimes you need to get creative). 

the recipe originally said it would make 48-50 balls but i got 70, which i assume was the different cake pop maker. 

enjoy!