Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake

I'm LOVING this fall season and all of these yummy pumpkin recipes! This bundt cake is super easy to whip up and so delicious. I'm really surprised with myself that I didn't add chocolate chips to this cake but it's so good with the cream cheese frosting that it really doesn't need anything else. However, next time I make this I'm definitely going to try it with chocolate chips because I readily admit that I'm seriously addicted to chocolate!

Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake

• 1 package yellow cake mix
• 1- 3.4 oz. package instant butterscotch pudding mix
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger

preheat oven to 350 degrees. grease and flour (or use Wilton cake release) a bundt pan. in a large bowl combine all ingredients. with an electric hand mixer, beat on low for 30 seconds. increase speed to high and beat for 3 minutes. pour batter into bundt pan and bake 45-50 minutes or until toothpick comes out almost clean, don't over bake. let sit 5 minutes and then turn out onto a cooling rack and cool completely. frost with cream cheese frosting and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar + more if needed

in a medium bowl combine cream cheese, butter and vanilla and mix well. gradually add in powdered sugar. add in more powdered sugar if needed to get a thicker consistency.

Spiced Apple Cider Punch

My family will tell you that I'm obsessed with beverages. I'm always craving a yummy drink whether it's soda, punch, hot chocolate, smoothies, you name it! One of the things I love about throwing parties is making something delicious to drink. The only problem is that kids usually come to most of our parties and so I tend to just stick with water to avoid messy spills. However, I threw a Halloween party last week and since the only kids that were there were all one-years old, I felt like it was safe to make a special drink. I made this recipe and I'm still craving it days later. The day after the party my husband asked if I had the stuff to make it again just for us. I wish I did because even though it makes a lot, I'm pretty certain I could have finished it off in just a couple of days. :)

Anyway, this punch is really good and perfect for any fall or winter party. The instructions are to chill it and serve it cold but I'm sure it would be delicious served warm as well! Oh, and when you buy apple cider, make sure you're actually buying cider and not juice, sometimes the labels can be a little confusing.

Spiced Apple Cider Punch

• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 liters apple cider, divided
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
• 1 can (12 ounces) frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
• 1 cup pulp free orange juice (I actually use orange-pineapple juice)
• 1 1/2 liters ginger ale, chilled

in a large pot, combine sugar, 1 cup cider, cinnamon and allspice. whisk over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. remove from heat. pour in remaining apple cider, orange juice concentrate and orange juice and stir together. cover and refrigerate until chilled.

just before serving, transfer to a punch bowl and stir in ginger ale.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

I've been wanting to make pumpkin bread for SO long now but I wanted to wait until I had time to actually sit down and think and put together something super yummy. The two requirements I have when it comes to pumpkin bread is that first it's soft and moist, and secondly it has A LOT of chocolate chips. Well, I just pulled this bread out of the oven and it definitely meets both requirements. In fact I'm sitting here eating my second slice and I'm just in heaven!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

CLICK HERE FOR MY RECIPE

Fun News and Recipe Update!

About a month ago I was contacted by the editor from MainStreet Magazine about featuring one of my fall recipes in the magazine's October issue. (MainStreet Magazine is a magazine that goes out with the newspaper to homes in Utah county.) Of course I said YES and I am so excited that they printed my favorite pumpkin chocolate chip cupcake recipe. It's been so fun receiving comments from some of you who found my recipe through the magazine and I just want to say thank you to MainStreet Magazine!

Also, I've made a few little tweaks to my favorite pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe to make them even more scrumptious and added a much better picture to the post. You can check out these updates here!

Potato Ham Soup

Last night I had planned to make stew for dinner but when I looked over my recipe I realized I didn't have all of the ingredients I needed. I didn't want to go to the grocery store so I looked through all of my recipes and found this one which I happened to have all of the ingredients for. I hadn't had this soup since I was a kid and I can't believe that I had forgotten about it. My brother came over for dinner last night and said "remember when mom used to make this, it was so good." And it really is so good. It's absolutely perfect for cold fall or wintry days and tastes amazing with warm homemade bread. So, if you cook a ham anytime during this holiday season, I highly recommend saving the leftovers for this soup!

Potato Ham Soup

CLICK HERE FOR MY RECIPE

Chocolate-Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Bars

These bars are SO yummy and addicting which is no surprise considering the fact that they contain three of my favorite things- chocolate, peanut butter, and oatmeal. I made a pan of these for a get together we had and both the adults and the kids loved them. The bars are nice and thin so I personally feel like it's ok if I eat three or for of them at a time!

Chocolate-Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Bars

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE

Buttermilk Syrup

For some reason I used to be afraid of making homemade syrup. Ok, maybe I wasn't really afraid it's more like I was just too lazy. I thought that it would take too much effort and too much time to make it from scratch and what was the point when I could easily buy it from the store? So when I finally decided to make it for the first time I realized how easy it actually is and felt dumb for being so lazy. Now that I've done it, there is no going back! No offense to the store bought stuff which is good, but it just doesn't compare to fresh, warm homemade syrup, especially when it's cold outside....mmmm!

Buttermilk Syrup

• 1 stick butter
• 2/3 cup buttermilk (I like to use the real stuff for this recipe)
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 Tablespoon karo syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

in a LARGE saucepan (use a large pan or the syrup will overflow), combine butter, buttermilk, sugar and karo syrup. while stirring, bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes. take off heat and stir in vanilla and soda. serve while warm.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Fall is here and with that brings one of my favorite things...baking with pumpkin!!! I was at the store a few weeks ago and could not find pumpkin anywhere due to last years pumpkin crop failure. Fortunately the shortage is over and the stores are again stocked full with canned pumpkin. I've stocked my cupboard with this fall staple and now I'm ready for months of pumpkin baking! I've got so many different ideas for yummy pumpkin recipes that I've been concocting in my mind that I can't wait to try them and then share them with you.

The first official pumpkin recipe that I came up with for this year was of course my family's new favorite, pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes.  For my second recipe I made these scrumptious pancakes. I know the ingredient list looks a little long but it's mostly spices and they give these pancakes such a yummy flavor. This recipe is really simple and easy to whip up. I think these pancakes are just perfect the way they are but if you need a chocolate fix with your breakfast, you could definitely add chocolate chips to make these pancakes even more delectable!

I served these pancakes with delicious homemade buttermilk syrup that I will post next time!

Pumpkin Pancakes

• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 egg
• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 Tablespoons vinegar
• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1 teaspoon cloves
• 1 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

in a medium bowl, whisk together milk, pumpkin, egg, oil, and vinegar. in a separate bowl, mix together remaining ingredients. whisk flour mixture into pumpkin mixture until just combined. cook on a griddle at 325 degrees until browned on both sides.