Maple Pumpkin Pie with Streusel

This year I am not making Thanksgiving dinner.  I know....(gasps loudly)!  I am having a wonderful and exciting and special Thanksgiving with my Mom.  We are dressing up and heading to San Francisco for a wonderful dinner in a beautiful hotel!  Super excited!

Even though I'm not cooking, I am still in baking mode!  I have put out an offering for all of my clients to purchase for their very own special Thanksgiving dinners.  My first offering is a beautiful freeform apple pie or galette.  You know it on my blog as "Apple Crunch Pie".  I am also offering this delicious Maple Pumpkin Pie with Streusel!  So excited!  This pie is beautiful AND delicious with a hint of maple in the pie and a fabulous streusel on top.  

Hope you and your families are enjoying this holiday together and that your day is filled with yummy food and a lot of love!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Maple Pumpkin Pie with Streusel  adapted from Sunset Magazine

Crust:

6 tablespoons very cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 tablespoon sugar

5 tablespoons very cold vegetable shortening

3-4 tablespoons ice water

Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and shortening. Pulse 8 to 12 times, until the butter is the size of peas. With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball. Dump out on a floured board and roll into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll dough on a well-floured board into a circle, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough to make sure it doesn't stick to the board. Fold the dough in half, place in a pie pan and return to the refrigerator until filling is ready.

Maple Pumpkin Filling:

1/4 cup granulated sugar 

1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar 

3T - 1/4 cup maple syrup (depending on how sweet you like it)

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin 

1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk 

2 large eggs, beaten to blend 

Preheat oven to 375°. In a bowl, mix granulated sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and ginger. Add pumpkin, milk, and eggs; whisk until well blended.

Pour mixture into unbaked 9-inch pie pastry in pan.  Bake for 25 minutes, then sprinkle walnut streusel evenly over filling. and return to oven.  Bake for an additional 45 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Set on a rack until cool to touch, about 2 hours, chill until ready to serve

Walnut Streusel:

1/4 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar

1/4 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 cup all-purpose flour 

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 cup butter, cut into cubes

In a bowl, combine all ingredients and cut butter into mix, using pastry cutter until crumbly.

This recipe is shared on:

21st Century Housewife - The Hearth and Soul Hop

Food Frenzy

Chocolate Chocolate and More Chocolate - Thursdays Treasures

Brownie Cookies with Caramel Creme Filling

Everyone deals with stress differently.  Some people eat, some people drink, some people go shopping, some people hide away listening to music.....I bake!  Sometimes I go crazy and clean the house and sometimes I want to sit in my jammies and eat all day but baking is the thing that helps me the most.  I don't necessarily want to eat if after I've baked it, I just need to do it for the therapy.  It's pretty cheap therapy, actually! 

Last week was not my best week.  I got some very stressful news and I am not sure how I will fix things.  I know everything will be fine, but right now I am overwhelmed.  So to help me cope, I've been baking.  Ok, ok, ok.....I've been baking AND drinking red wine.  If it makes it any better, I've been baking a lot more than I've been drinking wine.....honest!

During one of my Pinterest drooling sessions, I found these cookies made by Naomi at Baker's Royale.  I LOVE her blog and all of her over-the-top desserts!  Anyways, when you are upset you really need chocolate.  Well, YOU really need chocolate....I need caramel (and red wine, but I think we've covered that).  This recipe sort of combines the best of both worlds.  The original recipe came from Donna Hay who filled her cookies with a peanut butter frosting. Sounds yummy but I followed Naomi's lead and made this fabulous caramel creme filling using my homemade caramel (from my Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Caramel Filling).  You can use store bought if you  prefer, it will still taste fabulous!

Don't wait until you've had a bad day to try this recipe.  In fact, make these babies and maybe you won't have a bad day! 

Enjoy!

Brownie Cookies with Caramel Creme Filling via Bakers Royale

Makes 24 cookie sandwiches

Brownie Cookie:

12 oz. chocolate, chopped

3 tablespoons butter

2 eggs

⅔ cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place 7oz. of the chocolate and the butter in a saucepan over low heat and gently stir until melted and smooth. Set aside.

Place the eggs, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat for 15 minutes or until pale and creamy. Add in flour, baking powder, melted chocolate mixture, remaining 5 oz. of chocolate and mix to combine. Set aside to to stand for 10 minutes. 

Spoon 2 tablespoonful of the mixture, onto parchment lined bake sheet. Bake for about 8–10 minutes or until puffed and cracked. Allow to cool completely on trays.

Caramel Creme Filling:

1 cup butter

2 cups confectioner sugar

1/3 cup caramel

Place butter in a bowl and beat until creamed. Add in confectioner sugar and beat until light combined. Add in caramel and beat until combined.

Assemble:

Spread a teaspoon and a half of caramel creme on underside of one brownie cookie and place a second brownie cookie bottom side down on top frosting

Recipe Shared on:

Chocolate, Chocolate, and More Chocolate - Thursdays Treasures

My Turn For Us - Freedom Fridays

Magic Bars

That's right....you heard me....Magic Bars!  

These bars have many names - Magic Bars, Seven Layer Bars, Hello Dolly Bars, the list goes on!  Call them whatever you like as long as remember two things; 1. these bars are INCREDIBLY addictive 2. they are NOT low fat or low sugar!

I love these bars for so many reasons.  They are delicious and dreamy and everyone loves them!  They are easy to make, easy to cut, and easy to travel with!  But the reason I love them the most is that they are whatever you would like them to be!  You can add any flavor of chocolate chips or even butterscotch chips, any variety of nuts you like, coconut, toffee, peanut butter, etc. etc. etc.

The first layer is graham cracker crumbs and butter but could easily be changed to ground ginger snaps or chocolate cookies.  The layer of sweetened condensed milk can be altered by adding other flavors to it such as caramel, chocolate sauce, or pumpkin.  I used a mixture of semi-sweet and white chocolate chips and used macadamia nuts but other times I have added butterscotch chips and pecans.  All variations equally delicious!

This is the magic of these bars, they can become anything you want them to.  Ok, they won't make you skinny or bring Tyler Florence knocking on your door, but they are still magical!  Make them soon and find out for yourself!  :)


Magic Bars via Eagle Brand


1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 (14 oz.) can Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
1 cup chopped macadamia nuts


Heat oven to 350°F. Coat 13 x 9-inch baking pan with no-stick cooking spray.

Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter in small bowl. Press into bottom of prepared pan. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumb mixture. Layer evenly with chocolate chips, coconut and nuts. Press down firmly with fork.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Loosen from sides of pan while still warm; cool on wire rack. Cut into bars or diamonds.

For perfectly cut cookie bars, line entire pan with foil, extending foil over edge of pan. Coat lightly with no-stick cooking spray. After bars have baked and cooled, lift up with edges of foil to remove from pan. Cut into bars.


This recipe shared on:
My Turn For Us Linky Party - Freedom Fridays
Chocolate, Chocolate, and more Chocolate - Thursdays Treasures
The 21st Century Housewife - Hearth and Soul Blog Hop