Mini Cranberry Bliss Bars

With Thanksgiving just around the corner I thought it would be fun to share a mini version of this delightful treat. I don't know about you, but when I go to a holiday gathering I like to try a little bit of everything. Making these bliss bars mini sized makes it easy for everyone to get a taste with out having to eat a full sized bar or letting any go to waste. This recipe is super simple and can be easily doubled.

Mini Cranberry Bliss Bars 
Cake 
8 tablespoons Unsalted Butter ( 1 stick), softened
1/2 cup Brown Sugar, packed
2 Eggs
Zest of half an Orange
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
3/4 cup All-purpose Flour
1/8 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
1/4 cup Dried Cranberries, coarsely chopped (plus more for sprinkling)
1/4 cup White Chocolate Chips (plus more for sprinkling)*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9x9 inch pan then line with parchment paper and spray with baking spray. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and brown sugar till creamy, about 4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, scrape bowl as needed. Mix in the zest and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and pumpkin pie spice then add it to the butter mixture and beat until well mixed. Stir in the cranberries and white chocolate. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool completely on wire rack.

Frosting 
4 ounces Cream Cheese, softened
2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, softened
1 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla

While the cake is cooling make the frosting. In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the powdered sugar on low, then once it is fully incorporated add the vanilla and increase speed. Beat until smooth.

Assembly
Once the cake is completely cooled, remove it from the pan and spread the frosting evenly over the cake. Sprinkle with white chocolate chips and dried cranberries. Cut into small triangles if desired.

* I used the white chocolate calets pictured below from Whole Foods Market. They are smaller than regular white chocolate chips so they were the perfect size for sprinkling. If you are using regular white chocolate chips you may want to coarsely chop them up before sprinkling or use white chocolate shavings instead.

Recipe slightly adapted from My Baking Addiction where it was adapted from Mr. Breakfast

Pumpkin Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

Today I cooked my first pumpkin! I made this tasty pasta and then decided to experiment with the seeds. They turned out just as I had hoped, lightly sweetened and perfectly crunchy. These seeds are delicious on their own or may be a tasty addition to any fall salad.

Pumpkin Spiced Pumpkin Seeds 
1 cup Pumpkin Seeds
2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, melted
1 tablespoon Brown Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Pumpkin Spice
pinch of Kosher Salt
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with foil and top with a sheet of parchment paper (this makes for super easy cleanup). In a small bowl mix together the brown sugar, pumpkin spice, and salt, set aside until needed. In a separate bowl toss together the pumpkin seeds, melted butter, and vanilla then stir in the pumpkin spice mixture until all the seeds are coated. Spread the seeds out in a single layer on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 20-35 minutes, or until done, check seeds after 15 minutes.

Spiderweb Cake

Halloween in my absolute favorite holiday. I tend to start baking Halloween treats towards the end of September or early October. Usually I start decorating for autumn/Halloween around this time as well, but it has been incredibly warm here and I just can't bring myself to decorate until sweater weather officially begins. But that doesn't stop me from baking for the season. I used this cake recipe from Sweetapolita. It is a white cake with white chocolate frosting, which originally came from the cookbook Baked: New Frontiers in Baking.

Spiderweb Cake 

Step1: Start with a frosted cake.

Step2: Using black decorating gel, make evenly spaced circles starting in the center and working your way out to the edge.

Step3: Drag a toothpick from the center of the cake out to edge, creating six lines or so to create the spiderweb patten. You can also add a spider on top or crawling up the side of the cake.

For this cake recipe visit Sweetapolita.

Happy Baking!

Green Apple Streusel Bars

I bought five green apples with the best of intentions, but they ended up just sitting in a bowl on my dining room table looking pretty. I love green apples, lemons, and even oranges as centerpieces, but when the end of the week draws near it is time to put that fruit to good use. I decided to make these bars with three of the apples rather than eat them one by one. These bars are great with a scoop vanilla ice cream for dessert or with a cup of coffee as a morning treat.

Green Apple Streusel Bars
Streusel
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, Melted
3/4 cup Light Brown Sugar, Packed
1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 1/4 cup All-Purpose Flour

Mix together the brown sugar and salt. Pour in the butter and stir to combined, then add the flour and mix with a fork until large crumbs form. Refrigerate until needed.

Apple Mix
3 Green Apples, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
2 tablespoons Light Brown Sugar
1/3 cup All-Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon Nutmeg
Pinch of Kosher Salt

Whisk together the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add the apples and mix to coat. Set aside until needed.

Cake
1 cup All-Purpose Flour
3/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Kosher Salt
3/4 cup Unsalted Butter, plus more for pan
1 1/4 cup Powdered Sugar, plus more for dusting
2 Eggs
3/4 teaspoon Almond Extract

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and the powdered sugar until fluffy. Add the almond and beat to incorporate. Beat in the eggs one at a time until well combined, scape bowl as needed. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir flour mixture into butter mixture and mix just to combined.

Assembly
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x9 inch square pan with parchment. Spread the cake batter evenly into the prepared pan. Distribute the apple mix evenly over the batter, note there will be some of the flour mixture left in the bottom of the bowl that didn't stick to the apples, just sprinkle it over the apples in the pan. Top the apples with the streusel. Bake for 50-55 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if you like.

Pumpkin Gingerbread with Pumpkin Spice Buttercream

I know it is a little early for fall time desserts, but I have an obsession with pumpkin. I usually get the itch to bake with pumpkin in August and it continues through the end of November. Fall baking is my absolute favorite, so I tend to start baking treats with pumpkin, apple, and spice a bit before the fall season officially begins. I came across this amazing looking gingerbread on Oh She Glows, and I have been thinking about making it ever since. Not only does this bread look fantastic, but it is also vegan. I have not experimented very much with vegan baking but I am really interested in learning more about it and trying new recipes.

Pumpkin Gingerbread
1 cup canned Pumpkin
3 tablespoons Pure Maple Syrup
3/4 cup Organic Pure Cane Sugar
1/3 cup Coconut Oil
1/4 cup Blackstrap Molasses
1 tablespoon Ground Flax Seed
3 tablespoons Water
1 2/3 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 1/4 teaspoons Baking Soda
2 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice (or make your own)
3/4 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 cup Walnuts, Toasted and Chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coarsely  chop walnuts then spread them around on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Toast walnuts for 10 minutes, then set aside until needed. Prepare loaf pan with cooking spray. In a small bowl stir together the ground flax seed and water, then set aside. In a medium sized bowl mix together the pumpkin, maple syrup, sugar, coconut oil, molasses, and flax and water mixture. In a separate bowl whisk together all of the dry ingredients. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry, then stir in the toasted walnuts. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Once baked allow loaf to cool completely before frosting.

Pumpkin Spice Buttercream 
1/2 cup Earth Balance Butter Stick, room temperature
2 cups Powdered Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 tablespoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 tablespoon Almond Milk (or enough to reach the desired consistency)

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment beat the Earth Balance butter stick until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla on low. Scrape the sides and bottom of bowl, increase the speed and beat again until smooth. Add almond milk if needed.  

Recipe slightly adapted from Oh She Glows where it was adapted from Fat Free Vegan