Chocolate overload!

Last night we had dinner with friends. I asked what I could bring over and the response was dessert! I was going to make an apple pie but I got a request for something chocolatey and so I decided to flip through some of my cookooks that I haven't used in awhile for inspiration.

I came upon a recipe for "Beatty's Chocolate Cake" from my Barefood Contessa at Home cookbook. It definitely fit the chocolatey bill! I decided to make the cake but not the frosting recipe that goes along with it because it called for an uncooked egg yolk. Something about that just didn't seem right. I searched on allrecipes.com and found an easy recipe for Mocha Frosting on there. The recipe for that will appear as written, I, however, found the original recipe's frosting was a bit too thin for my taste and so I added more confectioner's sugar to achieve the consistency I wanted. I garnished the cake with mini-chocolate chips, just to up the chocolate factor a tad.

But, long story short, this cake was tasty, rich, and just really great and really easy too! The addition of coffee to the cake, and obviously the frosting (duh! That's why it's "mocha") were a great combination. I think it was a hit with our friends Matt & Alexis! My friend Melanie was over today and I gave her a piece and she loved it too.

Beatty's Chocolate Cake

(from Barefoot Contess at Home)

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans*

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup good cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt (I used regular salt)

1 cup buttermilk, shaken

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 extra large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Butter two 8-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans. (*I skippted this process and just used "PAM" for baking and sprayed that generously on my cake pans - they came out perfectly)

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, andsalt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With the mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Pour batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pans for 30 minutes, then turn them onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Place one layer, flat side up on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting eveny on the top and sides of the cake.

Mocha Frosting

(from AllRecipes.com)

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup strong, hot, brewed coffee
3 cups confectioners' sugar*
1/3 cup melted butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Combine coffee and cocoa in small bowl of electric mixer. Beat until blended. Add sugar, butter or margarine, salt, and vanilla. Beat until blended. Scrape bowl, and beat icing until it has a spreading consistency. Frost the cake. (*I added at least a 1/2 cup more confectioner's sugar to achieve a thicker consistency)

TWD: Russian Grandmother's Apple Pie-Cake

This week the chosen recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie was for Madeleines, which call for a special baking pan so we were given the option of making one of the past recipes from the rotation instead. I almost bought a Madeleine pan then decided to save my money and go for the Russian Grandmother's Apple Pie-Cake. I had trouble deciding on this one as there have been so many great recipes that TWD has made in the past. I decided on this recipe, however, since we were having my parents and my in-laws over for dinner on Sunday night and I knew that this recipe would be a hit. Anything with apples is a hit in our family!


I had a pretty easy time of this recipe for the most part. I did not need the extra 1/4 cup of flour, my dough was definitely dough without it. I did have some trouble rolling it so patchworked it as Dorie suggests. I used Splenda for the apples since my father-in-law is diabetic and did sub half of the sugar in the dough for Splenda which could be one of the reasons my dough came out a little dry from the oven, however, it was certainly still very much edible and delicious! Another reason the cake part could have come out dry - I only baked this for 65 minutes and it did come out a bit browner on top than expected, next time I would definitely cut the baking time down to 60 minutes.

The only thing I wish I hadn't done was not use 10 apples, I used 2 large apples and 6 medium ones and it seemed like a lot of apples. While my filling was not lacking, after getting a taste of this I wanted more of them! Perhaps this was another reason it cooked up quicker than I expected. Next time though. Overall this was a great recipe and it may become a new fall favorite (since my husband and I have a habit of picking way too many apples each fall!)

Russian Grandmother's Apple Pie-Cake
(From Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking: From My Home to Yours”)

For The Dough
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Juice of 1 lemon
3 1/4 - 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour


For The Apples
10 medium apples, all one kind or a mix (I like to use Fuji, Golden Delicious and Ida Reds; my grandmother probably used dry baking apples like Cordland and Rome)
Squirt of fresh lemon juice
1 cup moist, plump raisins (dark or golden)
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Sugar, preferably decorating (coarse) sugar, for dusting

To Make The Dough: Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs and continue to beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes more. Reduce the mixer speed to low, add the baking powder and salt and mix just to combine. Add the lemon juice - the dough will probably curdle, but don’t worry about it. Still working on low speed, slowly but steadily add 3 1/4 cups of the flour, mixing to incorporate it and scraping down the bowl as needed. The dough is meant to be soft, but if you think it looks more like a batter than a dough at this point, add the extra 1/4 cup flour. (The dough usually needs the extra flour.) When properly combined, the dough should almost clean the sides of the bowl.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather it into a ball and divide it in half. Shape each half into a rectangle. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or for up to 3 days. (The dough can be wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 2 months; defrost overnight in the refrigerator.)

To Make The Apples: Peel and core the apples and cut into slices about 1/4 inch thick; cut the slices in half crosswise if you want. Toss the slices in a bowl with a little lemon juice - even with the juice, the apples may turn brown, but that’s fine - and add the raisins. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together, sprinkle over the apples and stir to coat evenly. Taste an apple and add more sugar, cinnamon, and/or lemon juice if you like.

Getting Ready to Bake: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Generously butter a 9×12-inch baking pan (Pyrex is good) and place it on a baking shee tlined with parchment or a silicone mat.

Remove the dough from the fridge. If it is too hard to roll and it cracks, either let it sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes or give it a few bashes with your rolling pin to get it moving. Once it’s a little more malleable, you’ve got a few choices. You can roll it on a well-floured work surface or roll it between sheets of plastic wrap or wax paper. You can even press or roll out pieces of the dough and patch them together in the pan - because of the baking powder in the dough, it will puff and self-heal under the oven’s heat. Roll the dough out until it is just a little larger all around than your pan and about 1/4 inch thick - you don’t want the dough to be too thin, because you really want to taste it. Transfer the dough to the pan. If the dough comes up the sides of the pan, that’s fine; if it doesn’t that’s fine too.

Give the apples another toss in the bowl, then turn them into the pan and, using your hands, spread them evenely across the bottom.

Roll out the second piece of dough and position it over the apples. Cut the dough so you’ve got a 1/4 to 1/2 inch overhang and tuck the excess into the sides of the pan, as though you were making a bed. (If you don’t have that much overhang, just press what you’ve got against the sides of the pan.)

Brush the top of the dough lightly with water and sprinkle sugar over the dough. Using a small sharp knife, cut 6 to 8 evenly spaced slits in the dough.

Bake for 65 to 80 minutes, or until the dough is a nice golden brown and the juices from the apples are bubbling up through the slits. Transfer the baking pan to a cooling rack and cool to just warm or to room temperature. You’ll be tempted to taste it sooner, but I think the dough needs a little time to rest.

TWD: Bill's Big Carrot Cake

It's Tuesdays with Dorie time again, and time to make up for my absense the past 2 weeks!


When I saw that this week's recipe was for Billy's Big Carrot Cake, chosen by Amanda of Slow Like Honey, I was instantly excited! I used to hate, I mean hate carrot cake when I was younger. I honestly don't know why. I think it's probably because I hated vegetables and the thought of carrots in my cake did not sound appealing. On top of that, I didn't like cream cheese for awhile when I was younger either.

For some reason, in the past few years, I've found a new appreciation for carrot cake. While it wouldn't be my first choice off of a dessert menu at a restaurant, it might be my second choice and when it's available as a dessert if we are say, at a party, etc. I certainly don't pass on it. I love how moist carrot cake typically is without being so rich you feel your arteries clogging after your third bite. After all, those carrots count towards your daily veggie intake, right?

Long story short, our friend Matt asked us over for dinner on Sunday night and requested that we bring dessert. I didn't have to think twice of what dessert would be - the latest TWD recipe of course!

I made this in 2 pans instead of 3 as the recipe called for because I only had 2 round cake pans! It worked out fine, I obviously had to increase the cooking time, it took about 52 minutes total in my oven. I took Dorie's option of adding coconut to the middle frosting layers of the cake because one can never have too much coconut! My only complaint is that I realy didn't feel there was enough of frosting for the recipe. I know Dorie suggests just frosting the top and middle layers of the cake, but I just thought it looked too bare, plus, it gave me flashbacks to a birthday cake my Dad and I made my Mom when I was about 6 (that's a story for another day!). Next time, I would probably make at least 1.5 times the frosting recipe to get a little more coverage. In fact I would have done so, if I'd had another block of cream cheese at home, but I did. For the top I added toasted walnuts and coconut to "prettify" it.

This was fantastic, very moist and chock full of raisins, coconut and nuts! Our friends enjoyed it too! I will definitely make this again. Thanks, Dorie!


Bill's Big Carrot Cake
(Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan)















Yields 10 servings

For the cake:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon salt
3 cups grated carrots (about 9 carrots, you can grate them in food processor fitted w/ a shredding a blade or use a box grater)
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
1 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
½ cup moist, plump raisins (dark or golden) or dried cranberries
2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
4 large eggs

For the frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick ( 8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 pound or 3 and ¾ cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice or ½ teaspoon pure lemon extract
½ cup shredded coconut (optional)
Finely chopped toasted nuts and/or toasted shredded coconut (optional)

Getting ready:
Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter three 9-x-2-inch round cake pans, flour the insides, and tap out the excess. Put the two pans on one baking sheet and one on another.

To make the cake:
Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, stir together the carrots, chopped nuts, coconut, and raisins.
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the sugar and oil together on a medium speed until smooth. Add the eggs one by one and continue to beat until the batter is even smoother. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture, mixing only until the dry ingredients disappear. Gently mix the chunky ingredients. Divide the batter among the baking pans.
Bake for 40-50 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point, until a thin knife inserted into the centers comes out clean. The cakes will have just started to come away from the sides of the pans. Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes and unmold them. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up.
The cakes can be wrapped airtight and kept at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to 2 months.

To make the frosting:
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat until the frosting is velvety smooth. Beat in the lemon juice or extract.
If you'd like coconut in the filling, scoop about half of the frosting and stir the coconut into this position.

To assemble the cake:
Put one layer top side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper. If you added the coconut to the frosting, use half of the coconut frosting to generously cover the first layer (or generously cover with plain frosting). Use an offset spatula or a spoon to smooth the frosting all the way to the edges of the layer. Top with the second layer, this time placing the cake stop side down, and frost with the remainder of the coconut frosting or plain frosting. Top with the last layer, right side up, and frost the top- and the sides- of the cake. Finish the top with swirls of frosting. If you want to top the cake with toasted nuts or coconut, sprinkle them on now while the frosting is soft.
Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes, just to set the frosting before serving.

Serving:
This cake can be served as soon as the frosting is set. It can also wait, at room temperature and covered with a cake keeper overnight. The cake is best served in thick slices at room temperature and while it's good plain, it's even better with vanilla ice cream or some lemon curd.

Storing:
The cake will keep at room temperature for 2 to 3 days. It can also be frozen. Freeze it uncovered, then when it's firm, wrap airtight and freeze for up to 2 months. Defrost, still wrapped, overnight in the refrigerator.

And they said....let there be dessert!

I just realized I forgot to blog about Easter dessert.

You know those little recipe booklets that you find at the supermarket near the register? Well a couple of months ago I fell victim to the impulse buy and bought a Pilsbury one all on pies. I had made all of one recipe out of it so far. I picked it up a couple of weeks ago to look for something good for Easter dessert. I found what I remember being called a Strawberry Cream Tart and figured I could modify it to be something that my father-in-law, who is diabetic, could eat. It was very few ingredients, it called basically for a pre-made pie shell, cream cheese, some sugar, strawberries, and fresh whipped cream. I had decided using Cool Whip would just be a lot easier. So when I went shopping I didn't reference the recipe at all. But when I went to make the recipe on Saturday night I realized I couldn't find my little Pilsbury recipe booklet at all. I searched high and low, and in any room I could have brought it into. Nothing. I decide to search on the Pilsbury.com website. Nothing. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

At that point I was pretty much forced to make it up myself from memory and it came out quite good I think! Below is my best re-creation of what I did - which was, in the end, super simple! I had leftovers of this and thought enough to take a picture of it last night before it disappeared. And that's dots of cool whip on those strawberries. I always seem to pick the worst piece of something when I photograph it. *sigh*

The second dessert I made was an easy one - I was all about easy dessert so I had more time to focus on brunch. It's a cookie dough cheesecake from Kraftfoods.com. I failed to take a picture (I know, you're totally surprised...not!) so I'm borrowing one from Kraft. This was easy, rich, and tasty. Can't get much better than that.

Last, is the dessert my mom made. She wanted to bring dessert but couldn't make up her mind so I sent her this Shortcut Carrot Cake recipe. Wow, was it good! Super moist and yummy. Thanks, Mom!!!

I'm also borrowing pictures from the Kraft website for the 2nd and 3rd recipes. I am sick of not having pictures and they are a lot easier on the eyes than my own pictures would have been anyway!

Strawberry Cream Cheese Tart

(Inspired by a Pilsbury recipe)

1 Pilsbury pre-made pie crust, softened according to package directions

1 8 oz block of low fat cream cheese, softened

1 small tub light Cool Whip

1/2 cup Splenda

About a 1/2 pint strawberries with stems removed and cut in half lengthwise

Heat oven to 450°F. Make pie crust as directed on box for One-Crust Baked Shell, using 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Bake about 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool.

In a medium sized bowl, combine cream cheese, 1/2 of the container of cool whip, and Splenda. Beat on medium/low until combined and creamy. Spread into cooled crust and refrigerate for about 2 hours.

Using the rest of the Cool Whip, spread across the top of the tart (I did this more for looks than anything else). Then lay strawberries on top of tart in a concentric circle formation until tart is "full" with strawberries.

PHILADELPHIA® 3-STEP® Cookie Dough Cheesecake*

2 pkg (8oz each) Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
3/4 cup prepared or refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough, divided
1 Graham Pie Crust (6 oz.)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs; mix just until blended. Remove 1/2 cup of the dough; drop by teaspoonfuls into batter. Stir gently until well blended.

Pour into crust. Top with level teaspoonfuls of the remaining 1/4 cup cookie dough.

Bake 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.

*Picture from Kraft Foods

Shortcut Carrot Cake*

(from kraftfoods.com)

1 pkg. (2-layer size) spice cake mix
2 cups shredded carrots (about 1/2 lb.)
1 can (8 oz.) crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup PLANTERS Chopped Pecans, divided
2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed

Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare cake mix batter as directed on package, stirring in carrots, pineapple and 3/4 cup of the pecans until well blended. Pour into 2 (9-inch) square baking pans. Bake 25 to 30 min. or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool. My mother used 2 - 8 inch round cake pans. She noted that she had to increase the bake time by about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, beat cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer or wire whisk until well blended. Stir in whipped topping until well blended.

Place 1 cake layer on serving plate. Spread with 1-1/2 cups of the cream cheese mixture. Carefully place second cake layer on top of first cake layer. Frost top and sides of cake with remaining cream cheese mixture. Garnish with remaining 1/4 cup pecans. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

*Picture from Kraft Foods

Chocolate Covered Oreo Cookie Cake

I found this recipe in my last edition of the seasonal Kraft Foods magazine I get and bookmarked it for another time. Well that time was New Year's Eve/Day. I brought it to my husband's grandparents' house on New Year's Eve and the next day it was completely gone (family members gather there on both days). I probably should have made 2 while I was at it, it was so easy! I've made some slight modifications to this recipe (tried to make it a bit healthier, not that this is by any means healthy ha!) so that is how it is posted here. However, I'm borrowing the picture from the Kraft Foods website since I neglected to take one of my own and I feel as though this is the kind of recipe that a visual is really helpful.


Chocolate Covered Oreo Cookie Cake
(recipe and picture from Kraftfoods.com)

1 pkg. (2-layer size) devil's food chocolate cake mix
4 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, cut up
1 pkg. (8 oz.) 1/3 less fat Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 8oz tub thawed light Whipped Topping
12 OREO Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, coarsely crushed

Prepare and bake cake mix as directed on package in two 9-inch round baking pans. Cool 5 min.; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire racks. Trim cakes if needed so that they will lie flat when placed on a serving platter.

Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Gently stir in whipped topping and crushed cookies. Place one cake layer, top-side down, on serving plate. Spread top of layer evenly with cream cheese mixture. Cover with remaining cake layer, top-side up.

Microwave chocolate and butter in small microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min. or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Cool 5 min. Spoon chocolate glaze over top of cake. Let stand until set. Store in refrigerator.

Easy Rum Cake

Well, as 2007 comes to a close, what better way than to celebrate with a cake doused in alcohol?

Ok, well it's not literally doused in alcohol, but it's a main ingredient that you can definitely taste to say the least. I whipped this puppy up pretty quickly since cake mix was a base for it. A sweet little year-end treat for my husband and I!

Easy Rum Cake
(adapted from allrecipes.com)

Cake:
1 cup chopped pecans
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1/2 cup dark rum
4 eggs
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix*

Glaze:
1/2 cup butter
1/8 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup rum
1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch tube or Bundt pan. Sprinkle nuts over the bottom of the pan.

Mix together the cake mix, 1/2 cup rum, eggs, 1/2 cup water, oil, and vanilla pudding mix. Pour batter over the nuts in the pan.

Bake for 1 hour. Cool, and invert cake on a serving plate. Prick the top of the cake.

Glaze: Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in 1/8 cup water and the 1/2 cup sugar. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove glaze from heat, and stir in 1/4 cup rum, and powdered sugar. Drizzle and smooth evenly over the top and sides.

*I used cook-n-serve pudding mix by accident and it turned out fine*


And on that note, a Happy New Year to all!!! Best wishes to everyone for 2008!!!

Black Bottom Cupcakes

Tonight we are headed off to our friend Matt's apartment for a small holiday party he and his girlfriend Alexis are throwing and I asked what we could bring - he replied with "something sweet."

Seeing as though I am "cookie-d out" (for lack of a better term - if you are confused, see previous posts!), I went searching through some of my older recipes that I haven't made in awhile. I stumbled upon this recipe for Black Bottom Cupcakes which I haven't made in ages.

They are tasty, but I'm a little disappointed in how much they stuck to the paper muffin liner when I tried one. Also, I put just about the same amount of cream cheese filling on top of each cupcake but you wouldn't know that because the tops of them al look different. Oh well, they're still good and I'd still make them again! Sometimes it doesn't matter how they look as much as how they taste!

Black Bottom Cupcakes
(from allrecipes.com)

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/3 cup white sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line muffin tins with paper cups or lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, egg, 1/3 cup sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt with a mixer on low until light and fluffy. Stir in the chocolate chips and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, 1 cup sugar, cocoa, baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Make a well in the center and add the water, oil, vinegar and vanilla. Stir together until well blended. Fill muffin tins 1/3 full with the batter and top with a dollop of the cream cheese mixture.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. (Note: the original recipe calls for these to be baked 25-30 minutes, mine took only 20 so I reduced the cooking time)

Don't turn into a pumpkin....

Yup, here's some more recipes I've tried lately. No pictures still....but I'll try to get better at that. When I post my apple recipes I'll have a few pictures to share....I'm waiting until I'm finished with my apples to post them all. Yes, I still have some....I am hoping to use the rest tonight though!

But onto another fall fruit - pumpkin. I'm not really a big fan of pumpkin, but I didn't mind either of these recipes. My husband brought the cookies in for the guys at work and they were devoured. I brought the cake in for my co-workers who promptly ate most of it (I had also brought in 2 apple recipes that day....I'll share them later, I'm all about surprise hahaha).

Pumpkin Spiced Chocolate Chip Cookies
(from: "The Cookie Bible")

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 can Libby's 100% pure pumpkin (15oz)
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups (12 oz pkg) semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 cup walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. Grease baking sheets.

Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. Beat butter and granulated sugar in large mixing bowl until creamy. Beat in pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla extract. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until edges are slightly browned. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire rack to cool completely.


Chocolate Pumpkin Cake with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
(from allrecipes.com)

1 pkg chocolate cake mix
1 15 oz can pumpkin
2 eggs
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9x13inch baking dish

In large bowl mix cake mix, pumpkin, eggs, and oil for 3 minutes using mixer on medium speed. Pour into prepared pan and spread evenly.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes in preheated oven, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool, then frost with cream cheese frosting.

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
1 (8oz) package cream cheese
1 cup white sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
In small bowl, beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form; set aside.
In large bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla. Beat until smooth, then fold in whipped cream.