Pumpkin obsessed

Yep, I am. I think I bought my first can of pumpkin way back in September and before the weather even changed, I was filling our house with the glorious smell of pumpkin! I think I was trying to rush into fall. Still can't believe we are halfway through it! 

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Needless to say, I am still on my baking kick. About once a week, I make something that calls for flour, sugar, butter and eggs. I have been going through more flour and sugar than I ever have. I think I used to only buy flour and sugar once a year, seriously. That just tells you how often I cooked from scratch! Like, never! I have had a conviction lately to keep things on the fresh side, as in making things from scratch. It doesn't really take that much extra time or effort and it feels pretty darn good to give your family or friends something fresh, not processed (I made that up, don't steal it). It could also be my perspective is changing now with me having offspring running around now. I dunno. 

Since there was some interest in my previous post about what's been cookin' in my kitchen here are some yummy things I would highly recommend you run to your kitchen and bake!

Note: The recipes I will be sharing are SIMPLE and mostly require ingredients that you keep in your pantry. I also use this wonderful app on my phone, Kitchen Helper, that tells me how I can make a few substitutions when a recipe calls for things like buttermilk or cake flour that I never (and will probably never) buy. 

Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

(from How to: Simplify Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting)

The consistency was more like cake instead of bars when I made this so I call this a cake. Either way, I thought this was phenom! 

For the cake:

• 4 eggs
• 1 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 cup Canola oil
• 1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin
• 2 cups AP flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda

For the frosting:

• 1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 3-4 cups confectioners sugar
• 1-2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Grease your 9x13 baking dish. 

Mix eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin with a mixer until light and fluffy. 

Pour the remaining dry ingredients into a separate bowl and mix. 

Pour the dry mixture into the pumpkin mixture and mix until incorporated and smooth. 

Pour batter into greased baking dish and level out. 

Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and allow cake to cool before frosting.

When the cake is cool, prepare the frosting by combining cream cheese and butter in a bowl, mixing until smooth.

Add the sugar slowly until you reach the desired consistency.

Stir in vanilla.

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We love pancakes at our house. (Pancakes always remind me of college. I sure miss pancake parties!!) One morning, I wanted something different than our usual. Seth was not so willing to give up our staple, PW's Edna Mae's pancakes, but he let me do my thang. These were yummo! 

Pumpkin Pancakes

Here are 10 pumpkin recipes I'd love to bake this fall. I started with the Pumpkin Bread minus the nuts so Aubs could enjoy it. Let me know if you try one of the ten out! They all make me drool! The pumpkin pie bars are next on my list.
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This next one is not a pumpkin recipe but it was so delish I want to share it. It really was easy...just a little more labor intensive than what I'm into. But, don't let that stop you from making this.
Orange Pecan Zucchini Bread