Favorite Fall Treats

We are in San Francisco for the Blogher Food conference, but I wanted to share a few of my favorite fall treats. I never forget about my faithful blog readers:) I hope you find a treat or two below to make this fall. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Roll- I love making pumpkin rolls in the fall. Don't let the roll intimidate you, I promise they are easy to make. I always make a couple and keep them in the freezer. They freeze really well and when you have surprise company you can pull one out to enjoy.

Pumpkin Pancakes with Cinnamon Syrup-Pumpkin pancakes make the perfect fall breakfast treat. Serve them with homemade cinnamon syrup and you will be in heaven.

Apple Crisp with Cinnamon Ice Cream-Apples are my favorite. I have to eat one every day. Enjoying them in apple crisp makes them even better. Top the crisp off with cinnamon ice cream for an extra special fall dessert.

Caramel Corn-Make a big batch of caramel corn to watch your favorite football team this season! Be careful though, it is very addicting:)

Cinnamon Toffee Oatmeal Cookies-The cinnamon and toffee are the perfect match in this cookie. Grab a cold glass of milk for your dunking pleasure!

Pumpkin Apple Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel Topping-These muffins are healthy and delicious! I like to make mini muffins for portion control and for the cuteness factor:)

I hope these treats make your fall season extra special! We will be back on Tuesday. Have a great weekend everyone.

Chocolate Toffee Cookies

It is hot in Utah. The other day it was 102 degrees outside and of course that was a day I wanted to bake. I try not to turn on the oven when it is roasting outside, but I came across a recipe for Chocolate Toffee cookies and immediately turned on the oven.

If you are a chocolate lover, these are the cookies for you. They are super rich! They remind me of brownies, but in cookie form. The toffee melts in with the chocolate and adds extra goodness to these cookies. Make sure you have a cold glass of milk nearby; you will want a few swigs after downing a couple of these chocolaty gems.

The house may have been a sauna, but oh well. These cookies were worth the heat!

As most of you know we have been participating in She's Becoming Doughmesstic’s Penny Pinching Pantry Raid Challenge. The goal was to only spend $100 on food for 4 weeks in July-that included groceries and eating out. Yesterday was the last day and WE DID IT! We passed with flying colors too. We only spent $26.34 on food for the entire month!

So how did we do it? We didn’t starve, I promise! We love food and eating good food. We used what we already had in our pantry, fridge, and freezer. Some days we had to be creative to come up with a tasty meal, but it was fun. I did continue to buy milk and produce, but that was about it. Luckily, I had milk coupons and found great deals on produce.

My dad and Josh’s mom came to visit and they both spoiled us a bit. They treated us to a meal out and purchased some groceries for us. Some of you may consider this cheating, but I promise we didn’t beg them to and they do this all of the time when they visit. We have great parents:)

We had extra mouths to feed this month. Besides my dad and Josh’s mom, our friends from Colorado stayed with us for a weekend, with their five kids. Our family friends from California also came to visit. Friends and Josh’s brother joined us for a couple of meals during the month. We love entertaining and I wasn’t going to let the food challenge change that.

We made sure we had plenty of food for our guests-we made them special breakfasts-whole wheat waffles, pancakes, banana bread, etc. We grilled out a lot-using the chicken and fish we had in the freezer. We made homemade pizza, baked our own bread, created new pasta dishes, salads, and sandwiches. We actually did a lot of cooking. I didn’t stop baking either. We had to offer sweet treats to our guests:) I just used the ingredients I had on hand.

Eating out wasn’t too much of a temptation. I always pack our lunches for work and we usually make dinner at home. I know Josh wanted to eat out a couple of times and I had to put my foot down, but he really was a good sport.

All said and done, I think we did a good job. I don’t know if I will stick to a $100 food budget every month, but I certainly will try.

Chocolate Toffee Rounds

Recipe from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion

(Printable Recipes)

8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 TBS unsalted butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup toffee bits ( I used chopped up Heath bars)
1 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease (or line with parchment paper) two baking sheets.

In the microwave or in a saucepan over very low heat melt the chocolate and butter together, stirring until smooth. Set the mixture aside to cool to lukewarm.

In a medium-sized bowl, beat together the brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, baking powder, and salt. Beat in the melted chocolate, then stir in the flour, toffee bits, and chocolate chips.

Drop the dough by the tablespoonful onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake the cookies for about 12 minutes or until the tops are cracked and dry, but the cookies are still soft to the touch. Don’t overbake these; they’ll become firm as they cool.

Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.

Almond Toffee Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

It was nice having a break from cooking and baking while we were in Palm Beach. Our room did have a full kitchen, which was nice so we didn't have to eat out all of the time. We didn't do any major cooking though. By the end of the week I was itching to get back to my kitchen. I missed my appliances, gadgets, and oven.

After unpacking, cleaning, doing laundry, I baked cookies. Our friends were visiting from California and I wanted to make them an extra special treat. I took my chances and made up a new cookie recipe. I wanted to create a cookie with all of my favorite things: almonds, toffee, chocolate chips, and oatmeal.

I started with a basic chocolate chip oatmeal cookie base. I then added in almond extract, chopped almonds, chopped Heath bars, and chocolate chips. The cookies were loaded with goodies!

I know I baked these cookies for our friends, but of course I had to sample them, just to make sure they were safe and good enough to handout:) One bite and I was in heaven! These are my new favorite cookie! I LOVED them! The toffee melted throughout the oatmeal cookie. The almond bits and chocolate chips bulked up the cookies in the most perfect way.

I am glad I wrapped these cookies up and gave them away. I know if they were sitting on the counter I would not be able to resist. They are that good!

Almond Toffee Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

(Printable Recipe)

½ c. brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 cup softened unsalted butter

1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. Baking soda
1 1/4 c. flour
1 1/4 c. oats-not quick oats
Chocolate chips-3/4 cup

2 Heath bars-chopped

Almonds, chopped-about ¾ cup

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Combine butter and sugar in your mixing bowl. Beat until smooth. On low, add in egg, vanilla, and almond extract. Beat until combined.

Slowly add in the dry ingredients. Stir in the oats, chocolate chips, Heath, and almonds. The dough should be nice and thick, with chunks of goodness

Scoop dough into balls and place on a cookie sheet lined with Silpats or parchment. Bake for 10-12 minutes! Allow to cool for a minute on the cookie sheet. Move to a cooling rack and indulge!

Recipe for Toffee Chocolate Brownies

Two of my favorite treats are toffee and brownies, so why not combine them? I needed to make a treat for some friends, so I decided to give toffee brownies a try.

I am fudgy brownie girl all the way! The cake brownies just don't do it for me:) I used my favorite fudgy recipe and added in Heath toffee bits. Simple, huh?

The results were terrific too. Our friends loved them and gobbled them right up! I will have to make these again when I am feeling better so I can taste and enjoy them. I am glad our friends appreciated them, they were happy to be the brownie samplers.

Toffee Chocolate Brownies
Adapted from Dessert First

(Printable Recipe)

5 ounces bittersweet chocolate
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons cocoa
1/3 cup flour

Heath toffee bits

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 8 inch square baking pan with foil and grease well with butter.

Combine chocolates and butter in a metal and place over a bain-marie (pot of simmering water) on medium heat. Heat until chocolates and butter are melted and combined - be sure to stir occasionally to combine and to make sure the chocolate doesn't burn.

Remove from heat and let cool while you make the rest of the batter.

Whisk eggs and sugar together in a large bowl until thick and light-colored, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Add in the salt, vanilla, and cocoa powder and whisk to combine.

Add in the melted chocolate mixture and whisk to combine thoroughly.

Sift the flour over the mixture and whisk to combine. Add in toffee bits. I used about ¾ cup.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, making sure to spread it evenly into the corners. Smooth the top out with a spatula. Sprinkle more toffee bits on the top.

Bake in the oven for about 20 to 25 minutes, rotating halfway. Brownies are done when a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Do not overbake!

Let cool on wire rack before cutting into pieces.

Cinnamon Toffee Oatmeal Cookies

Last week a grocery store had Hershey's chocolate chips on sale for 70 cents a bag. Sure, you had to buy ten bags but that was not an issue for me. The more chocolate in the house the better! Plus the holidays are coming up and I know I will be baking a ton. I purchased semi-sweet, milk chocolate, peanut butter, and cinnamon chips. I am stocked!

I decided to open a bag of the cinnamon chips and make a batch of cookies. Cinnamon is the perfect flavor for fall. I started out with my favorite oatmeal cookie recipe. I added a pinch of cinnamon and the chips and then I discovered a couple of Heath bars in the freezer so I chopped those up and threw them in too. The end results...a most excellent cookie! They were crisp but still a little chewy. The toffee melted nicely in between the oatmeal and the cinnamon chips gave them the perfect pop! I will for sure make these again...and again!

Cinnamon Toffee Oatmeal Cookies

(Print Recipe)

½ c. brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 cup softened butter
1 egg
1 tsp. Vanilla
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. Baking soda
1 1/4 c. flour
Dash of cinnamon
1 1/4 c. oats
Cinnamon chips- your guess is as good as mine!
2 Heath bars-chopped

Beat butter in mixer until soft. Add in sugars, eggs, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together the salt, baking powder, soda, flour, and dash of cinnamon. Add to wet ingredients. Mix it up! Add your oats and then your chips and Heath chunks.

Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes! Don’t let them get too done…they are better when they are soft!

I scaled this down so it makes about 2 dozen or so! Feel free to double it for more cookies!