'Tis the Season?

It's October!  That means changing leaves, boots, scarves, pumpkin spice lattes, and blustery days, right?  Well apparently not this year!  Los Angeles is having a hell of an Indian Summer.  It was 100 degrees yesterday! What?!  I'm all about hot weather, but I'm not all about LA not being able to make up it's mind about what type of weather to have.  Sometimes it decides to dabble in the clouds and rain, and then it gets finicky and reverts right back to old faithful, stronger than ever before.  Well I'll tell you one thing,  Los Angeles can keep the leaves green, take my boots away, but I refuse to let go of pumpkin in October!

Pumpkin baking and pumpkin flavored things are definitely a highlight of the fall months.  I'll admit, I'm a pumpkinphile and will likely be swayed by anything that is pumpkin flavored.  It's like a disease.  But don't worry, I stocked up already with 4 cans of pumpkin, 2 cartons of pumpkin cream cheese, and a canister of pumpkin coffee! I literally went out and bought pumpkin on October 1st.  Before going in to Trader Joe's I told Cole, "Get ready, because I'm going to go bat shit crazy."  And I did.

I love how pumpkin and all of its accompanying spices make the house smell.  And look at that orange color!  This October, I've already made Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars and Pumpkin Chocolate Chip and Oatmeal Cookies!

 

The Cream Cheese Bars I sort of devised on my own, swirling in two layers of a pumpkin cream cheese mixture.  I think it helped make them extra soft and creamy!

The cookies are probably the most popular pumpkin cookies.  My roommates and I in college used to devour Pumkin Chocolate Chip cookies whenever it was the season for them!

 

This time I made three different types.  Some with mini chocolate chips, some with oatmeal and mini chocolate chips, and some with oatmeal, mini chocolate chips, and white chocolate chips!  I like oatmeal in them to give them more texture.  Next time I think I'll do butterscotch chips or milk chocolate chips.  Que rico!

Happy Fall!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tbsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ¾ tsp. salt
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1¼ cups granulated sugar (or brown sugar)
• 1 large egg
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup pumpkin puree

Cream Cheese Swirl

•  8 oz cream cheese (I used Pumpkin Cream Cheese!)
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1tbsp sugar (maybe a bit more if you use regular cream cheese, my pumpkin was already sweetened)

Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line a 9×13-inch baking dish with parchment.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, spices, baking soda and salt.  Stir together and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Beat in the egg and vanilla until well combined.  Mix in the pumpkin puree.  With the mixer on low speed add the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. 
In a separate bowl, combine the cream cheese, egg, flour, and sugar until smooth.  Set Aside.
Spread half of the pumpkin batter evenly in to the prepared pan.  Then drop dollops of half of the cream cheese mixture on top of the batter.  Swirl in with a butter knife.  Repeat with the remaining halves of the batter and cream cheese mixture.
Bake until the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs, about 35-40 minutes.  Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely before cutting.


Pumpkin Chocolate Chip and Oatmeal Cookies (adapted from foodnetwork.com)

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 c mini chocolate chips or 1 c mini chocolate chips, 1 c white chocolate chips, and 1 c oatmeal

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray or line them with parchment paper.

Using a mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Beat in the white and brown sugars, a little at a time, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time, then mix in the vanilla and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the batter in thirds. Stir in the chips. Scoop the cookie dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies are browned around the edges. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let them rest for 2 minutes. Take the cookies off with a spatula and cool them on wire racks.