Shari's Savory Pumpkin Bake

Ok, y'all.  I have a good friend in North Carolina.  She is my sister's college roommate, and she is quite talented in the kitchen. 

Here name is Lauren, and I asked Lauren a few weeks ago if she would like to share a recipe here.  She whipped up a few pumpkin recipes, one of which is a favorite of her family that they enjoy for Thanksgiving.  So, should you be looking for another side dish for Thanksgiving, you should check this out.  It looks amazing!  I wish I was close to her house so I could have some tonight!

Here's what Lauren has to say about this delicious dish... thanks for sharing, Lauren!

Stumped on what side dish to make for Thanksgiving? This savory pumpkin bake has been a long time family favorite.  

 

 

It's perfect for the holidays, but is easy enough to make year round. You can make it more decadent and sweet with a brown sugar pecan topping (as shown here), or a bit more healthy with a toasted wheat germ topping.  

 

 

I'm not sure where my mom found the recipe (possibly from her Michigan roots), but I remember requesting the creamy dessert like dish with dinner growing up.  

 

 

As far as the toasted wheat-germ goes... I don't think I have ever had it in any other dish, but you can find it at Walmart :) 

Hope you enjoy!

 

Shari's Savory Pumpkin Bake

Ingredients:

3-4 cups canned pumpkin (make sure you don't buy pumpkin pie filing)

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

dash of nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon salt

2-3 eggs, beat lightly

1/2 stick butter melted

For the topping:

Toasted wheat germ

or

1/3 stick butter, very soft

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup flour

1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Whisk all pumpkin bake ingredients together.  Pour into a greased square baking dish (you can double the recipe and use a 13x9 pan).  Mix the topping ingredients together with a fork (it will be like a crumble topping).  Sprinkle the topping evenly on top.  Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes. 

Serve warm & enjoy!

PS--Whipped Cream optional ;)

Turkey Rice Krispie Treats

Thanksgiving is next week.  Next week, y'all! 

When I was growing up, we made these super cute turkey cookies.  They were from the American Girl magazine.  They use oreos, nutter butter cookies, Reese's peanut cups, jelly beans and so many other sugared items.  They are super cute and fun.  But, this year, I tried something new....

To celebrate Thanksgiving, I made these turkey rice krispie treats for the 5th and 6th grade girls at church that I help teach on Wednesday nights.  These treats were perfect since they are gluten free and peanut free.  And they were way easy to make!

All you need are rice krispie treats cut into circle with a biscuit cutter, cookie icing, candy corn, mini chocolate chips, and red and yellow jelly beans.

Happy Thanksgiving!

White Chocolate M&M's and Peanut Butter Blondies

A few weeks ago I made some more blondies.  It's the same recipe as the one I made the night it sleeted here last February.  It is such a yummy recipe.  But, this time I added peanut butter chips and white chocolate m&m's that were colored orange, yellow, and white like candy corns.  So festive!

These blondies really are a winner.  They are so versatile and are a great dessert to take to a party or just enjoy at home.

Reese's now has a white chocolate peanut butter cup.  They are so good.  So, when I saw I had some peanut butter chips and the white chocolate m&m's, I had to combine them in the blondes.

I also love this cookie tin.  It is spray painted in chalkboard paint, so you can change the message for different occasions.  I think I need to go find all the cookie tins I can and paint them all for my upcoming cookie exchange this Christmas!  Have some sitting around?  Paint them and use them to deliver your baked goods to friends :)

You could totally switch out these fall m&m's for red and green.  They'd be super cute in your new tin.  Just sayin'.

Here's the recipe.  It's adapted from my good friend, Eliza.


Blondies

2/3 cup melted butter
2 1/4 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
2 2/3 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup m&m's, plus extra for sprinkling on the top before baking
1 cup peanut butter chips

Blend together the butter and brown sugar.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time.  Then add the dry ingredients, mixing well.  Finally, add in the m&m's and peanut butter chips.  Spread into a 9x13 inch pan and sprinkle on a few extra m&m's.  Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.  The blondies will be gooey in the middle-- bake longer to avoid the need for a spoon.  :)