Pumpkin Roll with Cream Cheese Filling

I mentioned we bought all of our appliances over Labor Day weekend, so now I spend a lot of time dreaming of all the amazing things I am going to make when we finally move into our house. Sadly I need to stop dreaming and start cooking actual meals for my family now, I just can't seem to find the motivation. I did order Whitney's cookbook so I am hoping once it comes that I will be inspired.

I did however make a very delicious Sunday treat, one of our favorites, and I tried to hurry and snap a picture before it was eaten. I am no good at staging food, and my family is usually not very patient while I try, so this is what we get. But I promise the recipe is SO good and so easy!!

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Pumpkin Roll with Cream Cheese Filling

Ingredients:

For the Roll:

3/4 cups Flour
1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoons Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoons Cloves
1/4 teaspoons salt
3 Whole Eggs
1 Cup White Sugar
1 Cup Pure Pumpkin
Powdered Sugar (for powdering your kitchen towel)

For the Cream Cheese Filling:

8 Ounces Cream Cheese, softened
6 Tablespoons Butter, softened
1 Cup Powdered Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Instructions:

For the Roll:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 17x11 jelly-roll pan. Line with parchment paper and then grease and flour the pan.

Sprinkle a thin, cotton, kitchen towel with powdered sugar.

In a bowl combine: flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.

In a separate bowl (I use my Kitchen Aid with the whisk attachment on medium speed) mix the eggs and sugar until the mixture is thick. Beat in the canned pumpkin. Add the flour mixture and stir until combined.

Spread evenly into prepared pan.

Bake for 13 minutes or until the the top of the cake springs back when touched. Immediately turn the cake onto the prepared towel. Slowly peel off the wax paper. Roll the cake up in the towel, starting with the narrow end. Cool on a wire rack.

For the filling:

Beat the cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a bowl until smooth.

Unroll the cooled cake and remove the towel. Spread the cream cheese filling over the cake and then reroll the cake.

You can eat this right away, but it is even better when you let it sit in the fridge for an hour first (or the freezer for 1/2 hour if you are a little impatient like we are)

If there is any left over store it in a container with a lid in the refrigerator.

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Now to come up with something for dinner, wish me luck!!

Baked Apple Hootananies

I have a personal rule, no pumpkin until after Labor day. Fall is my favorite time of year for so many reasons with Fall baking at the very top of that list. Well Monday I broke that rule when I made Pumpkin waffles with toasted Walnuts, from there it was all downhill.

This morning I had planned on making Hootananies for my family (AKA German Pancakes), but then I decided since I had already broke my own rule why not keep going so I mixed up a batch of Baked Apple Hootananies.

Of course they were a HUGE hit.

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Baked Apple Hootananies

1/2 C Butter
2 Medium Apples sliced 1/8 inch thick slices (I love Granny Smith, but I used Fuji this morning)
3 Tablespoons Dark Brown Sugar
1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp Nutmeg

6 Eggs
1 C Flour
1/4 C Sugar
1 Tsp Salt
1 Cup Milk
1 tsp Vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice butter into cubes and place in the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan. Place pan in the cold oven so the butter will melt while the oven is preheating, keep an eye on it so the butter does not burn.

When butter is melted spread the apples evenly over the butter and then sprinkle with the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile combine the eggs, flour, sugar, and salt until the mixture is smooth. Add in the milk and vanilla and mix until combined. When the apples are done pour the egg mixture over top, return pan to the oven, and bake for 24 minutes.

Top with syrup or powdered sugar and enjoy!!

Chocolate Oreo Whoopies

Samantha checked a Whoopies cookbook out at the library and was begging to try a few of the recipes, I told her to pick one out and we would make it for Father's Day, let me just tell you we are all addicted to Whoopies now. I am pretty sure the library book is over due and I need to write down all the recipes I want to try before the fines really add up.

I promised to share the recipe for these delights, and I really do try to keep my promises.

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Chocolate Oreo Whoopies

For the Whoopies:

3 1/2 oz semi sweet baking chocolate
1/2 C unsalted butter, softened
1 C granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilaa extract
1 large egg
2 Cups all-purpose flour
1/2 C unsweetened cocoa
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 C milk

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 3-4 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. finely grate the chocolate or put in a food processor and process until very finely ground, set aside.

3. Put the butter, sugar, and vanilla extract in an electric mixer bowl, and beat together until light and fluffy. Beat in Egg.

4. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt into the bowl and stir together. Add the chocolate and milk and stir until combined.

5. Using a level 1 1/2 - 2 inch ice-cream scoop or a heaping teaspoon, make 24 halves. To make each half, put the batter onto the prepared sheets leaving about 3 inches between each round to allow room to spread.

6. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, until firm to the touch. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

7. Make Oreo Cream Filling:

Oreo Cream Filling:

4 Oreo Cookies, or one snack pack of the mini Oreos
4 tbsp butter, softened
1/2 C regular cream cheese
3 1/2 C confectioners'sugar

Put the cookies in a strong plastic bag and, holding the open end together, crush with a rolling pin to form fine crumbs.

Combine the butter and cream cheese and beat together until fluffy.

Sift the confectioners' sugar and add to the butter and cream cheese mixture, beat together until smooth but still firm.

Fold in the cookie crumbs.

8. When the whoopies are cold, match each half with its closest partner in size. Spreading with a knife or a pastry bag fitted with a large tip, cover the flat side of one whoopie half of each pair generously with the filling, then place the matching partner on top.

9. Enjoy!!

Recipe: Buttermilk Sugar Cookies

Yesterday was my last class party for the year, other than the teacher's birthday, my room Mom duties are fulfilled.  I can't tell you how relieved I was yesterday afternoon, this has been a major source of anxiety the last few months. I love helping in my kids classrooms, but I can not be the one in charge of it all, especially when no one else will help.

Valentine's day has also come and gone and I will blog about all our fun, Samantha's birthday, and my 12 of 12 (I am way behind), but today I am sharing my favorite Sugar Cookie recipe.

The Young Women decided for our activity Tuesday night they wanted to decorate cookies and make valentines for the less active girls. Of course I said I would make the cookies, I will take any excuse I can to whip up a batch of these babies.

This recipe came from one of my good friends in Kansas, she would make them every year at Christmas time and I was so excited when she shared the recipe with me.

Buttermilk Sugar Cookies

2 Cups Sugar
1 Cup Unsalted Butter
2 tsp Vanilla
2 Eggs
1 Cup Buttermilk
2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
6 - 6 1/2 Cups Flour

Cream Sugar, Butter, Vanilla, and Eggs in mixer, add Buttermilk and mix until smooth. Add in 3 cups of flour and mix again until smooth, then add in another 3 cups of flour. If the dough looks and feels too sticky add in another 1/4 - 1/2 C flour, but no more.

(In Kansas 6 cups was enough, in Utah I usually add another 1/4 - 1/2 C flour to help them hold their shape.)

Put dough in the fridge for at least an hour, I usually make mine the night before and refrigerate it over night.

When ready to roll out the cookies put 1/4 of the dough on a floured counter. (I put my dough that I am not using back in the fridge so it stays cold.) Roll out dough 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick and cut with cookie cutters and place on a greased cookie sheet.

Try to get the cookie shapes as close as possible so you can get the majority of cookies on the first roll, this also helps to keep them fluffy and soft. Another reason why I do 1/4 of the dough at a time.

Place the filled cookie sheet into the freezer while the oven preheats to 375 degrees.

Continue rolling, cutting out the dough, and placing filled cookie sheets in the freezer.

I have three pans so once the oven is preheated I can have one baking, one in the freezer, and one I am filling with cut dough.

Bake cookies 7-8 minutes (depending on size and thickness) or until bottom is lightly browned.

Remove cookies from oven and place on a bread cloth to cool, this helps the cookies to stay soft and not dry out, which is so important here in Utah.

Decorate as desired, and enjoy.

Project Pinned:Crockpot Chicken Taco Soup

All today I thought it was Monday, probably because yesterday morning was spent at Instacare with Bubba instead of at home cleaning my house and doing laundry, which had to then happen today.

Hannah was the first to get sick last Sunday, Samantha started running a fever on Thursday, and then Saturday night Bubba joined in the party with a fever of his own. I took Samantha to Instacare on Sunday only to be told I had waited too long and she was at the end of it, but if she had asthma then there would be a problem. So we took Hunter in Monday morning because he does have asthma and I didn't want him to get worse and end up in the hospital.

Hannah is now feeling better and back at school, but the older two are still trying to recover, the doctor told us it usually lasts seven days. No Fun!! I am just hoping Rob and I don't get sick, so far we are holding out strong.

So because of all those wonderful excuses I am just now posting my Pinterest project for the week. This week I made something from my "In The Crockpot" board. 

It was just the perfect meal for a family full of sick kids and parents who are trying really hard to stay healthy.

Emily from Is This Really My Life posted a recipe for Chicken Taco Soup a few weeks ago and I pinned it immediately  I usually make a crockpot meal every Tuesday, but had planned this one for Monday because the girls had a dance recital with a rehearsal earlier in the day, which left us a very small window to eat dinner in.

I threw this all in the crockpot in between returning from the doctor's office, and running to Walmart to pick up Bubba's prescription. By dinner we had a delicious home cooked meal with very little prep left to do before we were eating.

The kids ate theirs with just cheese and tortilla chips, but Rob and I added some sour cream, tomatoes, and avocados.

It also made delicious leftovers for lunch today, which is a huge plus because I don't normally like leftovers.

I have never made a tortilla or taco soup before and I loved how easy this one was and we really loved how good it tasted.

We will be making this one again, thanks Emily!!

Project Pinned - Gingersnaps

I love a good ginger cookie, in fact Gingersnaps would be at the top of my favorite cookie list. And I do love my regular recipe but I decided to do a search on Pinterest to see if I could find a recipe that makes a softer and chewier cookie. I ended up finding three, and figured I better try them all to determine which was the best Gingersnap Recipe.

The Good

These Soft Gingersnap Cookies from Two Peas and Their Pod were good, they were chewy and stayed soft over night, which is important when you live in Utah and cookies dry out fast. While they were good, they lacked the normal gingersnap taste I love, but that didn't stop me from throwing them down.

The Better

I loved these Super Soft Gingersnaps from It's a Delicious Life, they looked and tasted just like the Gingersnap cookie I love, but they were so soft, and the two that were miraculously left the next morning were still soft and chewy. They didn't last long at our house, but then again Gingersnaps never do, and I am certain this recipe will be replacing my usual recipe.

The Best

How can you make a Gingersnap better? Three words: White Chocolate Chips. These Soft Gingersnap Cookies with White Chocolate Chunks from Two Peas and Their Pod is the best Gingersnap cookie I have ever eaten. Rob is not a fan of White Chocolate (I know right?!?!?) but he loved these. And the recipe made a lot of cookies so they actually lasted a couple days, and they stayed soft and chewy the entire time.

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Our next cookie adventure is my Tiny Gingerbread Men, you guys they are so good!! We are making them for neighbor gifts this year and I can't wait to share the recipe, they are amazing!!

Surprise Cheese Burgers

I have to say this is one of my favorite meals, it is super easy to make and my kids love it. Plus if you are short on time and don't want to make the dough you can just thaw some Rhodes Rolls to use instead.

Surprise Cheese Burgers

Dough
1 C Warm Water
1 pkg yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
3 Tbl Oil
3 Tbl Sugar
1 tsp Salt
3 C Flour

Meat
1lb Ground Beef
1/4 C minced onion
1/2 C water
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp onion salt
1/8 tsp garlic salt

1 Cup (or more) Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Dissolve yeast in 1 C warm water. Add oil, sugar and 1 tsp salt. Stir in enough flour to make a soft dough, knead until smooth and elastic. Divide into 12 pieces and let rise while you prepare the meat.

Brown ground beef with onion, drain fat. Mix together spices, add to browned meat with 1/2 C water. Mix and let simmer for 10 min.

Flatten each dough ball and fill with about 2 Tbl of meat and about 1 Tbl of cheese. Fold filled dough in half and pinch sides to seal.

Bake for 20 minutes.

My family loves to dip these in fry sauce (which is ketchup mixed with mayo and I like to add a tiny bit of milk to make it creamy), but you could also dip them in just ketchup or eat them plain.

Enjoy!!

Lions and Cookies, OH My!!

March came in like a lion, not only in weather but in the attitude of our home. My sidekicks were a bit cranky and I was a bit cranky. When I picked Samantha up from school I decided we needed something to cheer us all up so we tried a new cookie recipe I found on Pinterest. They were so yummy and so easy, they tasted like lemon bars in cookie form. The girls helped me make them, Hunter was doing his homework so we promised him the first cookie.

The mood in our house quickly changed and we all had fun being together in the kitchen. I may have to pin a few more cookie recipes to keep on hand for a cranky day.

And because I know you want the recipe.

Lemon Crinkle Cookies (original recipe here)
Makes 2-3 dozen

Ingredients:
½ cups butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 whole egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoons baking powder
⅛ teaspoons baking soda
1-½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cups powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

*If using a non-stick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes.

Enjoy!!!

Pumpkin Bread

One of my favorite scents of Fall is baked Pumpkin, I told Rob if his cologne smelled like pumpkin, ummm never mind. Anyway one of my Treehouse roommates (Karen) posted on facebook today she wanted pumpkin bread and instantly so did I.  It didn't matter that it is still warm outside and my AC is broken again, there was no stopping me from turning on the oven and heating up the house to make some.  And since it was SO GOOD, I thought I would share the recipe.

Pumpkin Bread

• 4 whole Eggs Beaten
• ½ teaspoons Allspice
• ½ teaspoons Nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 2 cups Sugar
• 1-¼ cup Vegtable Oil
• 2 cups Pumpkin
• 3 cups Flour
• 1 cup Dark Chocolate Chips
• 1 cup Chopped Walnuts
• 1 cup Flaked Coconut

Beat eggs, then add the spices, salt, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, oil, and pumpkin.  Add flour and mix until well blended.  Add chocolate chips, nuts, and coconut; blend by hand.  pour into greased loaf pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Makes 2 loaves.

ENJOY!!!

Double Chocolate Pudding Cookies

I LOVE a happy accident, especially when it involves food.  I am not a huge chocolate chip cookie fan but Rob loves them, so whenever he wants them he makes them.  The other day I was reading through blogs and I found a recipe for Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies from Chef in Training, I showed them to Rob and he wanted to make them.  The kids and I decided we would make them for a welcome home treat.  The only problem was I thought I had vanilla pudding but all I had was chocolate so I decided to see what would happen if I used chocolate pudding.

Magic happened that's what.

I also added in Coconut, so unless you are my sister who is allergic or my brother in law who grew up on an island and doesn't like the coconut here in the states, add it in it is DELISH!!

Double Chocolate Pudding Cookies

(adapted from HERE)

3/4 C Butter
3/4 C Brown Sugar
1/4 C Sugar
1 Small pkg Instant Chocolate Pudding (I used sugar free because I love it)
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Baking Soda
2 1/4 C Flour
1 Cup Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 C Milk Chocolate Chips
1 C Coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Stir together flour and baking soda in a bowl and set aside

In a large bowl cream together butter and sugars.  Add in pudding and beat until well blended.  Add in eggs and vanilla and mix well.  Slowly add in flour and mix until well incorporated.  Add in Chocolate chips and coconut.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Enjoy!!