Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

It's time for pumpkin-flavored everything!! I love this time of year, and I'm keeping the tradition of baking pumpkin treats every fall. This is a new recipe I tried this year, and it was super tasty. The original recipe yields two loaves, but one loaf was plenty for my family, so I'm going to share the halved recipe that I used. With a half-recipe, you only use half a can of pumpkin, so I used the other half to make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Everything was delicious!

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg (I had none, so this was omitted. It still tasted great)

1 cup sugar

6 tbsp butter

2 eggs

1/4 cup water

1/2 can of pumpkin

1 cup mini chocolate chips

1 tbsp chopped pecans (also omitted)

1 tsp sugar

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Muffins

I love banana bread! It's (slightly) healthy and still super delicious when you add chocolate chips. This recipe is fantastic. I was able to freeze a few leftovers and munch on them later for a nice, indulgent snack.

I highly recommend freezing bananas! If you notice your bananas are looking super ripe and you don't know if you can bake them in time, peel them and freeze them! Then you don't have to mash them later.

Ingredients
½ cup butter, slightly melted
1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
2 large eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 ripe bananas, mashed
2¼ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, reserve a few for the tops (original recipe calls for 1 cup of chocolate chips, but the muffins taste SO much more moist and delicious with a little more chocolate chips)

The Best Fudgy Brownies

When we make brownies for dessert, Hubby always suggests we just eat the batter. And I don't know about you, but sometimes I'm really tempted to do that! Sometimes my brownies come out too cakey and not very fudgy.

Well, look no further for fudgy, melty, gooey brownies!! This recipe is the secret to your brownie problems. I attempted this three times to make sure it was perfect because I was determined to get the exact art as shown in the Tasty video, and I did it. It is possible, folks. Let me share my secrets with you.

Ingredients

8 ounces good-quality chocolate

¾ cup butter, melted

1¼ cups sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

¾ cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup cocoa powder

dash of salt

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

'Tis the season... for pumpkin recipes!

I'm trying to instill fun Fall traditions with our family that I didn't really get to do growing up. First, I carved my first Jack-O-Lantern. Next, I made my first batch of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies! I thought I would share with you, since they were a great success!

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 can pumpkin
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
2 cups chocolate chips

1. Combine ingredients

Preheat oven to 375.

Normally I throw caution to the wind and just throw the ingredients together unceremoniously. But there is a benefit to separating them, and that's what I did with this recipe. It makes the flour especially more manageable. 

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I know what you're thinking: everyone knows how to bake chocolate chip cookies! Well, in case your batches are hit or miss (like mine usually are) here's my fool-proof cookie recipe! Seriously - perfectly soft, but not too mushy cookies every time! Without fail!

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons hot water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips1 cup chopped walnuts (optional - I omit this because I hate nuts)

Microwave Fudge

When you've had as crappy a day as I have, you really don't want to slave over the stove to get your rich, delicious pick-me-up. Everything seemed to go wrong today, and I thought it was the perfect excuse to pull out this fudge recipe. A tasty treat for me, a valuable recipe for you! Everyone wins :)

I found this recipe in college when I was too lazy and tired to bake but too stressed to resist the urge of an unhealthy and delectable dessert. It's great for when you need something rich and chocolatey in the next five minutes and can't waste the energy watching the oven or stove. And, because it's so rich, it lasts a while, too! I keep the container in the fridge for days and just snack on the fudge throughout the week.

Ingredients

1 lb powdered sugar (I usually measure 4 cups and it works out perfectly)

2/3 cup cocoa (tip: use Hershey's special dark cocoa!!)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup nuts (optional - I hate nuts, so I always omit)

Oreo Truffles

Here's my favorite... Oreo Truffles. Just three ingredients, and so easy to remember!

Ingredients

1 package Oreos (your choice of flavor)

1 package cream cheese

1 package chocolate chips

1. Crush Oreos

There are several ways you can do this. You can use a food chopper. You can put the Oreos in a gallon-sized Ziploc bag and use a rolling pin over it.  You can use a large object, like a juice jug, to crush the Oreos in the bag. Or you can pour the Oreos into a bowl and use a potato masher (which is what I did).