Gingerbread Pumpkin Bars

I forgot I hadn't posted about these yet so I apologize for the fact that they're kind of out of season now, with the the pumpkin and gingerbread. But I'd happily eat these bars any time of year because they're so incredibly tasty. Gingerbread crust with a cream cheese pumpkin filling. I omitted the drizzle that's supposed to be on top which I'm sure is good but I wouldn't say it's necessary. I used old fashioned rolled oats instead of quick oats and while it was fine, I definitely think the quick oats are better otherwise in the crumble part on top you have big oats flakes. The only bad thing about these bars, which is hardly a bad thing at all, is that I found the crust only stayed firm/hard for the first two days and then became quite soft.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Ginger Spice Cookies
Snickerdoodle Blondies
Pumpkin Loaf
Chocolate Fudge Souffle Bars

Gingerbread Pumpkin Bars
Adapted from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody who adapted from Culinary in the Desert from Land O Lakes

I halved the recipe and made it in a 9x9 pan. What I've posted below is the full recipe though.

For the bars
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
16 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/3 cup rolled quick oats

For the filling
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 3/4 cups mashed pumpkin
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350F

To make the bars

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter, sugar and molasses until creamy. Add dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Reserve 3/4 cup of this mixture and place in a small bowl. Scoop the remaining mixture into a 10″ x 15″ baking pan lightly coated with nonstick spray.

Add the oats to the reserved mixture and mix until combined – set aside.

To make the filling

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves – mix until well combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing just until combined. Scoop the mixture over the uncooked base and use an off-set spatula to evenly spread the mixture over the top. Crumble reserved oat mixture over filling.

Bake until the topping is a golden brown, about 25-30 minutes. Remove and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Butternut Squash Casserole

This casserole is by far one of the best casseroles I've ever made and probably one of the best in existence period. I wish there was a really awesome vegetarian casseroles cookbook out there because it's so great to find something that's tasty and makes lots of leftovers for the week. (If you know of such a cookbook, please let me know!) I loved this casserole so much - it was so flavourful and satisfying. It has tons of yummy stuff in it (butternut squash, onions, thyme, pumpkin seeds or pecans, cheese, spinach) and is pretty healthy too. The only thing I'd do differently next time is to use pecans instead of pumpkin seeds, and really you could just leave them out altogether and it would still be amazing.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie
Tomato and Corn Pie
Feta and Ricotta Cheese Pie
Squash & Aged White Cheddar Tart with Sage and Roasted Garlic Custard

Butternut Squash Casserole
Adapted from Ezra Pound Cake who adapted from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook

Serves 8 to 10 people

3 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled and cut in 1/4-inch-thick slices (about 6 cups)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for the pan (you could easily reduce this by at least half)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 large yellow onions, trimmed, peeled and chopped (about 3 cups)
1 cup milk (I used 1%)
2 large eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs (toasted if you want, I didn't toast them)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds or pecans, toasted
2 cups coarsely grated cheddar cheese (about 6 ounces)
1 bunch of spinach, washed (add to the same water as the squash in step 2 during the last minute of boiling)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Place 3 quarts water in a large pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the squash to the water, return to a boil, and cook for 6 minutes. The squash will turn a deeper orange. Drain it and set aside.

3. Melt the butter in the stockpot and add the oil. Add the onions and sauté over medium-low heat until translucent and limp, about 8 minutes, stirring to prevent browning. Add the warm squash and the buttermilk, eggs, thyme, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, 1/8 cup pumpkin seeds and 1 1/3 cups cheese. Blend with a wooden spoon or spatula until the ingredients are well combined.

4. Spread the mixture evenly in a 9x13" baking dish. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the remaining 1/8 cup pumpkin seeds and 2/3 cup cheese. Bake 15 minutes more. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake

Thanks everyone for all the congratulations on our engagement. =) Very sweet of you all! We're still trying to pick a date, which is kind of hard to do with my school schedule but I'm sure we'll figure something out soon.

I seem to be making a lot of bundt cakes recently - which I think means that I'm justified in buying another bundt pan like the rose shaped Nordic Ware one, don't you agree? This cake turned out quite soft, so for me it wasn't perfect (I prefer dense cakes to fluffy ones) but everyone else loved it. The cake tastes like a Terry's chocolate orange so if you like those you will definitely like this! The cake itself has orange juice and zest, as well as chocolate chunks. (I hate when I forget to zest the orange before juicing it and then have to try to zest a squashed rind.) Then it has an orange syrup that's put on shortly after coming out of the oven (which soaks into the cake) and then a chocolate ganache is spooned on top. It's quite the cake!

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Orange Cream Cheese Muffins
Cinnamon Swirl Buttermilk Pound Cake
Orange Berry Muffins
Lemon Lust Cake

Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake
Smitten Kitchen adapted from Barefoot Contessa Parties!

My only adaptation to the recipe I found on Smitten Kitchen was a small one - I used regular salt instead of coarse salt.

1/2 pound unsalted butter at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 extra-large eggs at room temperature
1/4 cup grated orange zest (from 4 large oranges)
3 cups all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons (Ashley note: I used 420 g.)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
3/4 cup buttermilk at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups good semisweet chocolate chunks

Syrup
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

Ganache
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan.

2. Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, then the orange zest.

3. Sift together 3 cups flour, the baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, combine the orange juice, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately in thirds to the creamed butter, beginning and ending with the flour. Toss the chocolate chunks with 2 tablespoons flour and add to the batter. Pour into the pan, smooth the top, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, make the syrup. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, cook the sugar with the orange juice until the sugar dissolves. Remove the cake from the pan, set it on a rack over a tray, and spoon the orange syrup over the cake. Allow the cake to cool completely.

5. For the ganache, melt the chocolate, heavy cream, and coffee in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally. Drizzle over the top of the cake.

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie

I'm not doing a very good job of updating my blog (and reading blogs) right now! School, work and life are definitely keeping me busy. Oh and I got engaged so now add wedding planning into the mix! =)

I don't think I've ever had regular shepherd's pie - things with ground beef never appealed to me when I used to eat meat. And as a vegetarian, the fake veggie ground round version of shepherd's pie never sounded too great either. Then I came across this recipe for shepherd's pie in my beloved The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest. It has no ground round/fake meat products and instead (as the recipe says) is "a vegetable hash on the bottom, and garlicky mashed potatoes on top". What's not to love about that? I was expecting it to keep together better (bind better) but it all kind of mooshed around. Which was fine and delicious. This shepherd's pie is like mashed potatoes with lots of vegetables and a sort of vegetable gravy. I don't imagine it's very authentic but it was good and that is, of course, the important thing!

Here's Abby playing with one of her new toys. Sadly she's already broken the string! She really loved this one.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Frijoles, Etc. Casserole
Chayote and Corn Enchiladas
Fresh Pear and Curry Pasta
Artichoke Rotini Pasta

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie
Adapted from The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest

Mashed potato topping (Make this first):
2 large potatoes
1 tbsp butter (or oil)
1/2 cup milk
3 large cloves garlic, minced
salt & pepper, to taste
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley

Vegetable Hash:
1 tbsp oil
1 1/2 cups minced onions
4 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
fresh black pepper to taste
1 stalk celery, finely minced
1 lb mushrooms, chopped
1 lb zucchini, diced
1 medium bell pepper, minced
2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese (leave out to make vegan)
cayenne to taste
paprika

Make the mashed potato topping:

Peel or scrub the potatoes, and cut them into 1 inch chunks. Cook in plenty of boiling water until soft. Drain and transfer to a medium-large bowl. Add butter, garlic, and milk, and mash well. Add salt and black pepper to taste, and stir in the parsley. Set aside.

Make the vegetable hash (and assembly):

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Have ready a 2 quart casserole or its equivalent (ex. a 9x13 baking pan).

2. Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet or a Dutch oven. Add the onion, and saute over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until it begins to soften.

3. Add garlic, salt, pepper, celery, mushrooms, zucchini, and bell pepper. Stir until well combined, cover, and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the herbs, stir, and cover again. Cook for about 5 more minutes, or until the zucchini is perfectly tender. Remove from heat.

4. Stir in the peas and cheese. Add cayenne to taste. Transfer this mixture to the casserole or baking pan, and spread it out.

5. Spoon and./or spread the mashed potatoes over the vegetables. Dust generously with paprika.

6. Bake uncovered for 25 to 30 minutes, or until lightly browned on top and bubbly around the edges.

Cream Cheese Swirl Blondies

I've only made blondies a few times before and these were another great version. They're super soft and perfectly cream cheese-y. I'd like to try them with different flavours - maybe matcha or earl grey? I'm always thinking about adding tea to baked goods. What flavours do you think would be good in these?

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Black Bottom Cupcakes
Snickerdoodle Blondies
Chewy, Chunky Blondies
White Chocolate Brownies

Cream Cheese Swirl Blondies
Martha Stewart (originally found in Holiday Cookies Special from 2005)

Makes 9 large or 16 small squares.

11 tablespoons (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
1 2/3 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a buttered 8-inch square baking pan with parchment, allowing a 2-inch overhang. Butter lining (excluding overhang); set pan aside.

2. Whisk together 1 2/3 cups flour, the baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl, and set aside.

3. Put 9 tablespoons butter and the brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add 2 eggs and 1 teaspoon vanilla; mix until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture, mix, scraping down sides of bowl, until well combined. Transfer to a large bowl.

4. Put cream cheese, granulated sugar, remaining 2 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons flour, 1 egg, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla into the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; beat on medium speed until just smooth.

5. Pour half the blondie batter into prepared pan, and spread evenly with an offset spatula. Spoon two-thirds of cream-cheese mixture on top, and spread evenly. Drop dollops of remaining batter on top (spacing about 1 inch apart), and spread. Top with dollops of remaining cream-cheese mixture, about 1 inch apart.

6. Gently swirl cream cheese mixture into batter with a butter knife, running the knife lengthwise and crosswise through layers. Bake until golden brown and a cake tester inserted into center comes out with a few crumbs but is not wet, 45 to 47 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into squares.

Blondies can be stored between layers of parchment in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 2 days. (Note: The recipe says you can store them at room temperature but because there's cream cheese in there I'd put them in the fridge. They might dry/harden up a bit in the fridge, I'm not sure. Mine were eaten within the day I made them.)