Bring on the Pumpkin .. Homemade Pumpkin Oreos

Usually I will pin or save a recipe and it will take me a while to make it.  But when I saw on blog hop Homemade Pumpkin Oreo recipe on The Silly Girl's Life, I had to make them! Now I'm all about the quick and easy so when I made the oreo part I made my really LARGE instead of small little ones.  I was having a pitty me week and even ate TWO of them, yup they had to be promptly taken to the neighbor's house so I would not eat any more!

Ingredients Oreo Cookie
2 Cups all-purpose flour
1/2 Cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 Cup vegetable shortening
1 Cup granulated sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 Cup hot water
1/2 Cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a bowl, mix to combine and set aside. Cream together the 1/2 Cup shortening with the granulated sugar with a hand mixer (or stand mixer) on medium speed for 3 minutes. Add in the eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and beat for an additional minute until combined. On low speed, mix in 1/3 the flour mixture and combine thoroughly. Add in the milk and combine. Add in another 1/3 of the flour, mix to combine. Add in the hot water, mix to combine. Finally, add in the remaining flour and thoroughly mix. Use a spatula to scrap down the sides of the bowl between additions.

Place tablespoon sized dollops on to parchment or silicone lined baking sheets. Bake for 8-9 minutes until cookies look set. Place baking sheet on wire rack for 5 minutes to cool. Place cookies directly on wire rack to cool completely.

ALEXIS NOTE: I pipped mine onto a cookie sheet.

Next to make the frosting.

Ingredients

4 oz cream cheese, softened
4 Tbls butter, unsalted, softened
1/4 Cup puree pure pumpkin
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of salt

While the cookies are cooling, make the filling. Cream together the cream cheese and butter until combined. Add in the remaining ingredients and whip on medium speed for 3 minutes until fluffy. Spread filling evenly on the cookies or use a piping bag. Top with another cookie.

ALEXIS NOTES: I also pipped on the frosting in between the cookies.

To Assemble you take 1 oreo cookie add frosting and top with another cookie.  Make sure your two cookies are about the same size.

 And you place them on a tray and take them out of the house quickly so you don't eat them all .. lol

Super easy recipe and they came out so yummy!!  Enjoy!

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

93rd Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop

Our 93rd Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop begins NOW! 

Might be a good idea NOT to look at this when you're hungry. The recipes posts are so yummy, they could cause over-eating! LOL  Be sure to take a tour of all our creative posts. You'll love them. Enjoy!  

MOST VIEWED

Homemade Ginger Ale from Katherines Corner
10 Fall Slow Cooker Recipes from Homemade Interest

Very Popular

English Toffee Bars from Creative K Kids
If We Knew What We Had from Just A Touch of Crazy
Cheesy Chicken Vegetable Soup by This Silly Girl's Life
Navajo Tacos from The Pin Junkie

Editor's Pick

Gray Pumpkins from Coconuthead Survival Guide

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Pumpkin Time ... Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

My bestie posted on FB a recipe for Pumpkin Snickerdoodles.  I already had one marked to make for her so I thought it would be a good day to surprise her with a special treat. The recipe I made was found on A Bitchin' Kitchen for Pumpkin Snickerdoodles.

Really simple to make but very yummy, I broke down and had one .. it's been one of those weeks.

For the cookies:

3 3/4 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the coating:
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Dash of allspice

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Whisk together to blend. In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugars on medium speed until well combined. Next, still on medium speed, beat in pumpkin. Then, add the egg and vanilla extract. Lastly, add in the dry ingredients. Beat until combined, but do not over mix. Cover the dough, and refrigerate for one hour, until firm.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and spices for the sugar coating. Scoop dough (approximately 2 1/2 tablespoons) and roll into a ball. Roll the dough ball in the sugar mixture, and place on the lined baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie. 

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes. Remove when the centers of the cookies have set. Let cool on the baking pan for approximately 5 minutes, and then transfer to wire cooling racks to cool completely.

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Sweet Tooth Anyone? ... Oreo Stuffed Brownies

A while back I made these super yummy brownies with a surprise inside!  I found a recipe for Oreo Stuffed Brownies on Cook in The Books Blog. I found some peppermint Oreo cookies and a box of Hot Chocolate Brownie mix.  Usually I make my brownie's from scratch but I needed a quick dessert so I went with the box and the flavor was perfect.

Ingredients:

Brownie Mix (Homemade or Box)

Oreo Cookies

(Ingredients to make brownies)

Spray muffin tins well with cooking spray.
Mix up the brownies and drop in enough batter to cover the bottom.
Place oreo cookie on top of batter. 
Cover with more batter. 
Bake in preheated 350 degree oven 12-15 minutes.

My hot chocolate brownies had a marshmallow mix that I spread on top of each cupcake.  I also used cupcake liners instead of spraying with cooking spray.

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE. 

Getting our Roast on ... Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin and Apples

Sunday Supper Meal Idea time!  PERFECT for a Sunday meal, it may not be pretty but it sure was tasty and filling up your belly!

Have you noticed how much I love my crockpot?  I know but when you work from home you tend to do more work the if you worked outside the home.  YES its easy to sit down and forget about things around you don't get off when you would like.  So I find the crockpot is my friend.  This was a very yummy roast a little on the large side, but we had a guest over so it worked perfect!  So it's not the prettiest picture but it sure was yummy!  I found this recipe for Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin and Apples on one of my favorite Weight Watcher Sites Slender Kitchen.

Ingredients

• 2.5 lbs. pork tenderloin, fat removed
• 1 onion, sliced thin
• 3-4 apples, sliced
• 2 tbsp whole grain or dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1.5 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Instructions

1. Season the pork with salt and pepper. Place it in the crockpot.
2. Spread the mustard and honey on the pork.
3. Cover with the sliced onions and apples.
4. Cook for 6-8 hours in the slow cooker. Take the lid off the crockpot for the last 30 minutes to let the liquid reduce. Slice and serve. 

ALEXIS NOTES: I used Dijon Mustard (what I had on hand).  I also used Agave Nectar instead of honey.  Also Seat Salt instead of table salt.

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE. 

Lemon Fudge Featured!

A few weeks back we had a end of the summer BBQ.  I made some Lemon Fudge that was so yummy!!  

I was so excited to see it was featured on Teach Me Tuesday #22!  This fudge was SOOOO easy and so tasty. I had to remove myself from the table to stop eating it.

Then I found it was ALSO at Diana Rambles Pin it of the Week!  I'm so over the moon it was featured again and she tried it and it was a hit!

A Big thank you to Bobbi and Adrian and Diana for the features!

Have a GREAT weekend!!

And for you who asked here's a sneak peak of the 

Pokemon and Spiderman Candy Clay Cupcake Toppers I made
from my post yesterday for the Charity Birthday Dreams:

On Board the week .... Cupcakes to do

I signed up for not one but two cakes this week for Birthday Dreams.  I know I tend to take on too much, and don't tell my husband .. lol.  I just can't help myself I hate to think a kid would not have a cake for their birthday or a store bought one when they could have a homemade cake that was made especially for them.

I signed up for a Spiderman Cake for a little boy age 6.  Then I saw a need for a Pokemon Cake for a 11 year old boy.  I love to do cupcakes since they are easy to serve and easy for me to make :).

So here is what is on my list for delivery Friday:

I found an idea for Spiderman Cupcakes on Something Sweet.

The cupcake Blog also had this option a little more 3D.

Then for the Pokemon I found this idea on Birthday Cakes.

Wish me luck! I plan to use candy clay to make the toppers!

Sweets for the Sweet .... Snickerdoodle Cupcakes with Cinnamon Swirl Frosting

These cupcakes are a few steps to make and a little time consuming but I loved how they came out.  My bestie LOVES Snickerdoodle's and when I saw this recipe on Sally's Baking Addiction I had to make them for her.

For the Snickerdoodles I found a recipe for Trisha Yearwood's Snickerdoodles on the Food Network.  I made miniature sized cookies to fit nicely on top of the cupcake.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup salted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 medium eggs
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, combine the butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar and the eggs and mix thoroughly with an electric mixer on medium speed until creamy and well combined, 1 to 2 minutes. Sift together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt, and stir into the shortening mixture.
3. In a small bowl, stir together the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with the cinnamon.
4. Shape the dough into 1 1/2-inch balls (1 tablespoon per ball), and roll each ball in the cinnamon-sugar. Arrange the dough balls 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake two sheets at a time until the edges of the cookies are set but the centers are still soft, 8 to 10 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through. Transfer the cookies to wire racks for cooling. Repeat with the remaining dough balls. Store in an airtight container.

ALEXIS NOTES:  I made this recipe but instead of regular size cookies I cute the size in half.

After making the cookies I went on to making the Snickerdoodle Cupcakes with Cinnamon Swirl Frosting.  

Start with the cupcakes:

• 1 and 2/3 cups (210g) all-purpose flour (careful not to overmeasure)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 and 1/2 cups (300g) granulated sugar, divided
• 1/2 cup (1 stick or 115g) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup (60g) yogurt*
• 3/4 cup (180ml) milk*
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt butter in the microwave. Whisk in 1 cup of sugar - mixture will be gritty. Stir in egg, yogurt, milk, and vanilla extract until combined. Slowly mix in dry ingredients until no lumps remain. Batter will be thick.

In a small bowl, mix the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon together.  Set aside.  Spoon 2 scant Tablespoons of cupcake batter into each cupcake liner.  Top with 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Top with 1 heaping Tablespoon of cupcake batter, until the cupcake tins are about 3/4 full. Some of the cinnamon-sugar filling from the center layer may peek through the top layer of batter. See photo above for a visual.  Top each cupcake with 1 teaspoon more of the cinnamon-sugar.

Bake the cupcakes for 19-21 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Then onto the Frosting:

• 1 cup (2 sticks or 230g) salted or unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 3-4 cups (360-480g) confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup (60ml) heavy cream or half-and-half*
  
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• salt, to taste
• 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

To make the frosting, beat softened butter on medium speed with an electric or stand mixer. Beat for about 3 minutes until smooth and creamy. Add confectioners' sugar, cream, and vanilla extract with the mixer running. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 full minutes (the longer you beat, the creamier the frosting). Add more confectioners' sugar if frosting is too thin or more cream if the frosting is too thick. Taste the frosting and add salt if frosting is too sweet (1/4 teaspoon). Remove half of the frosting from the mixing bowl and transfer to a smaller mixing bowl.  Add 1 Tablespoon of cinnamon and beat until combined, about 30 seconds.

To swirl the frosting, spoon half cinnamon frosting into the piping bag and half vanilla frosting into the piping bag. See above for a visual. Pipe onto cupcakes as desired. Simply frost the cupcakes with both the vanilla and cinnamon frostings. There may be leftover frosting depending how much you use on each cupcake.

ALEXIS NOTES: I was in a hurry so I just mixed the frosting all together and frosted the cupcakes like that.

And then you assemble them:

Frost your cooled cupcakes with the frosting.  Add a mini snickerdoodle on the top of every cupcake.

They were so pretty and I was so happy to present these to her.  She said they were amazing!  Worth all the time and steps that went into them.

Thanks for stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.