3 attempts – 1 bust = 2 successes

I’m lucky enough to have a lot of Friday’s off. It’s great. I have time to catch up with everything that didn’t get done during the hectic week, spend time with Lily, catch up with bloggy friends, and exercise. And a lot of times, I get the urge to bake!

Yesterday I did just that!

I started off with a recipe I saw on Erica’s blog. It’s been almost a week since I made anything pumpkin (cream cheese, aside), and with Halloween this weekend, it seemed only appropriate.

Success #1

Pumpkin Pie Bars from The Healthy Junky

Crust and topping:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
12 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup old-fashioned oats
½ cup chopped pecans

For the filling:
8 oz. light cream cheese, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree
1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Topping:
1/4 cup butterscotch chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with foil, extending the foil over the edges of the pan.  Lightly grease the foil.  Combine the flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar in a small mixing bowl and toss with a fork.  Add the pieces of butter to the dry ingredients and cut it in with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir in the oats and chopped pecans.

Reserve 1 cup of the crust mixture and set aside.  Add the remaining crust mixture to the prepared baking pan and press onto the bottom of the pan in an even layer.  Bake the crust alone in the oven for 15 minutes.  In the meantime, prepare the filling.

To make the filling, combine the cream cheese, sugar, eggs, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Mix on medium speed until smooth and well combined.

Once the crust has been removed from the oven, pour the filling into the pan and smooth over the crust.  Sprinkle with the reserved crumb mixture and butterscotch chips, as desired.  Bake for 25 minutes, remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.  Slice and refrigerate until served. Yield: 15 bars.

Nutrition Information (per bar): 303 calories; 17.2 g. fat; 51 mg. cholesterol; 92 mg. sodium; 33.5 g. carbohydrate; 2.2 g. fiber; 5.4 g. protein

Result: These were excellent, especially when served cold. Very rich and plenty big! There’s absolutely nothing, whatsoever healthy about them…and that is why they are going to work with me on Monday for an in-service I have to do with our staff. I hope they like them! 😀

Success #2

Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bites from How Sweet It Is

2 cups dry rolled oats
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1/3 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
1/3 cup chocolate chips (I chopped mine a bit)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup honey

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325° F.

Combine oats, flax, wheat germ, salt, nuts and chocolate chips in a bowl and mix. Use your hands to mix well. Add honey slowly and coat thoroughly. If the granola won’t stick together, add more honey 1 teaspoon at a time.

Spray a mini muffin tin with non-stick spray. Scoop granola into muffin tins and press down to fill the well tightly.

Bake for 25 minutes, checking in every 10 minutes to make sure granola isn’t burning. Remove from oven and let cool completely – this is a MUST to ensure the granola sticks together. When cool, gently twist or use a spoon to remove granola from the tins. Yield: 30 bites.

Nutrition Information (per bite): 90 calories; 5.4 g. fat; 0 mg. cholesterol; 55 mg. sodium; 9.1 g. carbohydrate; 1.6 g. fiber; 2.8 g. protein

Result: These were really good, but a bit dry. I think I would add a bit more peanut butter next time..2 tablespoons more would probably do the trick. They are so yummy with milk, and the perfect 2-bite treat. Portion control, always a good thing! 😉

1 BUST:

I tried making caramel-dipped apple slices for this Halloween weekend, and all of the caramel ended up everywhere BUT on the apple slices. WHAT did I do wrong?! I heated a bag of caramels, dipped the slices, and laid them on parchment. No idea 🙁 Anyone? Bueller?

Sad! But, a successful day in the kitchen, none-the-less. And I will have happy co-workers on Monday…always a good thing!

Question: What are you doing to celebrate Halloween? Are you dressing up? If so, as what?

It’s Saturday! College football day! That means chili and orange hoodies! 😀

GO ILLINI!