Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Hi! Hope you guys all had a wonderful thanksgiving with all your loved ones and lots of yummy food! My thanksgiving was very simple, other than two close friends, we didn't have anyone over this year since the original plan was for my mom and sister to go spend thanksgiving at my dads. Everyone ended up staying though! My sister and I did all the cooking this year and everything came out great. We had turkey, garlic-parmesan mashed potatoes, bacon corn bread stuffing, broccoli casserole, rolls and ham. For dessert I baked these bars the night before.

These pumpkin cheesecake bars were seriously too easy to make. I love love love a recipe that is effortless but amazing. They do take a bit too bake and you have to cool for at least 3 hours but if you make them a night or two in advance you are good to go!

I know that pumpkin season is over and now it's peppermint everything but if you're like me and love incorporating pumpkin in your baking then you might want to try this recipe out. Or you can pin this and make for next thanksgiving, I can assure this will be a hit at your gathering. 

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

makes 12 large squares or 24 small squares

recipe slightly adapted from roxanashomebaking

crust:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs 

1/4 melted butter

filling:

4 packages (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened 

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

4 eggs

1 cup pumpkin puree

2 teaspoons cinnamon 

Heat oven to 300 degrees.

Line a 13x9" baking dish with parchment paper or foil, leaving about an inch hanging on the sides.

Pour the crumbs and butter right in your prepared baking dish and mix it all very well. Press mixture into the bottom of the pan as packed and even as you can. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar on low speed until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time just until incorporated. Spoon half of the mixture on top of crust and spread evenly.

Add pumpkin puree and cinnamon to remaining cream cheese mixture, whisk until smooth and spoon over plain cream cheese mixture in pan as evenly as possible.

Bake for 50 minutes until set. Turn off the oven and let the oven door open with the cheesecake still inside. This way allowing it to cool down inside the oven for an hour. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Cut bars into desired size. Garnish with whipped cream and cinnamon!

Enjoy!

XOXO

Lidia

Baked Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Donuts

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and to be honest this is probably the first thanksgiving day
that I will actually sit down and genuinely be thankful for all the good things in my life instead of just
rushing my thankful words and thoughts in order to get to eating some really great food.
Being a mother changes you so much and it makes you appreciate things a thousand times more,
you stop and appreciate the simple things in life... or at least that is what happened to me.

Although my dad is still not with us and this thanksgiving day we will be separated as a familiy,
two of my sisters going over to my dad's in Mexico and two of us staying with my mom, this
is the first thanksgiving day that I will be spending as a mother of a baby boy and wife of a
wonderful man and I am very grateful to have them in my life.

I've never been a black friday fan. I remember going to black friday a few times with
my dad. He would take my mom and sisters and buy us shoes, sweaters and some other
winter essentials... I really never did see much of a difference between shopping on
black friday and any other day... except for the massive amount of people up so early
on such a cold morning just to get their shopping fix.

I'm not judging any of you that do take advantage on black friday and get yourself some
sweet deals, go for it! But, as of me, hearing about the horrible stories of people actually
dying at such events last year, being married to a non-consuming anarchist, not agreeing
to the fact that a day that used to be a day where everyone would gather around the table
with their families and give thanks for everyone and everything that they have in their life
is now a day of eating as fast as you can so you can rush to the mall, and most importantly
being a mother and wanting to my son to grow up being a grateful family oriented man
instead of a consumer, I will not be supporting black friday.


That being said... It's pumpkin season. And I actually baked these mini donuts back in May!
I was pregnant and craving pumpkin donuts in May. I have a pumpkin doughnut w/ a cream-
cheese icing recipe on the blog already but this one is a bit different and actually the one I prefer!

They are melt in your mouth delicious, perfect to bake on these cold autumn days and these
are better warm out of the oven with a glass of milk.

Baked Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Donuts

slightly adapted from blue-eyed bakers
makes 24 mini doughnuts

Ingredients

for donuts

- 1 3/4 c. flour

- 1 1/2 t. baking powder

- 1/2 t. salt

- 2 t. pumpkin spice

- 1/3 c. veggie oil

- 1/2 c. brown sugar

- 1 egg

- 1 1/2 t. vanilla extract

- 3/4 c. canned pumpkin

- 1/2 c. milk

for coating

- 1/2 c. butter, melted

- 2/3 c. sugar

- 1 1/2 T. cinnamon


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter mini doughnut pan & set aside.
2. In a bowl, mix: flour, baking powder, salt & pumpkin spice, set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together: oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin
    & milk just until combined.
4. Using a pastry bag or a spoon, fill doughnut pan with the batter.
    Bake for 8-10 minutes, until donuts spring back when gently touched.
5. Quickly dip warm (not hot) donuts into melted butter, then coat in the
    cinnamon sugar mix. Enjoy Immediately!


Notes:
- Don't dip donuts in butter and coat in sugar until you are going to eat them
or they will be soggy.
- You can make this recipe using a regular sized doughnut pan or a mini
muffin pan, bake for 10-12 minutes instead.

xoxo

Pumpkin Spice Cake

Before I say anything about this cake, I want to apologize for the low quality pictures,
it was late and I was tired plus I was dying to cut me a slice of this lovely cake! Also
I haven't had time to post that often, I've had so many things to do lately but I am so
happy to be back and to share this 5 star recipe with you guys, hope you enjoy (:

That being said, I had plenty of pumpkin left from the mini pumpkin donuts that I baked
and decided a pumpkin cake was just what I needed to bake (for a rainy, gloomy day) to
fill my house with the warmth that the scent of spices brings. This cake is so delicious,
the flavors of pumpkin and spices really come through and the texture is incredibly spongy!
The pumpkin makes it really moist and I love that the recipe only calls for brown sugar.
This cake would be perfect for a thanksgiving gathering! I definitely plan to make it again.

I made a quick butter-cream frosting to frost and decorate, I usually don't like making
butter-cream frosting because I find it to be a bit too sweet and I feel a little guilty
knowing that I'm just eating butter and sugar but I find it's really good frosting to decorate.
I quickly made a few pumpkins, vines and leafs, nothing fancy since I had to cook a meal and
it was already getting really late. The cake was great with the butter-cream frosting but
I bet it would be even better with a cream cheese frosting, so feel free to be creative on
that part, I think a caramel frosting would be great with this as well, I'm trying that out next!

Pumpkin Spice Cake
slightly adapted from: joyofbaking.com


Ingredients:


- 1/2 c. unsalted butter, room temp.
- 1 1/4 c. light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temp.
- 1 c. fresh or canned pumpkin puree
- 1 t. vanilla extract
- 2 c. sifted cake flour
- 1/4 t. baking powder
- 1 t. baking soda
- 1/2 t. salt
- 1 1/2 t. pumpkin spice
- 1/2 c. buttermilk, room temp.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place rack in center of oven.
Butter and flour two 8-inch or one 9-inch cake pans.

1. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add eggs one at a time making sure you mix well after each addition.
Add pumpkin puree and vanilla extract, beat until incorporated.

2. In separate bowl sift flour, baking powder, soda, salt, pumpkin spice.
Whisk. Add flour and buttermilk to pumpkin batter in three additions,
starting and ending with the flour. Dive batter in half if using the two 8-inch
molds, pour into prepared pans. Bake 25-30 minutes. Until toothpick
inserted comes out clean or with a couple of crumbs. Cool completely
before frosting.

Enjoy <3

Mini Baked Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts w/ Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese Icing

I'll start off by saying that this is the only doughnut that tastes even better the next day!
Now, that being said. My first pumpkin recipe for this fall was a success.
Everyone in my house + my friends that tried them loved these cute little doughnuts
not only because of how absolutely adorable they are but because they are sooooo
delicious! They are moist and packed with pumpkin flavor, truly a special treat.
I had been dying to try out my mini doughnut pan for months now, and I am so glad
that I chose this recipe to be my first! So worth it. Can't wait to try out new
baked doughnut recipes.

Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts
slightly adapted from: An Edible Mosaic

Ingredients:

- 3/4 c. brown sugar, packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 c. pumpkin puree
- 1/4 c. milk
- 2 T. canola oil
- 1 1/2 c. a.p. flour
- 2 t. baking powder
- 1/2 t. salt
- 2 t. pumpkin spice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees & lightly grease a mini doughnut pan.

 I used this one. My mom ordered it for me from an avon catalog a while ago.

1. In a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar and eggs until light.

 

That should do it, then, stir in the pumpkin puree, milk and canola oil.

2. In a separate medium-largish bowl whisk flour, baking powder, salt &

pumpkin spice. Gradually stir in dry ingredients into wet ingredients.

3. Transfer batter into a pastry bag, pipe batter into prepared pan about 3/4 full.

 

4. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes. 

Transfer to rack to cool completely.

Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients:

- 3 oz. cream cheese, softened

- 1 c. powdered sugar

- 2-4 T. milk

- 1/8-1/4 t. pumpkin spice

Whisk softened cream cheese and powdered sugar together.

Add 2 T. milk, add more if needed to thin icing. Quickly whisk in

the pumpkin spice.

Dip the doughnuts in the pumpkin spice cream cheese icing,

covering only half top of the doughnut.

* This is the icing I use on my cinnamon rolls, you could also ice

cookies, banana bread and so on.

Enjoy <3

p.s. I made this pumpkin spice latte this morning to go with these babys

and it was absolutely delicious! It's just like the one you get at Starbucks!