The weather has cooled ...

And every grocery store has a huge display with ingredients for pumpkin pie.

Which can only mean one thing ...

It's time to get out the pumpkin recipes!

Now I love my banana bread. Don't get me wrong.

But with Thanksgiving only a month away (actually less!), and all of those displays, I'm craving pumpkin pie.

And since I'm a believer in holding out until the big T-day, I needed a to find a way to temporarily settle my craving.

The answer?

Eating delicious pumpkin spiced bread and muffins (along with a bunch of other pumpkin recipes which I'll share with you all November!).

What I love about this recipe is that it's quite versatile, and it makes a lot!.  There's plenty of batter to go around, and if you don't feel like sharing, you can even freeze half of the muffins or bread for a future craving.

Plus, I was able to make it a wee bit healthier, by eliminating the traditional 3 cups of white sugar, and replacing it with just a cup of brown sugar, and a cup of natural maple syrup.  I also eliminated half the oil and replaced it with applesauce.

But just in case you prefer to make the original recipe, I've included that too.

So the next time you want keep your pumpkin pie craving at bay, stock up on cans of pumpkin puree.  You've got the perfect recipe for a pumpkin bread that will tied you over until the big day.

Until our next meal,

Rebecca

Spiced Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

Spiced Pumpkin Bread

• 1 (15 ounce) Can Pumpkin Puree
• 4 Eggs
• 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
• 1/2 Cup Unsweetened Apple Sauce
• 1/2 Cup Water
• 1 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1 Cup Real Maple Syrup
• 3 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
• 2 Tsp Baking Soda
• 1 1/2 Tsp Salt
• 1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1 Tsp Ground Nutmeg
• 1/2 Tsp Ground Cloves
• 1/4 Tsp Ground Ginger

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans, or one large loaf and one standard dozen muffin tin.
2. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, applesauce, water, brown sugar and maple syrup until well blended.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger.
4. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
5. Bake muffins for about 20-25 minutes, small loaf pans for 50 minutes, and regular loaf pan for about one hour in the preheated oven.
6. All are done when a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Original Pumpkin Bread Recipe

If you prefer a sweeter cake-like bread, this recipe is delicious!

Ingredients:

• 1 (15 ounce) Can Pumpkin Puree
• 4 Eggs
• 1 Cup Vegetable Oil
• 2/3 Cup Water
• 3 Cups Sugar
• 3 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
• 2 Tsp Baking Soda
• 1 1/2 Tsp Salt
• 1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1 Tsp Ground Nutmeg
• 1/2 Tsp Ground Cloves
• 1/4 Tsp Ground Ginger

Follow the same directions above.

But with everything going on, you just couldn't get through them all, and over half are now turning brown.

Of course this actually made you excited, because you were planning on making my banana bread recipe for the weekend.

Yet this morning, when you got up, you found that your husband (or roommate!) used up two of the bananas to make smoothies, and now you only have two left.

And two bananas just won't cut it.

So I'm not a huge dessert person, which is shocking because my grandfather was a baker by trade. (And an amazing one at that! I may just have to share a few of his recipes with you in the future.)

But because I love to cook so much, I always go overboard and find that we're stuffed after dinner, and just never get to dessert.

Well I found a recipe this past weekend, and since I was already planning on making the riesling chicken recipe, I thought I'd top off the romantic evening with a special dessert.

We both enjoyed it, so I just had to share with you!

It's light, it's easy, it uses ingredients you usually already have on hand, it doesn't leave any leftovers (zero late-night munchie risk), and it uses up those two over-ripe bananas.  SCORE!

The recipe is for a Banana Souffle, and before you think - "oh my, I'm not going to attempt to make a souffle" - I'm telling you, it's really not that tough.  The hardest part is knowing when your egg whites have been beaten enough, but if you think about what whip cream looks like, you'll be just fine.

Give it a try - the only thing you have to lose is 3 eggs, two old bananas, and maybe 15 minutes of your time.

So the next time you only have two old bananas and want to turn them into something special, get ready to indulge.  You have the perfect banana souffle recipe that will turn those ordinary bananas into something extraordinary.

Until our next meal,

Rebecca

Banana Souffle

Ingredients:

Banana Souffle

• 1 Tbs Unsalted Butter, Melted
• 5 Tbs Sugar
• 2 Ripe Bananas, Mashed
• 1 Tbs Fresh Lime Juice
• 1 Large Egg Yolk
• 3 Large Egg Whites

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Using a pastry brush, lightly coat four 1-cup ceramic ramekins with melted butter.
2. Add 2 tablespoons of sugar to one of the ramekins and rotate it to coat with sugar. Tap it into the next ramekin and continue until all of the ramekins are coated.
3. In food processor, puree the bananas with fresh lime juice, egg yolk, and 2 tablespoons of sugar until the mixture is very smooth.
4. Scrape the banana and egg puree into a large bowl.
5. In a stainless steel bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form.
6. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar and beat until the egg whites are firm and glossy.
7. Using a rubber spatula, beat one-fourth of the beaten egg whites into the banana mixture by hand (rather than using your mixer), then gently fold in the remaining beaten egg whites.
8. Carefully spoon the souffle mixture into the prepared ramekins, smoothing the top of each souffle.
9. Tap the ramekins lightly on a hard work surface.
10. Transfer the banana souffles to a baking sheet and bake in the center of the oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown and risen.  Watch them for the last few minutes as they tend to brown quickly, but do not open the oven until they are finished.
11. Serve immediately.

Found this fabulous dessert recipe in Food & Wine.

It's easy to show people you care with food.

And there's something about breakfast in bed that really ups the ante.

I guess it's the unexpected nature of it.

You know when you're going to a lunch, or having a dinner party.

But waking up to food -- when you're not expecting it -- really starts the day off on a special note.

My favorite breakfast in bed menu includes pancakes. (And of course, bacon!) 

Pancakes are comforting, versatile, and always considered a treat.  They're great plain with a simple maple syrup.  And with the addition of  fruit or a new topping, you can turn them into something extra special.  

I'm a huge fan of adding frozen blueberries or chopped up bananas to the batter, or topping the pancakes with chopped strawberries that have been soaking in a little sugar and water.

When you want to show someone you care, pancakes will always do the trick. 

So the next time you want to start someone's day off with breakfast in bed, go ahead and get your serving tray out of storage before you go to bed.  You've got the perfect recipe for the perfect morning start.

Until our next meal,

Rebecca

Fluffy Scratch Pancakes

Ingredients:

Fluffy Blueberry Pancakes

• 1 Cup Flour
• 1 Tbs Sugar
• 2 Tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 Tsp Salt
• 1 Egg
• 3/4 Cup Milk
• 1/4 Cup Margarine, Melted

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
2. Combine egg, milk, and butter, and then stir into dry ingredients until moistened.
3. Grease and then heat a griddle to medium, and pour 1/2 cup batter for each pancake. 

Tip: Make one "throw away" pancake first, and use it to wipe up the grease on the griddle.  The rest of your pancakes will be golden brown!

BUT ... hear me out. I think vanilla ice cream is boring.  

Don't get me wrong. It has its place.

And in my mind, its place is to further strengthen another dessert.

Take for example, brownies. I love a warm, rich, chewy, chocolaty  brownie. BUT ... add some vanilla ice cream and chocolate fudge, and oh my look out. Now you have a dessert worth writing blog posts about.

And while I could share my brownie recipe here, the warm brownie sundae would be too cliché.  So instead I'm going to share with you my cherry crisp recipe.  

Of course you can also turn this recipe into an apple crisp, peach crisp, blueberry crisp ... it's really your choice. But this recipe is SO good ... served warm ... with vanilla ice cream.  

And it's so easy, your guests, your husband, your family, whomever, will feel like you really put in special effort, even though you really just made it to use up the vanilla ice cream in your freezer.

So the next time the grocery store has a sale on vanilla ice cream and you can't resist, go ahead and buy an extra gallon.  You have the perfect companion for a dessert guaranteed to make even us "non-appreciative of the vanilla flavor" ice cream lovers get excited.

Until our next meal, Rebecca

Warm Cherry Crisp

Ingredients:

Cherry Crisp

• 2 and 1/2 Cups Frozen Pitted Cherries
• 3 Tbs White Sugar
• 1 and 1/2 Tbs All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 Cup Regular Rolled Oats
• 1/2 Cup Packed Brown Sugar
• 1/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1/4 Cup Butter or Margarine, Softened
• 1/4 Cup Chopped Nuts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Thaw the cherries, but do not drain, and then place them in a 2-quart baking dish.
3. Stir in the white sugar and 3 tablespoons flour.
4. For the topping, in a medium bowl combine the oats, brown sugar, flour, and nutmeg.
5. Cut in the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
6. Stir in the nuts, and then sprinkle the topping over filling.
7. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the topping is golden.
8. Cool slightly. If desired, serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Tip: I love this stuff warm and by itself.  So don't feel like you have to buy vanilla ice cream in order to make it.  With or without, it's dessert worthy. Enjoy!

It's been simmering in the pot all afternoon.

Your house is filled with its mouth watering fragrance.

And you've already prepared the various toppings so that your friends and family can customize their bowl.

You'll be serving it up soon.  But think it could use a partner.

Cornbread!

You rush to the pantry, only to find that you're out of the box mix you usually make.

Thank goodness!

This cornbread recipe will only take you a few more minutes than that box mix.  And the end result will be a partner worthy of standing by your homemade chili.

So the next time you get ready to serve up some chili, don't worry about whether you have a box of cornbread mix on hand.  You have the perfect recipe to make chili-worthy cornbread from scratch.

And of course you don't need to make the chili to enjoy the cornbread.  I just whipped up a batch myself for an afternoon treat.

Until our next meal,

Rebecca
 

Light and Fluffy Corn Bread

Ingredients:

Light and Fluffy Corn Bread

• 1 Cup All-Purpose Flour
• 1 Cup Cornmeal
• 1/4 Cup Sugar
• 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 Tsp Salt
• 1 Egg, Lightly Beaten
• 1 Cup Lowfat Sour Cream
• 1/3 Cup Milk
• 1/4 Cup Butter, Melted

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the egg, sour cream, milk and butter.
3. Stir the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients until moistened.
4. Pour into a greased 8-inch square baking pan.  Back at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
5. Serve warm.

Instead, do a quick fist pump and yell "woo hoo!"

You're about to experience a treat that words just can't do justice.

Sure you think you've had good banana bread.  But this recipe took me several attempts to perfect and it is now, without a doubt, the best banana bread I've ever tasted.

Warning: Once you make this recipe you will probably experience some or all of the following...

You'll find yourself buying bananas in bulk just so that you'll have extra to have turn brown.

You'll start playing "banana nazi" forbidding people to eat bananas at your house.

Your friends will start snooping around your kitchen more often to see if you have any banana bread to eat.

Your house guests will come to expect it.

And you will be asked for the recipe time and time again.

By making this recipe you are consenting that you understand these risks and will not hold me responsible.

So the next time your bananas turn brown, get excited!  You have the perfect recipe for delicious banana bread that will once again make your house smell amazing.

Seeing a trend here?  Who needs incense when you have good smelling recipes?  I actually have a loaf in my oven right now as I'm writing this. 

Until our next meal,

Rebecca

Side note: I make this recipe with 1/2 oatmeal for a reason.  It started because I was trying to put oatmeal in recipes to keep my husband's bad cholesterol down.  But it ended up giving the bread such great texture, that we fell in love with it.  If you prefer though, you can use 2 cups of flour instead of one cup of each.  It's still as delicious, but I highly recommend you try it with the oatmeal.
 

Oatmeal Banana Bread

Warm Delicious Banana Bread

• 1 Cup All-Purpose Flour
• 1 Cup Cooking Oats
• 1 Tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 Tsp Salt
• 1/2 Cup Butter, Softened
• 3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
• 2 Eggs, Beaten
• 4 Mashed Overripe Bananas
• 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
3. In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, baking soda and salt.
4. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended.
5. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture and add vanilla; stir just to moisten.
6. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
7. Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, and then turn out onto a wire rack.

Have you tried this recipe? Do you have a question or comment for me?
I invite you to leave it as a comment below!