You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I’m telling you why:
I mean, look, even Santa put them on his Nice List.
Cranberry Orange Breakfast Scones
Last year I hinted at a future incarnation of my Pumpkin Cinnamon Chip Cheesecake Bread and I am nothing if not a keeper of promises. Though, this is probably not a promise you all remembered from one little post in November 2014, but just in case one of you did remember and has spent the last 12 months anxiously awaiting that new, equally delicious version of that loaf cake I have now kept my promise!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Muffins
That previous pumpkin bread recipe was so perfect that it would’ve been borderline sacrilegious to alter it too much. With a thick, rich pumpkin flavor countered by creamy, tangy cheesecake layer, this bread was an instant favorite for the fall holiday season. And what is the one additional flavor that makes everything better? Yep. Chocolate!
What do you mean you’ve already had your fill of pumpkin?! It’s only been a month and a half of the annual pumpkin spice takeover! We are only halfway done! Trust me, in a few weeks when all the pumpkin yumminess is gone and replaced with gingerbread and eggnog everything, you’ll be glad you took as full advantage of pumpkin season as possible. (Unless you are like me and never get tired of pumpkin/pumpkin spice everything; if that is you I’m going to let you know that pumpkin baked goodies freeze very very well 😉 .)
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Scones
I’m going to Disneyland today! Confession: I go a lot. Like a lot a lot. Like “I am a Disney addict” lot. But today is a special trip because we are heading off to the Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party! It’s a special event made even more special by the sheer amount of cool people watching opportunities and the exclusive fireworks show. But about that people watching…
Apple Cider Scones
Normally I am not a huge dress up in costume kind of girl, but I love admiring all the guests’ creative costumes! My favorite are the full family costumes like the family I saw last year with the mom as the Queen of Hearts, the dad as the White Rabbit, the son as the Chesire Cat, and the little daughter was Alice. Cue the “awwww” moment. This year my mom and I are actually dressing up (last year I just made us Halloween hats) and I can’t wait to show off Mom’s amazing sewing skills with my dress 😀
FINALLY! It’s FINALLY October so it’s FINALLY acceptable for me to post something pumpkin. Now, here in Southern California we are amazingly pumpkin spice anything obsessed despite it never really being cold enough to justify the warming, spicy taste of anything pumpkin spice flavored. Maybe it’s a case of wishful thinking, or hope that it’ll turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy (we act like it’s cold maybe it will become cold). But who can blame us when pumpkin is the best thing about this season?!
Pumpkin White Chocolate Scones
The other week I binge-baked pumpkin scones. I couldn’t help myself. I like variety and I love chocolate and I love love pumpkin, so it only made sense to make multiple batches of pumpkin scones.
My dad does something really really weird for breakfast. He eats breakfast sandwiches. “How is that weird?” you ask, “A sandwich with egg and bacon on an English muffin is perfectly normal.” Oh, wait, I forgot one crucial detail: He puts fruit jam on the breakfast sandwich.
Breakfast Blueberry Cornbread Muffins
Told you it was weird. It makes absolutely no sense and I’ve never seen anybody else do it. But if we go to a cafe for breakfast and he orders any kind of breakfast sandwich, he asks for a side of jam. If he’s bought frozen breakfast sandwiches and reheats one in the morning, he opens the fridge for a scoop of jam. If my mom or I ever happened to make breakfast sandwiches fresh, he’d definitely eat one with a knife sticking out of the jam jar. So it’s no surprise that when I was making my variations on my new cornbread muffin recipe, Dad’s favorite was the one with blueberry jam. But jam on a cornbread muffin is a more normal addition, so if I call these Breakfast Cornbread Muffins maybe he’ll replace the weird breakfast sandwich habit with something less bizarre. Like these.
Yeah the name of this recipe is a mouthful, which is ironic considering it will take you only two mouthfuls maximum to eat one of these mini cupcakes. I spent a lot of time tonight debating which recipe to share with you, and really nothing felt right. It felt too early to start posting the Halloween or pumpkin recipes; it felt too late to post more cornbread muffin recipes that are perfect for cookouts. I mean, technically it is Fall, but when the month of September is hotter than the month of July you have a hard time believing that the season has changed. Believe it or not, this creates some serious problems for blog post planning.
Apple Cinnamon Mini Cupcakes with Salted Caramel and Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
Okay, so…how about something apple? Apples are a favorite fall fruit, but they also evoke the last few moments of summer (because you give apples to teachers when school starts). Apples are the perfect solution to my seasonal baking dilemma. Crisis averted–tastebuds happy.
There are some common, easy to spot clues that tell you it’s September, that fall is finally here! Kids are going back to school, leaves are just about to start their turning to oranges and reds, pumpkin spice takes over the world…
GF Cornbread Muffins
Yeah, that doesn’t happen in Southern California. The kids have been back in school since mid-August. All of our foliage is a wonderfully uniform shade of brown (thank you severe drought). Pumpkin spice–okay that has already started to take over. It’s unfortunate that we don’t get four seasons (I like to joke that LA has two seasons: Hot and Less Hot), but at the same time it means that we can still have cookouts through til October 😉
Hello, my name is Jenna and I am an over-complicater. (Did you all just answer “Hello Jenna”?) I refuse to use prepackaged baking mixes. I am aghast if my mom suggests I buy candied pecans instead of making my own. I have pulled myself back from the brink of wanting to grind my own flour and grow my own sugar cane! No, but seriously, I thought about it for 15 seconds.
Cookies n’ Cream Mini Cupcakes
The funny thing is, when many of my friends come to me asking for advice on making cakes, if they have never baked before or are just novices at it, I wholeheartedly suggest they use a cake mix. Whoops. Guess I hold myself to an impossibly high standard in baking as well as in…….hey, I heard you say “everything”. But yes, everything.
We definitely have enough recipes here to fill a second and third tier of an afternoon tea, but I do recognize that there is a…um…severe lack of first tier fillers? The dot dot dots and question mark are my writing way of giving you all a sheepish, almost embarrassed look. Whhhaaaaattttt? Yes, I’m sorry, but I love baking so much and am way more likely to recipe work mid-morning (when it’s too early for lunch and therefore tea sandwiches) or mid-afternoon (when I’ve already eaten lunch and therefore want dessert over tea sandwiches). So I blame the clock for the lack of savory tier recipes. You aren’t buying that excuse are you? Sigh. I tried.
Guess I just need to give you a tea sandwich recipe I’ve had in my back pocket for a little while now.
Ham and Swiss Tea Sandwich