pumpkin Archives - Just J.Faye

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

November 14, 2017 by Jenna

The days are dark and cold. Let’s make brown butter pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

Actually, it’s not that cold. It was 70 degrees yesterday. Boo. I’ll take cool temps and a light dusting of snow, please.

Warm or cold, it is that time of year. That time to eat everything pumpkin. You know, just before we switch to peppermint and molasses. I’ve been taking full advantage the season – beer, bread, lattes, soup, smoothies, pasta, pancakes, yogurt, bars, and cookies. Obviously, cookies.

These brown butter pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are super easy to make. Let me sum it up – brown the butter. Whisk in the sugars and wet ingredients. Fold in the dry ingredients. Stir in the chocolate chips. Chill. Bake. Eat.

It’s truly that simple.

You could make it easier on yourself and just use melted butter instead of brown butter, but don’t. Brown butter is just too good and it’s not that difficult to make. If I can do it, you surely can.

In other news, yesterday marked eight weeks since my heart surgery. EIGHT WEEKS. Honestly, I still haven’t completely wrapped my head around the fact that it happened. But it did. I have the scars to prove it.

My recovery has been going extremely well (except for that time my incision got infected and I had to take antibiotics for four weeks). I have been lucky to have a strong, supportive network and can’t thank people enough for reaching out with kind words and positive vibes.

I have been going to a cardiac rehab class every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning for the last 4 weeks. Here I am connected to a heart monitor and do 40 minutes of cardio and a few minutes of strength training and stretching. I have been working my way up to running during the cardio portion and got up to 25 minutes of running yesterday (intervals of 5-minutes jogging with 2-minutes walking). I hate (and am terrible at) running on treadmills, but it feels great to work up a sweat.

Since the cardiac rehab has helped build up my cardiac endurance and confidence Michael and I decided it was finally time to head out on a hike last weekend. I woke up so excited on Saturday you would have thought I was an 8-year-old on Christmas morning! We did Mount Galbraith on Saturday and White Ranch on Sunday for a total of about 9.5 miles for the weekend. I think we were both a little bit nervous, but we took things slow and steady and didn’t run into any issues. I didn’t even feel any waves of lightheadedness like I always had this summer. It was so wonderful to be outside and hiking through the foothills with Michael again! I kind of tear up just thinking about it. Haha.

It’s been quite the journey and now it’s time to focus on increasing my cardio endurance, gaining back muscle tone, and eating brown butter pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

Brown Butter Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Prep time

80 mins

Cook time

13 mins

Total time

1 hour 33 mins

The hardest part about making these brown butter pumpkin chocolate chip cookies is to not eat them all before sharing with friends.

Serves: 2½ dozen

Ingredients

½ cup butter
1 ice cube
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
⅓ cup pumpkin puree
1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
⅓ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cloves
¼ teaspoon all spice
½ cup chocolate chips

Instructions

Brown the butter. To do this melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk the melted butter until it becomes golden brown in color and has a nutty smell.
Pour browned butter into a large bowl and whisk in an ice cube. It will froth a little.
Once the brown butter has cooled for a minute or two whisk in the sugars, vanilla extract, and pumpkin puree until smooth.
Fold in the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.
Stir in the chocolate chips.
Chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for an hour (up to 24 hours).
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Roll dough into balls and place them on the cookie sheet. Bake for 9-13 minutes.
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes and then move them onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Make sure to check out these other pumpkin recipes: pumpkin oreo bars, chocolate pumpkin snack cake, brown butter pumpkin bars & hearty, healthy pumpkin soup.

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Chocolate Pumpkin Snack Cake

October 25, 2016 by Jenna

This Chocolate Pumpkin Snack Cake is exactly what you need right now. It’s chocolatey, pumpkiny, but not too rich or dense or PSLy – the perfect afternoon treat!

It’s still in the 70s and 80s here in Denver, which IMO is far too warm for this time of year. I want to wear sweaters and leggings and boots and to bake all the pumpkin things. I’m going to do all that stuff anyways and just try to will the weather to cooler temperatures. I think it’ll work.

I started out by baking this Chocolate Pumpkin Snack Cake. It’s a light, moist chocolate cake that’s flavored with a little bit of pumpkin and cinnamon. It’s not full on in your face pumpkin spice, but if that’s what you’re looking for feel free to add some ground nutmeg, ginger, and cloves.

I’m kind of in love with it and I think you will be too.

Snack cakes in general are kind of amazing. They are super approachable and quick to whip up. You don’t need to drag out your mixer or worry about frosting a 3-tier layer cake. But the lack of hassle does not mean lack of flavor, so it’s all pretty ideal.

This snack cake in particular is full of chocolate and pumpkin and all sorts of deliciousness. Then it’s topped with a chocolate almond butter drizzle, because we can.

To start, you’ll mix together all your dry ingredients. Then you’ll melt the butter and unsweetened chocolate together, whisk in some eggs, and add the sugar, vanilla, brown sugar, pumpkin puree, and milk. Then the wet gets mixed into the dry to make a big ole bowl of batter. If it seems too thick feel free to add an additional tablespoon or two of milk. Bake it up for 25 minutes and try your best to let it cool completely.

Once it’s cool you’ll melt together the chocolate almond butter drizzle ingredients and spoon it over the cake.

Finally, pour yourself a big cup of coffee, sit down, and enjoy a piece (or two) of this delicious Chocolate Pumpkin Snack Cake.

Get after it!

Chocolate Pumpkin Snack Cake

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

40 mins

This chocolate pumpkin snack cake is a light, moist chocolate cake flavored with pumpkin and cinnamon and topped with a chocolate almond butter drizzle. It's a perfect afternoon treat!

Serves: 12 pieces

Ingredients

For the cake:

1 ½ cup all purpose flour
⅓ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons butter
2 oz unsweetened chocolate
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup brown sugar
¾ cup pumpkin puree
¼ cup milk (dairy, almond, soy, whatever you have on hand)

For the chocolate almond butter drizzle:

2 tablespoons almond butter
2 tablespoon chocolate chips
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 teaspoon maple syrup

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 350° F. Take two pieces of parchment paper and place them perpendicularly in an 8x8” baking pan. Leave some overhang so that the cake can easily be lifted out of the pan.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate on low heat. You can also do this in the microwave.
Let it cool for a minute or two then whisk in the eggs.
Stir in the vanilla, brown sugar, pumpkin, and milk.
Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes. Set aside to cool.
To make the drizzle, combine all of the ingredients in a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30-second increments until everything is melted. Drizzle over the cooled cake. Then eat and enjoy!

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Pumpkin Oreo Bars

October 6, 2015 by Jenna

I know for a fact that I am not the only one indulging in all the pumpkin spice things right now. It’s October. ‘Tis the season.

Soon we’ll be obsessed with cranberries and peppermint and gingerbread, so let’s soak up all the pumpkin while it’s seasonably appropriate.

Let’s be real basic.

Let’s make Pumpkin Oreo Bars.

Let’s can’t even.

And let’s not feel bad about.

These Pumpkin Oreo Bars are worth all the cliché’s. They are full of pumpkin and spices and are studded with black and orange Halloween Oreos.

What’s not to love?!

I’m dying.

The bars come together quickly with a couple of bowls and a spoon. Combine the dry (flour + spices), combine the wet (butter + pumpkin + sugar), then stir it all together with some festive Oreo chunks. It’s truly that simple.

The result is a pan full of pumpkin-y, spicy, moist, delicious bars that will make you want to tie your hair up in a high bun, put on your best flannel, throw on your Ugg’s, and go do any (or all) of the following activities: watch football, drink lattes, pick apples, see a scary movie, shop for a Halloween costume.

Go do it. I know you want to……………

Pumpkin Oreo Bars

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

35 mins

These delicious bars are full of pumpkin, spices, and festive Oreos that will make you love fall more than you already do!

Serves: 16 bars

Ingredients

1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
¼ teaspoon cloves
¼ teaspoon all spice
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
½ cup butter, melted
¾ cup pumpkin puree
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ¼ cup Halloween Oreos, chopped

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 350° F. Take two pieces of parchment paper and place them perpendicularly in an 8x8” baking pan. Leave some overhang so that the brownies can easily be lifted out of the pan.
In a large bowl, stir together the spices, baking powder, and flour. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, pumpkin puree, brown sugar, and vanilla until no sugar lumps remains.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until incorporated.
Stir in the chopped Oreos.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes. Let bars cool completely before cutting.

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Brown Butter Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

November 9, 2014 by Jenna

Are you sick of pumpkin yet? I really, really hope not, because you need to make these pumpkin bars. They are so so so so so so so so sooooooo good.

Trust me.

Brown butter. Cream Cheese. Toasted Walnuts. PUMPKIN. Gaaahhhhh. You just can’t go wrong here.

My mom makes these pumpkin bars every year. They are amazing as is, but let’s just face it, brown butter makes everything better sooooo… I re-created them with brown butter. Then I threw in brown sugar and walnuts too for the heck of it. Hey, why not?! We’re gettin’ cray in the kitchen.

Speaking of cray, don’t freak out, there are five sticks of butter in this recipe. I know, I know, that’s a lot of butter; however, this recipe makes A LOT of bars, so it kind of evens out. Plus, they are just too good to not eat. YOLO. Run an extra few miles this week.

Butter is back anyways, right? It’s ok.

The bars itself are not too sweet and have the perfect amount of pumpkiny-spice flavor. They are soft, moist (sorry if you hate that word), and cakey with just a little bit of crunch from the walnuts.

Then there is the frosting. Ooohhhh, this frosting! Cream cheese frosting is always incredible, but with the addition of brown butter… incredible to the max. I kid you not.

Make these. Eat five. Save six more for yourself. Then bring the remaining to work/bake sale/Friendsgiving/Thanksgiving/wherever people accept baked goods. Since the recipe makes so many bars no one will even know that you hoarded some for yourself.

You should have them for dessert after eating this soup. Pumpkin, pumpkin everywhere.

Make sure to add in a few workouts (like this, this, or this) to sweat out some of that brown butter. Life is a balance.

Brown Butter Pumpkin Bars with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

These pumpkin bars are so good. They are super soft and have tons of flavor from the brown butter in both the bar and the cream cheese frosting. This recipe makes a lot of bars, so you'll be able to keep some for yourself and share with friends.

Ingredients

For the bars:

2 cups walnuts
1¼ cups butter (2 ½ sticks)
3 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
⅔ cup white sugar
29-ounce can pumpkin puree
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
¼ teaspoon cloves
¼ teaspoon all spice
¼ teaspoon nutmeg

For the frosting:

1¼ cups butter (2 ½ sticks)
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-4 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 350° F. Grease an 11x17-inch jelly roll pan.
To toast the nuts: spread walnuts on a baking sheet and bake for about 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Stir them around occasionally (every 5 minutes or so) to ensure they are not burning. Once toasted, chop roughly and set aside.
To brown the butter: melt butter in a medium saucepan. Whisk the melted butter until brown specks appear at the bottom, it will froth and foam a bit. Watch closely and be careful not to burn. It should be a light brown color and have a nutty aroma. Save one cup for the bars and one cup for the frosting.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine 1 cup of brown butter, the eggs, sugars, and pumpkin. Mix on medium until lights and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add in the dry ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined. Stir in the walnuts.
Spread the batter in the prepared pan and bake for 27-30 minutes. Let the bars cool completely.
To make the frosting: cream together the cream cheese and butter, about 3 minutes. Stir in vanilla. Add 2 cups of the powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add the remaining powdered sugar ½ cup at a time until desired consistency is reached.
When the bars have cooled completely, spread the frosting evenly over the bars. Cut into squares and serve! Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

Notes

You can substitute all the spices with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice.

Slightly adapted from allrecipes.com.

PS- I took a break from knitting and watching Christmas movies on Hallmark to write this. Is that bad? I might be getting too far ahead of myself.

PPS- no, I’m not 80-years old. Knitting is cool.

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Hearty, Healthy Pumpkin Soup

October 31, 2014 by Jenna

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I have some orange soup for you to eat.

I know. It’s Friday and I never post on Fridays (not that you pay attention to my posting schedule), but I had the urge (and the time!) to tell you about this pumpkin soup.

So I am. Right now. On Friday. On Halloween. Talking about soup. Pumpkin soup. The soup I mentioned in my post yesterday.

The story: Tuesday night was cold and windy. The temperature had dropped 20 degrees from what it was on Monday. It was the perfect evening for soup, a big ole bowl of hot, comforting soup. So I made this and was super happy with my decision.

This soup has a pinch of spice, a dollop of sweet, and a handful of pumpkin. I will use these adjectives to describe it: simple, smooth, creamy, healthy, satisfying, hearty, filling, delicious.

Originally I tried to craft all of that into one sentence, but it was getting too long and run-on, so I went with the list. Good choice, I’d say.

As you could have inferred from the name of this soup, it is both hearty and healthy. The star of the show here is obviously the pumpkin (again, the name of the soup). This fruit is mega high in vitamins and anti-oxidants and also has loads of fiber. The coconut milk and almond butter offer lots of healthy fats and help make it surprisingly creamy and filling. Finally we get some health boosting benefits from all the spices. Ginger, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper are all great for easing digestion, improving the immune system, and reducing inflammation. As another added benefit, this pumpkin soup is oohhh soooo easy to make.

So you see I was not trying to trick you with the name of this soup. There is heartiness. There is health. There is pumpkin. It is a treat.

Trick or Treat? I choose treat.

Hearty, Healthy Pumpkin Soup

This pumpkin soup is surprisingly filling and is packed full of health benefits! Plus it is delicious, easy to make, and oh so comforting - perfect for a cozy fall evening.

Serves: 6 servings

Ingredients

1 cup yellow onion, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped
29 oz pumpkin puree (or 2-15oz cans)
32 oz low sodium chicken broth
14 oz can coconut milk
½ cup almond butter or smooth peanut butter
1 tablespoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Suggested toppings: Greek yogurt, maple syrup, and pepitas

Instructions

Heat up a large saucepan on medium heat. Add the olive oil and onion. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté for 3-4 minutes until translucent.
Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer.
Take the soup off the heat and use an immersion blender to puree. Alternatively, transfer the soup to a blender and blend until smooth. Use a towel to cover the top to avoid explosions.
Return the soup to the heat and cook for about 10 more minutes. Adjust the seasonings if needed.
Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with a dollop of Greek yogurt, a swirl of maple syrup, and a sprinkle of pepitas.

This was slightly adapted from Country Living.

Make this soup tomorrow after you go crazy on Halloween candy tonight. You will be full and satisfied and not even want any more candy. Except for maybe just that one last tootsie roll. Then on Sunday I’ll post a nice workout for you too.

Have a spooky, safe weekend!

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