Pumpkin Bars, Chocolate Toffee Bites & Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

I took a littler Desserty-sert to our Supper Club recently and thought I'd post the recipes here since they actually turned out pretty well :) (ha, they weren't my recipes!) The pumpkin bars were the biggest hit (yay Paula Deen & cream cheese frosting) and I'll definitely make both the cranberry cookies & toffee bites again... Love fall. Love fall desserts.

Chocolate Toffee Bites
Recipe courtesy Gale Grand

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• (*I added 1 cup pecans)
  

Preparation:

Place the sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and caramelize on high heat stirring constantly. It will turn amber brown in about 5 minutes. When it is a uniform caramel color, add the butter and stir it in. Once mostly combined, add the chocolate and stir to blend. Pour it out onto a silpat or parchment lined sheet pan and spread it with an offset spatula 1/8" thick. Let cool and break into small pieces. Store in an airtight container.

*I'd only ever made toffee one other time and I was a bit nervous with this new recipe. Turns out it was really easy and the secret for me was to just keep stirring. Once I poured out the mixture onto my silpat (so fun, get a silpat), I spread the mixture out with a spatula and worried it might look greasy or ugly. Once cooled, I broke it into pieces and it was great! Yummy with coffee. Also, I thought my all-clad sauce pan might never be the same... I just filled it with hot water and the remaining goo melted away :) I'll make this again for sure.

Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
Recipe courtesy Beth Setrakian

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cardamon
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• *I added 1 cup white chocolate chips
• *I added 1 cup hazelnuts
  

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and sugars until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients. Add to butter mixture and stir until well blended. Add dried cranberries (I also added white chocolate chips and hazelnuts). Drop my teaspoonful onto parchment covered baking sheet. Bake about 10 - 12 minutes or until lightly golden. Cool.

Pumpkin Bars
Recipe courtesy Patty Ronning as adapted by Paula Deen

Ingredients (bars):

• 4 eggs
• 1 2/3 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 15 oz can of pumpkin
• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
  

Ingredients (icing):

• 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
  

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combine and the batter is smooth. Spread the batter into a greased 13 x 10" baking pan. Bake for 30 mins (*I think I baked mine for closer to 40 in a glass baking pan). Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars.

To make the icing: Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again. Spread on cooled pumpkin bars. *I cut the cake into bars and then iced individually.

Chicken Soup for the Soul

It's been raining and raining & raining here in Dallas lately, so I've tried to make us tasty foods that will warm us up inside. This chicken soup was really yummy - thanks to tips from Emeril Lagasse :) Try it out if you're looking for something to savor and soothe you inside & out. We also enjoyed Alton Brown's sweet rosemary cornbread pudding with our soup.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs chicken tenders (you could use a 1/2 whole chicken or breasts)
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1 tecate beer
• 2 cups water
  
• 1 medium yellow onions, diced
• 3/4 cup carrots, diced
  
• 3/4 cup celery, diced
• 6-8 button mushrooms, sliced
  
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 6 parsley stems
  
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 1/2 cups Barilla Ditalini pasta
  
• 3 T butter (or more/to taste)
  
• 2 1/4 tsp salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 T chopped fresh parsley
• 2 T olive oil
  

Preparation:

Sauté onion, carrots, celery, mushrooms in 2 T olive oil for a couple of minutes until tender. Add chicken stock, beer, water fresh thyme, parsley, bay leaf, salt & pepper and chicken tenders. Simmer and cover until chicken is slowly cooked. Remove chicken and using 2 forks, gently pull apart and shred. Return chicken to stock mixture and add Ditalini pasta. Cook until tender, add butter and additional seasoning to taste. Remove bay leaf and parsley stems, add freshly chopped parsley. Enjoy.

Sweet Corn Bread Pudding

Ingredients:

• 1/2 onion, diced fine
• 1 T unsalted butter
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1 (15 oz) can creamed style sweet corn
• 1cup heavy cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal, whole grain, stone ground
• 1/2 shredded Parmesan
  
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• 2 cups cubed french bread

Preparation:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Sweat onions with butter and herbs in an oven safe skillet until translucent. Combine corn, cream, eggs, baking powder, cornmeal, Parmesan, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl. Add cubed bread and fold to combine. Pour batter into skillet, right on top of the onion mixture. Bake 50 minutes or until set. Cool slightly before serving.