Pumpkin Pie Chiffon Bars

As the leaves begin to turn, I feel like my Instagram photo feed changes from "the last bbq of summer" to pie, pie, and more pie. I like pie, but just okay. Frankly, I think pie dough is a little boring (gasp!) and takes away from the overall dish because I find it so flavorless and dull--like a beige rug lining the bottom of the pie dish. I like pie, but I don't understand why the flavor and experimentation should end at the filling?! Not in my kitchen; I decided it was time for a pumpkin pie makeover, and it is pretty safe to assume that the first thing I changed was the crust!

I went with a Biscoff cookie, and I love the crunch that it brings to the otherwise soft texture. But I didn't stop there I also wanted the pie to be fluffy! So, I decided to add gelatin and whipped egg whites. This filling's texture is like a whipped pumpkin mousse (in a word: Y-U-M!). I also modernized the presentation and decided to do away with the pie dish and instead used a square-shaped pan, serving bars instead of slices. If you love having a traditional pie shape, you can still follow this recipe—just use your preferred pie dish. I completed the look with a little fresh whipped cream and garnished with some nutmeg and leftover Biscoff cookie crumbs. Are you ready to meet your new pumpkin dessert? It’ll have you falling for Fall and pumpkin all season long!

Ingredients:

For crust:

• 25 Biscoff Cookies

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 1/4 tsp kosher salt

• 6 tbsp melted butter

For Filling:

• 1 envelope unflavored gelatin

• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

• 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon

• 3/4 cup sugar, divided into 1/2 and 1/4 measurements

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

• 3 large eggs, separated into yolks and whites

• 3/4 cup whole milk

• 1 15oz. can pumpkin puree (pure pumpkin)

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For Topping:

• 1 cup heavy cream

• Optional: 1-2 tablespoons sugar

Method:

For Crust:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pulse Biscoff Cookies in a food processor until broken down into fine crumbs (you should have just over 1 1/4 cups). Add sugar and salt and pulse just to combine. Stream in butter while pulsing until mixture is the consistency of wet sand, and holds shape with pushed together.

2. Transfer to into a greased and lined 9x9 pan. Using a measuring cup (I found 1/4 cup to be easiest), press crumbs firmly onto bottom until even. Bake crust until fragrant and edges just start to take on color, about 10 minutes. Set aside to let cool.

For Filling:

1. In a small saucepan combine: gelatin, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, a 1/2 cup of sugar, salt and place on stove top with no heat (yet!). In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks, milk, and vanilla to combine, then whisk into saucepan mixture to combine and place over medium heat.

2. Whisk mixture frequently, until mixture begins to thicken and coats the back of a spoon (but do not let it boil), about 5 minutes. Stir in pumpkin purée and remove from heat. Transfer to a large bowl and chill in the fridge until cool, about 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat egg whites in a large bowl until soft peaks form. While beating, gradually add about a 1/4 cup sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form, 5–7 minutes.

4. Mix half of egg white mixture into chilled pumpkin mixture until smooth. Gently fold remaining egg white mixture into pumpkin mixture until just combined.

5. Pour filling into crust and smooth top. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.

For Topping & Serving:

1. Beat or whisk cream in a large bowl until medium peaks form, add in 1-2 tablespoons of sugar, if so desired.

2. Once peaks hold, turn out onto bars, and place back into fridge to chill until serving, if not serving immediately.

3. And finally, cut, serve, and enjoy!

   **Can top with crushed Biscoff Cookies and nutmeg for serving.

Grown-Up Dirt Cups with Chocolate Mousse

There is something so comforting about enjoying a cherished dessert from childhood as an adult. I LOVED dirt cups growing up. How could I not? It involved all of my favorite things: chocolate, Oreos, and if I was feeling particularly dangerous, gummy worms! So I decided it was time to give this childhood classic a makeover, and instead of using chocolate pudding, making it with a very sophisticated mousse to elevate things a bit, and serving in some crystal martini glasses—they do not get used nearly enough! But still keeping the childhood favorite—Oreos—to keep things light-hearted and approachable. The results were the perfect balance between fluffy and crunchy, sweet and bittersweet, chocolate notes, and childhood and adulthood. Grab a spoon and bring this elevated classic into your grown-up day!

Tip: This mousse would also make an excellent replacement for icing between the layers of a chocolate cake!

Note: This recipe contains raw eggs and though heated on the stovetop for a brief period on low heat, if you are immunocompromised, pregnant, or have any other health issues, use pasteurized eggs so that you can safely enjoy this creamy mousse!

Ingredients:

• 4 egg yolks

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 3 cups heavy cream, divided into 1 cup and 2 cups

• 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

• 2 teaspoons espresso powder

• 8 Oreos (or chocolate wafers) crushed

• Optional: Gummy worms! Or for the grown-up version: strawberry or raspberry!

Method:

1. In a large bowl, beat egg yolks with a hand mixer until thick and lemon-colored. Gradually beat in sugar until well incorporated.

2. In a small saucepan on medium-low heat, heat 1 cup of heavy cream until bubbles form around the sides of the pot, stirring occasionally. Do not boil! Once warmed, take off the heat.

3. Stir 1/2 of the heated cream into the egg mixture to temper the eggs. Slowly stream in cream, stirring eggs constantly.

4. Once 1/2 of the cream is added, pour the tempered eggs/cream mixture, into the saucepan with the rest of the cream and place over low heat.

5. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly until thickened. Do not boil!

6. Stir in chocolate chips until melted.

7. Add in espresso powder, vanilla, and salt and stir until incorporated.

8. Take off heat and pour the mousse into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.

9. Beat 2 cups of heavy cream with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form. Fold into the mousse.

10. Crush Oreos or chocolate wafer cookies into the bottom of the serving dish, spoon in mousse, and place additional cookies over the top for an extra crunch! For some nostalgic flair, add some gummy worms (or fruit!).

11. Serve immediately!

BBQ Grill-Friendly Bananas Foster Dupe with Cinnamon Ice Cream

Yes, you read that right! This is a bananas foster dupe that yields a totally gorgeous and delicious result! This is for all you girls that love bananas foster but are terrified you might singe your eyebrows off trying to make it at home! (Side bar: Especially if you were the child who was trying to imitate your much cooler, older sister who got her eyebrows waxed, and in your 8 year old state of mind, decided it would be a great to go ahead and throw a nice strip of Scotch tape over your eyebrow to replicate the process. Leaving a bald spot on your brow that would take many years of brow therapy (brow waxing and shaping appointments) and tubes of a regrowth serum to come back from.) Saving time and saving your eyebrows, this recipe is everything you need!

For Ice Cream:

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups whole milk

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 teaspoon of vanilla

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 2 cups heavy cream

• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• Optional: 1/4 cup dark rum

Method:

1. Freeze ice cream maker bowl at 0 degrees for 24 hours.

2. In a large bowl combine, milk, sugar, and salt. Stir together until sugar and salt are dissolved.

3. Add in cream, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg (and rum if you please). Stir until incorporated.

4. Cover and chill for 2 hours, or if needing quicker, put in the freezer for 30 minutes.

5. Pull out mix and give it a final stir. If the cinnamon looks clumpy in the mixture, don’t panic. Your mixer will take care of it!

6. Pour into ice cream bowl and make according to your machine’s settings.

7. Once completed, put in a freezing container, and let harden for 3-4 hours or overnight.

For Bananas Foster:

Ingredients:

• 4 peeled bananas

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

• 1 tablespoon brown sugar

• a dash of nutmeg

• 4 tablespoons of butter, cut into 8 pieces

• 4 sheets of foil to wrap bananas in

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 425 or if you’re using a grill, a medium-hot fire. (If you’re grilling meat prior to grilling this, wait about 5-10 minutes for the grill to cool down and bit and then you’re good to go. See also: girl, eat that delicious steak and then worry about your dessert!)

2. Place bananas on their sides on each piece of foil.

3. Divide seasonings evenly between each banana.

4. Place two pieces of butter on each banana.

5. Bring all of the foil seams to the top and fold down (like a little banana tent). You don’t want any butter spilling out into your grill or the bottom of your oven!

6. Place on the grill for 15 minutes, or until banana is soft. If you’re using an oven, place bananas on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until banana is soft.

7. Serve immediately with cinnamon ice cream and enjoy!

Happy Easter and Meyer Lemon Pie

I love Easter. Everything about it just makes me so happy: The sunrise service at church, the bright florals, the adorable children in seersucker, the cascarones (confetti eggs), the warm weather, and the citrusy desserts. Clearly, none of that is happening this year with the exception of sunrise service that is being live streamed and the bright florals I see on my daily walks. I suppose I could sleep in one of my seersucker nightgowns to get that fix. Typically, my husband and I would attend the sunrise service and then go over to my parents’ house for lunch, who attend the 8:30 service, and eat ham, macaroni and cheese, and an endless string of desserts. Of all the desserts in the traditional line up, this meyer lemon pie is the star of the show. Though this Easter looks very different—my husband and I are making gourmet pizzas on the grill for dinner and not eating off the china or the crystal—this pie was a nonnegotiable for our Easter table. Pretty to look at, literal sunshine in food form, this pie will bring a smile to your face, and hopefully a “spring” in your step! Happy Easter!

Ingredients:

For pie shell:

• 1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers

• 5 tablespoons melted butter

• 2 tablespoons sugar

For pie filling:

• 1 cup meyer lemon juice, if you don’t have meyer lemons simply blend together 3/4 cup of lemon juice and a 1/4 cup of mandarin orange juice, fresh squeezed. A meyer lemon is just a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange!

• 1 teaspoon lemon rind

• 4 egg yolks

• 2 cans sweetened condensed milk

For meringue:

• 4 egg whites

• 6 tablespoons sugar

• 1 /4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a pie dish, combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter and mix until it feels like wet sand. With a smaller measuring cup, I used a 1/3 cup size, press evenly into a pie dish and bake for 6-8 minutes. Take out to let cool and keep oven on for browning the meringue.

3. Combine condensed milk, lemon juice and rind, and egg yolks in a large mixing bowl stirring until homogeneous.

4. Pour mixture into pie shell.

5. In a large mixing bowl, combine egg whites and cream of tartar and beat until it begins to froth. Slowly pour in sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.

6. Top pie with meringue, sealing the sides, and bake for 15-20 minutes or until meringue is lightly toasted.

7. Allow to cool and then refrigerate, covered, until serving. Best served chilled.

Texas Sheet Cake

Texas Independence Day was one week ago today (Remember the Alamo/ Remember San Jacinto!). I love this great state of mine, but the sharing of the adoration had to wait due to work and terrible sickness that crept in towards the latter part of last week. But I am on the mend, (fever free no less!) and am so happy to be sharing this delicious Texas Sheet Cake with you! I’ll save you the extra copy and get straight to the sugar, as if this cake recipe is not sweet enough, you don’t have to wait to ice it! Speedy and efficient, just the way us Texans like it! Any day is a great day to celebrate Texas! I think Boone, Crockett, Bowie, and Houston would approve.

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 1 cup of water

• 4 tbsp. cocoa powder

• 2 sticks of butter

• 2 cups of flour

• 2 cups of sugar

• 1/2 cup of buttermilk (if you don’t have any don’t worry, just combine a cup of milk with a tbs. of vinegar or lemon juice. Let it sit for 10 minutes and you’re good to go!)

• 2 eggs, beaten

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 1 tsp baking soda

Icing:

• 1 stick of butter

• 1 cup of Coca Cola or Dr. Pepper

• 1 cup of sugar

• 1 tbs cocoa powder

• 1 tsp of vanilla

• Pinch of salt

Method:

1. Pre-heat your oven at 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, combine all of the dry cake ingredients: salt, flour, sugar, and baking soda.

3. In a saucepan on medium-high heat, combine water, butter, and cocoa powder. Bring to a boil.

4. Add vanilla to chocolate mixture and pour mixture into a bowl. Set to the side and cool slightly.

5. Combine dry ingredients and into wet and add buttermilk and beaten eggs.

6. Place into a greased sheet pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until center is set and a toothpick comes out clean.

7. While the cake is baking, start on the glaze.

8. In a saucepan, melt a stick of butter on medium heat.

9. Add in soft drink of your choice, vanilla, sugar, and cocoa powder. Bring to a boil.

10. Reduce heat to a simmer. The graze will be ready when it coats the back of a spoon and stays put when you swipe your finger through it.

11. Add salt to taste.

12. Once cake is done, poke a few holes in the cake with a fork. and pour glaze over the top!

13. Google Texas Independence Day videos, cut a slice, and enjoy y’all!

Spiced Pumpkin Bread with Dark Chocolate

Hello, Fall! If you’re reading this, I have probably just touched down in the Big Apple, and cannot help but reminded by Meg Ryan’s line in You’ve Got Mail, “Don’t you just love New York in the fall?” While Tom Hanks may not be asking for my address to send me a box of “newly sharpened pencils,” as he jokes in the film, I am finding my own way of enjoying the season. As my mom, sister and I are working through my grandmother’s recipes for the cookbook we are creating in her memory, we are coming across a treasure-trove of old favorites! One of them being, her Pumpkin Bread. Now I’ve never met a bread I didn’t like, but this one feels special. It’s not overly sweet, and the texture is simply divine. The taste actually lives up up the aroma while baking! I will admit, the base of this recipe is my grandmother’s, but I felt it needed a bit of a face lift. For starters, the original recipe called for a full cup of oil. That’s over 1800 calories, just in oil! So I swapped a few tablespoons of butter and some applesauce. The spice list in the original was pretty extensive, too. In order to simplify, I decided to use pumpkin pie spice seasoning, using a tablespoon, and a dash extra of cinnamon. My pumpkin pie seasoning also has ginger in it, which makes the bread a touch more spiced, than the cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg the original recipe called for. I love falling for Autumn, and this bread can take me through the season’s flavors in a bite!

Ingredients:

3 cups of sugar

4 tbsp melted butter

3/4 cup of applesauce

1 15oz can of pumpkin 

1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp cinnamon

3 cups self rising flour

1 12 oz bag of dark chocolate chips

1 tsp salt

4 eggs

This recipe makes 2 loafs or one loaf and a dozen muffins! Or you can make all muffins too, if that’s your thing!

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl combine, flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and salt.

3. In another large bowl beat together butter and sugar until fluffy. Crack and add in eggs in one at a time. Once combined, add in pumpkin and applesauce, and bring together.

4. Add dry ingredients in, stirring into wet in 3-4 installments.

5. Once combined, fold in dark chocolate chips.

6. Place batter into greased baking dish. If making in loaf pans, bake for 65-75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If making in muffin tins, bake for 25-30 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched.

Gluten Free Blueberry Cobbler

Two truths and a lie: I once cast over 500 votes for Kelly Clarkson in finale of season one of American Idol (Kelly, feel free to send a royalty check at any time) using both land lines at my parents house, my mom’s cell phone, and the cell phone I got in 5th grade for “emergencies,” I was once featured on episode of a hunting show filmed on my family’s ranch, and I am gluten free.

What’s that you say? Gluten free is the lie? You are correct! For those curious about the truths: the show is called Brush Country Monsters, the episode is “West Texas Whitetails.” I was also on the opening credits for season one of the show… I digress.

I am not gluten free; however, many people in my life are. Namely, my sister. As someone who views the making and giving food as one of the love languages (sorry, Gary Chapman), the thought of someone having to watch everyone else enjoy a treat that they can’t makes me sad. I wanted to change that and the Good Lord gave us oat flour—His mercies are indeed new every morning.

My friends, I give you Gluten Free Blueberry Cobbler...

Ingredients:

-1 cup of sugar

-1/2 tsp kosher salt

-2 to 3 cups of blueberries, depending on your berry-enthusiasm scale (mine is on the higher end)

-1 cup of oat flour

-1 tbsp of baking powder (these are generally gluten free, but always double check the starches in the ingredients)

-1 tbsp of the juice of an orange

-1 tsp orange zest

-1 cup of milk

-1 tbsp of vegetable oil (or your preference of neutral flavored oil)

-1 stick of butter

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl combine: sugar, salt, oat flour and baking powder and mix together. Add in the milk, oil, orange juice and zest and stir. Why the extra oil? Well, oat flour is a drier flour and it will be receiving moisture from the butter we add in later, but this oil is going to help the batter stay tender while baking.

In a baking dish (mine was 9x13), butter or coat the dish with a nonstick cooking spray. Add in your batter mixture to the baking dish. Then cut a stick of butter into 1/2 tsp size pieces, there are 8 tbs in each stick of butter, so you will have 16 pats of butter. Distribute the butter pats evenly on top of the batter. Then pour your blueberries on top of the batter and butter. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until cooked and golden brown.

Goes perfectly with ice cream and that’s no lie.

Rainbow Rice Krispie Treats

They say if you follow a rainbow and you’ll find a pot of gold. And while Lucky Charms are magic and delicious (has anyone at General Mills ever thought about just selling the marshmallows from Lucky Charms separately? Call me, General Mills.) I personally believe the pot would be filled with these Rainbow Rice Krispy Treats. Why you ask? Because they combine your two favorite Saturday morning cartoon cereals into one with melted marshmallows and butter. So basically this is the stuff of your kindergartener-self dreams, or at least mine, except my hands won’t be covered in dried and peeling Elmers Glue while I eat them. Or maybe they will be, after all, I do work with kiddos all day…

Here is the recipe and it could not be simpler. Have little hands wanting to help in your kitchen? Let them measure out the ingredients and press the mixture into the pan. Have a gluten allergy? Good news! Fruity Pebbles are GF and you can buy Rice Krispies that are GF—easy peasy swaps!

Ingredients:

-5 cups of Fruity Pebbles

-3 cups of Rice Krispies

-4 tbsp of butter

-8 cups of Jet-Puffed marshmallows

-non stick cooking spray

Method:

Combine the Rice Krispies and Fruity Pebbles into a large bowl and stir to make sure there is an even distribution. Set aside. In a large pot, over low heat, melt the butter. Once melted add in your marshmallows, and stir until melted. Tip: To keep the marshmallows from sticking to your mixing utensil, spray with a nonstick cooking spray before stirring. Pour the cereal mixture into the pot, coating the cereals with the melted marshmallows. Pour out the mixture on to a parchment-lined baking sheet, that has been coated in a non-stick spray, and use the pan a guide to make the shape, and press the mixture to be the same depth as the pan. Let set for 10-15 minutes (or as long as you can stand) and then cut into squares with a knife. Fair warning: you will not be able to eat just one. Makes about 20-26 squares, depending the size you choose.