Pumpkin Walnut bread with Cream Cheese filling

I love the way my house smells when a loaf of bread is baking and Lord have mercy, this pumpkin bread is AHHHHmazing. My favorite part is eating a nice thick slice topped with butter.

This recipe makes 2 loaves of bread, but I wanted to make one loaf and a dozen muffins, so I could share with the office.

Here's what you do....

Cream Cheese Filling:
8 ounce package softened cream cheese
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon all purpose flour

Pumpkin Bread:
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 large eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place rack in the center of the oven. Butter two 9" loaf pans.

Cream Cheese Filling: Mix cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add the egg and mix slightly. Stir in the flour. Set aside.

Pumpkin Bread: In a large bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a larger bowl, whisk the eggs until lightly beaten. Add the sugar and melted butter and whisk until blended. Stir in the pumpkin, water, vanilla, and walnuts.

Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and stir just until the ingredients are combined. Do not over mix, the bread will come out too tough.

Divide the batter in half. Take one half and divide it evenly between the two prepared pans. Divide the cream cheese filling in half and place each half of filling on top the two pans of batter, smoothing the tops. Top with the remaining half of batter. Bake the breads for about 50 minutes, or until cooked through.

Allow to cool. Store in the refrigerator.

Pumpkin Brownies

I never thought I'd love the combination of chocolate and pumpkin together. I mean, I like chocolate with things like strawberries, nuts, raisins, caramel...you get where I'm going. Pumpkin is great with cinnamon, cream cheese, nutmeg, ginger....so why would I have ever considered putting these two things together?

I'm not even sure why it struck me to combine the two and make a delicious fudgy brownie with a velvety pumpkin filling. I mean, I had heard of the WW recipe for mixing a box of cake mix with a can of pumpkin for a light dessert, but I wanted something to really make a flavor statement with the distinct separation of flavors. And one can never have too many brownie recipes...I mean, come on!!

This pumpkin brownie recipe is the perfect way to blend the savory essence of pumpkin with the richness of chocolate.

Here's how I start....Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Mix 4 oz of softened cream cheese and 3 Tbl white sugar until well blended, add 3/4 of a cup of pumpkin, 1 egg,1/2 Tbl cinnamon, & 1 tsp. nutmeg and mix until smooth.

In another bowl, mix together 1 box of your favorite fudge brownie mix. (You can easily substitute your "from scratch" recipe here). I mix the brownie mix, 1/4 cup water, 1/2 cup of applesauce and 2 eggs just until blended.I used a disposable baking pan, because I had planned to share these with the office. *Note: they didn't make it to the office, because I couldn't keep the kids out of it!!


Pour the brownie batter evenly in the bottom of your baking dish. Drop spoonfuls of the pumpkin mixture into the brownies and using a knife, cut through the batter several times to marble it. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the brownies are set.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

No introduction is really necessary for this one, I know this is a long awaited recipe!! Everyone keeps asking!

You want something to wow them, but still be a little traditional? This is definitely a winner!!
A cookie base creates the perfect balance for the sweet creamy filling. You'll even be amazed at just how easy this recipe is, which already meets my criteria for cooking.

Cheesecake in under an hour?? Oh, yeah! It's possible!!

Cookie Base
1 pouch of oatmeal cookie mix
1/2 cup of chopped nuts (I prefer pecans for this, but walnuts would be good too)
1 stick of cold butter (must be cold to achieve the crumbly consistency you'll need)

For your filling:
2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup of canned pumpkin (not pie mix, I always like just a little bit extra pumpkin, so you can add another 1/4 cup)
2 Tbl. all purpose flour
1 Tbl ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 Tbl whipping cream
2 eggs

Directions:
In a large bowl, stir together cookie mix and nuts and cut in butter (you can use a fork) until crumbly.
Press in the bottom of an ungreased pie plate (you'll have a lot of cookie base, so definitely recommend a 9", you can always make this into squares using a 13x9 dish too)
Bake for 10 minutes, then cool slightly.

In a large bowl, mix together cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add the other ingredients until everything is well blended. Pour over the warm cookie base. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until set. Cool for 30 minutes, then refrigerate for 2 hours.

If a squash can make you smile.....

All I could think of when I saw this beautiful Butternut Squash was...sing it with me, "Veggie-taales, veggie-taales, veggie-taales, veggietales." Ah, the memories of my children so small with their need to watch these veggie videos over and over and over again. No matter how long it's been, we still love to occasionally sing "Where is my hair brush?" and my personal favorite, "I ain't got a belly button." in the style of a boy band!!

This time of the year, I see so many wonderful varieties of squash, pumpkin, and other gourds. Not only do I love to decorate with these harvest time favorites, but I love the smell of these baking.

Butternut squash is a shapely gourd with a smooth surface and a dull yellowy peach skin. It's typically a winter variety and has a sweet flat flavor and similar texture to a pumpkin. Although there are many ways to prepare it, I love it roasted. But butternuts are also great pureed into soups, casseroles, & breads and they also pair well with apples and poultry.

*Note: Be careful when preparing, sometimes one can come in contact with the skin of a squash and get a rash. Cortisone cream will help.*

Butternut Squash Soup

6 tablespoons chopped onion
4 tablespoons margarine
6 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash
3 cups water
4 cubes chicken bouillon
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese

In a large saucepan, saute onions in margarine until tender. Add squash, water, bouillon, marjoram, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Bring to boil; cook 20 minutes, or until squash is tender.
Puree squash and cream cheese in a blender or food processor in batches until smooth. Return to saucepan, and heat through. Do not allow to boil.