Tag Archives: halloween

jessie’s pumpkin pie dip

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We recently had a Halloween potluck at work – by “recently” I mean last week, when it was Halloween. One of my wonderful coworkers, by the name of Jessie, brought in a “pumpkin pie dip” concoction. I was afraid to eat it… it looked all cream cheesy and scary … but my love of all things pumpkin prevailed and I dug in to find a delightfully light, creamy, pumpkiny treat.

Jessie ended up leaving early that day, taking her dip with her. She returned Tuesday morning to an angry mob of people. Both those who had tried the dip and hadn’t had enough, and those who hadn’t had a chance to try it before she stumbled out into the world to feast on the brains of the living… did I mention she was a zombie for Halloween? And she got up ungodly early to have time to do her zombie makeup before she had to be to work at an already ungodly hour? And because of all of this hard work, she was rewarded by winning “best costume” at work?

I would post a picture of her awesome zombie costume, but it’s probably rude to post pictures of people on the internet unknowingly… instead I can post a picture of my costume, which clearly should have won but didn’t… (For the record, I voted for Jessie, and she beat me by 1 vote. You’re welcome, Jessie. Even though you don’t know this blog exists.)

Sorry, I went off on a tangent there, anyway… Apparently Jessie has an amazing boyfriend whom she was able to call and have him deliver the pumpkin dip henceforth to avoid an office mutiny. The pumpkin dip returned on Tuesday morning, she surrendered her recipe to me, her life was spared, and all was right in the world.

Even though I’m pretty sure this recipe originated on a pudding box, or whipped topping container, I’m attributing it to the wonderful Jessie. Because she’s the one who introduced us to it in all of its wonderful, pumpkiny glory. Perhaps you can put it out as a sweet snack while everyone anxiously awaits their Thanksgiving turkey. PS if you do the printer-friendly recipe, you get to see Jessie’s fabulous artwork 🙂

Pumpkin Pie Dip

[ Printable Version ]

  • 2 small packages instant vanilla pudding (french vanilla would be better)
  • 2 cups cold milk
  • 1/2 15-oz can pumpkin pie filling (I actually think it might be regular pumpkin and she’s lying)
  • 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 8-oz container whipped topping

1. In a medium bowl, beat pudding mix and milk until thick. Add pumpkin pie filling and spice and continue to mix. Fold in cool whip until fluffy.

2. Serve chilled with graham crackers.

* If you can find the seasonal pumpkin spice pudding, you might be able to leave out the actual pumpkin and just mix the pudding and whipped topping. Just a hunch 😉

Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispy Treats

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So I’m on a little bit of a pumpkin kick, so sue me. Get off my back, it’s fall and, honestly, this isn’t the last pumpkin recipe you’re going to see up here…

I was having a really off day in the kitchen this Sunday, so I decided it was probably in my best interest to stick to “simple” recipes. Isn’t it weird how that happens? Some days it’s just like no matter what you make, even if it’s a recipe you’ve made 100 times before, something is just… off. Like I had kitchen amnesia or something… it was really annoying. Eventually I just gave up and sat on the couch for the rest of the day. Upsetting.

Once I saw this autumn twist on a classic treat I just had to try it. It looks easy enough, relatively difficult to mess up, I mean… it is a rice krispy treat, after all. Given my list of other krispy treat creations, how could I pass it up? Plus, um hello – PUMPKIN!

If you want an easy treat to take to a work potluck or just want a creative way to use up the rest of your crisp rice cereal (or leftover pumpkin puree), go ahead and give these bars a whirl.

Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispies

[ Printable Recipe ]

  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
  • 1 (10 ounce) bag mini marshmallows plus one cup
  • 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • Pinch of allspice
  • Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
  • Pinch of kosher salt
  • 6 cups puffed rice cereal

Butter a 9×13-inch baking dish (I like to line mine in plastic wrap – no mess to clean up!)

Melt butter over medium-low heat. Add the pumpkin puree and continue to cook until it is warmed through. Fold in 10 ounces of the marshmallows, stirring frequently until almost completely melted. Stir in vanilla, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and salt, and remove from heat.

THIS NEXT PART IS IMPORTANT…

Allow the marshmallow mixture to cool 10 minutes; fold in the remaining cup of marshmallows. Continue to cool the mixture for another 20 to 25 minutes until it is room temperature (failure to cool the mixture will result in soggy rice crispy treats.)

Add the puffed rice cereal and stir, using a silicone spatula, until combined.

Press the mixture into the greased rectangular baking dish. Let set for 30 minutes before cutting and serving.

* I suspect the world will not come to a screeching halt if you use pumpkin pie filling, just reduce or omit the other spices (except vanilla)

halloween (vegan) cupcakes

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vegan cupcakes

No, I’m not vegan. Or vegetarian. I just like to experiment. I didn’t even realize these cupcakes were vegan when I first chose the recipe. I was merely intrigued that it relied solely on baking soda and vinegar for the leavening, so I had to try it. With a work potluck coming up, what a great time to experiment… My unknowing test subjects would be none the wiser… MWAHAHAHAHA (that’s my evil laugh, in case you were wondering… it was Halloween after all).

I was really excited for some reason when the batter bubbled up. Like, really excited. Filled with childhood glee excitement. Remember when you were little and you had to make that volcano for science class? Pretty much the same concept: baking soda + acid = bubbles. I wish I’d gotten a picture, but I was too busy staring at the mixture in excitement. Plus, I wanted to hurry and get them in the oven before it was too late…

(Side note about leavening agents. Baking soda is “single acting”, while baking powder is “double acting”. Because baking soda is “single” acting, had I stared in awe until all of the bubbles stopped before baking them, my cupcakes would not have risen so beautifully. Especially since there were no other ingredients in the recipe for them to rely on for rising. Baking powder, on the other hand, both reacts when mixed, and then again when heated. So if you ever wondered what that meant on the can, now you know… I’m just chock-full of useless information.)

Anyway, the recipe is simple. Step one: Sift dry ingredients. Sifting is a good idea here, just because cocoa tends to clump together, and we want to have all of the baking soda (and everything else) evenly distributed. If you don’t have a fine mesh sieve, just whisk vigorously… but not too vigorously or you’ll end up covering your kitchen (and yourself) in flour. Not as pretty as covering either in flowers, unfortunately.

Step 2 – 4: Stir wet ingredients, fold wet into dry, bake!

 

The result is a light, moist cupcake with a subtle chocolate flavor. Quite subtle. Red velvet subtle. BF’s brother said if he were blindfolded, he wouldn’t be sure that they were even chocolate cupcakes. So yes, very subtle, but I thought it was a pleasant subtle. Texture was great, flavor was good, but subtle.

You can turn up your chocolate volume by adding a little more cocoa (I think you could easily up it to a 1/2 cup), chocolate chips, or even chocolate frosting. I had done quite a bit of baking that day, so I actually cheated and used my favorite store-bought frosting: Party rainbow chip (NOT the same as funfetti. Funfetti is garbage and this is delicious). My orange cupcakes are actually just party rainbow chip dyed orange.

I mean, I enjoy baking, but I’m not a caterer. I’m not wasting allll that time making cupcakes and decorating them just to have them destroyed minutes into a work potluck. Let’s be realistic here. Plus, I was really craving rainbow chip cupcakes… now that I think of, I don’t know if I even ate one. Darnit! >.< Oh well, maybe I’ll have to make another batch…

“Vegan” Chocolate Cupcakes

[ Printable Recipe ]

  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup brewed coffee (or 1 cup of warm water mixed with 1 1/2 teaspoons of espresso powder or instant coffee granules)
  • 1 Tbsp white vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 6 Tbsp olive oil

1 Preheat oven to 350°F with a rack in the middle position. Prepare a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2 In a large bowl, vigorously whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt until there are no visible clumps (cocoa tends to clump up).
3 In a separate bowl, mix together the coffee (or water plus coffee granules), vinegar, vanilla extract, and olive oil.
4 Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir only until they just come together. The mixture should be thin and rather lumpy.
5 Ladle the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about two-thirds of the way full. Place in oven and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until a bamboo skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
6 Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove from pan and let cool on a rack. Once cool, you can eat plain, sprinkle with powdered sugar, or drizzle or coat with frosting.

*If you want to make a cake instead of cupcakes, double the recipe and use two 8-inch round cake pans and cook for 35-40 minutes.

[ Adapted from Simply Recipes ]

oreo dirt

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Dirt is the quintessential Halloween treat. I remember I first enjoyed it at my grandma’s Halloween party. I don’t know how old I was, but I was young enough to be at my grandma’s… for a Halloween party. So, I was pretty young, I guess. I don’t remember the specifics of grandma’s dirt recipe, but I know that every recipe I saw after that had cream cheese. Since I spent the majority of my life (up until the last few months, actually) hating cream cheese, I had to create my own equally (or more-so) delicious version.

So, I don’t know if this is officially “dirt”, but it’s a creamy chocolate dessert, covered with oreos, that you can stick worms and other fun stuff in to make it look like a graveyard (if you’re going Halloween-y). Otherwise, you can opt out of the extra decoration and just enjoy yourself some creamy, chocolatey, oreo goodness.

Oh, and you don’t have to do individual servings. If you’re going “halloweeny” sometimes it’s better to do one big cake pan and turn it into a graveyard (I’ll post a picture of that version later). 🙂

Dirt

[ Printable Recipe ]

  • 1 large package instant chocolate pudding
  • 1 container whipped topping
  • 1/2 package (or more…) Oreos, crushed
  • gummi worms, or other decorations (if desired)

1. Make pudding according to package directions.

2. Spread pudding on bottom layer of dish, reserving about 1/4 – 1/3 of the mixture in a separate bowl.

3. Mix half of the whipped topping and half of the crushed oreos with the reserved chocolate pudding. Spread on top of pudding layer.

4. Cover with remaining whipped topping and a generous sprinkling of Oreos. Go on, dump ’em on there…

5. Decorate with gummi worms, gummi bears, “grave stones” (aka cookies); if desired. Chill a couple hours in the fridge before serving.

* To make “grave stones”, dip elf cookie, graham cracker, anything that general shape, into melted white chocolate or white candy couveture ( if you have some black food coloring, you can turn it gray ). let dry, and using a food-safe marker or icing write “RIP”

* To make “ghosts” dip nutter butter (or anything that shape) into white candy couveture, draw or pipe on the little black eyes and mouth.

* You could also use rolled fondant instead of couveture if desired. It all depends on how fancy you want to get. If you’re not that into it, just do gummi worms, or even just cute halloween-y cupcake toppers – it’s the easy way out 🙂