Cheesecake Filled Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

These demure little cookies. So cute, right?

If you consider food "cute" of course.

I honestly have about 10 recipes with pumpkin lined up... I think my husband is over it already, and it's not even October... Whoops! Sorry I'm not sorry.

So, not only do these cookies pack the delicious flavors of a soft snicker doodle but they're stuffed... I'd say "with what you may ask" but obviously you can read, or you wouldn't be here. Unless you came for the pictures in that case:

and also: aksjdhaskjfhdskjfhdskjhsdkjalkfakldhf

Alright, lets make cookies, shall we?

For the Pumpkin Snickerdoodles:
(24 cookies)
3 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup butter, unsalted and softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla

For the Cheesecake Filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla

Cinnamon Sugar Coating:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.
In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add in the pumpkin puree, egg, and vanilla. Mix until combined. Slowly add in the dry ingredients on low speed, just until combined. Cover dough and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
To make the cheesecake filling, beat together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Cover and refrigerate for an hour with the cookie dough.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper, set aside.
Remove dough and filling.
Mix together ingredients for the coating in a small bowl, and set aside.
Take 1 Tablespoon of cookie dough in your hand and flatten like a pancake, place 1 teaspoon of filling in the center. Take another tablespoon of cookie dough, flatten as well, and seal around the edges. Roll dough into a ball and place in the coating mixture. Rolling the dough ball around to cover completely, place it on your prepared cookie sheet.
Flatten balls with measuring cup and bake in preheated oven for 13-15 minutes or until golden around the edges.
Let cool completely on a rack. Cookies are best enjoyed warm!

Enjoy the delicious crunchy coat, smooth cream cheese filling, and soft pumpkin cookie. These will make the perfect Fall treat!

*recipe adapted from The Recipe Critic

Homemade Its It Bars

This post is dedicated to my Mama.

The one thing she craved while she was pregnant? This San Francisco treat (and I'm not talking Rice-a-Roni).

If you aren't familiar with an Its It bar, 1. I'm sorry and 2. It pairs vanilla ice cream with chewy oatmeal cookies... and the whole thing is dipped in milk chocolate.

Ugh, so good. You know it's the real thing when you get that lingering spiciness in your mouth after you take a bite. I made 4... I would suggest making 8. They go fast. This recipe isn't exact science. I made 4 sandwiches as it was the perfect amount for my chocolate shell however, you will still have leftover cookies and ice cream. Go to town.

For the Oatmeal Cookies:
(Quaker recipe)
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups old fashioned oats

Quality Vanilla Ice Cream
Milk Chocolate Magic Shell

Start by making your cookies:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper, set aside.
In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugars until smooth and creamy.
Add eggs one at a time until mixed and then add in vanilla.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Carefully add to butter mixture just until combined. Stir in oats.
Drop by rounded Tablespoons on to parchment lined cookie sheet and bake in preheated oven until golden around the edges, 10-12 minutes.
Cool cookies completely.

Now, slightly soften the vanilla ice cream. Place a scoop of ice cream on to the top of one cookie and sandwich another cookie on top. Place on separate cookie sheet and place in freezer to re-harden.
Shake your magic shell and pour into a shallow dish.
Dip each sandwich into the chocolate to cover completely. Use a fork to remove and place on a cookie sheet. Place the sandwiches back into your freezer to harden up, about 1 hour.

Serve, bite, roll eyes back into head, and enjoy! Love y'all!

Cookies and Cream Mug Cake

I've honestly never made a mug cake before but what was I holding back on!? Mixing everything together and then microwaving for just over a minute and you have cake? Perfection. Sweet tooth satisfied in less time than it takes to find the sugar...

These mug cakes can be changed out for any flavor you like but since I love anything involving cookies and chocolate, this was the way to go! Lets get to nuking, shall we!?

You Will Need:
(enough for 2 mug cakes)
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
6 Tablespoons whole milk
8 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
4 Chocolate Sandwich Cookies plus more for topping

In a medium bowl, combine white chocolate chips with the whole milk and microwave on high just until melted, around 1 minute making sure to stir it after 30 seconds. Mix until chocolate is completely melted.
Add in the flour, baking powder, and vegetable oil. Stir until batter is smooth.
Crunch up sandwich cookies and mix into batter,
Pour evenly among the 2 mugs and microwave for about 1 minute until puffy and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool slightly but eat while still warm. Drizzle with more melted white chocolate, sandwich cookies, or whipped cream if desired.
Enjoy!

I love the taste of cookies and cream in this mug cake and it satisfies my sweet tooth in under 5 minutes... SCORE!

Homemade BBQ Potato Chips

Are you a snack food addict? I am. I love salty snacks... pretzels, nuts, and chips. Always chips,..

I'm ashamed to even tell you how many bags we currently have in our house (lets just say more than 2 and less than 20... Fair?)

Plus, chips go with everything. With a sandwich... on a sandwich... with dip... without. All delicious. My favorite types of chips though? Extra crunchy kettle chips. They are slightly greasy, super crunch-tastic, and packed with tons of flavor. Maui onion and salt and vinegar remain in my top favorites but the best kind has to be BBQ.

When I finally purchased a mandolin I knew homemade chips would be the first on my list. They are fairly easy to make and taste so much better than the bagged version... I'm ashamed to say that these chips disappeared the second they cooled down enough to touch (and possibly not even then). So. Addicting.

You Will Need:
2 large Russet potatoes
Vegetable Oil for Frying
BBQ seasoning

Recipe for BBQ seasoning:
1 Tablespoons Paprika
1 1/2 Tablespoons Chili powder
1/2 Tablespoon Onion Powder
1/2 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
3/4 Tablespoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

1. Combine ingredients for the BBQ season in a bowl, whisk until combined and set aside (you will have left overs that you might use for your next BBQ dish).
2. Scrub the potatoes under cold water until clean, dry off, and slice on your mandolin on food processor on the thinnest setting.
3. In a large bowl, place the slices of potatoes and fill with cold water until completely covered, set aside for 5-10 minutes.
4. Drain in a colander and transfer potatoes to paper towels to remove excess water.
5. Heat oil in a large pot, I used my dutch oven, until it reaches 325 degrees.
6. Fry the potatoes in batches (about 10 slices at a time) until golden brown... 5-10 minutes. 
7. Line a large cookie sheet with paper towels and remove cooked chips onto it. Sprinkle liberally with BBQ seasoning. Continue this process until all chips are crispy and in your belly... I mean, seasoned.

Enjoy this addicting snack... I dare you to eat just one.

*Recipe adapted from The Lazy Mom's Cooking Blog (check her out... She makes the BEST food!)

Pumpkin Waffles

Pumpkin season is in full effect in my household... I literally have about 15 plus pumpkin recipes in my queue ready to be made!

My husband is over it already. He tagged me in this picture the other day:

He said he was married to the Bubba Gump of pumpkin... I sir, am honored. Pumpkin all the things!

Especially when you can add it to breakfast food because then, my kids are totally eating vegetables for breakfast? Amiright?

For the Waffles:

2 cups all purpose flour

3 Tablespoons packed light brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 heaping teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups of milk (I used whole)

1 heaping cup of pumpkin puree (some extra might have accidentally fell into the bowl)

1 egg yolk plus 3 egg whites

4 Tablespoons melted unsalted butter, cooled

2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Warm Maple Syrup

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Butter for topping

In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip together the 3 egg whites until stiff peaks form, about 3-5 minutes. Set aside.

Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder/soda, pie spice, and salt in a large bowl. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, pumpkin puree, egg yolk, butter, and apple cider vinegar until blended. 

Add pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Gently fold in the whipped egg whites.

Heat a waffle iron and scoop batter, about 1/2-3/4 cup at a time, on to the hot iron. Cook according to manufacturers instructions and serve immediately.

Tips for waffles: 

Cool on a rack to maintain crispness

Reheat in oven at 250 for 5 minutes if necessary.

Serve with maple syrup, powdered sugar, cinnamon butter, or plain! My kids loved these waffles and I hope y'all do too! Enjoy!

*recipe adapted from Number 2 Pencil

Pizza Pull Apart Bread

This pizza bread is the bomb y'all! It combines soft pillowy bread with all of the flavors of a pizza; cheese, pepperoni, and sauce... Yum!

This pizza bread is the perfect appetizer or meal and is great served with dipping sauces like ranch or a garlic butter.

Trust me, you need to make this for your Football weekend!

For the Bread:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 teaspoons (or one packet) active dry yeast
1/3 cup whole milk
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup water
2 large eggs, room temp

For the Topping;
1/2 cup pizza sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup sliced pepperoni
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 garlic cloves, minced

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk together TWO cups of the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Set aside.
2. In a small saucepan, combine the milk, 6 Tablespoons butter, and heat over medium-low until the butter is melted and small bubbles start to form. Remove from heat and stir in the water, cool the mixture to 125 degrees.
3. Pour the milk/butter mixture into the stand mixer with the flour/yeast and attach your dough hook. Mix on low speed until fully incorporated, about 3-4 minutes. Add in the eggs, one at a time, kneading in between each addition until the eggs are fully incorporated. 
4. Add in a 1/2 cup of the all-purpose flour, kneading on low speed until the dough is smooth, about 2 minutes. Add another 1/4 cup of flour and mix until the dough comes together but is still soft and sticky. 
5. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on top. Knead 5-6 times just until the dough forms a smooth ball. 
6. Lightly grease a bowl with vegetable oil, coating all sides of the dough, and stash in a warm, dry place, for one hour or until doubled in size. 
7. Gently punch down the dough and turn on to yet another lightly floured work surface. Roll out to a rectangle that is approximately 20" by 11", trim the edges as necessary to make the rectangle. Brush the rectangle with the sauce, sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese, and top evenly with the pepperoni.

Cut the rectangle (width wise) into 5 equal strips. Cut each strip into 4 smaller squares, there should be 20 total, and stack them on top of one another.

Grease a 9x5" loaf pan and place the stacked squares in the center, leaving a little room on either side.

Cover with plastic wrap and allow it to proof for 30 minutes or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake the proofed bread for 15 minutes. While the bread is baking, combine the garlic and melted butter. When the time is up, brush the top of the bread with the butter-garlic mixture and place back in the oven to bake for another 15 minutes or until golden.

Remove the bread and allow it cool for 10-15 minutes before serving. Pull apart and enjoy!

*recipe adapted from justataste.com