Pumpkin Spice Cookies with Brown Sugar Frosting

Melt in your mouth goodness! Pumpkin Spice Cookies with Brown Sugar Frosting

My favourite cookies of all time are soft sugar cookies. You know the ones — soft and sweet, with the best buttercream frosting on top. The frosting is always piled on generously, slightly set, dusted with colourful sprinkles. These Pumpkin Spice Cookies with Brown Sugar Frosting are SO much better!

Pumpkin spice all the things!

I could enjoy one of these cookies any time, but now that it is fall, my craving has changed. I love pumpkin spice lattés, and this cookie has that same spiciness. And the frosting? To. Die. For. It is rich and buttery, with a smooth, caramel flavour that pairs perfectly with the spicy sweet pumpkin cookies. They literally melt in your mouth!

Soft, spicy, sweet. And that frosting is also delicious eaten with a spoon! Yup, that happened.

Recently a good friend gifted me a batch of these cookies, and for about a week, I spent cool, autumn mornings on my patio with an Americano coffee and a plate of these yummy bites. I’ve made several batches since, and trust me, they make an excellent breakfast!

Dark Chocolate & Blood Orange Pots de Crème with Blood Orange Caramel Sauce

Dark Chocolate & Blood Orange Pots de Crème with Blood Orange Caramel Sauce

Happy Valentine's Day, sweeties!

Ingredient Gang Wars: Bloods vs. Dark Chocolate

Are you feeling romantic? Do you have some Plans of Love later today? I am staying home with my sweetie darling, hiding from the Love Fest and all of its heart-shaped pinkness. I sound cynical, but I'm not! We love to go out for date nights, but doing this on Valentine's Day is often more annoying than enjoyable.

I'm squishing your head!

Squeezed.

My Valentine's Day-at-home will probably look like a nice, home-cooked dinner, followed by a completely rich, decadent, fancy, chocolate dessert. I absolutely love pots de crème — a French custard that falls somewhere between pudding and mousse — and chocolate ones, especially. Just a few mouthfuls are all you need to satisfy that chocolate craving.

Keep pouring.

I somehow ended up with a bag of blood oranges, and needed a reason to use them. Into the pots de crème they go! The custard itself only uses the zest of one orange, so you can leave that out if you prefer. The blood orange caramel, however, is probably the best caramel I have ever made! You MUST make it. It takes a lot of juice — I needed five oranges to get enough — but the results are amazing. I hooted like a monkey when I tasted it for the first time.

Pass me that PO-duh-CREMM, merci

Instead of a traditional ramekin, I used small canning jars. This amount of custard is perfect — it won't fill you up or weigh you down. You know, in case you will be doing anything, uh, athletic, afterward.

Click through for the recipe and instructions.

Caramel-Glazed Apple Quick Bread

Coffee break time!

The transition between summer and fall is the time of year I love the most. Slightly cooler than summer, but not yet the blah grey drizzle of winter. Visions of sweaters, boots, and warm comfort foods dance around my head. Apple varieties appearing at the market is starting to grow as crops are harvested in the orchards.

Chocolate Covered Bacon with Salted Caramel

You had me at.. uh...bacon? Yes. Yes, you did.

Yup. You read that right. Bacon.

Chocolate. Covered. BACON. And, salted caramel.

Oh my Bacon.

(Fans self)

I made this unusual treat for my nephew, a Bacon Fanatic. He proclaimed it "weird", yet squirreled the rest of it away. We never saw it again! (I think he liked it).

This was my first attempt at this kind of candy. I liked it, but I don't think I cooked the bacon enough. I believe this would be more interesting if the bacon was crumbly instead of chewy. Also, I would use milk chocolate next time, instead of semi-sweet. I put a smear of caramel on the bacon and froze the slices before I dipped them in chocolate. The combination of the bacon and salty caramel was darn tasty! I would also like to try this with crunchy peanut butter instead of caramel.

Chocolate Covered Bacon

Ingredients
1/2 package thick cut bacon
8 oz milk chocolate, chopped fine
Caramel sauce or crunchy peanut butter
1 oz white chocolate for embellishment

Method

1. Cook bacon until crispy. Drain on paper towels, then lay flat on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and cool in the refrigerator.
2. Chop milk chocolate (I chop mine in the food processor — so easy!). Melt chocolate in a large bowl placed over a saucepan with about an inch of barely simmering water. Stir gently with a spatula until melted and smooth. Remove from heat.
3. Spread each piece of bacon with a bit of caramel or peanut butter and lay each bacon strip back on the baking sheet. Place the bacon in the freezer for about 15 minutes to really firm up.
4. Dip each bacon slice in the melted chocolate. After dipping all the slices, put the bacon back in the fridge or freezer to firm up the chocolate. It doesn't take very long.
5. Decorate with squiggly lines of melted white chocolate. Or just eat 'em. (I did.)

White Chocolate Cheesecake with Salted Caramel Sauce

White Chocolate Cheesecake with Salted Caramel Sauce

If you're looking for an extra-special dessert to feed a crowd, then look no further than cheesecake. You can make a very large cheesecake to feed about 16 people — the cake is so rich you can serve up smaller slices. Add a dollop of whipped cream and a drizzle of decadent sauce, and you will impress even the most discerning guest.

Pumpkin Cheesecake and Gingersnap-Pecan Crust with Maple Caramel Sauce

Spicy pumpkin cheesecake with gingersnap and pecan crust, drizzled with maple-caramel sauce

For your Thanksgiving feast this year, why not try an elegant alternative to the same old boring pumpkin pie — creamy pumpkin cheesecake! This smooth and spicy cheesecake is drizzled with warm, maple caramel sauce and chopped pecans, atop a gingersnap and pecan crust.

Turtle Tart

Just like the famous candy — salty and sweet, crunchy and smooth —  all together in this rich and decadent dessert.

Gooey, Yummy, Crunchy Turtle Tart