I have been baking like crazy lately. I think the fall has the perfect conditions for baking - the cool weather, an abundance of apples and pumpkins and football on TV all weekend. My perfect day is spent in the kitchen with my boys "helping" as a taste tester and the hubby doing stuff around the house with football on TV. I am always looking for new recipes to try out and have decided to share with everyone the best of the weekend baking.
My family joined a local Farm CSA this summer and we have gotten A LOT of acorn squash the last few weeks. Acorn squash is not something I have ever cooked with before and I didn't think my husband or kids would go for any of the roasted acorn squash recipes I was seeing online. When I came across this recipe last week for Acorn Squash bread on the blog Eva Bakes, I decided to give it a try. It was a success and another way to sneak some veggies! I decided to make it again this past weekend but played around with the recipe slightly. I doubled the recipe, lessoned the oil by a 1/4 cup and used applesauce for 1 cup of the sugar. I also made them in little pumpkin cupcake molds for the boys and mini bread loaf pans. I cooked them at 350 for 25 min and they came out great!
I also came across this slightly healthier version of a acorn squash bread on the blog, Project Put that Cookie Down Now. I couldn't decide which to make so I had to just make both. Once again, I changed up the recipe slightly. I used applesauce again in this recipe but used it to replace the oil. I also did not have any walnuts around so instead I used half pumpkin seeds and half sunflower seeds. I love this bread and will make this part of my rotation!
I was in charge of dessert for my niece's christening this past weekend as well. I had tried out this cheesecake recipe from the blog, The Girl Who Ate Everything, a few months ago and it worked out so great, I made it again. In place of sour cream in this recipe I used greek yogurt and it was delicious! I also switched up the bottom and toppings for the cheesecakes. Using the same cheesecake base, I made a traditional graham cracker crust with a raspberry jam and whipped cream topping, a whole Oreo at the bottom with a whipped cream topping and a piece of Oreo accent and lastly I used a whole Reece's Peanut Butter cup at the bottom with a salted caramel and whipped cream topping. By far, everyone LOVES the Reece's Peanut Butter bottom. It's a winner!!
No family event is complete without my plate of chocolate covered goodies! This time around I did chocolate covered Oreo's and pretzels with sprinkles and mini M&M's. This is such a simple dessert but always a crowd pleaser!!!