Pumpkin Bread (Starbucks Copycat )

Happy Thanksgiving to All!  May your day be full of family, friends, and wonderful food! :)

Who doesn't LOVE the rich, moist pumpkin bread that calls to us from the bakery shelves at Starbucks this time of year.  I usually buy it once a year just because it is so good,.  But I may not need to do that anymore because this recipe is a great copycat.  It is moist and it is flavorful and that makes it oh so good!

Pumpkin Bread (Starbuck's Copycat!)

adapted from Something Swanky

4 eggs

1 c. organic cane sugar

1/2 c. organic light brown sugar

1 t. vanilla extract

3/4 c. canned organic pumpkin

3/4 c. vegetable oil (I used 1/2 c. applesauce and 1/4 c. oil)

1 1/2 c. flour

2 t. pumpkin pie spice

1 t. baking soda

1/2  t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

Preheat the oven to 350.  Prepare a 9x5 loaf pan with parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray.

Whisk together the eggs, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla until smooth.  Mix in the pumpkin and oil.

Add the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Gently fold into the wet ingredients using a rubber spatula.  Stop mixing once the batter is blended.  Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan.

Bake 55-70 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.(start testing at 55 minutes).

Let cool in pan for at least 15 min and then cool on a wire rack.

ENJOY!!!

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Heavenly Hawaiian Bread - OMG!!!

I have to admit have been eyeing this recipe for a long time. I love the light sweetness of Hawaiian bread, rolls - you name it.  It is always so tender and fluffy and just plain wonderful - not to mention irresistible. 

I think I was almost afraid to try this recipe because I was afraid that my efforts would fall short of my expectations.  Oh why did I wait this l long?!?  This turned out fabulous and blew my expectations right out of the water.

This recipe makes 3 beautiful round loaves or 2 loaves and about a dozen large dinner rolls.  I can just imagine devoting this entire recipe to Thanksgiving dinner rolls.  It would be so perfect for a hungry crowd and definitely memorable.  YUM!!

Homemade Hawaiian Bread

adapted from Butter with a Side of Bread

6 cups flour (I used bread flour and it worked just fine) and 1/2-1 cup additional flour
3 c. pineapple juice
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 t. ginger or apple pie spice (I was out of ginger so chose the apple pie spice)
1 t. vanilla
2 pkg. Red Star platinum baking yeast
1 stick butter, melted

Beat eggs lightly, then add pineapple juice, sugar, spice, vanilla and melted butter.  Stir until combined.

Place 3 c. flour into a stand mixer (I love my Bosch for kneading bread) and add the egg mixture and mix until well combined.  Sprinkle in the yeast and mix well.  Add the other 3 c. flour and mix on low speed for about 2-3 minutes.  (**it was a rainy day when I made this, so I needed an extra 1/2 cup here to help the dough hold together. you may not need it - just go by the feel of your dough).  It was still a very soft dough.

Once kneaded, place the dough into a large greased bowl, cover with a clean cloth and let rise for an hour in a warm place.  I have a proof setting on my oven so I use that for all bread recipes - it works perfectly.

The dough after its first "rising"

Remove the risen dough from the bowl and knead in an additional 1/2 cup flour just until combined.  Divide the dough into thirds, shape into a ball and place each into a greased cake pan.  Cover with the cloth and let the dough rise for another hour.

Dough after kneading

Divided into thirds

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.  Brush with melted butter to give it a beautiful sheen and taste.

Perfectly baked - pre-butter glaze

After the butter glaze - is your mouth watering yet???

And the scrumptious pan of rolls!  I think I need another one......NOW!

You will want to make this again... and again... and again...!


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Happy Halloween and Sweet Sixteen! (a late share!)

This card was one of the most fun I have made in a very long time - and totally out of my comfort zone - as far as themes!!!  But this is what my oldest granddaughter loves, and with her birthday falling the day before Halloween, I have always tried to tie the two occasions together. I was stumped this year because I thought it was time to leave Halloween behind and just focus on her sweet sixteen birthday, but her Mom came to the rescue with this idea and it all fell together.

Here is the initial result using a file from SVG Cutting Files.  The cardstock

is a smooth glittered paper from American Crafts (both the black and silver glittered paper)

and I decorated the skull with a variety of gemstones. The hard part is knowing when to stop!

To add a feminine touch to the skull, a Prima flower from my stash

was accented with Distress inks to complement the card base.

                             The Happy Sweet 16 greeting is drawn in the SCAL software with the pen tool.

A label was drawn around that and then the whole thing was shadow cut. 

The pen tool makes it so easy to write whatever you want.

The final touch of the gemstone eyes was honestly so much fun and seemed to give this card and image so much character.  The best part is that she thought it was "super cool" and loved it. That makes every bit of work SO worth it!! 

Happy Sweet 16, Kendra!

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Rocky Road Ice Cream - No Churn

Well it's election day across the country and no matter how you feel about where things are headed politically, it's always a great day for ice cream...right???

And if you are living in Southern California, it's even a better day for this frozen delight because Fall has decided to go into hiding for a few days as our temperatures soar into the 80s!  YEP - that's not a typo - low 80s today and high 80s tomorrow ON THE COAST!!  I am so NOT a fan of warm weather in November.  I want to put my socks and sweats on and get comfy.  Guess I have to wait a while for that.

So I will make myself feel a little better with a cup (or more) of this taste treat!  And since we will have warm weather for a while, be prepared for more delicious and easy ways to cool yourself off and feel nurtured all at the same time!

Rocky Road Ice Cream - No Churn

adapted from Oh Nuts

2 c. heavy cream, chilled
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 c. miniature marshmallows
3/4 c. roasted almonds (used Trader Joe's roasted honey almonds)


Coarsely chop the roasted almonds (you don't have to use the honey almonds that I did, but I love the flavor and texture they added).  You want them sized so they are easy to eat - no large pieces!

At least several hours before making this recipe, place a medium mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer.  I usually leave them in overnight to get them icy cold and make the whipping process even easier.

In a separate bowl, combine the sweetened condensed milk and the unsweetened cocoa. Whisk well until blended and well combined.  You should have a shiny, smooth, rich chocolate mixture.  Add the mini marshmallows and chopped almonds (reserving a few of each for the top) and gently fold into the chocolate mixture.  You will be tempted to stop now and just dig in with a spoon, but if you can hang on until you have finished all of the steps, this ice cream is worth the wait.

Now pour the heavy cream into your chilled bowl and beat about 2-3 minutes until soft peaks form. Fold in the cocoa mixture until well blended and no streaks are showing.  Pour into a freezer storage container  and top with a few remaining mini marshmallows and chopped roasted almonds.

This is delicious served in a bowl, a cone, or right out of the container! (I won't tell)!

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October Anniversary - five years already!

It is unbelievable to me that five years have passed since Scott and Megan were married and now they have a beautiful son who will be TWO years old in a few months.  And this post is a couple of weeks late because, once again, life got in the way.  Why does that happen ?  I have the best of intentions, but I get derailed a lot lately. So going to try to get back on track with the rest of my October cards and some new ice cream recipes. It is warm again here in southern CA, so my freezer is once again full of ice cream (even pumpkin pie ice cream and it is delicious!)  Just  a little teaser for you. Wish I could pass out samples - you would love it. But other flavors first.....so stay tuned!

Back to the anniversary card.  This is from Paulo's FREE collection online (Lacy Heart) and I love the detail in many of his files.  This seemed quite perfect for a five year anniversary.

  

    This is the basic design. The love bird stamp from VERVE

was embossed with silver. Used the MISTI for positioning.
 I love all of the detail in the heart.

This is the final result. I love it!  I added itty bitty pearls to add to the larger heart cutouts.

Five white rosebuds were added to honor the five years!

It is simple, but elegant.

If you have not checked out his files (link above) in a while - you need to do that!!

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