The weekend is always, always too short. Friday after work the world is my oyster and there seems to be so much time for sleeping, watching TV, playing video games, cooking, going out, and doing some chores. But then somehow, all of a sudden, the daylight starts to fade and it is Sunday night and although the weekend has been glorious the bathroom is still dirty and I still want to play more video games. 

I always want more weekend, and thankfully this past one was gloriously relaxing and did include lots of cooking. And lots of cooking in a good way. Weekends are were I can do the ambitious cooking there isn’t time for during the week. Weekends are also the time when I can just whip up something easy because I feel like it.  And that’s exactly what it was like with this lovely and simple cider cake. I felt like making a cake, so I made a cake.

I like to borrow cookbooks from the library. It lets me get creative and try something new without having to spend money or clutter my home with more books. Don’t get me wrong I love cookbooks and would buy more, but I live in a studio and someone says I should cut back. Anyway, I recently borrowed Paul Hollywood’s British Baking and it’s filled with all kinds of tasty goodies from regions throughout the Britain. When I flipped through the book I was immediately drawn to the cider recipe.

I love cider and I love that it is everywhere in the UK. In the U.S. it’s pretty much beer or not beer. The only time I ever had hard cider at home was if I bought Woodchuck to go to a party. But here you can go to a pub and order cider in bottles or on draft. The tastes and types vary and it’s not a drink just for girls. In summation, I love the idea of baking with cider. Cider is delicious and a little gets to go in the cake, and then I can have a little too.

This cake is subtle with a hint of apple and a bit of cinnamon. While baking it will fill your home with a wonderful aroma. The cake is sweet enough you feel like you’re having a treat, but not so dessert-y that you’ll feel bad about having more than one slice. Have it with some tea, cozy up on the couch, and binge watch It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia on Netflix. That’s what I did it. It was the perfect example of enjoying luxuriating in simple pleasures.

Adapted from Paul Hollywood’s British Baking Cookbook.

Messy level: The cleanest easiest cake I’ve ever made. You need just two bowls and a cake pan. It’s simple to make and when I finished I had only a small spill on the floor. I was so excited by how clean my kitchen was at the end of baking that I made Ryan acknowledge how well I had done.

Cider Cake

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

50 mins

 

Ingredients

• 100g/ 7 tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 100g/ ½ cup light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 225g/8 oz/ 1¾ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 150ml/ 5 oz/ ⅔ cup dry cider
• confectioner's sugar, for dusting

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
2. Grease an 7inch/18cm round cake tin with butter. Then line the bottom with parchment paper (Just fyi, I used a 8 inch/20cm cake tin and this worked fine, but I thought I'd share what the expert said)
3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Beat until the sugar and butter are light and fluffy. (This can take a minute or two)
4. In a separate medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon.
5. Fold in about ⅓ of the flour mixture into the butter. Then fold in half of the cider. Repeat until you have alternated mixing in the flour and cider. Stir gently until evenly combined.
6. Transfer the mixture to the prepared cake pan.
7. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean.
8. Leave the cake to cool.
9. Dust with confectioner's sugar and serve.

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I like leftovers. I love having yesterday’s dinner for lunch because something warm and satisfying is often better than a pb&j that got squashed in my purse. While Ryan was in South Africa, I decided I didn’t want to cook every night of the week so I wanted to make something that would yield a lot of leftovers. Meatloaf seemed like a hearty and delicious option. And this recipe fit the bill. I had it for a few days of lunch, and there was even some left over for Ryan to eat when he returned to London tired and hungry.

In my search for a tasty meatloaf recipe, I came across one from Yotam Ottolenghi. To be honest, I’m intrigued and intimidated by Ottolenghi recipes. Yotam Ottolenghi is an Israeli chef based in London. He has multiple restaurants and many cookbooks. His food tends to be influenced by Israeli and Mediterranean flavors. And he’s well known for creating delicious vegetable based recipes. Obviously I’ve ignored the vegetable part and gone straight for the meaty recipes. 

For my birthday last year, Ryan and I went to his restaurant on Upper Street and it was very good. I also felt, it was slightly hyped up. I was expecting to have my mind blown by the food, but everything was served small plate style, and it was kind of expensive and overall I felt that the cost didn’t match up to my expectation. But, I will say the dessert was amazing. The window display overflowed with dessert options, each looking so tempting it was hard to choose. My overall takeaway of the experience was that everything we ate was a combination of interesting and unusual textures and flavors.

And the same is true for the recipes in his cookbooks. When I was first learning to cook, I wanted to get ideas about how to do more with vegetables. I borrowed his book Plenty from the library and I was intimidated. Some of the ingredient lists were a long and had items that I wasn’t familiar with and wasn’t sure I wanted to buy. I wasn’t ready for risk taking and complex cookery.

So when I came across this meatloaf recipe, I was nervous. I read through the recipe and thought, yeah I can do this. Sure, it has some ingredients I wouldn’t usually put in meatloaf, like cinnamon or pine nuts. But, I was willing to try something new. And in fact, I think this is a perfect starter Ottolenghi recipe. Even though the ingredient list is a bit long, it includes items that are all familiar and seasonings you probably already have in your house. I think this recipe will push you out of your comfort zone, but only just the right amount. I thought the texture and combination of this meatloaf was fantastic and really different from the usual slab you’d get at a diner. This recipe also made me receptive to trying other Ottolenghi recipes. This one went well, so I feel confident enough to go back to Plenty and try to tackle some more complex recipes and learn to do awesome things with vegetables.

The original recipe (found here) includes recipe for a yogurt-tomato salsa. I didn’t make that, but you might want to consider it. The first day I made this the meatloaf was so moist that I didn’t need any gravy, ketchup, salsa, or sauce. It was delicious just plain. But as with all meatloaf, after a few days in the fridge it started to get a little dry and would have benefited from the salsa. Since I didn’t make it, I just used barbecue sauce and that was delicious as well.

Finally, this recipe asks you to grate some tomatoes and an onion. I highly, highly, highly recommend using a food processor. I grated the onion using a box grater and started profusely crying. Seriously, I had to stop occasionally because I couldn’t see. Use a food processor and save yourself!

Messy level: The assembly for this recipe is fairly straightforward. You mix all the ingredients in a bowl and then press it into a large pan. It’s the prep where you get messy. You’ll need to do a fair bit of chopping and then the grating requires a food processor which is more equipment to clean. The actual food won’t get everywhere as you cook, but you will have a pile of dishes at the end.

Beef, Lamb and Bulgur Meatloaf

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

1 hour

 

Author: Yotam Ottolenghi

Serves: 8-10

Ingredients

• 150g/ ⅔ cup bulgur wheat
• 400g/ 14 oz ground lamb (if you go for a full pound of meat that's ok)
• 400g/ 14 oz ground beef (if you go for a full pound of meat that's ok)
• 1½ teaspoon ground allspice
• 1½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 medium onion, peeled and roughly grated
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 20g/ ¾ cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
• 20g/ ¾ cup cilantro leaves, chopped
• 60g pine nuts, roughly chopped
• 2 medium tomatoes, cut in half and roughly grated (discard the skins)
• olive oil

Instructions

1. Put the bulgur in a medium bowl. Cover with 2 cups of warm water and let soak for 15 minutes.
2. Heat the oven to 350°F/180°C.
3. Line a 8x12" pan with parchment paper.
4. Drain the bulgur and press it to squeeze out excess moisture.
5. In a large bowl, add the bulgur, lamb, beef, allspice, cinnamon, salt, grated onion, garlic, parsley, cilantro, pine nuts, and grated tomato. Mix well until everything looks evenly distributed.
6. Transfer the mixture to your prepared pan. Use your hands to press the mixture down so it is tightly packed and even across the pan.
7. Brush the top of the meatloaf with a little bit of olive oil (less than 1 tablespoon should do it).
8. Bake for 30 minutes, or until brown on the top and cooked through.
9. Let cool slightly, then serve.

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Coquito is basically a Puerto Rican version of egg nog, although the recipe I use, and many others I’ve found, don’t include eggs. What makes the recipe Puerto Rican is the coconut and the rum. It’s great because coquito is creamy and flavored with cinnamon, like many holiday treats, but it also evokes the memories of warm weather and summer cocktails.

My memories of coquito are closely tied with my Uncle José and Titi Lisa because they always bring it with them for Christmas. Yesterday, my aunt posted a photo from my parents house of her preparing to make coquito (my own prep picture is below). For me, that’s a clear sign it is almost Christmas – family is getting together and treats are being prepared.

Coquito is such an important part of Latino Christmas that El Museo del Barrio in New York City has an annual coquito tasting contest every year. How cool is that?! What have I been doing with my life that I’ve never tried to go to this?! One day I will have to remedy this oversight.

Coquito is a recipe, that for me, you don’t have to get crazy about the exact proportions of the ingredients. I found tons of recipes with different amounts of cinnamon, that use a double boiler, or use coconut milk instead of coconut cream. I suggest try it out my way, then play with the recipe until you find the flavor combination you like.

Even though, I think it’s totally fine to play with the recipe, I do have a few tasting notes. Straight out of the blender coquito is frothy and light, but room temperature. Feel free to chill it, but then the ingredients will separate and you’ll need to give it a good shake before serving again. In the future, I want to experiment with using egg whites and xanthan gum (I know not very traditional but it’s what Starbucks uses in frappuccinos) to see if I can make the perfect coquito that doesn’t separate – and then maybe I’ll be ready for the taste-testing competition. Also, you don’t have to add rum but I recommend it because it cuts back some of the sweetness – and also during the hoildays you should totally celebrate with a cocktail. If you’re definitely going to make a non-alcholic batch I suggest cutting back on the sweetened condensed milk and then you’ll have a subtler flavor.

Interested in other Puerto Rican foods for the holiday season? I’ve got a few suggestions including recipes for arepas, flan, and arroz con gandules.

Messy level: One spoon. There is nothing easier than opening can and blending it all in the blender.

Coquito (Puerto Rican Egg Nog)

 

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Prep time

2 mins

Cook time

3 mins

Total time

5 mins

 

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 15 oz can coconut cream
• 1 15 oz can coconut milk
• 1 13 oz can evaporated milk
• 1 13 oz can sweetened condensed milk
• pinch of salt
• ¾ tsp ground cinnamon (more or less to your taste)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (more or less to your taste)
• pinch of nutmeg (optional)
• white rum (optional, but highly recommended)

Instructions

1. Add all ingredients, except the rum, to a blender.
2. Mix until frothy and you can see the cinnamon is dotted throughout and not concentrated into any one area.
3. Add the rum a little bit at a time, blend, taste, then adjust until it is too your liking. I would start with ¾ cup then work your way up from there.
4. Chill if you like. Then serve garnished with a sprinkle of cinnamon or a cinnamon stick.

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Warning: This post is a little sappy.

This recipe for cinnamon glazed sweet potatoes, simply called “yams” in my family, is one of my Mom’s signature holiday recipes. For Thanksgiving and Christmas, you can always count on my mom to make an apple pie and this recipe. Sure, she can makes other things too, but those are staples. It’s a really nice dish. It’s sweet, and a lovely hybrid between baked and mashed potatoes. But, to be honest, it’s not my favorite Thanksgiving food, but it is my brother’s favorite. Eric’s Thanksgiving plate is usually 50% baked ham and 50% yams. He loves this stuff. And so today’s post is dedicated to him.

I’ve been thinking about Eric a bunch recently. It started at work the other day. I was playing on a piano thing with a little boy and his mom. All of a sudden, this slightly taller little girl (who turned out to be his sister) ran up to him, semi-violently grabbed his face, kissed him on the cheek, then ran away. Mom was very touched. I thought it was hilarious. And the boy was completely unfazed. It was that somewhat violent and tender moment that made me think of Eric.

See, he doesn’t mind if I squash him

It made me think of Eric because although he has been bigger and stronger than me for over ten years, he still lets me be the big dog. He lets me poke him, tickle him, squash him, tease him, and put my cold hands on his neck – and he is unbothered by all of it. Like that little boy, Eric accepts all my pestering and understands that it is meant to show affection. I’m lucky that Eric and I get along so well. We have a really similar sense of humor, sometimes he says exactly what I’m thinking, and of course he lets me pretend I’m the dominant sibling.

I’m excited about Thanksgiving in London, but I’ll miss my family and Eric most of all (sorry guys). So, even though this recipe isn’t my favorite it will be part of our Thanksgiving meal so my brother can be with me in spirit.

Messy level: Two spoons. This is really straightforward in terms of prep – peel and cut sweet potatoes, make some glaze, pour on potatoes, bake. Easy and not messy.

Cinnamon Glazed Sweet Potatoes

 

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Cook time

2 hours 30 mins

Total time

2 hours 30 mins

 

Author: My Mom

Ingredients

• 6-8 medium sweet potatoes
• 4 oz butter
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 375°F/190°C.
2. Peel sweet potatoes and cut into circles that are 1.5-2" thick.
3. Place prepared sweet potatoes in a large tray - like a 9x13" pan with sides would be good.
4. In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.
5. Once the butter is melted, add in the water, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
6. Stir until sugar is dissolved, everything is well mixed. Heat until just about boiling.
7. Taste. Add more cinnamon or nutmeg if you like.
8. Pour the glaze over your prepared sweet potatoes.
9. Cover with aluminium foil and bake in the oven for 2 hours, or until soft and can be easily pierced with a fork. Every 45-60 minutes, gently turn the potatoes and spoon sauce over them. Don't be too aggressive here or you'll turn this into mashed sweet potatoes.
10. Once the potatoes are soft remove the aluminium foil. Place back in the oven for 30-45 minutes more. It is ready when the liquid has begun to thicken and evaporate, and the potatoes are nicely coated.
11. Serve and spoon a little glaze from the pan over it before eating!

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I love gingerbread so much that over the summer I found gingerbread lip balm, bought it, and then saved using it until last week. Ya know, so I’d only use it “in season.” I also love a good gingerbread latte. Look how cute this one is from Costa Coffee! Ryan said the gingerbread man looks so happy, but he doesn’t know he’s about to be submerged in hot liquid. And of course gingerbread cookies for Christmas. This year, I want to try and make a gingerbread house from scratch. However, as much as I love gingerbread, I’d never had it in a bready-cakey form. Obviously, that had to be remedied so I made a gingerbread cake.

If you haven’t had gingerbread cake before, please try this recipe. It is so moist, even four or five days after making it. The batter is actually pretty liquidy when finished, so that probably contributes to its moistness. The best part though is that this cake is jam packed with flavor. It has Guinness (or whatever stout you prefer) and for me, that gives it “chocolate notes” without it actually having chocolate. I know that might sound like the pretentious sort of thing you say about wine, but there are flavors in the cake that remind me of the richness of chocolate. I also think the Guinness adds just a slight edge of bitterness, which is nice because it keeps the cake from being too sweet (which most holiday cakes are).

But, a lot of the flavor comes from the fresh and ground ginger, cinnamon, molasses, and pepper. I love this combination of flavors. It is warming, intense on my taste buds, and makes me feel like holiday cheer is nearby. This cake has real presence. This is not a cake you absentmindedly scarf down, and later can’t recall what it tastes like, but all you know is that your teeth are coated in sugar. This cake is different. This cake says hey, I’m here, step into Christmas. This is the cake that is so full of character and quality that you only need a small piece to feel happy, satisfied, and full of holiday spirit. Warning: If you serve this at a party, let people know what it is so they don’t expect a brownie and then end up with an unexpected (but awesome) flavor shock.

I recommend serving it with a cloud of whipped cream because the light sweetness helps mellow out the cake. Or, better yet. Cozy up on the couch with a blanket, your favorite movie, and a cup of herbal tea. I don’t think you could have a more relaxing and pleasant afternoon.

I got this recipe from KCET, a California TV station, but originally it comes from America’s Test Kitchen.

Messy level: Three spoons. For the batter you need a sauce pan, two bowls, and the baking pan. It’s a lot of dishes! Also, molasses is always messy and buttering and flouring a pan can lead to spills. It’s not a daunting mess – you won’t have a ruined counter or apron, but it’s definitely not a one bowl cake.

Gingerbread Cake

 

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Ingredients

• ¾ cup Guiness (or stout of your choice)
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ⅔ cup molasses
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting pan
• 2 tablespoons ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs
• ⅓ cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• powdered sugar (optional for dusting)
• whipped cream (optional, but highly recommended, for a side)

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350/180°.
2. Butter and flour 8-inch square baking pan.
3. In a medium sauce pan, bring Guiness to boil over medium heat. Stir occasionally.
4. When it's come to a boil, remove from heat and stir in baking soda. The Guiness will foam up. When the foam stops, stir in molasses, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Stir until dissolved. It might like dissolved, but stir a bit more, I found the molasses deceiving.
5. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, ground ginger, baking powder, salt, cinnamon.
6. Pour the stout mixture into a medium bowl. Whisk eggs, oil, and grated ginger into the stout mixture. (You can do this all in the sauce pan if you want, but I don't want you scratching your pan)
7. Take wet mixture and whisk it into flour mixture in thirds. Each time you add, stir until completely smooth before adding more.
8. Pour batter into prepared pan. Tap pan against counter 3 or 4 times to remove air bubbles. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean and the top should be a bit firm.
9. Cool cake in pan.
10. When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar, if using. Then cut into squares and serve with a dollop of whipped cream, if using.

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I have been thinking about making pumpkin pie and bringing it to work. I like bringing food into work because I love to bake and sharing what I make means Ryan and I won’t gorge too much on sweets. But one of the things I like best about living here (and travel in general) is trying and sharing new foods.

Since starting work, I have tried various kinds of cookies (biscuits, if I want to be proper about it) and a mince pie, which is a sweet pie that Santa gets when he comes with presents. I’ve brought in s’mores flavored candy corn – and practically no one had ever had candy corn or a s’more. And to digress for a second, it seems sad to me that s’mores aren’t a thing here. I think I should start a food truck that makes s’mores with different chocolates, different graham crackers, and maybe add-ins like nutella and bananas. Sounds delicious right? If you still don’t know what a s’more is, read about it here.

But back to pumpkin pie. From what I can tell, pumpkin pie isn’t really popular here. This is evidenced by the fact that nothing in the grocery store is pumpkin flavored whereas in the US everything is pumpkin flavored this time of year. Also, I introduced pumpkin pie to two people here, with, what I think was, great success. Recently Ryan and I were invited to an Italian lunch at our friends Alessia and Raffaello’s flat. Alessia made an amazing pasta, a meat dish, a cheese plate, potatoes, tomatoes and finished with esperesso. It was a delicious feast and Ryan and I loved trying some new Italian foods. For dessert, I brought a pumpkin cream cheese pie and it was the first time they had something like it. So I thought, maybe I should introduce more people to pumpkin pie and thereby become an ambassador for American sweets. And doesn’t that sound like an awesome job? Ambassador for American Sweets in the UK. I like it.

Writing all of this, it’s clear to me that I over think pie. And maybe in general, think about pie too much (if that’s possible). But, for perfect shareability, I thought making pumpkin pie bars would be the best way to go. Bars mean more pieces, no need for plates or utensils, and you can have as big or small a slice as you like – the perfect solution for sharing with a bunch of colleagues. I also decided to add a little richness by adding a sprinkling of chocolate chips at the top. I like pumpkin and chocolate, I think it’s nice but you can certainly leave them off. Next time I make these, I’m going to melt the chocolate and create some sort of marble swirl design on the top.

So, this batch was just for me and Ryan. But around Thanksgiving, I intend to bring these pumpkin pie bars to work and share some of my holiday traditions with the Brits. And I bet whoever your coworkers are, they’ll appreciate some pumpkin pie in the break room.

 Crust is adapted from a recipe by Sally’s Baking Addition and the pie filling is based on a recipe from the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook.

Messy level: This is actually a one spoon recipe because I bashed the graham crackers using a plastic bag and rolling pin. That means, in the end I only used one dish, one whisk, and a few measuring cups to make this whole recipe. Easy peasy! I also think because we’re making bars, the crumbs for the crust stay contained and don’t fall as easily as they do when making a regular pie.

Pumpkin Pie Bars

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

50 mins

 

Serves: 12

Ingredients

Crust

• 1¼ cups gingersnap cookie crumbs (Crush cookies in a processor or using a plastic bag and rolling pin)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• ¼ cup (60g) unsalted butter, melted

Pie Filling

• 1 large egg
• 1 egg white
• 1¼ cups pumpkin puree (it's about ¾ of a standard 15oz can)
• ¼ cup (50g) sugar
• ¼ cup (50g) brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon all spice
• sprinkle nutmeg
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1-2 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325/165°.
2. Mix the cookie crumbs, sugar, and butter together in a medium bowl until combined.
3. Press into the bottom of an 8x8 square pan.
4. Bake the crust for 10 minutes.
5. When the crust is done, turn the oven up to 425/220°.
6. To make the filling, lightly beat the egg and egg white in large bowl. Then whisk in the pumpkin, sugars, cinnamon, ginger, all spice, and nutmeg.
7. Slowly whisk in the cream to the pumpkin mixture.
8. Pour the pumpkin mixture over the prepared gingersnap crust.
9. Sprinkle the top with chocolate chips, if using.
10. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 350/180° and cook for another 20 minutes. The pie is ready when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

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These cookies are lovely because they taste and smell like all the best part of the holidays. Making these, and baking these, made me feel like I was walking through a Christmas market drinking cider. They evoke a sense memory that is soothing and makes me feel like I’m snuggled in a blanket. But in all honesty, they don’t taste too strongly of pumpkin. It’s no matter though because in addition to pumpkin there are chocolate chips, dried cranberries, pumpkin pie spice, and molasses (which is called dark treacle here). See, it has all the yummy flavors of autumn.

The cookie batter is  little weird because it is soft and sticky. It is less easy to manage than a regular chocolate chip cookie batter. It also calls for melted butter, and I’m not sure why because I didn’t create this recipe, it’s from Sally’s Baking Addiction. The thing about the melted butter is, when I melted it and it cooled it the cookies came out thicker and more cakey. When I melted the butter, but mixed it hot, the cookies came out thinner and softer. I don’t really know the science of why this works, but this is my observation. I just started my job at the Science Museum, so I feel a little bad not knowing the science and just asking us all to accept some sort of baking mystery. But, I did do some research and it seems like other bakers have had the same experience. What I remember from making gluten-free cookies is that melted butter helps wet what could be a dry mixture and help activate the protein structures. How that makes the cookies spread, I don’t know. I’ll look into it and get back to you.

If you try it, let me know how it goes for you. But, do with this information what you will, the main effect is on texture. The delicious flavor is there regardless. Also, for those visual learners among you, check out the difference in texture in the photos below.

What’s most important thought, is that you make these cookies. You should definitely make them if you’re having people over! Your home will smell amazing and everyone will be happy because there will be cookies.

Messy level: Ordinarily I would give basic drop cookies 1 spoon, since they are easy to mix in a bowl or two. These cookies are two spoons because the batter is sticky and so it gets all over your hands as you put the cookies on the sheet to bake. Also, molasses is a pain to measure and pour. A good tip is to spray your measuring spoon with some cooking spray, then pour in the molasses. The molasses will slip right out and won’t be stuck in the spoon! 

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies with Chocolate Chips and Cranberries

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

Delicious cookies that have all the flavors of autumn

Author: Sally's Baking Addiction

Serves: 24

Ingredients

• 2 cups + 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 heaping tsp pumpkin pie spice
• ½ tsp salt
• 1½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 8 oz unsalted butter, melted
• ¼ cup dark molasses
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• ¾ cup pumpkin puree
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• chocolate chips and dried cranberries - a combo up to a total of 1½ cups.

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°/180°.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. If you'd like the cookies thicker, melt the butter now. If you want them thin, don't melt the butter yet.
4. In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Once well mixed, fold in the oats.
5. If you want your cookies thin, melt the butter now.
6. In a medium bowl, whisk the butter, molasses and both sugars.
7. Once combined, stir in the egg.
8. Now add the pumpkin and vanilla to the sugary-egg mixture.
9. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently mix.
10. Add in your chocolate chips and dried cranberries.
11. Scoop about 1-2 tbsp of dough onto the prepared sheets. Give the batter enough space to spread.
12. Bake the cookies for 13-15 minutes.
13. Allow the cookies to cool completely on the baking sheets.

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Last week when when I made the Pumpkin Roll recipe I told you I was making my own pumpkin spice mix, but I didn’t tell you how. So today, here’s a quick post with recipe for pumpkin spice.  Now, you might be thinking, why would I make my own spices? Here are three reasons:

1. You can’t find it in a store
2. You already have the spices you need and don’t want to hit the store
3. Sometimes DIY is fun

This recipe is from allrecipes.com. You could subsitute cloves for the all-spice if you already have that on hand. This makes about 4 tablespoons, increase the recipe as needed. Mix the ingredients below and you’re done. Now let the fall flavors flow.

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But England does not celebrate pumpkin everything like the U.S. I can’t find pumpkin spice in the grocery store so I make my own instead. A few weeks ago I had a craving for a pumpkin spice latte. Ryan and I decided to trek over to Starbucks to find out if it had arrived. Mind you, in the U.S. you’d never have to guess because every Starbucks window would be plastered with orange writing and pumpkin pictures. On the way to Starbucks we passed at least four proper coffee shops and a few other places that also sold coffee, but my heart was set on a PSL. We got there, and we were nervous, but they had it! It was advertised with only one small picture and a line item on the menu. How are the people of England supposed to know about pumpkin mania with such little advertising?

To get my true pumpkin fix, I hit the kitchen. I found this recipe for a pumpkin swiss roll on Pinterest and I was excited, but nervous to try it out. To make the beautiful swirl you have to bake then roll up a cake. Roll up a cake?! What if I break it? The key is, as soon as it comes out of the oven, you roll up the cake (without the filling) while it is hot. The cake won’t be so hot as to burn you, but I recommend using gloves or an oven mitt to make it easier. Then, wait for the cake to  be completely cool. It’s hard to be patient (and Ryan and I weren’t entirely patient), but if the cake is hot it will melt your filling and you don’t want that.

This cake is a great treat for any old day, but I also think it can be pretty enough to bring to a party or to your Thanksgiving feasts. The swirl of cream cheese looks just beautiful when cut. And you might not believe me, but this is actually easy to make. Any level of baker can make this recipe, I know it. Most importantly, this roll is incredible delicious. Ryan and I ate this whole roll in about two and a half days and have been talking about making another one ever since. As you can see, we still haven’t gotten our pumpkin fix yet.

I hope you enjoy the new recipe format below. I like this a lot because it looks more streamlined and easy to read. If you like to print recipes, you can finally do that. If you bring your computer into the kitchen, like I do, then you don’t have to scroll as much and won’t get dirty fingers on the keyboard. The only drawback is that I can’t post pictures alongside the steps, but for difficult or strange techniques I’ll still post those pictures above the recipe.

Now enough talk. Get your pumpkin on! Recipe by Sweet Anna’s.

Messy level: This is a three spoon recipe, but just barely. I’m giving it three spoons because you need two bowls for the cake, one for the frosting, and then you still have to sprinkle powdered sugar everywhere. Also, if you over fill the inside you’ll have a cream cheese burst (like I did) at the end of the cake.

Pumpkin Rolls with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Filling

 

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Ingredients

• for the cake:
• ¼ cup powdered sugar (for dusting the towel)
• ¾ cup flour
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ⅔ cup pumpkin purée
• for the filling:
• 8oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 6 tbsp butter, softened (if you don't let it soften you will have butter chunks in your filling)
• 1½ cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 375º/190º.
2. Line a 10x15" jelly roll pan with parchment paper. (a pan with edges all around, you have to have this pan) Then grease the parchment paper.
3. Somewhere on your counter, spread out a clean kitchen towel or piece of parchment paper, and sprinkle that with powdered sugar.
4. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice & salt.
5. In a large bowl, beat eggs, vanilla & sugar until thick & creamy.
6. Add in the pumpkin and mix to combine.
7. Stir in the flour mixture.
8. Pour the batter onto the prepared pan. Spread the batter evenly.
9. Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until the top of the cake springs back when touched. Stay on the side of slightly under cooked, if you over cook it then cake will be too dry and won't roll.
10. Immediately loosen the edges of the cake and turn it out onto the sugared towel/parchment. Peel off the parchment paper.
11. Roll up the cake & towel together fairly tightly, starting with a narrow end.
12. Cool completely on a wire rack.
13. Now start on the filling. In another medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter & vanilla until smooth.
14. Carefully unroll the cooled cake (removing the towel) and spread the cream cheese filling evenly over the cake, coming to about 1″ away from the edges. If you go all the way to the edge, you will have filling oozing out the end.
15. Carefully reroll the cake, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour.
16. Before serving cut a little slice off of each end so the roll has a smooth look. Then dust the top with powdered sugar.

3.2.2802

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To figure out how much butter I need, I used my scale. I’ve wanted a digital scale for awhile and I finally bought myself one soon after I moved to London. It was on clearance at a nearby department store and I thought, “this is a sign, I’m finally going to get it.” And it’s been totally worth it! All my UK recipes are in grams and this helps measure them. It also helps me convert my US recipes more easily. For example, I know that 1 tbsp of butter equals about 14g but what the heck does that look like? Now I don’t have to eyeball it, I can measure it! It’s awesome. And yes, I know I’m a bit dorky for getting excited about measurements. 

Anyway, if you like banana bread and want something a little more subtle and less sweet this is the recipe for you! It’s yummy and easy.

Adapted from JamieOliver.com

Ingredients:

250g/2 cups self-rising flour, plus a little bit extra for dusting

3 ripe bananas

2 tbsp apple juice

125g/1 cup butter, softened (plus a little bit for greasing the pan)

2 large eggs

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tbsp honey

50g/ 1/3 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180ºC/350ºF.

2. Lightly butter your loaf pan. Then dust the sides of the pan with flour. Tap out any excess flour.

3. In a small bowl, add the bananas and mash with a fork. Mash until it’s a mix of smooth and chunky.

4. Add the apple juice to the bananas and stir.

5. In a different bowl beat the butter until creamy. I recommend doing this with an electric mixer because it will be much easier! It will take 3-4 minutes in the electric mixer.

6. One at a time, add the eggs to the butter. Beat each one well before adding the next.

7. Add in the flour, cinnamon, honey, and banana. Mix until just combined.

8. If using, add the pecans and gently mix them in.

9. Spoon the batter into the loaf pan. Bake for 40 minutes, or until golden and cooked through. Check if it’s done by sticking a toothpick in the center. If it comes out clean the bread is done.

10. Allow the loaf to cool. Cut into slices then serve.

Messy level: This is a one spoon. Even with flour, which usually bumps up the messy for me, this is relatively low maintenance. It’s just dump and stir!

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