Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

1 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
2 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. ground nutmeg
1/4 t. ground cloves
3/4 t. salt
2 large eggs
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1 1/2 c. pumpkin puree (canned or fresh)
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/4 c. orange juice (or milk)
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Adjust the oven rack to the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350F degrees. Lowering the oven rack prevents the top of your bread from browning too much too soon. Spray a 9x5 inch loaf pan with non-stick spray. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt together until combined. In a medium bowl, mix the eggs, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together until combined. Mix in the pumpkin, oil, and orange juice. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently mix together. There will be a few lumps. Do not overmix. Gently fold in the chocolate chips.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 60-65 minutes. The bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean with only a few small moist crumbs.
Allow the bread to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before removing and slicing. The bread will stay fresh in an airtight container (it tastes better on day 2!) at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.

Make ahead tip: Baked bread can be frozen up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving.
This recipe makes incredible pumpkin chocolate chip muffins too – about 20 minutes in the oven, same oven temperature.

Crack Toffee (Sweet & Salty Graham Crackers)

First off... "crack" is likely the only fitting name for these bad boys. You naively think "yes, I have self control and can eat one or two." Now apologize to yourself for lying.. and bask in that artery clogging deliciousness as you devour the entire pan within 24 hours. *cough*..... not that I have done so. *cough.*

28 Graham Cracker Squares
1 c butter
1 c brown sugar
1 t vanilla
1/2 t salt
3/4 c chopped pecans (optional)
chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an ungreased jelly roll pan with graham crackers, breaking in half if necessary to fill the pan. Melt butter and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Allow to boil for 2 minutes while stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in salt and vanilla. Pour mixture over top of the graham crackers evenly, spreading to coat. If using, sprinkle pecans on top. Bake in oven for 10 minutes. If you prefer a little crunchier, add an additional minute or two to baking time. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Should remove easily from the pan as you break or chip them into pieces/squares. Store them at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

*Note, these can also be done with saltine crackers. I prefer to drizzle chocolate on top of the ones with saltine crackers.

Candy Bar Smoothie

Ok, so this is one of those recipes that comes in handy after Halloween, when theres SO Much extra chocolate you dont know what to do with it :) (or.. you just want to borrow your kids candy).

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
2 c. chocolate ice cream
2 (2-3 ounces EACH) candy bars (of whatever kind you have) broken into pieces
2 c. ice cubes
In a blender combine the ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour into glasses and serve immediately. But being the "food having to be visually attractive" person that I am... I always squirt some whipped cream and put shredded chocolate on top :) If you're like us.. you'll have to double the recipe too :) adpt. from mrfood.com

York Peppermint Pattie Brownies

1 1/2 c. butter (3 sticks) melted
3 c. sugar
1 T vanilla
5 eggs
2 c. flour
1 c. Hersheys Cocoa
1 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
24 York Small Peppermint Patties

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Stir together butter, sugar, and vanilla. Add the eggs. Stir until blended. Stir in flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt- blend well. Set 2 c. batter aside. Spread the batter into a 13x9 GREASED pan. Unwrap the patties. Arrange in a single layer over the batter at 1/2 an inch apart. Spread the remaining batter over the top. Bake 50-55 minutes, or until the brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Cool completely.

Almond Roca

1/2 c. butter
2 c. sugar
3 T. water
2 large Hershey Almond Bars

Lightly spray a cookie sheet. Grate one Almond Hershey bar and place the rinds on the cookie sheet. Melt the butter in a pan on the stove. Add the sugar and water to the butter and bring to a rolling boil- stir frequently until it turns the color of a dark caramel. (Can stir in small chopped almond pieces here if desired right before you take it off the burner.) Spread on top of the grated chocolate on the cookie sheet. Top with another grated Hershey Almond Bar and cool in the freezer for 1/2 an hour. Break into pieces.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars

1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 c. chocolate chips
1 egg
1/3 c. peanut butter (I like crunchy pb for this part, but either works)
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 c. flour
1 c. oatmeal

Icing:
1/2 c. powdered sugar
2 T creamy peanut butter
2 T milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and sugars together. Add the egg and peanut butter and mix well. Stir in the dry ingredients. Press into a 9x13 pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden. While that is cooking mix up the icing. Remove bars from the oven and drizzle with the icing. Cool completely.

Peanut Butter Bars

picture courtesy of www.stylishcuisine.com

First off... these are SO good. I used to make these when I had roommates... and then had to refrain, because I would put them in the fridge to cool off and come  back 20 minutes later to find out that my roommates had eaten them ALL without leaving me any haha. They tend to disappear quickly!!

1 c. creamy peanut butter
1/2 c. dried oats
4 c. powdered sugar
1 c. softened margarine
1 (12 oz) bag semi sweet chocolate chips

Mix and press the ingredients into a sprayed 9x13 inch pan. Melt the bag of chocolate chips and spread the chocolate on top of the peanut butter mixture in the pan. Refrigerate for 1/2 of an hour. Cut the bars. Replace back in the refrigerator and cool for 1 hour.

Girl Scout Samoa Cookies

Cookies:
1 c. butter softened
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
1/2 t vanilla
2 c. flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt

Topping:
3 oz sweetened shredded coconut
12 oz bag of caramels
3 T milk
1/4 t salt
12 oz bag semisweet chocolate

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and sugar together and then add the egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. Pour the dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix well with mixer. (I split this part into 2 or 3 batches--->) Roll the dough into between wax paper until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Cut out cookies using 1 1/2 inch cookie cutter (or just the top from one of your spice bottles). Use the end of a straw to punch holes in the center of cookies. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until bottoms are light brown.

Make topping by spreading coconut evenly on a baking sheet. Toast the coconut at 300 degrees for 5 minutes and then stir it. Put it in for 5 minutes again and then stir. Repeat 2 more times until the coconut has been in for roughly a total of 20 minutes until it is light brown. Let it cool.

Unwrap caramels and add them to a bowl with the milk and salt. Microwave high 3-4 minutes until smooth, stirring each minute. Stir in toasted coconut. Use a spatula to spread caramel coconut on each of the baked cookies.
When the topping sets up, then melt the chocolate in the microwave for 30 seconds. Dip the bottom side of each cookie into the chocolate and place it on wax paper with chocolate coated side down. Add remaining chocolate into a bag with the corner snipped off, or a pastry bag if you have one. Drizzle the chocolate over top of the cookies. Let cookies set. Enjoy :)

Snicker Salad

6 apples
6-7 snickers bars
1 jar whipped topping

Cut the apples up into small pieces and place in a bowl. (While I'm cutting them up I normally throw some of the whipped topping into the bowl as well and mix it, it keeps the apples from turning brown.) Cut the snickers into small pieces and place in the bowl. Mix in the whipped topping and refrigerate.

Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies

I don't know about you... but I used to be a girl scout so long ago. I have to admit... my favorite thing about it was the cookies. So, I've found a way to make a girl scout cookie thin mint (oh yes) recipe :) And I'm so excited about it that I had to put it on here. Yum Yum Yum. These are awesome broken up in ice cream by the way!

Chocolate Cookie Wafers:
1 (18.25 oz) Pkg Betty Crocker Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix
3 T shortening, melted
1/2 c. cake flour, measured then sifted
1 egg
3 T water
Non stick cooking spray

Coating:
3 (12 oz) bags of semi sweet chocolate chips
3/4 t. peppermint extract
6 T shortening

Combine the cookie ingredients in a large bowl, adding the water a little bit at a time. When mixed and dough forms cover and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out a portion of the dough to just under 1/16 of an inch thick (you know how thick they are :) )To cut, use the top of a spice shaker, or another top with a 1 1/2 inch diameter cutout. Put the cookie dough rounds on a lightly coated with cooking spray cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the wafers from the oven and cool completely.
Combine the chocolate chips with the peppermint extract and shortening and heat in the microwave, stir gently in 30 second intervals until smooth. Use a fork to dip each wafer in the chocolate, tap the fork on the edge of the bowl so extra chocolate drips off, then place the cookies side by side on a wax paper lined sheet. Refrigerate until firm. Makes roughly 100 cookies