pumpkin Archives - Chef Lindsey Farr

Pumpkin Spice Cake Donuts

November 14, 2016

These Pumpkin Spice Cake Donuts are packed with real pumpkin and warming spices then fried to perfection and glazed with a sweet cinnamon sugar. Pretty much Pumpkin Breakfast Perfection.

I was just casually walking home from Staples the other day when {BAM!} I was hit by a massive craving for a pumpkin spice donut.
I am an unabashed, card-carrying member of the “Pumpkin Spice for Life Club”. #merica

I popped into Dunkin Donuts and picked up one, but one bite had me wondering, “where’s the pumpkin?”

It was orange like pumpkin, there was kind of a spice flavor, but absolutely zero pumpkin.

I took one more bite just make sure. Sadness.

Unacceptable.

There is no disappointment quite like a pumpkin craving let down.

So I went home, cast aside my printer cartridges and made some pumpkin spice cake donuts.

Like my Mom always said, “If you want it done right, do it yourself.”

Unless you live in Brooklyn where there are approximately 12 great donut shops per capita. Envy.

These pumpkin spice cake donuts won’t let you down. They are everything a pumpkin spice cake donut should be: pumpkin-y, spicy, moist and delightfully cakey.

Maple Steel Cut Oats Granola Pumpkin Yogurt Parfaits

January 9, 2015

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and Quaker. All opinions are mine.
#MyOatsCreation #CollectiveBias

These Maple Steel Cut Oats Granola Pumpkin Yogurt Parfaits make a filling and flavorful breakfast or afternoon snack! A delicious fiber-packed combination of traditional rolled oats, steel cut oats and 2% Greek yogurt makes these parfaits extra filling without tipping the scale!

New Year’s Resolution friendly! 🙂

I eat oats in some form for breakfast every single day: overnight oats, hot cooked oats or Greek yogurt with homemade granola! I started this oatmeal tradition in college because the cafeteria scrambled eggs didn’t even come close to rivaling my mom’s. #spoiled

Leery of runny eggs and limp bacon I made my way to the oatmeal station and never left! I ate hot oatmeal every single morning for the next 4 years!

The Oatmeal Guy would see me coming and dish up a big bowl with a generous scoop of raisins and brown sugar.

But I’m not in college any more and some days you have to mix it up. Recently I’ve been obsessing over these Maple Steel Cut Oats Granola. It is absolutely better than any granola I have ever bought.

I like to mix Quaker Oats Steel Cut Oats with Quaker Oats Old Fashioned Oats for the base and then get a little crazy with my dried fruit, nut, and seed add-ins.

And maple syrup. Because, um, maple…heeello?!

While untraditional, the steel cut oats add an extra crunch: they are the heart and soul of this granola. And then you take the most magical granola and layer it with pumpkin Greek yogurt! Prepare to be wowed!

The lightly spiced pumpkin yogurt is unsweetened, which pairs beautifully with the naturally sweetened granola. You will love the contrast between the crunchy Steel Cut Oats Granola and the smooth Greek yogurt.

Classic Pumpkin Pie with a Twist

November 15, 2014

I bring you my new love: A Classic Pumpkin Pie with a twist.

A twist of lemon that is!

I love that this pumpkin pie doesn’t have one predominant flavor. The lemon zest, ginger, cinnamon, freshly ground nutmeg and vanilla all come together to create an harmonious symphony of pumpkin flavor.

A touch of lemon, pumpkin and brown sugar linger on the tongue, tempting you to take another bite…or another piece.

I don’t do light and fluffy pumpkin pies. My husband and I agree that they need to be dense, flavorful and fully set. I have a failsafe Pumpkin Pie recipe already on AHC, but I wanted to experiment with a riff on the classic and try a recipe that doesn’t rely on sweetened condensed milk.

Oh, and it had to have brown sugar. Because I am all about the brown sugar.

My father in law gave me a 1943 edition of The Joy of Cooking, and I have been itching to use it. I cracked it open to Pumpkin Pie as soon as we got back from Cleveland and Ruth’s recipe involved whipping egg whites and folding them into the batter.

Ain’t nobody got the time or patience for that. I like my pumpkin pies as easy as they are delicious.

The Joy of Cooking will have to wait for another time.

My husband, the Grand Master Pumpkin Pie Tester, approved, whole-heartedly, of this pie! {Phew} And we both agreed that it was even better the second day after the flavors had melded and the custard had set overnight in the refrigerator.

Bonus make-ahead points for Holiday dinners!

And it’s throw-everything-in-a-bowl EASY! Double bonus points.

Toasted Pecan Pumpkin Cupcakes Maple Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

November 6, 2014

Moist pumpkin cupcakes studded with toasted pecans and topped with a sweet and creamy Maple Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting!

Back to my kitchen! Back to Fall baking!! Squee!!

Who’s tired of pumpkin? Bloggers keep asking that. I could never get tired of pumpkin! I wait all year to bake anything and everything with pumpkin. I would go so far as to say that I hoard pumpkin just in case there is a shortage like several years ago.

Do you remember that? Little pumpkin lovin’ hearts were breaking all over the USofA. Sadness.

So in light of a possible shortage, I say bake away!

The smell of warm cinnamon spiced pumpkin baking in the kitchen is my happy place.

Come to think of it, pretty much all cupcakes are my happy place.

Today I bring you my happy place!

This soft pumpkin cake is generously spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, mace and cloves! Don’t forget the mace! It’s my secret ingredient that I shared in my post about Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies and Healthier Pumpkin Banana Bread!

If you love maple half as much as I do, you will swoon over this Maple Caramel Cream Cheese frosting. It is the stuff of legends.

A silky, decadent maple cream cheese frosting made with my salted Maple Caramel Sauce. A little tang of the cream cheese mixed with a sweet maple caramel is the perfect topping for the spiced pumpkin cupcakes! A little crunch from the toasted pecans and you have yourself an awesome Fall cupcake!

Pumpkin Spice French Toast for Two

October 28, 2014

Good Morning! Pumpkin Spice French Toast is here to brighten your day! I rarely indulge in pure decadence for breakfast but I made an exception for this spiced pumpkin version. And it is so easy that you could whip it up on a weekday or a lazy weekend morning. No stress and no patience required.

I had some left over challah bread from my Pumpkin Spice Bread Pudding, so I whipped up a quick pumpkin, egg and milk mixture and surprised my husband with two slices of happiness!

This recipe is perfect for two, but you could easily double or triple it for a family or even a crowd! You might want to plan on everyone asking for seconds – It is that good!

The toast has a subtle pumpkin flavor and is bursting with cinnamon and nutmeg flavor! I used 2% milk and only 1 tablespoon of brown sugar in the egg mixture, so it is leaning towards healthy.

While you could make this healthier by using whole wheat bread, that would be sad, because there is something so magical about thick cut Challah French toast. The eggy bread flavor combined with the spiced pumpkin is not to be missed.

Easy Pumpkin Spice Bread Pudding {Maple Bourbon Sauce}

October 15, 2014

A creamy Pumpkin Spice Bread Pudding studded with Bourbon-soaked dried cherries and topped with a rich Maple Bourbon Cream Sauce! A decadent, yet incredibly easy dessert to pull together!

A long, long time ago I shared my long-running obsession with Bread Pudding. If it is on the menu, I will order it. Rarely does it live up to my standards: too dry, too dense, too bland. I solved this problem by crafting my own. It is an easily adaptable recipe that I have adjusted here to include pumpkin, brown sugar and spices.

You will love the pumpkin custard spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger! I like to keep the bread in larger pieces so that they are small enough to form a cohesive pudding in the custard but large enough to still keep their shape. It is also nice not to feel like you have a brick in your stomach after dessert. This trick eliminates the brick effect.

Every few bites you get a burst of flavor from a bourbon-soaked tart cherry, which balances the sweet custard. The crunchy, sweet pecan-studded bread topping contrasts nicely with the creamy pudding. A symphony of textures and flavors.

And then there is the Maple Bourbon Cream Sauce. Oh, the sauce! Maple and brown sugar temper pungent Bourbon and all that is left is a creamy, sweet maple bourbon flavor. It blends together beautifully with the pumpkin, spices and tart cherries.

Pumpkin Pecan Pie Cupcakes {Bourbon Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting}

October 8, 2014

What did I tell you? Cupcakes & Salads.

These cupcakes jumped to the front of the line because if I don’t share them with you, I will positively burst with excitement!

I’d like to say these cupcakes are all about the brown sugar toasted pecan crumble because it is heavenly, but that would be doing a huge injustice to the soft, perfectly spiced pumpkin cake, pecan pie filling and brown sugar bourbon frosting!

I got a little out of control with these Pumpkin Pecan Pie Cupcakes, so let me break it down:

A soft, moist, buttermilk pumpkin cake is lightly spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, mace and ginger;
Topped with a brown sugar toasted pecan crumble prior to baking;
Filled with a pecan pie filling;
And frosted with a creamy brown sugar bourbon cream cheese frosting!

It sounds like there is a lot going on but all the flavors come together perfectly into a sweet, brown sugar pumpkin dessert!

Healthier Pumpkin Banana Bread {Maple Caramel Icing}

September 23, 2014

This Healthier Pumpkin Banana Bread is generously spiced and is made using applesauce and spelt flour, and then spread with an addicting Maple Caramel Cream Cheese Icing.

This is the moistest quick bread that I have ever had. No contest. It has all the powerhouses of moistness: brown sugar, buttermilk, pumpkin and banana!

If you forget about the icing for a moment (which would be sad but not the end of the world), this bread is quite healthy! The only ingredient holding this pumpkin banana bread out of the Full-On-Healthy category is the sugar…because there is, um, a lot of sugar.

What do you want from me? I heart brown sugar with my pumpkin. Is that so wrong?

Aaaannnd then there is obviously the Maple Caramel Icing to completely separate this bread from Healthy. A silky, decadent maple cream cheese frosting made with my Maple Caramel Sauce.

Pure pumpkin maple bliss.

{Little sigh of pleasure}

Brown Butter Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

September 17, 2014

The time has come. My first pumpkin post of the season!

And it’s a doozy! Chocolate chip cookies only seem fitting, no? I. Have. A. Problem.

But these are Brown Butter Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies!

I’ll let all that sink in.

Nutty brown butter compliments the traditionally spiced pumpkin, and the milk chocolate chips pull it all together into one truly decadent cookie!

These cookies pack some serious Fall spices.

There’s no sissy pumpkin spice around here. And if you lean in real close, I’ll tell you my secret…

{It’s mace.}

No, not that mace! The spice. It’s warm and inviting and it rounds out all the other traditional spices.

Easy Foolproof Pumpkin Pie

December 8, 2013

This is the backup pie. Not because it doesn’t shine on it’s own (it does), but because it is the pie that I never have to worry about; the pie that I know will be sensational just in case my other pies are a flop. It is creamy with just the right amount of spice. It practically melts in your mouth! And it’s beyond easy. But in case you want, here is a YouTube video to help!

Why was I double thankful for my backup Pumpkin Pie this Thanksgiving? Well, there was the Thanksgiving Epic Piecrust Disaster that I told you about the other day, but that wasn’t it. Oh no, it gets worse.

What could possibly be worse than realizing that you have to remake all of your piecrusts and pies at 11:00 AM Thanksgiving Day at the exact same time the turkey needs to go in the oven?

Well, let me tell you another little story about my Thanksgiving…