Last Five

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Songs I downloaded on iTunes:

1. Do What You Want by Lady Gaga feat. R. Kelly. I went for a run the right after I downloaded it and I listened to this song on repeat for about 3 out of the 8 miles. It took a couple plays to warm up to it, but now I’m completely obsessed.

2. Burn by Ellie Goulding. Ellie gets me every time. I always think her aesthetic is a little to etherial for me, and yet, I like pretty much all of her singles. Go figure…

3. Turn Me On by Kevin Lyttle. This is a throw back. I woke up to my radio playing this song the other day, and I thought to myself: “I need that song on my iPod asap!” No regrets!

4. The Phoenix by Fall Out Boy. The combination of a rock vibe with pop melodies do it for me. Fall Out Boy always hits the nail on the head, it’s such a great work out song!

5. Alone Together (remix) by Krewella/Fall Out Boy. I heard this remix in spin class and became obsessed. After hearing it a few weeks in a row, our teacher finally told us who did it. It’s an awesome sprint track!

LadyGagaDoWhatUWant

Thanksgiving Recap!

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I need to apologize off the bat for not taking any pictures. I have a lot of excuses, but at the end of the day, I really just forgot. So in lieu of my own photos, here’s a list of the odds and ends I baked last week with links to the recipes:

Pumpkin Bread: First time trying this specific recipe. It turned out great! Perfect flavor and not too sweet (btw, I subbed the ginger for pumpkin pie spice so it was a pretty standard pumpkin flavor), plus I added walnuts for a little crunch! Not to brag, but my dad did say he preferred it over my mom’s cranberry nut bread. Just sayin…

Chocolate Cake: This is the traditional birthday cake recipe. We had a few birthdays to celebrate from the past few weeks so we turned the Wednesday dinner before Thanksgiving into a little birthday dinner. I probably make this recipe at least 4 times a year, I wonder why (you can do the math).

Ricotta Cookies: These are quickly becoming a family favorite. They are soft and vanilla, with a colorful icing. I’ll probably be making another batch in the next few weeks.

Double Chocolate Cheesecake Cookies: I pinned these a while ago from one of my favorite blogs. They were easy to make and very tasty. I was a little sloppy with the drizzle icing, but it tasted good!

Almond Biscotti: A standard for my holiday baking. They aren’t an ooey gooey crowd pleaser, but it’s the perfect evening snack with your tea when you have a big meal in the afternoon, or mid afternoon snack with your coffee during your holiday shopping.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars: These are a crowd pleaser every time, and are a must have during our family’s Thanksgiving. Easy and delicious!

Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispie Treats: I know I just made these a couple weeks ago, but my mom had some extra marshmallows that she wanted me to use up. So I made them again, and guess what, they were still delicious!

Gingersnaps: I made these for my mom to use in her molasses gingersnap ice cream. I know it sounds weird, but it’s awesome! These gingersnaps are the perfect flavor and texture, spicy and crunchy!

Energy Balls: I don’t think I’ve blogged about these yet but I’ve made them a few times. They’re a quick no-bake snack that is pretty healthy. I make a bunch and stick them in the freezer, and they mysteriously disappear rather rapidly in my house…

Pumpkin Cheesecake: I’ve made this before in individual ramekins, but this was the first time in 9 inch cake form. It turned out great with the exception of the crust. I tried to sub gingersnap crumbs for graham cracker crumbs in the crust recipe, and it turned out a little too tough. I think the gingersnap crumbs were too fine, so when I packed them down they turned into a very solid crust. Other than that though, it was the perfect dessert for our New York Post-Thanksgiving Chanukah latke fest!

This list is not counting the savory things I made fore the main event! At the end of the week I didn’t understand why I was so tired, but after writing out this list, I sort of get it.

What did you bake this Thanksgiving?

Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispie Treats!

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Even though most retailers and coffee shops seemed to have bypassed November and moved straight onto December and Christmas, I plan to eat pumpkin right through pie leftovers on Black Friday. Thank you very much! I’m not quite sure when Christmas season started right after Halloween, and Thanksgiving became the red headed step-child, but I’m not a fan. Thanksgiving is the best holiday of the year!

So anyway, I wanted to make some treats for a team meeting at work because we were having more people actually in person than usual. One of my teammates recently learned that she needs to stick to a gluten free diet, so I decided to go the gluten free direction because I feel bad that she never gets to snack with us anymore.

The Star of the Show
The Star of the Show

Rather than try to adapt a gluten recipe, I wanted to make something that is gluten free to begin with. The obvious choice? Rice Krispie treats! And if that wasn’t enough of a crowd pleaser to begin with, let’s add pumpkin!pumpkin!

These were definitely a crowd pleaser! When I was looking for recipes online I initially found several using pumpkin spice Jello instant pudding mix rather than pumpkin puree. While I’m not so opposed to that method, my grocery store didn’t have the flavor. I didn’t have the time to shop around, so I went with a recipe that actually just used pumpkin and pumpkin spice. It totally worked, plus it was probably a little better to use pumpkin rather than a pudding mix.

Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispie Treats

Adapted from Bake Love Give, yields about 20 bars depending on size

Ingredients

  • 4 Tbs butter
  • 1 10 oz bag of mini marshmallows (plus a little extra if you like them extra gooey)
  • 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice (a little extra if you want to turn up the spice)
  • 6 cups Rice Krispies (Gluten Free if you want to be strict gluten free)
  • 5 oz. white chocolate chips (melted for drizzling)

Method

  1. Melt butter in a pot over medium heat.
  2. Add marshmallows and stir until melted. Add pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice. Stir to combine and turn off heat.
  3. Add Rice Krispies and extra marshmallows if desired. Stir until well combined and spoon into 13 x 9 baking pan to cool. Alternatively you can portion out the batter with an ice cream scoop or into cupcake molds.yum!
  4. Once treats have cooled, melt the white chocolate chips in microwave for 30 second intervals. Make sure you don’t burn it! Use a fork to drizzle it over the treats for a little extra je ne sais quoi!

finished product

I ended up also making flourless chocolate cookies, obviously gluten free, and obviously fantastic. Both of these hit the spot!