Spiced Pumpkin Brittle

Promised you all this recipe last week,

so here it is....

Spiced Pumpkin Brittle

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups of pumpkin seeds, plus a handful more for dipping

• 1/2 cup of water

• 1/2 cup of light corn syrup

• 1 cup of granulated sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

• 1 tablespoon of pure vanilla extract

• 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter

• 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves

• 1/4 teaspoon of ground allspice

• 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

• 1 1/2 cups of semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. First, toast the pumpkin seeds over medium heat in a pan. Keep the seeds moving so they don’t burn and stop toasting once they start to tan and you can smell the toasted seeds.

2. Prepare a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat. In a medium saucepan clipped with a candy thermometer (make sure it doesn’t touch the bottom of the pan), heat water, sugar and corn syrup over medium high heat stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until it starts to boil. Stop stirring and let the mixture boil until it reaches 285 degrees. You may have to turn the heat up to high if the temperature isn’t increasing.

3.Stir in the pumpkin seeds and continually stir the mixture so it doesn’t stick to the bottom until the temperature reaches 300 degrees. Remove from the heat and stir in all the spices, vanilla extract, baking soda and butter, just until combined. The baking soda will cause it to bubble up a bit, but that’s normal.

4. Working quickly, pour the mixture over the baking sheet and using the back of a wooden spoon spread across the sheet evenly. Allow the brittle to harden completely at room temperature, or if you’re in a rush, pop it in the refrigerator for about a half hour or until completely hardened.

5. Break the brittle into random irregular shapes.

6. Temper the chocolate chips to dip the brittle into. 

7. Finely chop a large handful of raw pumpkin seeds and place on a dish.  After dipping the brittle in the chocolate, dip the ends in the raw pumpkin seeds and sprinkle with some sea salt. 

8. To package them for gifts, place them in a box lined with parchment paper.  Place a sheet of parchment between each brittle to ensure they don’t stick together.

Let me know if you guys have any questions

--its a fairly easy recipe just make sure you

 get the corn syrup, sugar, water to the proper temperature

or it won't get to that crack candy state 

and you will have taffy instead of brittle!

xo,

Rach

Recipe from Honestly Yum.

From Rachel's Kitchen: "Meltworthy" Cookies!

I stalk, I mean, ehh hem "frequent"

Better Homes & Gardens magazine and website

always looking for the latest in home decor,

entertaining, and recipes. 

I came across this recipe for

"Chocolatly Melting Snowmen"

a couple of weeks ago and couldn't resist.

How cute are these little melting snowmen?

Equal parts adorable and delicious,
the cookie underneath is chocolate peanut butter
topped with vanilla melted chocolate, a peanut butter cup hat,
dark chocolate eyes, and a orange sprinkle nose!

The notion of melting snowmen saddens
 my heart a little, but when I look at these cookies

I can't help but think of the silly little snowman
singing his song "In Summer" in Frozen...

ha ha, I adored this song during the movie.

So cute!

...And then I'm reminded that Disney Princessses & Ice Queens

can do whatever they want in
 whimsical Disney animations like 'Frozen'

and that snowman don't have to melt because
 Disney Princesses/Queens can just award them
their own personal snow clouds in warmer temps...See?!

Instant Disney Solution, Problem Solved.
Disney movies just make life a happier place! :)

Anyways, what do you guys think of these?

You can find the same recipe from

 Better Homes & Gardens here.

To follow more of my baking adventures,

stop back regularly.

See you soon...

xo,

homemade cranberry butter

I bought a bag of cranberries at Trader Joe's 

a few weeks ago, well-- because

they are red, festive, and tis' the season for cranberries!

However, every time I go into my refrigerator

there they are in the front of the fridge

taking up prime real estate on the top shelf
begging to be used in a holiday recipe...

Cranberry Butter:

Ingredients:

1. (1) Stick Butter

2. (2) Tbsp Maple Syrup or Agave (I used a honey vanilla agave)

3. Bag of Fresh Cranberries

Directions:

1) Wash 1/2 bag of cranberries and pat dry.

2) Throw cranberries in a pan with 2 tbsp either maple syrup or agave and heat on medium, stirring frequently, until cranberries soften and turn to a jam-like consistently (some of them will burst)

 

3. Throw into a mixing bowl and let cool, about 10-15 min. 

4. Fold in one stick of softened butter (I used salted) and use an electric mixer to whip into butter.

 

5. Serve on English muffin or as a festive holiday butter to add to muffins, bagels, etc.

Tip: Sprinkle a little cinnamon sugar on top for an extra special treat! :)

For more inspiration about how to use cranberries

this time of year, visit here.

Things to Do with Fresh Cranberries

And as always, feel free to share your own 

#festive cranberry recipe with other readers!

xo,