Pumpkin Roll with Cream Cheese Filling

Another pumpkin recipe? YES!

I buy pumpkin puree in big cans and I really don't want to waste any of the deliciousness. So here we go!

Pumpkin Roll with Cream Cheese Filling (Modified from Libby's recipe)

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp pumpkin spice (just add more of the other spices if you don't have this)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
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• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin (Yeah, I use Libby's. I think it's better than the store brand stuff. But you can use whatever brand you'd like.)
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• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted (I added a little extra)
• 6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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• Powdered sugar for sprinkling

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 15x10-inch jelly-roll pan. (Mine was 18x13. Worked just fine.) Line with wax paper, and grease and flour paper.

2. Combine flour, baking soda and baking powder, spices and salt in a small bowl. Beat eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl until thick and light colored. Beat in pumpkin. Carefully stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. 

3. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes. Turn cake over onto some wax paper sprinkled with powdered sugar. Carefully peel off top paper (the one that was lining the pan. Cover with a new piece of wax paper. Roll up cake and papers together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

4. Beat cream cheese, butter, vanilla and powdered sugar together in a small mixing bowl. Place in the fridge to thicken a bit while cake is cooling. Carefully unroll cake and remove top paper. Spread filling over cake. Reroll cake while removing bottom paper at the same time. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least for one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

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Note: My friends and I agreed that there was too much filling. Half of the filling would probably be enough for one cake roll. Use the other half for another one another day. You can also freeze the finished roll. Just wrap it in plastic wrap and aluminum foil once completely cooled. Then pull out and let defrost in refrigerator. I hear they keep quite well for a week or two. Cutting the roll is easiest when completely cooled, or slightly frozen.

Also, the cake roll was definitely tastier the next day. So, so yummy...

Pumpkin Muffins

I bought some baking cups. They are cutsie scary and I am planning to use them for our Halloween party.

But I couldn't wait till then. I just had to try them out right now.

So I tried a new recipe from Allrecipes. Now, I won't post the actual recipe here since I think it really needs some tweaking. I can't really pinpoint what it was that didn't please me in the flavor. Maybe they need more sugar, or more/less spices? (I added more spices as suggested in the reviews and added a little more pumpkin and substituted brown sugar for white sugar.)

Or maybe it was just me, having a less than great baking day. You never know.

After spreading some cream cheese frosting on top they did taste better. Good enough to have for breakfast.

Playing with the newly bought sprinkles made this baking experience totally worth it, no matter how the muffins tasted like.

Here's the link!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Homemade Oreos - Whoopie Pies

This is a recipe I got from a coworker of mine while I was finishing my internship at a local hospital's lab. He would bring them to work on Fridays and I would take some home and have them for breakfast on Saturday. Talking about healthy eating...

Homemade Oreos

2 pkg Devils Food Cake Mix (Betty Crocker)
1 1/2 cups shortening
4 eggs
2 Tbsp milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix all ingredients together. Roll into 1 inch balls, or smaller. Place on ungreased baking sheets.
3. Bake for 9 minutes (I always bake for 9 minutes, no matter what. I really don't know what to tell you to look for when determining whether they're ready or not.) Let cool for 5 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely. Fill with cream cheese frosting, homemade or store-bought.

Cream Cheese Frosting

2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
1 Tbsp butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
milk

Beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Gradually beat in confectioner's sugar until fluffly. If needed, add milk 1/2 Tbsp at a time to get desired consistency.

Note: I regularly half the cookie recipe and then just use half of the frosting. That way I'm not tempted to eat a whole bunch of these delicious cookies. Half a batch makes plenty for my husband and I, and a couple of our friends.

I have also flavored the filling with raspberry or orange extract after leaving the vanilla out. Then I dipped half of the cookie in chocolate candy coating and let it harden. But I warn you, one of these dipped cookies will take your blood sugar levels over the top.

Caramel Apples

I have friends. Awesome friends who like to cover healthy things with sugar. We made caramel apples yesterday. We dipped fingers in the chocolate bowl, licked spoons covered in caramel, and had a great time.

My apple tree was kind enough to donate the healthy part of our treat and we took care of the rest.
You gotta love Fall.

And for the recipe? Buy a bag of Kraft Caramels and there are instructions on the back. You just need 5 medium apples, some water, wax paper and desired toppings: Chocolate, nuts, crushed Oreos, sprinkles... Go nuts with it and enjoy the end results.

And don't forget: An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Though your dentist may disagree.