Butternut Squash Pie

I really like how sweet and creamy butternut squash are, and am always looking for new ways to use them (and other squashes.)

I made this pie for my family get together for Chanukah and they really liked it! Can be a side, or with whipped cream for a slightly healthier dessert. 

What you will need:

1 crust, store bought or homemade (recipe here)

For the Filling:

2 large eggs

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

½ cup dark brown sugar

¼ tsp sea salt

1 ½ tsp ground ginger

1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground nutmeg

¼ tsp ground cardamom

1 ½ cups roasted squash purée

¾ cup heavy cream

Whipped cream, for garnish (optional)

Directions:

Roasted Squash Purée: heat oven to 400°. Slice into 1” sections (or buy pre cut squash to save time), coat with 1 tbsp oil, and place in a single layer on a sheet pan. Bake until tender and beginning to caramelize, about 40 minutes.

Cool slightly, blend with an immersion blender or food processor until smooth.

For Filling:

Preheat the oven to 300°.

Combine eggs, vanilla, sugars, salt and spices in a bowl with an immersion blender or food processor, and blend until smooth. Add squash purée, and blend until smooth. Pour in heavy cream, and blend to combine.

Pour filling into a hot prebaked shell, and bake for 20 minutes. Turn the oven up to 325° and continue baking for another 20-25 minutes until filling is set ⅔ of the way in from the perimeter and the center still jiggles, about 40-45 minutes total (custard will continue to cook after pie is removed from the oven). Tent Pie crust edges loosely with foil if browning too quickly.

Remove pie from oven, and cool to room temperature on rack. Garnish with whipped cream, if desired. 

Enjoy!

Alfredo Sauce

Alfredo is the ultimate comfort meal, especially in the winter! This recipe is so easy to make and can be used multiple ways throughout the week for easy meals!

What you will need: 

1 stick butter

1 cup heavy cream

Salt and pepper

2 cups freshly grated Parmesan

Pasta cooking water, as needed 

Directions:

In a saucepan or skillet, warm the butter and cream. (This week I did not have heavy cream in the fridge, so substituted for whole milk and 1 tbsp flour and worked out perfectly!)

Season with salt and pepper. Add the Parmesan and stir until melted. 

Toss to combine, thinning with pasta water if necessary.

This sauce can be used for fettuccine Alfredo, or farfalle pasta and peas! I tossed frozen peas into the pasta with sauce and just heated through for a few minutes.

I also used this sauce as a base for a white mushroom pizza. Either make pizza dough recipe here (or store bought) roll out, schmear a generous amount of Alfredo sauce, sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and sautéed mushrooms!

Enjoy!

Cranberry Pumpkin Loaf

I love everything pumpkin and any excuse to use pumpkin! And my new favorite combination is pumpkin and cranberry. The earthy, deep flavor of pumpkin combined with the fresh, tart pop of the cranberries in this pumpkin loaf is so unexpected. Festive enough for New Years dessert! 

What you will need:

½ cup canola oil (or 1 stick unsalted butter)

1 cup pumpkin puree (recipe for homemade here)

1 cup loosely packed light brown sugar

¼ cup maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or extract)

2 large eggs

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice

¾ tsp kosher salt

½ tsp baking soda

½ cup frozen cranberries

2 tbsp turbinado sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper and grease, or grease a loaf pan and dust with flour.

Combine the oil, pumpkin, brown sugar, maple syrup, vanilla and eggs in a large bowl. Whisk until smooth.

Whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda in a separate bowl. When I don’t have whole wheat flour on hand, I use all-purpose flour and it works well too.

Add the dry to the wet ingredients and whisk until smooth (but don't overmix).

Scrape into the loaf pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Press cranberries into the top and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.

Bake for 50-55 minutes, until the top is browned and crusty, and a toothpick inserted in comes out clean. Let cool.

Enjoy!

Gelt Together Cookies

Chanukah is one of my favorite holidays! I usually make some ugly Chanukah sweater iced sugar cookies, but this year I’m all about easy recipes! 

I purchased a bunch of bags of gelt from Trader Joe’s, and figured I can ‘decorate’ thick sugar cookies rolled in blue sugar with a gelt. I’ve seen similar ideas with Hershey kisses or nuts, so why not gelt? The combo works perfectly together. Make them for your Chanukah gelt together and they will be a showstopper! {see what I did there with geLt?!}

What you will need:

Sugar cookie dough (my easy recipe here)

I swapped butter for oil 1:1 here and worked perfectly

Sanding sugar or sprinkles

Gelt

Directions:

Follow directions here through chilling the dough. 

Once the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 350°. 

Form 1” balls of dough using a small cookie scoop or eyeballing. The dough should yield approximately 24 cookies. 

Flatten the balls slightly to form a disc.

Roll the edges in blue sanding sugar, or sprinkles, or whatever your heart desires!

Bake for 10 minutes. While the cookies are baking, unwrap your gelt. 

When the 10 minutes are up, quickly press a gelt in the center of each cookie before it sets. Then return to the oven for another 2 minutes. 

My son helped me with this stage, just had to remind him the tray was hot and left the oven mitt on it so he didn’t get burned. 

Allow the cookies and chocolate to cool completely before handling. 

Enjoy!

Make-Ahead Cranberry Sauce

The combination of orange juice, fresh cranberries, cinnamon and sugars create delicious flavors, and your house will smell amazing! Who needs a fall candle when you can make homemade cranberry sauce?!

It is so easy to make and it looks just beautiful. It can be made days in advance and stores well. There is such a difference between homemade cranberry sauce and the canned stuff, and once you make this you will never go back.

What you will need:

Juice and zest of 2 oranges (or ½ cup orange juice)

1 cup water

2 cups granulated sugar

1 ½ lbs fresh cranberries

2 cinnamon sticks

3 medium apples cut into chunks

2 inch piece of fresh ginger (optional)

Directions
Combine orange juice and zest, water, and sugar in a slow cooker and stir to combine. Add in cranberries and apple chunks, and stir. Add in cinnamon sticks and optional ginger and stir.

Cook on low heat for 3-4 hours, stirring once each hour. Alternatively, cook on high for 2 hours. Continue to cook until the sauce has thickened and most cranberries have popped.

Serve warm or cold!

Enjoy!

Creme Brûlée

My husband’s favorite dessert (and one of mine) is creme brûlée. We had a really good creme brûlée a few weeks ago while away in Antigua, and I wanted to recreate it. While I had always been intimidated to try to make it, I took the plunge the other week! And it passed his taste test! Success!

What you will need: 

1 pint heavy cream 

1 tbsp vanilla bean paste 

3 large egg yolks 

¼ cup granulated sugar 

⅛ cup turbinado sugar

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325°F.

In a saucepan, add the heavy cream and vanilla bean paste. Bring to a light simmer for 5 minutes. Take off the heat and cool to room temperature for 30 minutes.

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and granulated sugar until combined and lighter in color. 

Slowly add the cooled cream mixture, whisking constantly. 

Place 6 glass jars or ramekins in a large pan. Pour the mixture into the jars. Place the pan in the oven, then pour hot water into the bottom of the pan, enough so the water comes about halfway up the sides of the jars. 

Bake until set and just a little bit jiggly, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove the jars from the oven and let cool on the counter until they reach room temperature, then place the jars in the fridge for 2 hours to chill.

Evenly sprinkle the top of each jar with the turbinado sugar. Using a kitchen torch, or under the broiler, melt the sugar until it bubbles and turns dark golden brown. This will form a crunchy top. Let sit for a few minutes.

Enjoy!

Apple Pie Spice

Even though I am totally team pumpkin pie spice, I’ve been loving this homemade apple pie spice! It’s a deliciously festive blend of spices that’s perfect for any fall-inspired baked good, especially challahs. It’s also pretty amazing as a topping for your oatmeal, a latte, or mixing with sugar for the ultimate cinnamon toast!

Spices such as cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cardamom come together in this easy homemade Apple Pie Spice. This warm and comforting spice blend can be used for so much more than just apple pies!

What you will need:

4 tbsp ground cinnamon 

1 ½ tsp ground nutmeg 

½ tsp ground allspice 

1 tsp ground ginger 

1 ½ tsp ground cardamom

Directions:

Combine spices in a small bowl, mix well to combine. Store in a small jar or spice container. {I reuse my Trader Joe’s glass spice jars!}

Enjoy!