The Pumpkin Experiments

    It was September and I was thinking of fall (despite 80 degree heat), and craving pumpkin flavored desserts, when a brilliant idea popped into my head.

"I should try making all these pumpkin recipes I've been pinning on Pinterest!", I said to myself. I quickly counted the weeks until Thanksgiving and decided I had plenty of time to try a recipe each week and then pick my favorite to make for the holiday. Such a brilliant idea had to be shared with the world... (well... at least my world) so I, of course, posted it on Facebook. Along with my intentions to blog about each recipe I tried along the way, and share my findings with the online community.

When it comes to my blog I have grand intentions, and not-so-great follow-through on those intentions. So, here it is November - Thanksgiving is next week and I'm finally blogging about all the things I made. Hopefully this will give you enough time to run to the store and get the ingredients for your favorite of the recipes below. ;) 

7. Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

   I made these cookies without the cream cheese frosting, because I didn't think they would need it. To be honest - they probably could have used it, or something else like chocolate chips. These were best right out of the oven - they had the best texture and taste at that point. By the time I took them to work the next day, they weren't very good. My co-workers still liked them, but they weren't a favorite. (also be careful! this recipe is double the size of a normal cookie recipe, I only made half)

6. Pumpkin Pie Croissants

     I haven't actually made these this year, but I did last fall from Pinterest and felt I should include them too. This is another recipe that was good, but they were definitely best straight out of the oven. They don't stay very good for very long, in my opinion. However, they are pretty easy to make!

5. Pumpkin Bread

    Pumpkin bread is pretty easy and fairly common, but I saw this on Pinterest and thought I'd give it a try. It had really good flavor, and was nice and moist.

4. Pumpkin Blossom Cookies

     This oned would be higher on my list, except the only thing pumpkin about it are the Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses on top and the cookie was better without them! Its basically a spice cookie (one of the main ingredients is chai tea concentrate) with a kiss on top. Pumpkin Spice kisses have a pretty strong flavor, and I felt like they overpowered the flavor of the cookie. The cookie itself had a delicious flavor and the texture was the perfect balance of soft and crispy. 

3. Pumpkin Pie Dessert

     This is another recipe that I haven't actually made yet this year, but probably will before the season is over. My mom made this a lot when I was younger, and it is a good replacement for pumpkin pie (and I love me some pumpkin pie!!). Its really easy to make, and travels well. 

2. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

     Its really hard for me to say that this is my second favorite recipe, because I really like both of the top two recipes equally. I'm just more likely to use #1 as a replacement for pumpkin pie at the holidays.

My grandma Darlene always made a variety of baked goodies for our family at Christmas, and this has always been my favorite. The recipe came from a magazine clipping she had, and is super easy to make. They are really moist and taste like dessert instead of a muffin. These were really popular with my friends and co-workers too.

1. Pumpkin Lust Cake (Renamed Pumpkin Pudding Paradise by my roommate)

    The name of this recipe is slightly deceiving - this is not cake at all. It is a creamy pudding delight. The only drawback to this recipe is that it hinges on being able to get the special Jello Pumpkin Spice instant pudding mix, which is only available right now (I plan on stocking up!). It has a pecan crust, with layers of cream cheese, pudding and cool whip on top. It is soooo delicious... I took this to work, and everyone was drooling over it. I had more requests for this recipe than for any of the other treats I brought to work. 

There are still several other recipes that I'd like to try, but I probably won't get to them before Thanksgiving. I hope you find something here that you'd like to try, but you can also find more ideas on my Pinterest board at: Holiday Decor and Eats - Autumn / Thanksgiving