I love to bake especially during the holidays! A week ago, I decided to look up a few recipes to try. My parents were coming up for a visit and I thought this would be the perfect time to try out a few new recipes. I love baking BUT I know I don't need all of these sweets sitting around tempting me. Since it is fall, I looked up some fun fall treats.


In a recent Rachael Ray magazine (one of my faves), Drake found a picture of roasted pumpkin seeds. It didn't give the recipe so he just threw a few spices on them and roasted them in the oven. (He is better at just throwing ingredients together... I have a hard time not following a recipe) He used cinnamon, sugar and a little salt. They were DELICIOUS! It was the perfect combination of sweet and salty.


My dad is a big fan of peanut butter. I found this creamy peanut butter pie recipe here. It was light and creamy and not too heavy but it is sweet!

I also found this great recipe for mini pumpkin cupcakes and homemade cream cheese icing! I am obsessed with mini cupcakes. I think they are cute and the perfect size. The only problem is that it makes so many of them! I made sure to give them away so I wouldn't be tempted to eat them all. It is hard to eat just one! And I got to use my aqua cake stand.
Here is the link to the original recipe. It was intended for regular sized cupcakes. It also included a cream cheese filling which I did not do for the mini cupcakes. Be careful because it makes a lot of batter! I had to throw half of it away and still made about 36 cupcakes. The recipes says it makes 24 regular cupcakes.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 (15 oz.) can solid pack pumpkin
1 cup buttermilk
2 1/3 cups flour
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place baking cups in mini muffin pan. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine pumpkin and buttermilk. Mix flour, pumpkin spice, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with pumpkin mixture, mixing thoroughly after each addition.

Bake about 15-20 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. (Be sure to check on them after 12 minutes)

I found a lot of other recipes I can't wait to try! I will try and post any other recipes that I make!