Well helloooo there y’all!!! I’ve been away for an embarrassingly long time, for which I apologize but I have good reason, I’ll make this quick. In October I got the flu for the first time in my entire life (weird, I know) and honestly it was so bad I went to the ER twice and I was pretty much out of commission until December. For reals y’all, walking across the room would leave me out of breath & pouring sweat like a monster until December, ewww, I know. Throw all of that on top of having to work very long hours and time just straight up got away from me. Maybe some of y’all are wondering why I haven’t posted anything since? Well, right before I caught the plague got sick I had cooked and photographed a few recipes with a noticeably Fall theme, and I kinda felt like a dummy posting those into January. Also, I have had no time to make new ones.

Well, since the world in the last couple of weeks has basically turned into a giant dumpster fire, I have seen a lovely trend of people putting up Christmas decorations to bring joy and happiness. If folks are going to go back to Christmas time, I thought maybe we could all go ahead and go all the way back to the Fall…Also, pie. This isn’t just any old pie either, this is a no-bake pie filled with some of my favorite things, cookie butter, whipped cream and cream cheese. So not only is this easy to make, it also requires very few ingredients.

While the world at the moment feels very uncertain, one thing is for certain, this pie is super delicious, easy to make and might be something fun to ‘bake’ with your kids while everyone is at home.

I understand how scary everything seems right now, trust me I’m right there with you– financially, health-wise, economy-wise, for our loved ones and for the world, remind yourself to breathe, stay home, be as hygienic as possible and be considerate of others, we are really all in this together. Sigh, jeez that sounds lame but it’s true haha. What is everyone doing in their isolation? I’ve been reading a lot, streaming a lot of stuff and for some reason re-watching Game of Thrones, even though let’s be honest, I would take the white walkers over these shenanigans, just kidding, kind of. Anyways, thanks for stopping by and my prayers go out to the world (again, cheesy but I mean it).

Happy Happy Friday y’all!!! I’m so excited to share today’s recipe with y’all. Sometimes when you create something so delicious, it deserves it’s very own post instead of having it in conjunction with another recipe. That’s exactly what happened with this one. I had had every intention of just slapping this frosting on some awesome cupcakes, but this one turned out so decadently perfect it needed to be the star of the show today.

I’d been toying around the idea of a coffee frosting, since it’s one of my favorite flavors, but I knew to keep it from being overpowering it needed some delicious friends with it, and by friends I mean butter and cream cheese. I stand by the fact that brown butter literally makes everything better and cream cheese wonderfully tones down frostings, which in my opinion have a tendency to be too sweet.

To get that wonderful coffee flavor, I originally just threw instant coffee into the frosting, which was a terrible idea because it did not want to blend. So the next batch, I did the smart thing and let the instant coffee hang out in a bit of milk, then blended it in, which was perfect.

This frosting is probably a bit more work than a basic buttercream or cream cheese frosting, but y’all, take the extra time and the extra dirty dishes and make this stuff. This frosting will knock your socks off and I guarantee will make any cupcake taste 100 times better. Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!

First, let’s get that butter nice and brown so it has time to completely cool…I have a more in depth tutorial of how to brown butter here…

Take your softened butter & whip it good whip it real good …

then add your cream cheese…

once the cream cheese & butter is well blended, add your cooled brown butter…

then add your powdered sugar…

then put your instant coffee into some milk, making sure it’s dissolved…

Then whip your coffee into your frosting and enjoy!!!

BROWN BUTTER COFFEE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING RECIPE:

INGREDIENTS:

½ Cup (1 Stick) of Unsalted Butter, Browned & Cooled.
1 Cup (2 Sticks) of Unsalted Butter, Softened.
8 Ounces (1 Block) of Cream Cheese, Softened.
3 Cups of Powdered Sugar.
4 Teaspoons of Instant Coffee, Mixed into 2 Tablespoons of Whole Milk.
1 Tablespoon of Vanilla Extract.
Dash of Salt.

DIRECTIONS:

~Take your 1 stick of butter and place in a pan on medium/high heat and while stirring constantly, cook until it reaches a golden brown (should have a really delicious nutty smell to it). Place in fridge to cool completely.

~With a handheld or stand mixer with paddle attachment, place your 2 sticks of butter into the bowl and beat until smooth.

~Now add your cream cheese to the whipped butter and beat until smooth, then add your vanilla, powdered sugar and salt and beat until well incorporated. Now add your cooled brown butter and mix again.

~Place your instant coffee into about 2 tablespoons of cream or milk, stir until completely incorporated then mix into your frosting until completely mixed in. If you want a stronger coffee flavor, then add more instant coffee about a teaspoon at a time and enjoy!

Here’s an oldie but a goodie, I thought some of y’all might need a really easy, quick and possibly last minute dessert for Turkey Day, so here you go!

Happy Happy Wednesday & Thanksgiving Eve y’all!!!  I hope I’m not the only one running around trying to get what feels like everything under the sun done right now.  These feelings are most likely exacerbated by the fact that I have to work all day, so a billion things are left to do this evening and tomorrow morning very early. 

I’m a slightly type A chick, so not being completely organized and ahead of schedule makes me feel just a tad bit coo-coo feeling.  My apologies, I’m blathering about how stressed I feel when most likely all of you feel precisely the same way haha.  Soooo,  I’m here today to give you another recipe that shouldn’t cause you any stress to make, because at this hour before Thanksgiving that is exactly what we need, amiright? 

These Easy Pumpkin Pie Bars are a wonderful recipe that I snagged from Pillsbury’s website.  I looove pumpkin pie, but as I have mentioned before, pies have a tendency to be my Kryptonite, because of that whole pie crusts never behave for me deal, which is why I knew I had to make these bars because they just looked so easy to make.  BTW they totally are easy to make, and let’s not forget it’s pumpkin pie in perfect handheld wonderfulness. 

The only thing that’s really time consuming is waiting for these bars to completely cool before you can cut them up.  Anyways, I hope you can add these to your Thanksgiving meal and as always thank you so much for stopping by!  Happy Thanksgiving to everyone of you and I hope you have a wonderful time with your loved ones.

First, wax paper into your pan…

then press your crescent dough sheet into your pan…

place all of your ingredients into your bowl…

mix, mix, mix…

then pumpkin mixture into your pan…

bake, bake, bake…

after cooling, take out of the pan…

and enjoy!!!

 

Happy Tuesday y’all!  Well, it’s finally October which means it’s officially pumpkin season, woohoo!  I’m not sure if I’ve made it very clear how obsessed I am with pumpkin desserts (pretty sure I have) but just in case, now y’all know. 

I would like to say, the only area of pumpkin I absolutely do not like are pumpkin spice lattes, I know, I know, sacrilege to all of my basic b’s out there, but seriously y’all, it’s what I would imagine drinking potpourri would be like.  Anyways, obviously due to me writing this post, pumpkin mousse is very, very good and now a forever favorite fall recipe for me. 

Not only is this mousse insanely light, fluffy and delicious, but also, no bake which is convenient, since as I mentioned last week the weather hasn’t gotten the memo, that it’s not July anymore.  I think the best way to describe this mousse, is imagine blending up a pumpkin pie, then adding in cream which tones down the flavor just a bit and then serving it cold.  So not my best description to date, but just believe me if you like pumpkin you’re going to love this dessert.  I really appreciate you stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful day!   

First, whip your heavy whipping cream, just when it starts to froth then add your powdered sugar…

Then continue whipping up stiff peaks form, set aside…

In another bowl, whip your cream cheese, then add pumpkin puree, vanilla and spices…

Now, add your whipped cream to your pumpkin mousse…

Fold it all in until smooth…

and enjoy!!!

Happy Happy Wednesday y’all!!!  The calendar people, the Celts or the weather people (I really have no idea) may have officially declared it Fall, but around here and for the time being, Fall is 90 degrees accompanied with boob sweat.   I probably shouldn’t mention boob sweat prior to discussing food, but this isn’t the Food Network guys, this is my thunder dome of inappropriateness. 

So yeah, it’s still very hot and humid here, not that any of the stores have been informed either,  because they’re all happy bringing out sweaters and boots.  Sweaters and boots?! come on, it was almost 80 degrees when I walked into the gym at 4:45 this morning you guys, putting on a sweater at this time literally sounds like a form of torture.  I’m glad that folks up north can start throwing on semi winter gear, but not around here folks. 

Ok, so now that I have made it abundantly clear that it’s still hot as the surface of the sun here, it still doesn’t keep me from longing for all foodie things that are Fall-ish.  Pumpkin, apple pie, cinnamon, caramel, yes please…Since baking anything is a big no for me right now, what better way to get my Fall fix than with Apple Pie Ice Cream, mmmm.  Y’all this is freaking mmmm too, and darn easy to make.   No ice cream machine or anything fancy, just some heavy whipped cream, sweetened condensed milk, apple pie filling, and caramel sauce, you’re welcome 😀  Do not let the looks of this ice cream deceive you either, this is very, very rich, but oh so incredible.  The hardest part is waiting for this to freeze so you can eat it.  Anyways, thanks so much for dropping by and I hope you have a fantastic (Fall-ish) day.      

this is the pre-made apple pie filling I just chopped up…

your heavy whipping cream whipped…

sweetened condensed milk being folded nicely into the whipped cream…

folded in completely…

now for the layering, first layer of the ‘ice cream’

then a nice drizzle of caramel sauce…

then some of your apple pie filling on top of the caramel…

  Cover the apple pie with the remainder of the ice cream, then caramel sauce then stir it all together with a knife…

now, ready to go in the freezer for a few hours…

and enjoy!!!