glaze

Pumpkin Sugar Cookies

It’s that time of year guys! Everything is pumpkin! And these cookies are perfect for sugar lovers everywhere 🙂 To me, they are the perfect fall cookie with a pumpkin spice flavor and powdered sugar glaze on top. Bonus, they are easy to make! So go get a pumpkin spice latte, turn on your oven and let’s bake!

What you will need:

Cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or Silpat

4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temp
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup granulated sugar (plus more for flattening)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs

For the glaze:

3 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt and spice. Set aside. In another large bowl, beat together the butter, oil, pumpkin, sugar and vanilla. Beat in the eggs until combined. Slowly pour in the flour mixture until dough forms.

Scoop onto prepared baking sheet and flatten using the bottom of a glass. See picture below.

Press the bottom of the glass in sugar before pressing down the cookies so it doesn’t stick. Bake for 8-9 minutes. Allow to cool a minute on baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack.

While cookies are cooling, stir together all ingredients to make the glaze. Drizzle over the cooling cookies. The glaze will harden after about 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Store covered at room temp or in the fridge.

Cinnamon Bundt Cake

Fall is upon us and I can’t believe it! This summer kind of sucked but we made the most of it. I hope you all are healthy, mentally, physically, emotionally during these times. I’m definitely limiting my time on social media because I just don’t need any added negativity in my life right now. So instead, I bake something delicious for my family!

This cake is the perfect treat either in the morning with coffee or afternoon tea. Tonight I’m actually going to have it a la mode style with some vanilla ice cream. Yum! Instead of frosting, you pour a cinnamon glaze over the warm cake and it is finger lickin’ good 🙂 So, let’ go start our ovens and bake!

What you will need:

1 bundt pan, greased

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup unsalted butter at room temp
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs
2/3 cup milk (preferrably whole)

For the glaze:

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup water
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside. In another large bowl, beat together the sugar and butter until creamy and smooth. Add in vanilla and 1 egg, beating until combined. Add other eggs, one at a time, beating until combined.

Slowly mix in the flour mixture, alternating with the milk until combined. Pour into prepared pan and bake for about 35-40 minutes. Allow to cool for 20 minutes.

To make the glaze, put all the ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk constantly for several minutes until the mixture is slightly thickened.

Place a plate or some parchment paper under a wire rack. Invert the cooled cake over a wire rack. With a toothpick, prick a bunch of holes all over the top and sides of the cake. Pour the glaze over the cake and let it run over the sides and middle.

Slice and enjoy! Cover at room temperature or refrigerate. Serve warm with ice cream or as is! Enjoy!

Almond Bars

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I can’t believe I didn’t have a jelly roll pan! You need one to make these so off I went and finally bought myself one. These bars are so tasty and very easy to make so if you need a dessert that feeds quite a few people, this is it! Cut them big or small, decorate with fruit or however you like and you have a crowd pleaser. So, here we go… let’s go make some almond bars!

Note: Even though these bars do not take long to make, always read through the instructions first! There are some new steps that I typically do not do in my recipes. Also, I did this entire recipe using a hand mixer.

What you will need:

Jelly roll pan, lightly greased (I used a 16 x 12 in.)

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
1 cup water
1 cup butter

For the glaze:

6 tablespoons milk
1/2 cup butter
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In another large bowl, combine sour cream, eggs and extract. Pour the flour mixture into the egg mixture and beat until just combined. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring to a boil the water and butter. As soon as it boils, remove from heat and pour into the mixture that is set aside. Beat until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth out with a spatula.

Bake for 17-20 minutes.

When the bars have about 5 minutes left to bake, start making the glaze. Melt the butter and milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Pour into a bowl and whisk in powdered sugar and extract until smooth and combined. Pour the warm glaze over the warm bars. Allow to cool completely before cutting and serving.

Enjoy!

Store covered in the fridge.

You can decorate however you like! They are so pretty 🙂

Lemon Zucchini Bread

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It’s been a minute since I made a post! I’m so sorry! We have just been enjoying summer to the fullest. The last 4 days have literally been pool, beach, pool, beach and tomorrow we have plans to go back to the beach! Trust me, I know how lucky I am to be able to do that. Living close to the lake in Chicago is the best and I would not have it any other way 🙂 Until it’s January and I’ll be looking at real estate in California…

Anyway, here I am with an absolutely delicious bread or cake, whatever you want to call it. The perfect summer snack for you and your loved ones to enjoy after a fun filled sun filled day! So turn on your ovens and let’s get baking….

What you will need:

1 loaf pan greased and lined with parchment paper hanging over the sides

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 tespoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons olive oil
2 eggs
1/3 cup milk (I used almond milk)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini, drained and dried
1 tablespoons lemon zest

For the glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.  In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.  In another bowl, beat together the sugar and oil until blended. Add in eggs and milk and beat until incorporated. Beat in lemon juice and vanilla. Slowly beat in flour mixture until just blended. Fold in the zucchini and lemon zest.

Pour into prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before lifting it out with the parchment paper. Cool completely.

To make the glaze, stir ingredients together. Start with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and go up from there depending on consistency. Drizzle over bread. Slice and enjoy!

Iced Lemon Crumb Cake

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I’m baaack! Did you miss me? I feel like it’s been way too long since I made a post. I was going to blog about our trip to Cabo San Lucas but I may not. You guys let me know if you’re interested in that or not. It was so fun and we had a great return experience bringing Liam but I already posted pictures on Facebook and Instagram. I don’t want to over share if you know what I mean…?

Anyway, I have been baking, just not new stuff that I can blog about. There is always something at my house; cookies, bread, cake… but I finally got inspired to make something new with this nice weather we’ve been having! So, kicking off my posting slum with a delicious lemon cake! I’ll just sit here and eat the entire thing, thank you so much. Very summery and seriously, go ahead and eat it for breakfast as a coffee cake! I won’t judge 🙂

So, go get some lemons, get your aprons on and let’s bake!

What you will need:

8 x 8 inch square bake dish, greased

For the crumb topping:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon zest
6 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into small pieces

For the cake:

1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temp
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons lemon zest (from about 2 lemons)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup sour cream

For the glaze:

About 1 cup powdered sugar
Fresh lemon juice (I used about half a lemon)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. First make the crumb topping. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, salt and zest. With your hands or a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Place the bowl in the fridge while you make the cake batter.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In another large bowl, beat butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. Add in eggs, lemon juice and zest and beat until combined. Fold in the sour cream with a spatula until combined. Fold in the dry ingredients until just combined. Pour into your prepared bake dish.

Take the crumb topping out of the fridge and evenly sprinkle it over the cake, breaking up any large pieces. Bake for about 40-45 minutes. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before making the glaze.

Once cake is completely cooled, stir together powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl until you reach a drizzly consistency. Drizzle over the cake with a spoon.

Enjoy! Store covered at room temperature.

Easy Peasy Perfect Pound Cake

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I know I have a few other Pound Cake recipes on this blog and I actually wasn’t going to post this one. But then it came out of the pan so perfect I HAD to share it! Oh, and there’s a fun ingredient in the glaze 😉 Also, this isn’t a true pound cake. Pound cake usually has a pound of every ingredient, but this one is about half. I am not feeding an army so this one is perfect. It will last about 2 days in my house.

So, here we go! Let’s make a half pound cake 🙂

What you will need:

Loaf pan, greased

1 cup unsalted butter at room temp
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon Lemon LaCroix (you can also use lemon juice)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees fahrenheit. Beat butter until smooth and creamy. Beat in sugar until smooth and light in color. Add in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternate beating in the flour and milk until combined. Beat in vanilla.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Allow to cool a few minutes before inverting.

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To make the glaze stir together the ingredients and pour over the warm cake. Cool completely before cutting and serving. Enjoy!

Store covered at room temp.

Gingerbread Muffins

Don’t worry! It’s not Christmas just yet. These muffins are PERFECT for fall! I found the recipe in a book I got from Crate & Barrel called 500 Cupcakes. I looked at the ingredients and was intrigued! AND I had everything on hand, no grocery shopping needed 🙂 Make these muffins for  a great afternoon treat, after school snack or just because!

What you will need:

7 cupcake liners

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
Just under 1/2 cup milk

For the drizzle:

1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Note: This is half the recipe. Feel free to double it!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Whisk together flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon and brown sugar. Add all the other ingredients and stir until combined. Pour batter into liners 2/3 of the way. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

For the drizzle, stir together ingredients. Drizzle over muffins with a spoon. Enjoy!


Store at room temp in air tight container.

Crazy for Coconut Cake

Coconut. The flavor of summer.  And I feel it’s one of those flavors where you either love it or hate it. Some people won’t go near it, and there’s those like me, who can eat coconut cream pie while drinking piña coladas all day long 🙂 And now, we can eat coconut cake, too! So good, I literally wanted to go for a swim in the batter. Yum! So, if you are a lover of coconut like me, start your ovens…

What you will need:

Bundt pan greased and floured

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter at room temp
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 large eggs
1 (13 oz) can coconut milk
2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

For the glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons milk
1/2 cup toasted shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In another large bowl, or bowl of your electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in coconut milk and flour just until incorporated. Stir in coconut.

Pour into prepared bundt pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool on wire rack for 30 minutes before inverting.

Here’s my cake right after I flipped it! I was so happy it didn’t stick to the pan!

To make the glaze, stir together powdered sugar and milk until you reach the consistency you want. You may need to add more powdered sugar or milk. Drizzle over the cooled cake and immediately sprinkle the toasted coconut on top. Slice and enjoy!

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen that I made a tasting cake with this batter. I just poured a little batter in the second to smallest size pan that I got from my mom. I always want to taste the cake but don’t want to cut into it, especially if I’m bringing it somewhere, just to make sure it tastes good. So, now I have a solution! If you like to bake and bring cakes to gatherings, I highly recommend buying a really small cake pan, like a 4 inch so you can taste it. I felt so professional! It was great.

Here it is! It’s made from a 5 1/2 inch cake pan. Still too big for a tasting but, I ate it all 🙂

Look at this beauty!

Iced Lemon Pound Cake

Yum. Lemons. I love you. I Needed this cake in my life right now. It’s sweet, can be eaten for breakfast, and is just so (for lack of a better word) delicious! Easy to make and eat, this pound cake is the perfect treat! I have nothing else to say so…. let’s bake!

What you will need:

9 x 5 inch loaf pan, greased
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon extract
Juice from one lemon
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Zest of one lemon

For the glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a medium bowl, beat together eggs, sugar, butter, both extracts, and lemon juice until well blended. Pour into the dry ingredients and blend until smooth. Add oil and lemon zest and mix until combined.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 45-50 minutes. Allow to cool on wire rack before inverting to cool completely.

To make the glaze:

In a bowl, whisk all ingredients until smooth. Pour over cooled cake. Slice and enjoy!

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Pumpkin Pound Cake with Maple Glaze

This pumpkin cake is very similar to the one I posted 2 weeks ago, but this is a pound cake. For those who don’t know, pound cakes are very dense and rich because there is a pound of each 4 main ingredients; flour, sugar, eggs and butter. Also, I used a maple glaze instead of the cinnamon cream cheese frosting. That would be way too rich on a pound cake. But the glaze takes this cake over the top! Seriously, Starbucks worthy. I don’t know what it is about Starbucks’ baked goods, but oh my gosh, they are delicious! So fresh and I think better than any other bakery. They have THE best blueberry muffins I’ve ever had, hands down. I need to get that recipe. But anyway, back to fall. Let’s go make a pumpkin pound cake!

Side thought- I have a thing for Bundt cakes, too. Again, not sure what it is. The shape maybe? And they feed a lot of people so they’re perfect for a party or special gathering.

What you will need:

Bundt cake pan that is greased and floured

For the cake:

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
5 large eggs
1 can (15 ounces) pureed pumpkin
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the glaze:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons maple syrup
3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream (or milk since that’s all I had)
3/4 cup powdered sugar

To make cake:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.

In another large bowl (or bowl of your electric mixer), beat butter and both sugars until soft and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in pumpkin and vanilla.

Slowly add in the dry ingredients, beating until well incorporated. The batter will be thick. Spoon into prepared Bundt pan and bake for 55-60 minutes. Cool for at least 15 minutes before inverting onto serving plate. Let cool completely before glazing.

Here’s the cake naked!

To make the glaze:

In a small saucepan, combine butter, maple syrup and cream or milk. Bring to a boil. Continue to boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and sift in the powdered sugar. Whisk until smooth and let cool for 15-20 minutes until slightly thickened. Drizzle over the cooled cake.

Slice and enjoy! So gorgeous 🙂

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