Dulce de Leche Pumpkin Pie

I tried this because my husband loves pumpkin pie, but I am not a big fan.  I decided to try this and we both liked it.  It was different from traditional pumpkin pie.  I got this recipe from Southern Living, but it was also on Recipe Girl.  Click here for the recipe.

Easy Sticky Buns

I am not very good at baking bread; however, I love the smell of bread cooking in my oven. Another drawback to baking bread is how long it takes. This recipe was great because it fulfilled my bread cravings and was so easy, because it used frozen puff pastry sheets. I got this recipe from Barefoot Bloggers, if you want to see more recipes of theirs, click here. I used Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry sheets from the grocery store and they worked great. I actually halved the recipe, since there are only 3 of us, and saved the second sheet to make more later. Here is the recipe, it makes 12 sticky buns, or half it for 6. Make sure to follow the instructions and put a sheet underneath your muffin tin with parchment paper on it, because the sticky juices run everywhere! I will be making these again this weekend!

Easy Sticky Buns
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup pecans, chopped in very large pieces
1 package (17.3 ounces/2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted for the filling
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a 12-cup standard muffin tin on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the 12 tablespoons butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Place 1 rounded tablespoon of the mixture in each of the 12 muffin cups. Distribute the pecans evenly among the 12 muffin cups on top of the butter and sugar mixture.

Lightly flour a wooden board or stone surface. Unfold one sheet of puff pastry with the folds going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with half of the melted butter. Leaving a 1-inch border on the puff pastry, sprinkle each sheet with 1/3 cup of the brown sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the cinnamon, and 1/2 cup of the raisins. Starting with the end nearest you, roll the pastry up snugly like a jelly roll around the filling, finishing the roll with the seam side down.

Trim the ends of the roll about 1/2 inch and discard. Slice the roll in 6 equal pieces, each about 1 1/2 inches wide. Place each piece, spiral side up, in 6 of the muffin cups. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry to make 12 sticky buns.

Bake for 30 minutes, until the sticky buns are golden to dark brown on top and firm to the touch. Allow to cool for 5 minutes only, invert the buns onto the parchment paper (ease the filling and pecans out onto the buns with a spoon), and cool completely.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Everyone in my family ended up with subscriptions to The Taste Of Home magazine this year for Christmas. Here is one of the recipes from the magizine. They were a big hit with my in-laws.

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 package (13 ounces) miniature peanut butter cups

DRIZZLE:
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon shortening

Directions:
In a large bowl, cream the butter, peanut butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine flour and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle.
Roll into 1-1/4-in. balls. Press a miniature peanut butter cup into each; reshape balls. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool for 2 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.
For drizzle, in a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips, peanut butter and shortening; stir until smooth. Drizzle over cooled cookies. Yield: about 3 dozen.

Waffles

I got a new waffle maker for Christmas, so we've been making waffles like crazy in my house. Here are 2 waffle recipes that I got from The Recipe Girl. I love her website and these waffles were great because Eli loved them, and he is a really picky eater. We ended up putting the leftovers in a Ziplock and freezing them. They froze well and I have been pulling them out in the morning and microwaving them for about a minute, and Eli has breakfast. It's been great!
Here's the recipe for Gingerbread Waffles. I didn't like this one as much, but Eli couldn't get enough of these. For the recipe, click here.
The Spiced Apple Waffles are my favorite so far (and Isaac's too). They have apples in them, so I also was excited to trick Eli into eating apples. For the recipe, click here. I didn't have pumpkin pie spice, so I used:

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

Toffee Apple Dip

My friend Candice gave me some of this dip and apples for Christmas and it was fabulous! We've already made it again four times!

Toffee Apple Dip
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 C. powdered sugar
1/2 C. brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 C. Heath toffee chips
Beat first 4 ingredients until smooth, and then fold in toffee chips. Cut apples and dip!

**I didn’t take that picture, but it is of the same recipe.