Kathleen Siegle

Pumpkin Spice Latte Brownies

October 10, 2014

Dark chocolate mocha brownies topped with creamy pumpkin buttercream frosting and sweet whipped cream. The Pumpkin Spiced Latte just met it’s match…Pumpkin Spice Latte Brownies!

Say what you want about Starbucks and their “stale” coffee. Yes, I’m talking to coffee snobs everywhere! You have to admit they know the way to every white girl’s heart during Fall. I’m more of a classic Mocha girl myself, but I love the first sight of their magical chalkboard sign exclaiming, “The Pumpkin Spice Latte is here!” It lets me know that Fall has officially arrived. I’ve taken one of my favorite Starbucks drinks and made them into brownies!

I’ve only made a few pumpkin desserts so far but I’ve got so many more planned for this season. It’s safe to say, I’m in love with pumpkin. First came my Pecan Pie Pumpkin Cupcakes and then these crazy delicious guys. These Pumpkin Spice Latte Brownies were incredibly easy. How? I used my favorite boxed brownie mix.

Eeeek! Yes, you can make brownie mix taste like it’s from scratch. I promise.

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Ferrero Rocher Chocolate Spider Tutorial

October 9, 2014

Freakishly delicious chocolate spiders made out of my favorite chocolate truffle. This Ferrero Rocher Chocolate Spider Tutorial is super easy and will make your cupcakes extra spooky this Halloween!

These little guys were so easy to make (little patience required) and will make everyone giggle at your next Halloween party. At first glance you’ll have to take a second look. These little guys are creepy! But in an “Omigosh you’re so yummy, get in my mouth” kind of way.

Here is the tutorial…the freezer is your best friend while using this tutorial.

Start by toasting some sweetened coconut for a little bit. While the coconut is toasting, melt your dark chocolate in a double boiler or a microwave. Pour melted goodness in a piping bag and snip the end off. No need for a piping tip.

Slice each Ferrero Rocher chocolate in half. Or leave them whole. This is your show baby! Dip them in the melted chocolate or drizzle the chocolate over top.

Sprinkle the tops with the toasted coconut, er…I mean spider hairs. Pop them in the freezer.

While the spider bodies are chill’in in the freezer. Make some V-shapes with the piping bag. Put those little spider legs in the freezer now too.

Take those chilly spider bodies and drizzle some melted chocolate on the side. Now this is where you have to move quick. The chocolate spider legs are going to want to melt in your warm fingers. Place a spider leg carefully onto the melted chocolate. 4 on each side of course! We want to be anatomically correct.

Lastly, attach some little gold candy pearls as eyes. Perch them on your cupcakes and watch as people gasp until they realize…It’s just a Ferrero Rocher!

Ferrero Rocher Spider Tutorial

Author: Kathleen Siegle

Freakishly delicious chocolate spiders made out of my favorite chocolate truffle. This Ferreror Rocher Spider Tutorial is super easy and will make your cupcakes extra spooky this Halloween!

Ingredients

1 package of Ferrero Rocher Chocolates
1/4 cup toasted coconut
4 oz. melted dark chocolate
candy pearls

Instructions

Set oven to 350 F and toast coconut on baking sheet for 8-10 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
Melt chocolate in microwave or double boiler. Fill a piping bag and snip the tip off.
Slice each Ferror Rocher candy in half.
Dip the candies in the dark chocolate. Top with toasted coconut. Place them in freezer to harden.
On parchment paper, pipe out little V’s with the chocolate. Put those in the freezer to harden.
Once the spider bodies have set, drizzle melted chocolate on each side and secure four legs on each side of the body.
Attach little eyes to the front.

Chocolate Tarantula Cupcakes

Monster Strawberry Cupcakes

Biscoff Magic Cookie Bars

October 6, 2014

Infamous Magic Cookie Bars with a little twist. Biscoff! Buttery Biscoff cookie crust with Biscoff sweetened condensed milk, dark chocolate chips, walnuts, and coconut. I wouldn’t have my Biscoff Magic Cookie Bars any other way!

Magic Cookie Bars are something I hold dear to my heart. My mother made them nearly every week during the holiday season. So you can say it’s one of my favorite sweets. Each bite brings me back to Southern California, where the December weather is cool, and Amy Grant’s Christmas album is on repeat. It’s about a week before Christmas and butterflys are fluttering in my little 6 year old tummy because Christmas morning is nearly here! I still get that way weeks before the big day. I’m 31.

One of the reasons I love Magic Cookie Bars is they’re classic and vintage. I adore vintage things. In the photo below, the layers are a little different. In my Biscoff Magic Cookie Bars the layers are as follows: Crust, condensed milk, chocolate chips, walnuts and coconut. Does it really matter? I’m not sure, but if there are some Magic Cookie Bar enthusiasts out there who would disagree, I implore you to make mine and then decide.

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Baklava Cupcakes

October 3, 2014

Delicate honey cupcakes topped with cinnamon mascarpone whipped frosting, sprinkled with chopped pistachios and drizzled with honey syrup. A miniature slice of homemade sweet baklava top these Baklava Cupcakes.

O.M.G. I know that phrase is wildly overused, but O.M.G.

On Monday I slaved away in the kitchen making Apple Cinnamon Baklava. Just kidding…It was so much easier than I expected and the final result was out of this world. Picture if Christmas morning and Miss Baklava hooked up and had a baby. Not out of wedlock of course. Miss Baklava is a very traditional kind of lady. That’s what my Apple Cinnamon Baklava tasted like. Lovliness. These Baklava Cupcakes are a special kind of lovely.

As it baked in the oven, I had a vision of these cupcakes. Fluffy mascarpone delicately sitting on a light, not overly sweet honey cupcake and a gorgeous piece of baklava perched on top. With a lot of hand slapping, I managed to save some Baklava on the side specifically for these Baklava Cupcakes.

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Apple Cinnamon Baklava

October 1, 2014

Crispy and nutty Apple Cinnamon Baklava with luscious golden layers of crispy phyllo dough, walnuts, and apples. A honey syrup made with spiced apple cider deliciously drench each layer.

While drudging my way through college in my freshman year, I managed to work two jobs. One was a particularly arrogant clothing store which will remain nameless. I will give you a little hint. It rhymes with Flabbercrombie & Itch. Worst job ever. My other job was a hostess for Acropolis Grill, a little mom and pop Greek restaurant where “Opa!” was shouted every 7.5 minutes. Or just whenever someone had ordered the “Flaming Cheese”, also known as Saganaki. Which was every 7.5 minutes. Very popular dish at the little Acropolis Grill.

Baking baklava has always intimidated me. For the longest time I had this misconception that Baklava was a frighteningly difficult dessert to bake. With all its layers and layers of dough and hearing that “There’s nothing worse than a dry Baklava.”, I figured it wasn’t worth the fuss. Well, thank you Pioneer Woman! She has a fantastic tutorial for Baklava. Let me just say, thank the Gods for frozen phyllo dough. I cannot imagine the time it would take to make some from scratch. My inspiration for Apple Cinnamon Baklava came from Amy Bites. She has a great tutorial as well.

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Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies

September 28, 2014

Dark chocolate brownies swirled with spiced pumpkin cheesecake and thick buttery caramel. The only thing better than a Pumpkin Spiced Latte are these Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies!

Brownies are hands down one of my most favorite desserts ever, so I adore mashing them with different flavors. I always make these Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies in the Fall, because well, they’re pretty amazing. There are lots of pumpkin cheesecake brownie recipes floating around on the internet and I’ve found this one to be my favorite. I adapted it a teensy bit from Bake at 350, and the results were truly scrumptious.

I just poured the dark chocolate brownie batter on the bottom of the pan, then layered the pumpkin cheesecake batter on top. Lastly, I plopped big gooey spoonfuls of brownie batter and thick caramel on top and swirled with a thin knife. Pretty simple, if you don’t run into the problem of licking too much brownie batter off the spoon and your left with minimal “plops”. So lick sparingly!

Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies

Author: Kathleen Siegle

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Total time: 1 hour 15 mins

Ingredients

Pumpkin Cheesecake Layer
2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese softened
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin spice
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 cup vanilla greek yogurt
2 beaten eggs
Brownie Layer
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter melted
2 cups sugar
1 cup Cocoa Powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 Tbs vanilla extract
3 Tbs cooled espresso or your favorite coffee
3 eggs
1 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease a 9 x 13 pan and set aside.

Pumpkin Cheesecake layer:

With an electric mixer, beat the softened cream cheese until smooth.
Beat in the pumpkin, sugar, spices, and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth.
Mix in eggs and yogurt on low.

Brownie Layer

Microwave butter or in a saucepan on low heat, melt the unsalted butter. Pour into large bowl when cooled.
Add sugar and whisk until smooth and shiny
Next whisk in cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, vanilla extract, and coffee.
Whisk in eggs until fully incorporated.
Mix in flour until smooth.

Assembly

Pour 3/4 of brownie batter into greased pan.
Pour Pumpkin Cheesecake batter on top and smooth out with a spatula.
Using a spoon or cookie scoop, dump dollops of brownie batter onto pumpkin cheesecake batter.
Pour melted caramels in lines around brownie drops.
Using a thin knife swirl the batters and caramel into a pretty pattern.
Bake for 45 minutes or until cheesecake sets.
Let completely cool in refrigerator before cutting.

Notes

Adapted from [url href=”http://bakeat350.blogspot.com/2012/11/pumpkin-cheesecake-brownies.html” target=”_blank” title=”bake at 350″]Bake at 350[/url].

Just had a thought. I mentioned these were the only thing better than a Spiced Pumpkin Latte…What if you munched on these WHILE drinking a Spiced Pumpkin Latte. Oh my Lord.

More Pumpkin and Fall Goodies:

Pecan Pie Pumpkin Cupcakes

Chocolate Pecan Pie Pumpkin Blondie Bars

Salted Caramel Apple Cider Blondies