Runs on Coffee and Cream

Yes, I know it's still August, but I'm already in the fall and Halloween mood. The weather has cooled a bit, Pumpkin Spice Lattes arrive this week at Starbucks, and Homesense is full of fall decor. I can feel my body relaxing as I slowly turn into my cozy basic self. 

Costumes are slowly arriving in stores and Halloween t-shirts and pajamas are popping up too. There are some really cute shirts available for the whole family - from subtle prints to large graphics. 

Happy fall! Well, it was yesterday but still, it's officially fall!

Want to make a delicious, chewy pumpkin cookie for fall? Check out this easy recipe!


As usual, I used a recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction. Seriously, her recipes are amazing and I know I can trust that they'll work out.


Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 heaping teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (see my previous post for the breakdown of pumpkin pie spice)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup butter - melted (I used 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce, 1/2 cup butter)
1/4 cup dark molasses
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups add-ins (chocolate chips, dried cranberries, nuts, etc.)

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease baking sheets.
2. In a large bowl, mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt together. Fold in oats.
3. Melt butter in medium size bowl and mix in molasses, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Once combined, mix in egg. Add pumpkin and vanilla and mix until just combined.
4. Pour wet mix into dry ingredients and mix. The dough will be quite thick. Once combined, fold in your add-ins. I used mini chocolate chips.
5. Scoop cookie dough onto baking sheets. I used a heaping tablespoon for each cookie.
6. Bake for 13-15 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet or you will end up ripping the cookies apart when trying to move them to a wire rack.


These cookies are super yummy! Very pumpkin-y and the bit of chocolate just adds to it. It's a nice combination.

I'm lucky because Adam's not a huge fan of pumpkin. He eats it and he'll pretty much eat any cookie in front of him. But he doesn't LOVE pumpkin. So he's been leaving these cookies for me and just having the odd one. That's definitely a sign of love! So all the pumpkin for me... or at least most of it!


Definitely give this recipe a try! I love that you can change up the mix-ins too. Dried cranberries and white chocolate chips would be a nice add-in.

I'm now off to enjoy this cool, rainy fall day!

xo Jen

It's bake all the pumpkin things season! The cans of pumpkin puree sold here are gigantic so I always have to be prepared to make a bunch of different recipes once I open a can.

The can I opened made:
- 4 pumpkin flavoured overnight oats
- 3 pumpkin greek yogurts
- batch of pumpkin spice muffins
- batch of pumpkin cookies
- approx. 1/2 cup leftover to make my own pumpkin spice lattes

I bought another can of pumpkin puree the other day so I'll be making more pumpkin recipes over the next couple of weeks including pumpkin biscotti.


Today I'm sharing the pumpkin spice muffins recipe I made. I found it on Pinterest via Princess Pinky Girl. They turned out amazing! Needless to say I froze half the batch and the other half disappeared in a few days between Adam and myself. They were perfect to pair with a coffee in the morning.

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used unsweetened applesauce)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree

Topping:
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup unsalted butter - melted


Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a muffin pan with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a large bowl mix together applesauce (or oil), sugars, eggs, vanilla extract, and pumpkin puree.
4. Mix the flour mixture into pumpkin mixture until there's no lumps.
5. Spoon the batter into the muffin liners. The batter made 12 muffins.
6. Bake in oven for 17-22 minutes (mine took 20 minutes) or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool.
7. For the topping, mix sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
8. Dip the top of each muffin into melted butter and then dip into the cinnamon sugar bowl. Shake off excess.
9. Place on plate. Enjoy while butter is still warm and sticky or let them cool and dry.


So pumpkin pie spice... I know it's not available everywhere. I don't always have it on hand. I tend to run out so I make my own.

Pumpkin Pie Spice:
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves


These muffins are the perfect amount of sweetness. The muffin part itself isn't overly sweet, just a nice blend of pumpkin spice so the sugar-cinnamon topping is a perfect bit of sweetness to the muffin.

I'll share my pumpkin cookies recipe next and then I'll be trying out pumpkin biscotti for the first time!

xo Jen

It's been a while since I sat down and wrote anything. September is in full swing and it feels like fall is around the corner. The weather has cooled significantly and the stores are filled with all things pumpkin.

The summer flew by with visits to Hamilton and having company come up to stay with us. It was an exceptionally hot summer. There were heat warnings almost weekly. So both Emma and myself spent a lot of days in light cotton, bare minimal clothing while we hung out at home. I didn't want to overheat her and because she's still too young for sunscreen, we can only spend so much time at the beach.

I originally thought we'd spend a ton of time outside this summer. It was the first summer with Emma and the first summer in this house. I had fantasies of kiddie pools and dinners at a patio table. But again, too hot and Emma is still too young for sunscreen and to sit by herself. We still had fun though and spent some time outside in small intervals.


If anything, I felt like I had gotten into quite the routine and flow with Emma. Things felt 'easy' the past couple of months, if you will. But this month has brought on a new challenge... it's time to introduce her to solid foods. So far it's been a fun process but I feel like I'm doing way more research than I should have to about foods and purees and recipes, etc. Once we have her 6 month check up, I'm hoping to feel better when I can ask the doctor some questions.



As usual I've embraced fall with open arms. A break from the heat plus pumpkin spice lattes make fall such a lovely welcome.

I've been busy baking pumpkin things already and I've had more pumpkin spice lattes than I care to count (I'm making up for last year when I was pregnant...). It's our first fall with Emma but what do you do with a 6-8 month old in the fall? She's too young for pumpkin picking and to eat a Thanksgiving meal. Besides dressing her up for Halloween and some fall walks, I can't think of anything else we can do as a family for the fall season.


I'll be sure to share my successful pumpkin recipes on here. And if you don't follow me on Instagram already, you can see random pics of cats and babies and sweets @sparklegirljen since I post more regularly on there.


Have a great day!
xo Jen

Fall is great for all the yummy limited edition food!

Bath and Body Works is my weakness all year round but their cold-weather scents (pumpkin, apple, peppermint) are my absolute favourite.

I finally purchased Movie Night tea from Davids Tea and I love it!

Coffee all the time to keep me warm.

Smoothie from Tutti Fruitti

Sour Pumpkin Saison that was so tasty!

Now that fall is over I'm officially in the holiday spirit! My house is almost completely decorated for Christmas, a good chunk of my gifts have been purchased, and I'm starting my baking list this week to plan out all the holiday cookies I want to bake.

How's November been treating you?
xo Jen

It's the season for pumpkin and I bought two cans of pumpkin puree for all my baking needs this fall! I opened up my first can last week to make pumpkin bars. I've made them once before a few years ago and I remember them being really good. Well, my memory wasn't wrong in remembering how tasty they were but I forgot that they turn out more cake-y and not very chewy.


Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

• 2/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 6 oz cream cheese
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice

As usual I added some coloured sugar to the frosting because sprinkles make everything better!

October is easily one of my favourite months out of the year. It means fall is in full-swing, the weather has cooled off, the trees are gorgeous colours, and two great holidays are during the month: Thanksgiving and Halloween.

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I'm realizing the next major holiday (Christmas... shhhh...) is starting to creep into stores and in my mind. But I really, really want to enjoy October before getting into the next holiday. To do this I'm making a small to do list to get outside and enjoy all the best things about October.

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October To Do List:

• make all the pumpkin goodies (cookies, cake, loaves)
• go for a few walks; walks downtown, along the boardwalk, and a hike in the conservation area
• eat pumpkin pie and drink pumpkin spice lattes all month long
• carve pumpkins
• watch horror movies to get in the Halloween spirit
• have a bonfire

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It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Look Human designs. Their love of cats, wine, cuddles, and coffee have won my heart over. 

Yes, it's still August. However, companies are already promoting the Pumpkin season and it makes me so excited! Starting next week I'll be able to drink weekly pumpkin spice lattes and look for pumpkin treats in the grocery store (Canada has a pathetic selection in comparison to the U.S. though).

I know new items will pop up this year but these are my favourite pumpkin treats that I'm looking forward to.


Clockwise from top left corner:

1. Tim Horton's Pumpkin Pie Iced Capp. It came out last year and I only had the one but it was really good. I've noticed it popping up on U.S. friends' instagrams so I'm assuming it'll be showing up at Canadian locations again.
2. Pumpkin Pie Blizzard at Dairy Queen. This has been coming out year after year for as long as I can remember and it's one of my favourite things! The graham cracker bits throughout the blizzard are perfect.
3. Pumpkin Chai tea from Davids Tea. I've said it again and again, but this is one of my favourite teas. Pumpkin spice and chai are the perfect combination.
4. Pumpkin Spice Oreos. These finally showed up in Canada last year and they're so tasty. I'm sure I'll be stocking up again this year
5. McDonald's Pumpkin Spice Latte. I like it better than Starbucks' version. It's less sweet and more spicy. I will be consuming this pumpkin treat the most during the upcoming months.

I also really like the Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts and Pumpkin Spice M&Ms but these aren't available in Canada and I've only been able to try them a couple times.

What are you favourite pumpkin treats?
xo Jen

I apologize to everyone who follows me on Pinterest or Tumblr. I'm susceptible to all the retail merchandising happening right now. My mind is being filled with Fall-related things. I'm longing for chilly weather, layered clothing, hot drinks, pumpkins, and red leaves.

I know! Summer isn't over and it's only the middle of August, but the constant heat waves we've been having this year have me drowning in my own sweat and I desperately want to break out all my leggings and boots and buy all the Fall-scented candles.



Do you have the Fall itch yet? Or is it just me?
xo Jen

Looking back at photos, October was definitely the month of Pumpkin...

Pumpkin milkshakes, pie, tea, Peeps, ale... everything pumpkin!


 

 
I pulled out my Pac-Man leggings for Northern Game Expo, which I was selling at, and my Daryl Dixon shirt for The Walking Dead premiere.


We saw the last of Fall in October. The trees are completely bare now and the leaves have been raked up. I did enjoy all the gorgeous colours on the trees while it lasted.



How's Fall been treating you?

xo Jen

Why Logan's tongue is sticking out a bit is beyond me. But it's cute.


My Halloween kitties! They were pretty interested in the pumpkins.


On Friday, IGGPPC hosted a 24 hour Halloween party so I made and shared a DIY Halloween Candy Bark recipe on the site. You can check it out here.


While handing out candy Halloween evening, I made sure to play some Animal Crossing New Leaf so I could scare people and collect candy in my town. It was fun and I absolutely love how the game incorporates holidays into town events.