Our Favorite Fall Desserts

Below you will find 2 of our favorite Fall desserts.  These 2 recipes we entered into a Fall Baking contest and both recipes took home the top prize!

The first one I've blogged about before, but I love this recipe for Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Since I'm trying to reduce our wheat consumption, I used rice flour in this recipe and the cookies were just as delicious (no one even knew).

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies inspired from the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

1 egg, beaten

½ cup butter softened

½ cup brown sugar

1/3 cup honey

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

Combine in large bowl.

1 cup white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

Combine in a separate, small bowl and blend into liquid mixture

1 cup finely shredded zucchini

12 oz chocolate chips

Stir these into other ingredients, mix well. Drop by spoonful onto greased baking sheet, and flatten with the back of a spoon. Bake at 350°, 10 to 15 minutes.

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies

• Download the Recipe PDF

 

 

Lastly, Greta and I entered this Pumpkin Spice Roll into the Cable Fall Fest and took home a pretty sweet top prize!

 

Ingredients - PUMPKIN ROLL - inspired by an old Libby's recipe

• CAKE
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup real pumpkin
• 1 cup pecans (we like to crisp our pecans first)
• FILLING
• 1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Powdered sugar

Directions

FOR CAKE:
PREHEAT oven to 375° F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar.

COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.

BAKE for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. (If using a dark-colored pan, begin checking at 11 minutes.) Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

FOR FILLING:
BEAT cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Re roll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

COOKING TIP:Be sure to put enough powdered sugar on the towel when rolling up the cake so it will not stick.

Pumpkin Roll

Now is the time to start drying herbs too so today I started with basil.  Basil is pretty wet, so the best way to dry basil is to place it in a paper bag, and place it in the fridge standing upright.  I did this last year too and I had amazing dried basil to cook with all year.

Basil - hanging out in the fridge this week

My flowers are also still amazing which is pretty incredible for this time of year. 
 This year I planted most of our hanging baskets myself and they were just as beautiful as the ones I purchased pre-filled.  I also picked more Zinnia's and Dahlia's from the garden tonight too.

My Window Boxes - Still Beautiful in October

Most of our week and weekend was filled with Homecoming activities and I'm a little worn out from it all.

What did you do this weekend?  What is your favorite Fall dessert recipe?

Thanks for reading!
Kristin