2 recipes in 1: molasses cookies & pumpkin bars

Molasses cookie crust. Cream cheese pumpkin filling. Brown sugar crumb topping. 

 I had leftover molasses cookie dough in the freezer & I thought it would make a good crust for pumpkin bars!

So, I decided to give it a try & they turned out really good! Here is what I did...

First, I used this recipe to make my favorite soft molasses cookies!

(click the recipe below for a bigger image to save & print)

As I said, I had leftover dough in the freezer, so because of that the crust was really easy. 

If you are making this just for the crust, it might be a good idea to cut the recipe in half. 

Or you could freeze the extra dough for baking cookies later, which is always a good idea!

To make the crust...

Spread out an even layer of the molasses cookie dough into an greased 8x11 baking dish.

Poke it several times with a fork. Bake it at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes.

Allow the crust to cool, while you make the filling & topping.

Filling Ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

¾ cup sugar

½ cup pumpkin puree

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1½ teaspoons cinnamon

½ teaspoon cloves

½ teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla 

Topping Ingredients:

8 tablespoons butter

1 1/3  cup flour
½ cup brown sugar

½ cup oats

To make the pumpkin filling… 

Combine all of the filling ingredients in to a mixing bowl. 

Use an electric mixer at medium speed to blend until the mixture is smooth. 

To make the crumb topping… 

Mix the flour, brown sugar & oats in a medium bowl. 

Cut in the butter & use a fork to make the mixture coarse and crumbly.
Finally, pour the pumpkin mixture over the baked crust. Then sprinkle with the brown sugar crumb topping.

Bake at 350 degrees for another 30-35 minutes or until firm. 

Keep the pumpkin bars chilled before serving.

blueberry doughnut muffins

Everyone in my family has a love for lemon-berry recipes... Maybe you have noticed from some of the recipes 

I have made before, like these or these. Well, this time I wanted to make baked blueberry doughnuts, 

but I don't have a doughnut baking pan, so I decided to make blueberry doughnut muffins.

They are the perfect blend between a baked doughnut & a muffin. They are light, fluffy & so yummy!!!

Blueberry Doughnut Muffins

Ingredients...

¼ cup Butter

¼ cup Vegetable Oil

½ cup Sugar

1/3 cup Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

2 2/3 All-Purpose Flour

1 ½ teaspoons Baking Powder

¼ teaspoon Baking Soda

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

½ teaspoon Salt

1 cup Milk

1 1/3 cup Fresh Blueberries

Ingredients for the Lemon Glaze...

1 cup Powdered Sugar

1 Lemon, zested & juiced

Directions...

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line muffin pans with baking liners. 

Mix together the butter, oil, sugar & brown sugar until creamy and smooth.

Mix in the eggs & vanilla. 

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt & cinnamon.

Alternately mix in the milk and the flour mixture three times, starting and ending with the flour mixture. 

Gently fold in the blueberries. Scoop the batter into the baking liners, filling them 3/4 of the way.

Bake the muffins for 15-18 minutes, until they are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow muffins to cool.

To make the lemon glaze... 

Put the powdered sugar & lemon zest in a bowl.

Gradually whisk in the lemon juice until the glaze is the desired thickness.

If the glaze is too thin, add more powdered sugar. If it is too thick, add a little bit of lemon juice or water.

Whisk until the glaze is smooth.

Once the muffins are cool, spoon 1-2 coats of the glaze on the top of each muffin.

Allow the glaze to harden before serving.

Enjoy!