pumpkin muffin with eggnog cream cheese

BRACE YOURSELF! Yes, it is another pumpkin recipe. I'd been wanting to try a muffin recipe with cream cheese ever since I saw one at Starbucks this fall, and kitchn.com conveniently had a lovely one to try.

gooey butter cookies

The Geneva Gourmand, (friend/founder of Moveable Feast) alerted me to this amazing cookie recipe. It's a riff on Gooey Butter Cake (hello St. Louis Friends!) which I'd read about it in my wanderings on the internet. Gooey, chewy, buttery, tangy and tasty. The goo and chew comes from not browning the cookie. The tang is from the cream cheese.

triple chocolate cream cheese brownie

The whole tray disappeared before I could grab one. That's how good these are. Or maybe, The Piano Students were ravenous and these were the first treats upon entering the reception. Regardless, it's a great brownie, with lethal combination of chopped bittersweet chocolate, cocoa powder and semi-sweet chocolate chips, topped with a creamy layer of cheesecake.

The hungry hordes and I thank David Lebovitz for this great recipe.

halloween cookies 'n cream cheesecakes

 ♫♪♫ Do you know exactly how to eat an Oreo? ♬ Well, to do it, you unscrew it ♪♫...

OR, you slap chop it (very fast),

black bottom cream cheese brownies

Sometimes you want a brownie. Sometimes you want it with nuts. Then, there are times when *just* a brownie won't do.

This is one of those times. With handfuls of chocolate chips added for good measure, this cream cheese brownie satisfies the deepest desires of chocolate and creamy decadence.

oreo truffles

More 4th Grade Party Food — tiny bites, festive, delicious, and simple to make (up until the dipping part, that is...)

Naming the treat, however, was a bit hit-or-miss. I had seen the recipe on a website and was going to call them Oreo Cookie Balls, but when The Son heard the title, he snickered and said, "Um, Mom, that sounds a little weird..."

So now they are the exalted Oreo Truffles. Quite fancy schmancy. And scrumptious, as any truffle should be.

pumpkin love ~ pumpkin whoopie pies

I was delighted to be invited, by Carmen of Baking is My Zen, to participate in a Pumpkin Love Blogfest. We chose favorite pumpkin recipes and are sharing them with each other and our readers.

For my Pumpkin Love post, I couldn't resist making BAKED's Pumpkin Whoopie Pie. Not quite a cookie, not a quite a cake, they are moist, flavorful, spicy, soft and unbelievably delicious.  The cream cheese filling adds a lovely tangy counterpoint.  To add a little texture, I topped it with some smashed almond brittle.