Fall Baking

I should be getting ready for bed, but I'm pretty sure I'll have a hard time sleeping tonight. Anyone who knows me well, knows I have a hard time sleeping when I'm excited. Why am I so excited your wondering..... My Mom comes to visit tomorrow!!! She doesn't fly in until after work, but she'll still be here tomorrow and I can't wait! We don't know what were going to do this weekend, but I'm sure there will be some baking/cooking involved, so I'll post about it after she leaves.

So, in the mean time while I'm not getting ready for bed, I figured I'd blog about the fall baking I have been doing. It's apple and pumpkin season and boy does our apartment smell like it.....yum, I love fall!!!

First, I made pumpkin cake (not pictured because it was eaten at a BBQ we enjoyed in the dark with some friends. Good times!!)

Next, I made Pumpkin Whoopie Pies.

They're pretty much just two pumpkin cookies with the frosting in the middle. I wasn't a big fan of this particular recipe, so I won't post it, but just google it and you'll find quite a few recipes to chose from. Pick which one looks best to you. I will try these again next year, just with a different recipe.

I made the cookies to share with the CMDA Bible study at the Dental school. I wasn't sure how I was going to get the cookies there without making a big mess and keeping the frosting cool all day. The picture above shows my plan. I filled the frosting bags at home and kept them in my fridge at work during the day. Then just before Bible study I cut the tip of the bag and made the cookies sandwiches. They were a huge hit and everybody loved them.

For several months I have wanted to try this next idea. I saw it on a blog and thought it was a cute idea.

Mini Apple Pies!

In the morning before work I made a double recipe of pie crust. I divided it in two and wrapped them in cellophane and refrigerated them all day while I was at work.

Then when I got home I cut up the apples and made the pie filling. I cut the apples pretty small so that they would fit in the little circles.

Then I rolled out the pie crust and cut out all the little circles. It was simple I just used a jam jar. I wanted to make sure they were big enough to hold the filling, but not to big. I wanted to keep them bit sized.

I filled each circle with a spoonful of cooled pie filling and cover with a second circle. With a fork I sealed the edges. If you don't seal them well, the juice will leak out as they cook. So be sure to seal them tightly. I baked them at 350 for probably 30 minutes. I kept checking because I was nervous they would burn, so the hot air kept escaping the oven. If you have a window in your oven door you can easy tell when there done.

I can't wait to try this with other type of pies. I think I may attempt Mini pumpkin pies, but we'll see if it is even possible.

For several weeks now Chris has been asking for scones. I'm not a big fan of scones, but since Chris seems to really want some, I figured I'd need to find a recipe that I would like too. With it being fall and all, what better recipe than Pumpkin scones.


I found the recipe here at Pinch My Salt. I used the scone recipe, but not the icing recipe. I didn't have molasses, so instead I used 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 2 Tbsp milk. I mixed the 3 ingredients together then drizzled them over the scones.

Needless to say life is going well around our apartment, Chris is a happy camper with his scones and I can't wait to hug my Mom tomorrow!!!

Now, my bed is sounding pretty nice right now. Sleep well!!!