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Treat Yourself to Pumpkin Desserts

Old Fashioned Pumpkin Bread

It’s pumpkin season! Everywhere I food shop, pumpkin, pumpkin everywhere. And you know what… that’s OK with me. I love to eat anything pumpkin in the fall especially when it’s a dessert.

Robin Shafer’s (Egg Harbor Township, NJ) made from scratch Moist and Yummy Pumpkin Cupcakes are full-flavored and melt in your mouth.

“My daughter is allergic to chocolate so I make these every year for her birthday at school,” explains Robin. “[And] every year there is not one cupcake left.” With all the comforting fall spices, I see why these are always popular.

Dust with a bit of powdered sugar and they’re quite tasty. But, Robin includes a cream cheese icing I highly recommended. It adds a bit of tang and is a great complement to the flavors in the cupcake.

“These Caramel Pumpkin Cookies are, by far, the best cookies I’ve ever made,” thinks Amanda Lesko (Wyandotte, MI). “They’re soft, sweet and unbelievably addicting.” Yes, Amanda, they’re all of the above.

These cookies are soft, lovable and made all the more delightful with the addition of caramel icing. This recipe does make a ton. If you’re not using for a bake sale or a party, then I suggest cutting the recipe in half or you may end up eating them all yourself. Wait, is that a bad thing?

I know a good dessert when I taste one and, my oh my, Margaret Fisher (Brevard, NC) Pumpkin Whoopie Pies are good. If you’re not familiar with whoopie pies, traditionally they are made by sandwiching creamy frosting between two chocolate cake cookies.

Margaret puts her twist on the cookie by starting with a spice cake mix. Adding canned pumpkin heightens the pumpkin flavor and makes the cookies extremely moist. When the cream cheese frosting is sandwiched in between, you have one delicious cookie full of flavor.

I love to make quick bread’s in the fall and a favorite is Janette Suber’s (Sale City, GA) Old Fashioned Pumpkin Bread. It’s a simple, old-fashioned, no-frills delightful pumpkin bread.

“This is by far the best pumpkin bread recipe I have ever had the pleasure of tasting,” shares Janette. “It was passed to me by my aunt who said it was her great-grandmother’s recipe.”

The smell of this pumpkin bread filled the Test Kitchen with the comforting smells of fall. This was moist, delicious and I loved the flavor the ground pecans gave this bread without giving it too much crunch. A delicious sugary crust forms on top – so good.

If you’re looking for a little pumpkin treat and want something to go with your coffee, try Patricia Kutchins’ (Lake Zurich, IL) Pumpkin Spice Biscotti. The combination of pumpkin and spices is just right. They’re crunchy, pumpkiny and perfect for dunking!

Pumpkin season will soon be behind us and I’ll eagerly await it’s arrival next fall. If you could only have one pumpkin treat, what would it be? Share it below. Happy Pinching!