Fall Desserts Galore!

Happy Fall Ya'll! So much desserty goodness is happening this fall. I got inspired and went a little sugar crazy...but let me tell you it was so worth it! I got to bring a lot of joy to some folks this week with these desserts which is really rewarding to me.

Cinnamon Sugar Topped Banana Bread

Ingredients

2 cups of all purpose flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs beaten

2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas

Topping: sugar and cinnamon  (3/4 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons of cinnamon)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Pour cinnamon and sugar mix on top. 

1. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Okay, these are not only delicious but they're also weight watchers friendly! (2 points each) Pumpkin is a major fat burner on top of it. So these are quality...bottom line. Oh, did I mention they're just two ingredients?? Yep, pick up a boxed spice cake and a small can of pumpkin puree. Blend together with an electric mixer...add in anything you want...raisins...chocolate chips...nuts. I used chocolate chips because frankly is there another better choice besides chocolate. 

Bake at 350 for about 18-22 minutes or until firm on top!

YUM!

Nutella Stuffed Cookies

Omygosh...these might be my favorite cookie! They're a fun twist on the classic chocolate chip cookie...and frankly...if you don't like Nutella...you're bloody crazy! This stuff is without a doubt my new favorite thing ever. So the cookies arn't hard to make, just a little bit time consuming. They would be super fun to make with kids! 

Ingredients

• 2¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 1¼ teaspoons baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon of salt
• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
• 1¼ cup packed dark brown sugar
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon plain greek yogurt
• ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• ½ cup milk chocolate chips
• ½ cup dark chocolate chips
• 1 jar of Nutella, chilled in refrigerator
• Coarse sea salt for sprinkling

Instructions

1. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
2. Melt butter in medium sized mixing bowl in microwave.
3. With an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, vanilla, and yogurt until combined. Add the dry ingredients together into the large slowly and beat on low-speed just until combined. Gently fold in all of the chocolate chips.
4. Chill your dough for 2 hours in the refrigerator, or place in freezer for 30 minutes if you are super eager...which is what I did...and it turned out just fine! 
5. While dough is chilling (also chill Nutella in fridge at this time) preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

6. Once dough is chilled measure about 1½ tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball. Flatten the dough ball very thinly into the palm of your hand. Place 1 teaspoon of chilled Nutella in the middle and fold dough around it; gently roll into a ball — it doesn't have to be perfectly rolled! Make sure that the Nutella is not seeping out of the dough. Add more dough if necessary. Place dough balls on cookie sheet, 2 inches apart and flatten with your hand VERY gently. (Really only the tops need to be flattened a bit!)

 7. Bake the cookies 9-11 minutes or until the edges of the cookies begin to turn golden brown. They will look a bit underdone in the middle, but will continue to cook once out of the oven. Cool the cookies on the sheets at least 2 minutes. Sprinkle with a little sea salt. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets after a few minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

Omygosh! Chocolate and hazelnut deliciousness.