Pumpkin Pie Dessert

What would Thanksgiving be without some sort of pumpkin pie? Now what would you do if you didn't like pumpkin pie? Maybe its not so much the pumpkin but the pie part of pumpkin pie that you don't like. I of course am not talking about myself, but if I were to be honest I would have to say I prefer my pie to be apple. When it comes to pumpkin pie I think I would be completely satisfied if all of my pumpkin pies were actually this dessert! It has the right amount of pumpkin, and a delicious amount of cakey buttery goodness to make this dessert worthy of replacing all the pumpkin pies in the world (in my opinion). So if you know any picky pumpkin eaters this is definitely a recipe you will have to try!

Pumpkin Pie Dessert

Prep time: 30 minutes
Bake time: 1 hr
Servings:12-15

Ingredients:

Crust
2 cups homemade cake mix
1 egg
1/2 cup melted butter

Filling
24 oz pumpkin
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves

Topping
1 cup Homemade cake mix *

1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup butter chilled

Directions:
Grease the bottom only of a 9X13 pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the crust ingredients in a medium bowl. Spread mixture into the prepared pan.

In the same bowl combine filling ingredients. Mix until well incorporated. Pour filling mix over the crust mixture.

In a small bowl combine the 1 cup of homemade cake mix, sugar, and cinnamon. Cut in chilled butter. Sprinkle topping over the pumpkin mixture.

Bake in preheated oven for 50-60 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Serve warm or at room temperate. The cake holds together a little bit better at room temperature or chilled. Serve with whipping cream on top and enjoy!

*I absolutely love the homemade cake mix in this recipe. The flavor is fantastic, but if you don't have some of the homemade stuff in your freezer like I do, and don't feel like making some you can substitute the homemade cake mix for a box cake mix. You might have to add more butter to the crust mixture, but know that it is an option.

Canned Apple Pie Filling

We just returned from a little get a way to Disneyland. Disneyland is wonderful, and this is my first time seeing it around Christmas time. We are still over a month away from Christmas, but they already have the place pretty decked out! I hear that on Christmas they actually make it snow there! Someday I'm going to have to see that. Of course being a lover of food I enjoyed all the things we ate there. They have some amazing corn dogs. I have a new found desire to figure out hot to make their corn dogs. They really were delicious (in the most unhealthy kind of way). Hopefully someday I can share the recipe with all of you!

Before we left for Disney land a friend and I got together and made canned apple pie filling. I absolutely love this stuff. We made the same stuff last year, and I used it all year round. I recently ran out and was so very sad. It is so nice to have it whenever I want to make an apple pie, or an apple crisp/cobbler. Really 99% of the time I make apple crisp. Oh how I love apple crisp! This recipe really isn't hard at all and you can have your own homemade pie filling to use whenever. I prefer to make a big batch, this way I have lots to last me a while.

Canned Apple Pie Filling
Yields: 7 quarts

Ingredients
4 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup cornstarch
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons salt
10 cups water
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 drops yellow food coloring
9 pounds apples


Directions
In a large pan, mix sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add salt and water and mix well. Bring to a boil and cook until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and add lemon juice and food coloring.

Sterilize canning jars, lids and rings by boiling them in a large pot of water. I cheated and just put them in the dishwasher. This worked well enough for me.

Peel, core, and slice apples. Pack the sliced apples into hot canning jars, leaving a 1/2 inch head space.
Fill jars with hot syrup, and gently remove air bubbles with a knife.

Put lids on and process in a water bath canner for 20 minutes.

Recipe Source: Allrecipes

Nutella Hand Pies

I love Nutella...I mean who doesn't? I was first introduced to it years ago and have loved it ever since. I have eaten more than a few nutella sandwiches in my life and I don't feel the least bit guilty about it. So when I had some left over pie crust dough from these chicken pot pies I knew exactly what to do with it! Make little individual Nutella pies! This way I can eat my little Nutella pie without a fork, and even on the who. I see this as a win win situation!

Nutella Hand Pies

Left over pie crust
Nutella
Egg wash (1 egg mixed with 1 tbs water)
Sugar (enough to sprinkle on top)

Directions:
Roll out pie crust fairly thin. Use a biscuit cutter or drinking glass to cut out circles in your pie crust. Place about 1 tbs of nutella on each circle. Gently fold the circle in half around the nutella making sure to to squeeze out all of the nutella. Using a fork crimp the edges to seal in the nutella. Brush top with egg wash and sprinkle with a little bit of sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.