Spooky Treats

Does everyone has a favorite recipe that you've used so many times that the book falls open to a page that is sticky and has flour in the book spine? After a not-so-successful attempt to make pumpkin bread from a new recipe for church coffee this weekend, I went back to my all-time favorite quick bread recipe. Instead of the bananas the recipe calls for, I used canned pumpkin. It worked wonderfully! I guess that proves the old favorites are sometimes the best.

This was the Sunday before Halloween, and since our church isn't touchy about celebrating that holiday, we decorated and planned treats with a spooky theme. The other member of Sunday's coffee time, Chef Deb, had decorated the table with spiderweb strands and back cloth. I brought some pumpkin decor and found some left from the earlier Fall Festival. Chef Deb and her girls did spiderweb Oreos by dipping one side of an Oreo cookie in white almond bark and making black frosting circles on it which they pulled out with a toothpick to form a spiderweb shape. They also brought mini-cupcakes decorated with sprinkles and plastic spider rings. The kids loved these, their only problem was choosing which color spider they wanted!

Besides the re-reciped Pumpkin Bread, I took Pumpkin Bars frosted with cream cheese frostings. You can never have too much pumpkin in October!

Special Banana Nut Bread (adapted from Taste of Home, 2008)

¾ cup butter, softened

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 ½ cups mashed ripe bananas (about 4 medium)

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups chopped pecans, divided

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time beating well after each addition. Add bananas and vanilla; mix well. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, add to creamed mixture. Fold in 1 cup pecans.

Transfer to two greased 8 inch x 4 inch x 2 inch loaf pans. Sprinkle with remaining pecans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 to 1 ¼ hours or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

In a small bowl, whisk the glaze ingredients, drizzle over loaves. (For the glaze, I use about 1 cup powdered sugar and about 3 tablespoons flavored coffee creamer)

Pumpkin Bars  (from Taste of Home web)

4 eggs

1 ⅔ cups sugar

1 cup canola oil

1 can (15 oz) solid-pack pumpkin

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Icing:

1 package (3-oz) cream cheese, softened

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

¼ cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 – 2 tablespoons milk

In a bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until well blended. Combine the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt; gradually add to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Pour into an ungreased 15-in.x10-in.x1-in. baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until set. Cool completely.

For icing, beat the cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, butter and vanilla in a small bowl. Add enough milk to achieve spreading consistency. Spread over bars. Store in the refrigerator