Tastes Like Fall

Happy Monday, friends.  And...

Seriously...where'd October go?!  That was a fast & furious month full of memories.  Sweet memories.  Some of my favorites were on Friday night...trick-or-treating with my sweet little family.  The only thing that would've made it better was if Mr. Spouse could've been with us.  We sure did miss him.  The joys of Friday night lights {NOT!!!!}  

I used to plan out the boys' costumes months in advance.  I wanted them to be fun & different...more for me than for them :)  But now I LOVE that they have such big opinions about what they want to be.  My oldest insisted on being a taco for Halloween.  A taco, y'all.  He doesn't even like tacos.  But whatever.  I typically wait 'til the last minute to buy or put together costumes because their little minds are always changing.  And {shocker} change they did.  My oldest eventually decided being a ninja was a lot cooler than a taco and my youngest dressed up as a Skylander.  I took my love of leopard print to a new level and painted my face to match my obsession.  My sister & nephew joined in on the fun and my little baby came dressed as Elliot from E.T.  I DIE!!!!  He won Halloween.  

I even managed to make the boys an "exciting" lunch on Friday.  That's what my oldest called it..."exciting".  Ha.  That made me laugh.  Because I know everything else I pack for them is a bit dull and uneventful.  You know, just trying not to set to bar too high for myself ;)

Now it's November and time definitely won't slow down from here 'til the new year.  The weather is finally starting to feel more like Fall and I'm lovin' it.  Cool and crisp.  And here's a recipe that tastes like Fall, too.  A deliciously moist, albeit dense, chocolate chip pumpkin bread.  And I'm topping it off with a sinfully decadent salted caramel frosting.  YUM!!!!  

CHOCOLATE CHIP PUMPKIN BREAD with SALTED CARAMEL FROSTING

3 C. all purpose flour

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

2 C. pumpkin pie filling

4 eggs

2 C. granulated sugar

1 C. vegetable oil

4 oz. applesauce {one of those little applesauce cups :)}

1 tsp. vanilla

1 pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chip morsels 

FROSTING

1 container of whipped buttercream frosting

1/4 C. caramel sauce {I used caramel sundae  topping, found in the ice cream section}

1/2 tsp. sea salt

HELLO FALL.

Heat your oven to 400 and lightly grease an 8x4" loaf pan.  I used 3 disposable 8x3" loaf pans I picked up at the grocery store and they were the perfect size.  3 loaves later, I was one happy, stuffed camper :)

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and baking soda.  Set aside.

In a separate large bowl, mix together the pumpkin pie filling, eggs, sugar, oil, applesauce, and vanilla.  Slowly combine the flour mixture with the wet ingredients.  Once it's nice and combined, go ahead and fold in your chocolate chips.  I'm not shy, so I added almost the entire package.  I may have left 1/4 cup in the bag to eat with my peanut butter, but the rest of those morsels found themselves covered in batter.  You can add as many....or few...as your taste palate prefers.

Evenly portion the batter out into your loaf pans and bake at 400 for about 60-70 minutes or until you insert a toothpick into the center of the bread and it comes out clean.  Mine baked for closer to 65-70 minutes.  

Remove from the oven and give it some time to cool...unless you're like me and you insist on cutting a slice and eating it warm with a cold glass of milk.  While you're waiting for the loaves to cool completely, mix up your salted caramel frosting.  Just place the whipped buttercream, caramel sauce, and sea salt in a bowl and stir.  Easiest, tastiest frosting ever!!!  

Once the bread is completely cool, frost it.  Then dig in.  And I mean DIG.RIGHT.IN.  Show no restraint.   My oldest...aka: the world's PICKIEST eater...absolutely LOVED it.  I mean, y'all...he LOVED it.  I was certain that pumpkin was a flavor profile he would vehemently detest, but I was SO wrong.  So I guess you could say this recipe is definitely picky kid tested and approved :)

It's definitely a dense bread.  Not insanely heavy, but dense.  And oh, so moist.  The original recipe called for 2 cups of oil {ohmiword} and I decided to cut that down to only a cup and some applesauce.  While I'm not the biggest fan of pumpkin, I do love the combo of that flavor & chocolate.  And then the salted caramel!?!?!  Well, HELLO FALL!!!!  So delicious!

And because this recipe yields several loaves at once, it's the perfect little something to whip up and take to your kids' teachers or gift to your neighbors.  I can personally tell you that the way to a teacher's heart is right through her/his stomach :)  Okay...well maybe that's just the case for this teacher ;)  Either way, it really does make a pretty great little Fall gift!    Try it & see for yourself!