My very favorite online resource for recipes, cooking techniques, and food-talk in general is a food message board called Contessa’s Kitchen. The board was born after the Food Network closed down the Barefoot Contessa {Ina Garten} message board. The women there are super nice, super funny, and so incredibly helpful to the novice baker. The board consists of numerous topics sorted into easy-to-find threads and is organized in a manner that makes searching for recipes quite easy. The dramatics that one usually finds on any kind of message board is kept to a minimum here….at least now {at first there was a bit of drama}. I haven’t been able to surf the board as much as I used to, but it is still my go-to, get-my-questions-answered site.
It’s also home to one of my all-time fave recipes, Killer Pumpkin Bars, which was posted by Chefbeck. For me, these bars epitomize Fall. Make extra icing. A nice thick blanket of cream cheese icing is the “killer” part.
Killer Pumpkin Bars
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup butter (2 sticks), room temp.
- 2 cups canned pumpkin (one 15-oz. can)
- 4 eggs, room temp.
- 2 cups flour
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. each cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- Icing:
- 3 oz. cream cheese, room temp.
- 1 stick butter, room temp.
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 tsp. orange zest (optional)
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- Beat together until smooth.
- Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 15 X 10 1/2 X 1 pan.
- Sift flour, baking soda, spices, and salt together; set aside. Cream butter and sugar until smooth. Add pumpkin and eggs; beat until smooth. Add dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
- Spread mixture into pan.
- Bake for about 20-25 minutes until cake springs back when touched or toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely and fros
