oh how I LOVVEE pumpkin. I was sitting around thinking the other day if I had to pick my top five favorite baking ingredients in the whole entire world that I could not live without what would they be?? ( I know, my mind tends to wander throughout the day)
1. Pumpkin
2. Pure Maple syrup
3. Peanut Butter
4. Cinnamon
5. Almond Butter

I really can’t imagine what would life would be like without these five ingredients. I know that sounds quite dramatic but I eat peanut butter, almond butter, cinnamon, pumpkin, and maple syrup on a daily basis. Almond butter, cinnamon and maple syrup in my oatmeal every morning; peanut butter and an apple as a snack, and of course my favorite pumpkin and spice granola.

So from one of my favorite ingredients comes this moist and light pumpkin gingerbread. This is also gluten free !

1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup oat bran
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp allspice

1 cup pureed pumpkin
1/4 cup demerara sugar ( you can use any course natural sugar)
1/2 cup unsulphured molasses
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

Combine all dry ingredients together. Combine all wet ingredients in a stand mixer or mix with a hand mixer. Make sure when you are mixing the wet ingredients to mix them well. The natural sugar is more coarse then regular white sugar so need more mixing to incorporate it into the wet ingredients. Slowly pour the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined. Bake in a regular loaf pan at 350 for 40-50 minutes. Check throughout cooking to make sure it doesn’t over cook!

Well hello everyone, and anyone who is currently reading this. I am glad you stopped by to check out my blog. I started this up as a way to get all the recipes I have stowed away out there! It helps to keep me on my toes, and keeps my creative juices flowing. I have been stressing about what the first recipe should be: something flashy? perhaps; something complicated? ehhh no; something with fancy ingredients? hmmmmmmm; something that represents me? yes of course:) That thought process led me to a  recipe I make on a weekly basis. Its quick, its easy, and tastes oh sooo good.

I take the topic of granola bars very seriously. To me they are practically their own food group, and that is exactly why I took quite a long time to perfect this recipe. I have many versions of granola bars that I am sure I will eventually be posting, but this is the go-to, never-fail, always tastes great version that I know and love. Enjoy:)

• 1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1/4 cup ground flax seed
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter; crunchy or smooth
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/2 cup mini  semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup raisins

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Combine all the wet ingredients into a smaller bowl and mix well. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix really, really well! I always use my hands because a spoon never seems to do the trick. Squish it all up until all the wet ingredients are absorbed. Next you add in the chocolate chips and raisins. The “batter” if you could call it that is great straight out of the bowl. After your done having a few spoonfuls, line a 11x7x1.5 pan with parchment paper and plop the rest of the “batter”  into the prepared pan. Press it into place so the bars will be even. Bake at 325 for 20 minutes! Once they are cooled I cut them down the middle length wise, and then split each half into 8 bars. This recipe gives you 16!

These bars taste great, keep well, and please even the pickiest eaters! Sometimes I don’t feel like raisins and I throw in something else, the possibilities are endless:) I keep my bars in the freezer and just pull them out as I want them.