At the end of every month, it feels like the month passed by in a whirlwind, and October was no exception.
Here are the notable recipes I made, with thoughts and reflections at the end.
White Chocolate-Topped Cinnamon Chip Cinnamon Bars
Creamy Vegan Corn and Red Pepper Blender Soup (GF)
Candy Corn and White Chocolate Softbatch Cookies– Pinned over 40,000 times in 3 weeks from what I know and can see but there’s more pins I can’t track
Chocolate Peanut Butter Kit at Crunch Bars
Classic Yellow Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
No-Bake Honey Nut Cheerios Snacks Bars
Lofthouse Soft Sugar Sprinkles Cookies
Salted Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars
Honey Maple Beer Bread
Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups
Soft Vegan Pumpkin Cake with Pumpkin Spice Buttercream Frosting
Chewy Chocolate Peanut Butter Butterfinger Bars(GF)
Soft Baked Mini Cream Cheese Puffs
20 Recipes to Use Leftover Halloween Candy
No-Bake Deep-Dish Peanut Butter Snickers Pie with Salted Caramel
Chewy Oatmeal Coconut Brown Sugar Cookies {Anzac Biscuits}
Caramel Corn Marshmallow Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Mini Blender Muffins –gluten-free, grain-free, soy-free, dairy-free, oil-free, refined sugar-free, Paleo-friendly, under 100 calories each
Reflections
I crossed 3 bucket list recipes off my list. Beer Bread, Classic Yellow Cupcakes, and Chewy Oatmeal Coconut Brown Sugar Cookies {Anzac Biscuits}. I’ve wanted to try my hand at beer bread to see if it’s worth the hype and it definitely is. and so easy. I wanted a classic, from-scratch yellow cupcake recipe on my site for ages. The Anzac cookies were meant to be after trying some at a potluck, and it was the nudge I needed to create my own.
It was the month of the muffin pan with 4 recipes using one – Yellow Cupcakes, Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups, Mini Cream Cheese Puffs, andFlourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Mini Blender Muffins. I can go months without using one and then I use it nonstop. Maybe next month I’ll move onto dusting off my donut pans; however, I hesitate with donuts because so many people still have not spent 8.99 to buy a donut pan, and I get tons of “Can I use a muffin pan” emails.
There was lots of candy (6 new recipes + 20 previous favorites in a roundup post), but it’s to be expected in the very candy-centric month of Halloween. Candy Corn Cookies, Candy Corn M&M Blondies, Kit Kat Bars, Butterfinger Bars, Snickers Pie, Caramel-Stuffed Cookie Cups, and a 20-Recipe Roundup of What to Do with your Leftover Halloween Candy. Clearly, I always have plenty on hand.
I tried to be mindful of pumpkin overload and only posted 1 pumpkin recipe; for a vegan pumpkin cake, adapted from vegan pumpkin muffins and vegan pumpkin bread. The recipe is super solid and has gotten rave views. If you need a pumpkin cake/muffin/bread, that recipe is a keeper.
I posted 1 apple recipe for Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars. It seems that apple recipes have taken a backseat to pumpkin recipes in terms of popularity and reader requests. Pumpkin recipes have a cult-like prowess, whereas apple recipes can’t quite compete in the court of public opinion.
Three supremely easy bread recipes – Beer Bread, Mini Cream Cheese Puffs, Blender Muffins (not quite bread but close). They’re all excellent, fast, and nearly work-free. I like providing my readers with fast and easy recipes for breads and rolls because while I love yeasted breads, they require planning; whereas the aforementioned recipes require almost none. Try the beer bread or cream cheese puffs in place of dinner rolls and you won’t be disappointed.
One token savory recipe via the Corn and Red Pepper Blender Soup. If you need soup in under 5 minutes, that’s an excellent one.
I made a pie this month, the Snickers Pie. In 4.5 years of blogging, that was only the fourth pie I’ve ever posted. I just am not a traditional pie-maker. I don’t love the taste of pie crust (boring, dry), and definitely don’t relish making it (but I can always get down with an Oreo crust). Coupled with the fact that I find pies hard to photograph and they make a boatload, I just don’t make pies. Maybe I should make more because that pie has already been doing really well on Pinterest. But anything dripping in candy and caramel sauce will.
I hosted 8 giveaways and gave away over $2000 worth of products and appliances to my readers. A grill, an artisan pizza oven, a luxury toaster, a margarita maker, a high-speed blender, handmade artisan chocolates, two Le Creuset items, and more. I try very hard to give back to my readers because I am grateful for you. I couldn’t do what I do without my readers – new and old – and I want to pay it forward as much as I possibly can. I don’t want to host so many that it becomes annoying, like oh she’s got another giveaway going on, but I free is free, and if someone complains about free(and yes, they do), that’s their problem.
I went to Vegas for 12 hours last month. My friend flew in from LA, and me from San Diego (love those 45 minute flights every hour, on the hour). We got there at 7pm and by 7am we were on our flights back home. Work hard, play hard. We had a really wonderful time, and it reminded me that there’s more to life than standing around the kitchen, making cookies, taking pictures of them, and writing about them. Every once in awhile, mama’s gotta get out.
Previous Recaps
January 2013 Recipes
February 2013 Recipes
March 2013 Recipes
April 2013 Recipes
May 2013 Recipes
June 2013 Recipes
July 2013 Recipes
August 2013 Recipes
September 2013 Recipes
What did you do or make in the month that was memorable?
