My Favorite Fall Recipes Roundup.

Eyes aren't even open. But that scent. An early morning waft of warm cinnamon, meandering with hints of tart apple and dancing in aroma land with roasty pumpkin. So roasty. That steamy earthy bid, "Good morning, Kristen! You made me!" That's what I woke up to this morning.

That.

It's my pumpkin apple butter, crockpotting happily for me.

SO HAPPY.

Truth be told, cooking and baking in Autumn is my favorite. It's just the best time of year to create something warm and hearty and savory. Something to be shared. Something to bite into and experience that sense of, "yessssss." I mean, Christmas cookies are fun to bake, don't get me wrong. But don't you always feel so busy at Christmastime? I don't like being rushed when I create. Which is why I love cooking and baking in the fall. You sort of just lazily slide into it. I like that.

I love that.

I love that pumpkin apple butter. It's kind of making me swoon.

My new kitchen has been hard at work lately. I've been making bread, stew, tangine, BUTTER, and a whole bunch of other odds and ends. I like to test things really well before I share them here on the blog. I don't want to share the "okay", I want to share the things that I would earnestly go back and make over and over again. Things that I would consider seasonal staples. So here you are, my friends! Only my very favorite - the fall recipes I make over and over again.

My Grandma Soup - Literally, my grandmother's recipe. I never knew her, but when I make this soup, I feel more connected to who she was. I know that sounds soooooo weird and cheesy. But I don't care. Make a pot of this soup and you will immediately feel all heirloom-y and laced with some kind of kitchen legacy. I promise it.

Goat Cheese & Pistachio-Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Dates - Run, don't walk, to the nearest store and pick up these EASY four ingredients. And you will be the appetizer queen of whatever fall festival party you're attending this weekend.

Lemon & Olive Chicken - Inspired by Gwyneth Paltrow's recipe in It's All Good (which I whole-heartedly recommend), we literally make this recipe at least once a month. It's so delicious and a super clean, healthy meal.

Turkey & Kale Chili - My new strategy with Everett is tell him that everything is Chili. Because once he ate this chili, he never wanted anything else. And again, super healthy and hearty! Great for when a zillion guys are coming over to your house for a football game. Or when you live with a zillion guys who EAT.

Pumpkin & Cream Tartlets - I have made these everything Thanksgiving for about 8 years now. They're my non-pie contribution to the Thanksgiving dessert table and they. Are. BAD. So bad, in fact, that you can just pass the tray to me. The whole tray. K thanks.

Pumpkin Beer Bread - Ate a loaf of this last night. Can't even talk about it. SO GOOD I COULD CRY. Wait, is it weird to talk about your own cooking like this? Am I inappropriate? Don't got time to care. MUST MAKE MORE BREAD.

Banana Oat & Date Muffins - Again, a healthy take on a warm morning muffin. Make ahead and freeze, then take out when you want them and heat up in the toaster oven. Instant, healthy, hot breakfast!

Maple Glazed Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies - These are like cookie pie. Or pie cookies. Or something. I created this cookie in partnership with Epicurious last year and I am still so proud of this one. I MADE THIS TASTE. Try it! You are sure to love it.

I bet you're wondering where that a fore-mentioned pumpkin butter recipe is, huh? Muahahhahaa. Check back here next week friends. I've got a wedding to attend this weekend. MY SISTER'S!!!!!!!

Happy Friday to you! And happy Halloween weekend! xox.

TASTE: Banana-Oat & Date Muffins

Banana-Oat & Date Muffins 

Always in a hurry to grab something for breakfast and GO? This is a great morning muffin you can prep and bake ahead of time, freeze, and then pull out and take along with you in the car or on the subway. It's happy fuel for the morning commute. And for how delicious and comforting it tastes... it's pretty darn healthy. I mean, it's sweetened by bananas and dates. And just a bit of maple syrup. Please. Can we be any more granola?

Being back in the South has brought to mind some recipes that I had honestly forgotten about. You know how that happens? You go home and all the familiarity, the scent of home, the pattern in your steps... your past life just comes soaring back to you. That's what happened this week. I found myself fumbling around the kitchen for some half-spoiled bananas, pulled down my glass jar of oats, and voila, this recipe pretty much made itself. It's reminiscent of banana bread and therefore, highly heavenly and appealing. And homey-ish. This recipe is based largely on Gwyneth Paltrow's version, but I tweaked a few things here and there. You can rag on her all you want, but I really do love her recipes. I mean, the semi-normal ones that I've actually attempted to try. Now she's actually queen of the granola. We don't need to be queen of that. We just need to enjoy our muffins and get on with it. So lets.

Ingredients:

- 2 cups flour

- 1 cup old-fashioned oats

- 2 tsp. baking powder

- 2 tsp. baking soda

- a pinch of sea salt (Maldon!)

- 2 overripe bananas, mashed

- 1/2 cup olive oil

- 2/3 cup maple syrup

- 2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk

- 2 tsp. vanilla extract

- 1/2 cup dried dates, pitted and chopped (about 6 dates)

- 1/4 pumpkin seeds, roughly chopped, plus more for topping each muffin

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line your muffin tin with liners.

2. In a bowl, mix together the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

3. In another bowl, mix the mashed bananas, olive oil, maple syrup, almond milk and vanilla.

4. Combine the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, mixing together.

5. Toss the chopped dates with the 1/4 cup chopped pumpkin seeds and fold them into the batter. Mix well. Make sure that the dates and pumpkin seeds don't fall straight to the bottom of the batter.

6. Fill each muffin tin about 2/3 of the way full with the batter. Sprinkle each muffin with a pinch of the extra pumpkin seeds.

7. Bake until the muffins are browned and a toothpick comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes.

Worth the Muffin Top.

I promise, you will love these deceivingly decadent muffins. The pumpkin seeds add a bit of salty crunch and the dates add a hit of soppy, southern mapley-ness. The hardest part is only eating one at a time!