Hot Chocolate Sweet Rolls with Marshmallow Frosting

If you follow on Instagram, you know that I have a ton of hot chocolate-related recipe ideas swirling through my head. But this one is the one I just couldn’t let go of – I knew I had to make these! I love cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning, but I wanted to try something new. So, here we are with these hot chocolate sweet rolls with marshmallow frosting!

You all know lately I’ve been into shortcuts and making things easier as we quickly approach baby #2. These are a most excellent short cut for sweet rolls! I used Pillsbury canned pizza crust and packets of hot chocolate. The most from-scratch part of this is the icing, which is only a few ingredients and a stand or hand mixer.

Buttermilk Pumpkin Muffins with Pumpkin Spice Coffee Crumb Topping

Guys. This is the pumpkin muffin dreams are made of! I cannot tell you how good they are with coffee – you just need to try it for yourself!

The pumpkin spice is so warm and comforting, especially as the temps are getting cooler. The coffee crumb has the best crunch and reinforces that pumpkin spice in the base. And the base is moist and delicious and I’ve made them so many times in the past week – we can’t stop eating them!

Healthy(ish) Pumpkin Bread with Apple Cider Glaze

Remember that Healthy(ish) Banana Bread we did at the height of all of that quarantine banana bread baking? Well, let’s do it again, but this time make it pumpkin for fall!

This bread is SO easy and so much lighter than a traditional bread because – wait for it – we’re using pancake mix. So basically it’s like a pancake loaf? But it’s good, and satisfying, especially if you have to count calories, carbs, sugar, etc. I’m using the Birch Benders Keto pancake mix here, you could do their Paleo blend or even a protein blend.

Skip the icing if you want to really keep it in check, but it’s so hard to imagine skipping the icing! The warm pumpkin spice flavors are so nicely balanced with the maple apple cider glaze. It’s like legit all the flavors of fall I love so much in one recipe!

Healthy(ish) Pumpkin Bread with Maple Cider Glaze

A delicious combination of fall flavors, all in a lightened up, healthy(ish) twist on pumpkin bread.

Pumpkin Bread

  • 1 c pure pumpkin puree
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/4 c pancake mix
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp brown sugar or brown sugar substitute
  • 3/4 tsp pumpkin spice
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • pecans (or pepitas), for topping

Maple Cider Glaze

  • 1 c powdered sugar or powdered sugar substitute
  • 1 tbsp melted butter
  • 2 tbsp apple cider
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Pumpkin Bread

  1. Preheat oven to 350. Prepare loaf pan with cooking spray, set aside.

  2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, mix until batter comes together and is mostly smooth.

  3. Pour into prepared loaf pan and top with a few pecans (or pepitas!). 

  4. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until center is baked and a toothpick comes out clean. If the edges brown too quickly, top with a piece of foil.

  5. Allow to cool until the pan can be touched with your bare hand before removing it from the pan. 

Apple Cider Glaze

  1. To make optional icing, combine all the ingredients until a thick but drizzly icing forms. 

  2. Once the banana bread is cooled, drizzle the icing over the top and enjoy!

  3. Skip the icing to keep it healthier!

Pumpkin Spice Waffles with Maple Butter

Are you guys more of a waffle or pancake fan? For some reason, I definitely gravitate towards waffles – I like them so much better than pancakes. But, to be honest, it could be because I’m just not that great at making pancakes! They’re never even, the butter gets all gross and then makes the second and third batch a weird color and I’m just not into it!

But these waffles…these waffles are the most beautiful color. And wow, do they taste like fall! The pumpkin spice really suits my fall theme of being 100% basic.

With these, you can just use any of your go-to waffle/pancake mixes. Because I have gestational diabetes, I’m using the Birch Benders keto mix. For these, I also used a sugar free maple syrup, but just use your favorite! It is what it is – just a few months left of this!

In this recipe, you use the pure pumpkin puree as a replacement for eggs/water. It’s such an easy recipe – I made extra and put them in the freezer once they were cooled just so I could grab and go on weekdays. Sometimes, you just need something more exciting than scrambled eggs, ya know!

Next time I do these, I’m going to cut up some apples and sautee them in a bit of cinnamon. Let all those fall flavors really collide!

Pumpkin Spice Protein Waffles with Maple Butter

Delicious pumpkin spice protein waffles topped with a savory and sweet maple butter.

  • 1 c waffle mix
  • 1/2 c pumpkin puree
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp brown sugar (I used Truvia brown sugar replacement)
  • 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice
  • 3 tbsp softened butter
  • 3 tsp maple syrup
  • pecans, for garnish
  1. Combine waffle mix and pumpkin puree until well combined.

  2. Coat waffle iron with cooking spray; pour batter into iron (refer to your iron's instructions for the correct amount).

  3. As the waffles are being made, combine softened butter and maple syrup. If using unsalted butter, taste for salt and add a tiny pinch, if needed.

  4. Serve waffles with maple butter, maple syrup, pecans, etc.

Canned Sticky Pecan Cinnamon Rolls

Okay. This is probably going to be one of those recipes that you make and then you’re like, crap I better give half of these to the neighbors. When I made these, we had one bite, and I texted a pic to our neighbors across the street and asked them if they wanted some. I brought them across (mask on, yes), and thank god. We would have eaten all of these and god help us, we are really trying to avoid the quarantine 15!

These sticky pecan cinnamon rolls are so easy. There ain’t nothin’ wrong with canned cinnamon rolls, especially when it’s so hard to find yeast. And, let’s be real – we’re all cooking and baking a lot more than usual. It’s nice to have a shortcut for something out of this world delicious in your back pocket.

Healthy(ish) Protein Banana Bread

This is another, have you quarantined if you haven’t made banana bread? With everyone making banana bread, I’ve been craving it – but with all the baking I’ve been doing (uh, hello Gigantic Chewy Coffee Chocolate Chip Cookies that have been on repeat), I needed to lighten this guy up. Big time.

Enter: healthy(ish) protein banana bread. It’s actually pretty light if you skip the whole put-frosting-all-over-it-part!

Fried Chicken & Savory Cheddar-Chive Waffles Recipe

If life is all about balance, what better dish than fried chicken and waffles? A little sweet, a little savory. Chicken is protein, so that’s healthy, right?! Balance, guys, balance. For this go, I opted for cheddar and chive waffles and WOW. They. were. great!

Cheddar and chive waffles are one of my favorites, and they really taste amazing with the fried chicken. Sometimes, you don’t really want a super sweet waffle to go with that crispy chicken, amirite?!

Two Ingredient Prosciutto Cups for Brunch

I just love a simple recipe. And I just love brunch. So when the two come together, it’s really a win-win in my book. These prosciutto cups have quickly become a favorite of ours for weekend breakfasts when I find myself having a little extra time. And to be honest, most days I’m out of the house around 6:30 AM and just can’t bring myself to eat so early. If I could, I would definitely be making these two ingredient prosciutto cups 7 days a week.

What I love about the simplicity of this breakfast idea is that you can easily riff on it for yet another, you guessed it, you-do-you recipe. You could throw in veg. You could sit the egg on a bed of sauteed spinach in the prosciutto cup. You can dollop with pesto or zhoug or top it with chives, cilantro, scallions – whatever you fancy!

Go-To for any Meal: Shakshuka with Feta & Olives

I think it’s important to have a few reliable go-to recipes you can make for any meal of the day, from breakfast to brunch to dinner or a snack. You all already know how much I love a you-do-you-boo recipe, and this is definitely one of those. A Shahshuka is easy, simple, quick and totally customizable to your preferences. Don’t like feta or olives? Leave them out. Not feeling cumin? Skip it. Don’t like it spicy? Totally fine!

A Shakshuka is traditionally an African dish with eggs baked into a seasoned tomato sauce. You’ll see so many different varieties of shakshuka, even green shakshukas. You’ll see it with different spices, with or without red peppers, with or without feta and olives. This is just my favorite way to make it. Once you master the basics, you’ll be able to whip this up in no time with a few ingredients you likely always have on hand.

You don’t need anything fancy to make shakshuka, either! Just a nice big skillet. And hey, you could even make this smaller! Use a few ramekins or a smaller baking dish and a smaller can of tomatoes – shakshuka for one? Yes, please!

Homemade Bagel Chips & Everything Bagel Dip Recipe

What’s brunch without carbs, eh? For my latest Ladies Who Brunch, I made the Australian Folded Eggs and Smoked Salmon Nicoise, but I wanted one more dish to tie it all together. Serving actual bagels felt like it would be too heavy, but I wanted something carb-y. Enter bagel chips & dip: because seriously, who doesn’t love bagels and who doesn’t love dip?

I do have to admit, I’ve never been a fan of store bough bagel chips, so when I was testing these out I wasn’t 100% sure I would like them. I’ve always found store bough to be too crunchy. I wanted these to be like a bagel you accidentally toasted a bit too much, but you could still enjoy.

I tried making these a few different ways, and they all came out pretty much the same, so in the recipe I’ve given you all three options: brush with olive oil, melted butter or spray with cooking spray; then you sprinkle salt on them and bake them up until they’re nice and toasted!