Cake, Batter, and Bowl

Pumpkin Puff Pastry Tarts

Desserts

The countdown to our flight to Arizona has begun and we’re playing our favorite game of trying to finish up all the perishables in our fridge before we go. We got a little off track when Apolinaras brought a half gallon of milk home on Sunday and thawed six pork chops, but there are only two porkchops left, so I think we still have a shot! Even the huge roll of goat cheese from Costco is over half way gone and I’m going to make this pizza tomorrow night to use up the rest of it. I also found a cup of extra pumpkin puree in the fridge that was leftover from making Apolinaras his favorite low-fat oatmeal cookies the other day and decided to make myself a little treat.

I whipped up a super thick and creamy pumpkin pudding and was planning on just eating it straight out of the bowl, but some puff pastry shells caught my eye.  I was experimenting with recipe ideas for the Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Contest (which are due December 31, so you still have time to enter!), and had some extra shells, so I filled them with the pudding instead! I topped the little tarts with some toasted walnuts and powdered sugar and they were just a wonderful quick and easy holiday treat. Merry Christmas!

Pumpkin Puff Pastry Tarts
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 (10 ounce) package Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Shells
1 (3.4-oz.) package instant vanilla pudding
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 cup pure pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 tablespoon toasted chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon powdered sugar

Directions:
Prepare the puff pastry shells according to the package directions. Let baked shells cool to room temperature, about 10 minutes, and remove the tops.

Meanwhile, prepare the pumpkin filling. In a large bowl mix instant pudding, milk, condensed milk, pumpkin, and pumpkin pie spice. Refrigerate 10 minutes or until set. Scoop pumpkin filling evenly into the puff pastry shells. Sprinkle toasted walnuts and powdered sugar evenly on top of each tart. Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition: 277 calories, 4.8g fat, 1.8g fiber, 6.3g protein per serving
Cost: $1.77 per serving

Dark Chocolate Orange Snack Cake

When the lovely Shannon invited Elina and I over for an impressive Etiopian feast earlier this week, I thought it would be fun to stick with the theme and bring a dessert we could also eat with our hands. For some reason, I couldn’t get the idea of making a snack cake...

My Mom’s Culinary Arts Program and Chocolate Cake

I’ve been meaning to tell you about the very cool Culinary Arts High School Program my mom runs at Central Campus in Des Moines, Iowa for awhile now, and I figured this would be the perfect opportunity since I won’t be cooking up any recipes to share while we’re on...

Pistachio Mint Chocolate Chip Bar Cookies

Does anyone else hoard baking chips? My drawer is currently overflowing with regular chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, mini chocolate chips, mini M&Ms, regular M&Ms, Heath toffee chips, and Andes Crème de Menthe chips. And I recently used all my peanut butter...

Oreo Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Truffles

I often joke that I’m a walking advertisement for Costco because I’m always gushing about my latest find or fabulous deal. From their cute greeting cards to their juicy sweet fresh strawberries – I love it all! In fact, I’ve talked about Costco in eleven posts...

Banana Mascarpone Mousse Trifles

I’ve been on quite the popsicle kick lately. This unbearable heat wave means our oven hasn’t been turned on in weeks, so I haven't baked any desserts. My sweet tooth still needs to be satisfied though, and popsicles are just the perfect low calorie refreshing treat! I...

Pumpkin Hazelnut Oatmeal Cookie Bars

Is everyone ready for the holidays? We finished our Christmas shopping today and our cards are all ready to be sent out tomorrow. Christmas has definitely snuck up on us this year though and I haven’t had the chance to do any holiday baking yet. I hope I can squeeze...

M&M Cashew Pretzel Bars

Our whirlwind NYC tour would not have been complete without visiting a few famous bakeries! The two at the top of my list were Bouchon and Levain, so the first thing we did after checking into our hotel was head up to Bouchon Bakery in the Time Warner Center right...

Strawberry Lemon Mini Bundt Cakes

Apolinaras always gives me the cutest sad puppy dog face when I'm whipping up treats to bring into lab for birthday celebrations. If I'm making cupcakes, I always save a couple for him to enjoy, but I can't just cut into a pie or cake and give him a slice before it's...