Marlin Zimmerman Family

Pumpkin Cake With Marshmallow Frosting + Caramel Drizzle.

I know it's not the nicest photo, but I was too busy eating this

delicious dessert to have time for pictures!

Yesterday I tried a recipe completely new to me.

I made fresh pumpkin puree, and then made a pumpkin cake with marshmallow frosting and caramel drizzle on top.

I'll share what I did differently under each recipe!

My husband really loved this dessert. I know I've hit a home run when my husband loves something! It was very good, and quite nice to have something different than usual.

I made the pumpkin puree by slicing the top of the pie pumpkin I had and cutting it into quarters. Then I put it on a cookie sheet in the oven at 300 degrees F for 45 minutes. Then I peeled of the skins and blended it in my blender. It would have been easier with a food processor, but it worked out.

Here is a recipe for pumpkin cupcakes.

Pumpkin Cupcakes w/ Marshmallow Frosting

What I did differently to this recipe: I made it into a cake instead of the cupcakes and baked for about 5-10 minutes longer. I did about 3/4 cup of sugar instead of a whole cup. I wasn't brave enough to cut it in half, but I think I will next time!

Also instead of all the spices I put in 2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice.

If you want to make your own pie spice here is the recipe I used.

Pumpkin Pie Spice

For the marshmallow frosting in this recipe, it calls for the fine ground sugar. I was able to put the sugar in my blender for a few minutes, and it turned out well.

Also I probably used about half the sugar the recipe called for and it was almost still too sweet for me.

Now for the caramel glaze.

Healthy Caramel Glaze

So my glaze turned out very interesting. I didn't have almond butter and used peanut butter instead so... it turned out quite peanut buttery lol. I didn't mind it though, it was actually very good.

I then used avocado oil instead of coconut oil, and peanut butter instead of almond oil. That's about all I did differently. I didn't add any spices.

Hope you enjoyed the recipes. Try them out and let me know what you think, and what you did differently!

Thanks for stopping by.

Colorado Life

We're really enjoying the new house we're in. It is a southwestern style ranch house surrounded with cottonwood trees a big red barns and out buildings. It's a super neat place! Here is the front porch during a gorgeous sunrise!

A few days ago there was a glorious sunrise and I ran to bedroom to grab my camera and lenses. I was so excited dashing through the house with my camera in hand. I was so clumsy from being in a hurry that I dropped my camera and lens on the hard wood floor. Needless to say it is now broken and waiting to be repaired. I'm really missing it. So all these photos were taken with my iPhone. I said all that to say that the beautiful moon picture below could have been so much clearer and so much more amazing if I'd had my camera. Nevertheless, I'm still glad I was able to capture the beauty of it.

Then on Sunday we went for a drive. All the fall colors are so amazing! I'm thankful over and over again to be living here! I know it's a bit silly, but I love it that it is fall and it actually FEELS like fall outside! It's cool and clear and it has the special smell that comes with fall. You know that smell when you're in the woods and all the leaves have changed...? I'm sorry if you don't know what I'm talking about. It's somewhat of a musty smell that reminds me of fallen acorns and deer rustling around in the leaves. It's really amazing!

On top of gray back mountain. That's Saige under that blanket lol. It was super windy up there.

And the last picture. It is snowing a bit today. I don't think it will last long, but it's still beautiful to me.

Autumn and Snikerdoodles

So fall is in full swing here in Colorado! I love this time of year. Who doesn't? And yes, I'm one of those people that loves pumpkin spice in everything, and all the orange decor!

The kids had fun helping me make the cookies, but the best part of all was eating them of course!

Here is the recipe I used. Chewy Snikerdoodle Cookies. They were so soft and chewy. I made a half batch but ended up still having to put two eggs in the mix.

Look at that cutie eating cookie dough!

Fresh from the oven.

Perfect with milk!

What are some of your fall traditions and baked goods? I would love to hear about them in the comments! Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Birthday Trip.

So we drove to Telluride for my birthday. It is a gorgeous town in a box canyon with crazy huge mountains all around. It is one of the most gorgeous places I've ever been. We rode a gondola up to the top of the mountains and it was cold and snowing. So gorgeous! We spent the night in Montrose and the next day I got to do some shopping before we took a scenic drive back home!