Updated: Brûléed Maple Pumpkin Pie with Gingersnap Crust

We are hosting Thanksgiving AGAIN this year, and my dreams are coming true.

One of my most favorite parts of being an adult is having control over our holiday plans. This year we will be joined by seven friends and two kiddos . Having friends, my chosen family, surround us on holidays feels like the highest honor to me. I am BEYOND excited! Feeding friends and family is one of my favorite ways to say, I love you!!!

That being said, I want to make sure everything we eat is as yummy as possible, so it was time for a pie run-through. I’ve been making Brûléed Maple Pumpkin Pie with Gingersnap Crust for YEARS and look forward to it every time. I made several adjustments to the original recipe, making it dairy free and even tastier than I remembered!

One-Bowl Vegan Gingerbread Cookies

This recipe is late. V late. But I worked hard to perfect this ONE BOWL version of Vegan Gingerbread Cookies, and wanted to share it so that at the very least, it will be here next year and we can plan ahead! I am squeezing out every last bit of holiday cheer during these last few days of 2016, and sharing this recipe is one way I can do that! I am SOOO happy to report that no one could guess these were vegan, including my friends sweet mom. I delivered some cookies, and right before I left she complimented me on them. I told her they were vegan! She was just so shocked, because she has never had vegan desserts because when she wants dessert, she wants dessert!!!

Ode to Rustica: Bittersweet Chocolate Chip Cookies

I was home for a week in October, and the morning I left, we got up early and had breakfast at Rustica Bakery in Minneapolis. Everything we had was extraordinary and since Chris wasn't with me, I had to bring back some treats for him. Miraculously, the box of cookies stayed shut the whole entire flight back to Nashville. It didn't last long in the parking lot of the airport! Where most people have visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads at this time of year, we've had visions of bittersweet chocolate chip cookies on repeat.

Espresso Shortbread with Butterscotch Glaze

As much as I enjoy decorating these cookies, I am not convinced that they are memorably tasty. I think I love the first cut-out sugar cookie. They are a little too sweet for me and the clean up and prep takes too much time. So my goal was to find something different, delicious, a little bit easier with less prep work, and memorable. And then I read about Espresso Shortbread with Butterscotch Glaze. Does it get more unique than this?

Vegan Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Pie (NO BAKE!)

I made this Vegan Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Pie and then realized it was perfect for our vegan friends. The other reason I made these is because I have a friend who much prefers savory over dessert, and Take 6 bars are her favorite. I wanted her to be able to enjoy a little something sweet too! And anyways, I have never met someone who didn't like a peanut butter/pretzel/chocolate combo. Have you?????

Brûléed Maple Pumpkin Pie with Gingersnap Crust

The memory of this pie tugs at me during the hottest months of the summer. It is that good.

I love pumpkin pie, and always have since I was little. Growing up in Minnesota, the weather was usually pretty cold by the time Thanksgiving rolled around, so we could just store pies in the garage. I used to sneak out to the garage with a fork and just help myself from time to time. I consider myself a pumpkin pie enthusiast. It's possible I gave myself away by leaving pits of crust behind. Friends, I believe I have solved the problem of boring crust.

Hearty Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Let it be known that between the dates of approximately December 8th to December 24th 25th 26th, my body composition consisted of 70% cookies, 10% caramel, 10% chocolate, 5% eggs, 3% oranges, and 2% water. Maybe that's why I feel like December sprinted past me. I was in a cookie/candy coma.

While I had visions of myself presenting people with large platters of delectable, Martha Stewart-worthy Christmas cookies, the very thought of eating another baked good or candy actually increased my bloating exponentially. I really didn’t even want to taste the batter, and the batter is one of the best parts about baking! It finally dawned on me. No one else wants any more Christmas goodies either.