Pumpkin Bars with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Oh Happy Day!  I got to bust out the pumpkin puree and the house has been smelling like fall ever since!  Pumpkin bars are my very favorite fall treat.  They're great with a glass of milk as a dessert or a cup of coffee in the morning.  

I like to kick mine up a notch by making cinnamon cream cheese frosting...you'll NEVER want cream cheese frosting any other way after trying these.  And the pumpkin bar is really almost like a cake...light, moist and fluffy.  This just melts in your mouth.  MM MM MM!

Adapted from Paula Dean

Bars

• 4 eggs
• 1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup canola oil
• 15-ounce can pumpkin
• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

 Frosting

• 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar {or to taste}
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth.

Spread the batter into a greased 13 by 10-inch baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars.

To make the icing: Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla & cinnamon and mix again. Spread on cooled pumpkin bars.

Here's one more looksie!

Now the real question is...what should I use the remaining pumpkin puree for?  Let me know your favorite pumpkin recipe!

Hope you enjoy!  Bon Appetit!

xo natasha

Linked to Tasty Tuesdays

Hutch Progress & a Winner!

Happy Monday Everyone!

I had such a relaxing and yet productive weekend...really feels like we started the fall season off right!

One of the reasons I felt so productive is that we started painting our kitchen hutch!  Yay!  A lot of you weighed in on what color we should paint it, which was a fun to hear your thoughts on which direction we should go.  My good friend helped me "paint" the hutch in Photoshop and I thought I'd give a little teaser and also show where you all stood on color:

22 of you said we should paint it black!

VERY close behind was 21 votes for white.

To my surprise, I lot of you {9 to be exact} were partial to gray!

4 of you thought blue might look nice.

And 2 of you thought red might be a good choice.

Several weighed in that we should go for a green, or darker brown...or heck, just keep it the same!  

I'll wait to reveal what color we decided to go for, but I will say that you definitely changed my mind on what my original choice was...so that is exciting!  :)

Here's some progress...note that this is only the primer, so I'm not giving anything away!

Can't wait to show you the finished product!!!

And last but not least, I am very excited to announce the winner of the BluHour Giveaway!

Congratulations to #60!

Sarah from Total Basset Case!

She chose the Triple Drop Necklace...gorgeous!

Congratulations to Sarah and thank you SO much to all of you who entered!

xo natasha

Friday Fancies::Cozy Chic

It's Friday!  Yay for the weekend!  And yay for fall officially starting today!  Thanks again for everyone that linked up yesterday!  All of your posts have definitely gotten me in the mood for the season!  :)

This week, {av} suggested we put together a cozy fall look.  Well while the sweater may be cozy, this is defintiely a far cry for the typical cozy {and comfy} look!  But I have to say, I am LOVING the idea of this outfit, aren't you?

 First up, is this "cozy" rabbit fur Joseph {$1,995} sweater.  Yes, I know...I'm not an advocate of real fur, but the look {and I'm sure feel} of this sweater looks simply divine.  No worries pups, I won't be purchasing this baby...but I can dream!

And if it weren't already bad enough with the fur sweater, how about I throw in these sleek D&G {$932.35} leather pants!  I have a small crush on these pants, with the zipper at the ankle and the trouser look & feel.  Definitely a wardrobe staple.

These Olivia Collings {$3,175} earrings are gorgeous!  Love the vintage feeling and how elegant they are.

How HOT are these Sam Edelman {$250} booties?!  Love the stud and rhinestone detail on the back...so funky and fun.

Last...I am DYING to own this Zara {$149} tote.  Tiffany recently bought this gorgeous bag and I instantly went online to purchase it for myself...but alas, it appears to be sold out at the moment!  Le sigh...what I would DO to own this bag!!!

So there you have it...my take on cozy chic for the fall!  :)  

Any fun plans this weekend?  We're relaxing to the max.  Cannot wait!

xo natasha

{Click here for a chance to win a gorgeous piece of jewelry!}

Fall 5::cornflake dreams

It's Thursday!!!  And of course I am excited to feature the 4th installment of...

Today, I am pleased to introduce all of you to Jillian from Cornflake Dreams.  Jillian is the talent behind my gorgeous blog design and I feel very fortunate to have connected with her early on in my blogging experience.  Her blog is full of inspiration...I'm especially loving her Wedding Wednesday posts...so be sure to stop by and say hi!

***

hello there! i am super excited to be included in natasha's fall feature. i used to be obsessed with summer.. i loved the clothes, the activities and being a june birthday baby didn't hurt. now that i am getting older i have started to appreciate fall. thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday and i could eat pumpkin pie year-round and fall fashion has me pretty excited for october and november. my fall five picks are four fashion essentials and one major baking flavor!

black bow blouse $35, leopard flats $25, white blouse $59, house of harlow earrings $30

pumpkin pie bars, turtle pumpkin pie, pumpkin oatmeal cookies

a huge thank you to miss. natasha for having me! please stop by cornflake dreams anytime for even more fashion, travel and design inspiration! {and don't miss my big 1yr blogging anniversary!! lots of giveaways, features, & guest posts all month}

xo, 

jillian

***

Leopard flats are the essence of fall in my opinion...of course so is pumpkin!  Yummmm!!

Now it's your turn!  What are you loving this fall?  Feel free to link up past, present or future fall inspired posts {the linky party will be up all weekend!}.  As always...I'm looking forward to see what you're all craving this season!  :)

xo natasha

psssst!  Don't forget to enter the BluHour jewelry giveaway here!  Only 4 more days until the winner is announced!