Happy Thanksgiving!

I'd love to know what everyone is cooking this weekend, traditional and non. We made a pretty traditional dinner, except with chicken - roasted carrots, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and of course the gravy. mmm mmm I'm going non-traditional for dessert though. I made a Pumpkin streusel coffee cake!

I guess roasting carrots isn't very traditional for a Thanksgiving dinner (at least not for me) but I really don't like boiled carrots. Growing up, I always thought I didn't like cooked carrots because they'd be boiled until all of the flavour is gone. (Sorry ma and pa ;)) It wasn't until very recently I discovered roasting them. I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner since I roast other root vegetables. Vegetables already have such great flavour so we only want to add to that. Boiling just takes the flavour away.
I like to cut my carrots into circles for this but you can totally cut them into sticks. So cut up your carrots, toss in a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper. I also like to add a bit of paprika but it's not necessary. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment and bake at 400F for 20 minutes or until desired tenderness. I like mine to still have a bit of crunch. If you've cut your carrots into sticks then they may take a little longer. And done! Delicious and tasty carrots! Easy peasy.

Now for the dessert, apple pie is my all time absolute favourite dessert ever. There are two people in my life that make a delicious mouth watering apple pie. I swear I could eat the whole pie sometimes. haha But I know I can't make a pie like either of theirs. I haven't mastered a crust yet... or at all really. So I decided I didn't want to go through all that fuss and it not turn out. I'm all for trial and error but not for this occasion. I'd be that girl who failed Thanksgiving dessert miserably. So, I went with a cake. Who can go wrong with a cake? I snuck a bite fresh out of the oven and mmm mmm so yummy!! I mostly followed the recipe but I did simplify a couple of things. NOTE: This is a dessert recipe, full of sugar and not "healthy" but hey, it's Thanksgiving!

PUMPKIN COFFE CAKE WITH BROWN SUGAR STREUSEL

For the Streusel:
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
5 tablespoons butter (or margarine)
1 cup chopped, lightly toasted pecans or walnuts (optional) Directions on toasting at the bottom

For the Cake:
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup plain yogurt or sour cream

For the Glaze: (Optional)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1-1/2 tsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Line 8X8 pan or 9" cake pan lined with parchment and greased sides.

For the streusel:
In a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Cut (or cream) in the butter until coarse crumbs form. Mix in the toasted nuts if using.

For the cake
In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt.
In a separate bowl, mix the butter and brown sugar until well combined. Then mix in eggs. Add in the pumpkin and sour cream and mix just until combined. Fold in the flour mixture. Batter will be thick.
Evenly spread half of the cake batter in the pan, and then top with 1/3 of the streusel. Evenly spread the remaining cake batter, then top with the remaining streusel.
Bake for about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pan on a cooling rack for 15 minutes, then remove from pan and cool.

For the glaze:
In a small bowl whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth. Drizzle over cooled cake.

To toast the nuts, preheat oven at 350F, spread nuts even on baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes.

Here is the original recipe:
http://www.portuguesegirlcooks.com/2012/09/pumpkin-coffee-cake-with-brown-sugar-streusel/

Side note, not everyone has ginger or nutmeg. If you have two of the three - ginger, nutmeg, or cinnamon, you can add a little extra of two to make up for the one you're missing.
I actually didn't add the glaze this time. Instead, I served it with vanilla ice cream for dessert. But it's just so good on it's own that it really doesn't need anything added to it.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!! My next post will be more on track but it's Thanksgiving so I just had to post this dessert!!

Enjoy!

~Hannah