Jan D'Atri

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canned pumpkin

Arkansas Pumpkin Cake

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Let’s make fall official! If you’re crazy for an ultra-moist, rich-tasting cake with a mouthwatering frosting, the Arkansas Pumpkin Cake will help kick off this pumpkin harvest season in a big way! This is a dessert that I absolutely love, and I think you will too! The recipe was sent to me by Mary Koeplin of Glendale, Arizona whose husband John was making the cake for her birthday that day. Little did Mary know that her email actually came on my birthday, and it turned out to be a wonderful gift for me, too!

“Dear Jan, I’m having this cake for my birthday and I think you would love it. I got the recipe in 1973 from my cousin Vivian Hanson who lives in Marietta, Georgia. She gave it to me when I was first married 40 years ago. It’s a very unusual cake in that it stays moist forever! Fall seems to be the best time of the year for this spice cake. We’ve only made it as a Bundt cake and it always turns out well.”

I’ve made Mary’s Arkansas Pumpkin Cake in a large Bundt pan and in a 9X13 inch baking dish. I’ve also made the recipe and divided it into two smaller, 8×8 cake pans and froze one for later. The icing is fabulous with this over-the-top moist dessert, and it’s just as delicious refrigerated as it is room temperature. Thank you, Mary! Yet another reason to be thankful as we kick off the holiday season!

Gina’s Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

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The Story

It’s just what you need this time of year – a simple, velvety, and moist cookie recipe loaded with the flavors of the season. Sometimes I don’t have to travel far to find a fantastic Rescued Recipe. This one comes from my own family. It was originally my sister Vicki’s special holiday cookie – the one that everyone begged for this time of the year. But Vicki’s daughter, my niece, Gina, confesses to you a family “inside job!”

“Yes, this cookie is so yummy, I stole the recipe from Mom and shamelessly renamed it Gina’s Famous Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies! We start every year in October and make them weekly through December, or until we’re “pumpkin-ed out!” Now my own four little girls start begging for them at the beginning of the holiday season. My hope is that they one day steal it from me and call it their own!”

We’ve been experimenting lately with this family favorite. We made a batch replacing vegetable oil and white sugar with coconut oil and coconut sugar for a little healthier alternative. We love it just as much!