To motivate herself with a light at the end of the tunnel, one of my roommates planned an Over the Garden Wall watch party—a sweet, spooky animated show—for the night after her last midterm. To match the show’s autumnal, woodsy aesthetic, she asked me to bake anything pumpkin or apple. For three weekends leading up to the party, I tried out a different fall recipe from New York Times Cooking. Then, when the weekend of the party finally arrived, I made them all again, taking into account any lessons I learned from my test runs.
Pumpkin Bread with Chocolate Chip Streusel
The first recipe I tried was “Pumpkin Bread With Chocolate Chip Streusel” by Melissa Clark, whose recipes have never missed for me. This “bread” might be more accurately described as a cake, a pumpkin coffee cake to be precise, and it’s a perfect combination of both. I only used light brown sugar for the streusel rather than a combination of light and dark, and didn’t include nuts, but I found those adjustments worked just fine.
The first time I tried the recipe, I had mini chocolate chips on hand and used them instead of regular-sized ones. Compared to making it with normal chocolate chips the second time, I recommend using mini ones, as they melt better for the streusel layer and allow it to spread through the loaf more evenly. This loaf was finished by my friends and roommates within 24 hours both times I made it.
Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
The second recipe I tried was Jesse Szewczyk’s “Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars.” Before making this recipe, I’d reduced “brown butter” to a social media baking buzz word, but after trying it as the recipe dictated, I’ve jumped on the bandwagon. The extra nuttiness it added worked perfectly with the pumpkin spice flavors, adding an almost caramelized note. This recipe recommends leaving the melted butter on the stove for three to four minutes after the color starts to darken, but I’d only recommend one to two minutes to prevent it from burning.
The first time I made this, it was more like a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie dough rather than bars, so while the recipe says it can bake for 30-45 minutes, I’d definitely err on the longer end. That being said, there are no eggs in it, so it’s perfectly safe to eat underbaked, and I think my friends liked it just as much, if not more, in that perfectly soft and sweet state.
Apple Cake
The last recipe I tried was Yossy Arefi’s “Apple Cake.” Deceptively simple, it packs more flavor than you’d expect. The first time I made it, my roommates finished it in a day. Still, I decided to make a few tweaks. Rather than using ⅔ cup of vegetable oil, I used ⅓ cup of oil and ⅓ cup of melted brown butter. I wanted to incorporate the nutty, caramelized flavor I thought worked so well in the pumpkin chocolate chip cookie bars, but switching to brown butter when a recipe doesn’t call for it can slightly dehydrate the dough, which is why I did half and half.
The recipe says you can use cinnamon or pumpkin spice; I recommend pumpkin spice if you have the components (cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg) for a warmer flavor, and after making it the first time, I decided to toss the apples in some spice separately before folding them into the batter as well. I also added another apple (five instead of four) the second time I made it. Just note that adding more fruit can increase the moisture of the cake, so it might take a couple of extra minutes to bake.
Rather than using the cinnamon sugar and cream cheese topping the recipe recommended, I topped the cake with a cinnamon streusel, which made it even more of a crowd pleaser.. This is the recipe I use as a guide, but you don’t need precise measurements for streusel. I usually only prepare ⅓ to ½ of what this recipe makes, and found that it coated the cake sufficiently.