Banana Bread Pudding

6 C. any kind of bread (I used old angel food cake), cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3 bananas, mashed (you can make this without bananas, too)
4 eggs
1 C. brown sugar
2 C. warm milk
1 Tbls. vanilla
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. salt
1 C. pecans, coarsely chopped (optional)
Butter
Cinnamon Sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350, and prepare a greased 9 x 13 pan
2. Combine everything but the bread and the pecans in a bowl.  I just used a whisk to mix it all together.  Be careful when you add the warm milk to the eggs.  You want to add it slowly and whisk the entire time, so that you don't end up with scrambled eggs.
3.  Dump the bread into the wet mixture and stir to coat the bread.  Let it sit for 5 minutes to absorb the liquid (this helps ensure that all of the liquid is evenly distributed when you cook it, rather than having all the liquid just settle at the bottom).
4.  Stir in the pecans
5.  Pour into the prepared 9 x 13 pan
6.  Put some dollops of butter on the top so that it melts over the top as it bakes.  I used a total of about 2-4 tablespoons.  Then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
7.  Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
8.  Warning:  this will smell amazing as it bakes.

Serve RIGHT out of the oven.  It will be sizzling and delicious.  Top with vanilla ice cream for an amazingly delicious treat.

*Note: as it cools, this will deflate.  But it will still taste good, so don't worry.

Pumpkin Roll with Cream Cheese Frosting

Props to my awesome buddy, Misty, for hooking me up with this recipe and giving me an in-home demonstration of it :)

Preheat oven to 375. Prepare your pan by cutting out a piece of parchment or waxed paper to cover the bottom of your cookie sheet.  It's okay if some of the edges aren't all the way covered, just so that most of it is.  I usually spray a little cooking spray around the edges.  You can also get your cream cheese and butter out to soften if you haven't already.

Pumpkin Cake
3 eggs - beat 5 minutes then add:

1 C. sugar
2/3 C. pumpkin
1 tsp lemon juice

Stir together, then add the following and mix until everything is incorporated:

3/4 C. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg (optional... I don't like nutmeg, so I don't add it)

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 12-15 minutes.  The batter should cover the entire pan, but it will be thin.

While that's baking, get a dish towel that is about the size of your pan, maybe a little bigger, and lay it out and sprinkle it with a generous dusting of powdered sugar.

As soon as your cake is done, run a knife around the edges and turn it out onto the towel.  Then take off the parchment paper and roll it up as tightly as you can with the towel so it makes a spiral.  I usually roll the shorter end so you get more spirals.  Then put the roll-up into the fridge to cool while you make the frosting.

Frosting:
1 package cream cheese
4 Tbls. butter
1 C. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Beat until smooth.

Once the cake is cooled, unroll it, spread the frosting evenly, making sure you get all the way to the edges, and then roll it back up (without the towel, of course).  Then you can just slice it and serve it!  Yum!