Thanksgiving Pies

Thanksgiving was at my house this year. It was fun to get all the nice dinnerware arranged for a nice family meal. I was in charge of the pies this year. I chose to go with classic pumpkin and apple pies. Oh boy, were they good. They were perfect topped off with a nice dollop of whipped cream.

When I make pumpkin pie, I stick with Libby's Famous Pumpkin Pie recipe (it can usually be found on a can of Libby pumpkin).

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground cloves

2 large eggs

1 15oz can pumpkin

1 12oz can evaporated milk

1 unbaked 9-inch deep dish pie shell

Mix sugar, salt cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. Pour into pie sheet. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake for 40-45 minutes. Knife inserted near center of the pie should come out clean.

Do not freeze.

1 3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice may be substituted.

I have never made a pie crust before, let alone a pie with 2 crusts. So, making the apple pie was an adventure. Since I had never made one before I went to my "Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book" to find my way. Between the crust recipe and the pie recipe I would be here half the night typeing, so I recommend visiting www.bhg.com if you are interested in this recipe. They pie looked pretty but I've definitely tasted apple pies that are better. Oh well, there's always next year.

Bake on!

-M

Pumpkin Bread

Did you forget that we love pumpkin. Here is just another recipe that is full of pumpkin goodness. I love this recipe because it make 2 large loaves. Perfect for this time of year when you are trying to spread some holiday cheer and want to make things go a long way. This bread comes out perfect every time and is just so moist and delicious.

2 cups pumpkin (16oz can)
4 eggs
1 cup oil
1/3 cup water
3 1/2 cups flour
1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt

Combine the pumpkin, eggs, oil, and water. Shift together the flour, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and the salt. This this to the wet increased. Stir until everything is just combine. Place batter in 2 greased 9X5 loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Bake on!
M

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Aren't you surprised?!? Another baked good with pumpkin!! And it probably won't be the last considering I stocked up on pumpkin and have about fifteen cans in the cupboard :) Probably a little extreme, but I wanted to be prepared just in case there is another pumpkin shortage. Don't want to be scrambling and going from store to store in search of pumpkin like I was a few months ago.

As in the words of Zach's aunt, "these are damn good!" I must say I agree with that statement! I was a little disappointed when I took my first bite, but I had to remind myself that these were muffins and not cupcakes. I have gotten so used to taste testing cupcakes that I was expecting a little more sweetness when I bit in. But for a muffin, the streusel topping added just the right amount of sweetness to the pumpkin and spice. I sure am a sucker for anything with a streusel topping. And the little bit of cream cheese in the middle is the perfect surprise! Like my sister-in-law said, "it's like the frosting is in the middle!"

I found this recipe on Annie's Eats, one of the many food blogs that I read daily! She has so many mouth watering recipes and pictures. I have a hard time picking which one to make first!


Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Ingredients:
For the filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

For the muffins:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree
1¼ cups vegetable oil

For the topping:
½ cup sugar
5 tbsp. flour
1½ tsp. ground cinnamon
4 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Directions:
To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a log about 1½-inches in diameter. Smooth the plastic wrap tightly around the log, and reinforce with a piece of foil. Transfer to the freezer and chill until at least slightly firm, at least 2 hours.

To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil. Mix on medium-low speed until blended. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.

To make the topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to blend. Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.

To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well with a small amount of batter, just enough to cover the bottom of the liner (1-2 tablespoons). Slice the log of cream cheese filling into 24 equal pieces. Place a slice of the cream cheese mixture into each muffin well. Divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups, placing on top of the cream cheese to cover completely. Sprinkle a small amount of the topping mixture over each of the muffin wells.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving.

Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Trying to squeeze in every last possible chance to make anything and everything with pumpkin! I am going to be a little sad when Thanksgiving has passed and the "fall baking season" has ended. Definitely love the fall flavors of apple and pumpkin more than the winter flavors of peppermint and gingerbread.

I have been dying to make these cookies but was waiting for the perfect opportunity! And that opportunity finally presented itself today! This recipe makes a fairly large number of cookies and so I needed several places to be able to take them! We all know I have no self control when it comes to sweets so I needed to get them out of the house fast!

Zach's coworkers gave these cookies rave reviews!! He said they were still talking about them three hours later!! Glad to hear they loved them just as much as I do!

I especially love their "cakey" consistency! They are soft, chewy, light, and fluffy! Definitely better than a flat, crisp cookie :)

White chocolate chips are the perfect addition to the usual pumpkin and cream cheese combo. Adding just the right amount of sweetness!


Pumpkin Cookies
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
15 ounce can of pumpkin
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 bag of white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream sugar and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix in white chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto greased cookie sheets. Bake for 14-16 minutes or until edges are firm.

Cream Cheese Frosting
6 tablespoons butter
4 ounces cream cheese
1 3/4 cup powdered sugar

Cream butter and cream cheese until well blended. Gradually add powdered sugar until the desired consistency is reached. If needed, add small amount of cream or milk to thin frosting.


Enjoying the Sweet Escape!
-Jess

Turtle Pumpkin Pie

I have said it before and I will say it again, I love pumpkin. So, I like to try recipes that have pumpkin. I have made this desert once before. Both times, it has gone over well with my audience. I have learned a few tricks to it along the way. I will share them throughout this post. Don't be confused by the name of this desert. It doesn't taste like your traditional pumpkin pie with the added traditional "turtle" flavors. It is light and creamy and oh so delicious.

Ingredients
1/4 cup and 2 Tbsp caramel topping, divided
1 Graham pie crust -6oz. Tip #1 buy the next size up. It is too much for the 6oz.
1/2 and 2 Tbsp pecan pieces, divided
1 cup milk
2 pkgs (4-serving size) Jello vanilla instant pudding
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 8oz tub Cool Whip, thawed

Pour 1/4 cup caramel topping into crust. (Tip#2-try whisking in a bit of flour to the caramel to thicken it up. It does like to run otherwise). Sprinkle with 1/2 cup pecans.

Beat milk, pudding mixes, pumpkin and spices with whisk until blended. Stir in 1 1/2 cups whipped topping. Spread into crust. Top with remaining Cool Whip.

Refrigerate 1 hr. Top with 2 Tbsp caramel and 2 Tbsp pecan. (Tip #3-actually wait until you are about to serve the desert to top with the remaining caramel and pecan. You will avoid the risk of the caramel running everywhere)

Bake on!
M

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Well, pumpkin whoopie pies definitely wasn't our original intention this past Sunday when we got together for a little baking extravaganza! For months we have been talking about how we want to try flooding cut-out cookies with royal icing. We figured halloween was the perfect opportunity! Especially being that we have many cute and fun halloween cookie cutters!

We browsed through many magazines and cookbooks looking for the perfect sugar cookie recipe. We thought we had found just the right one until we were halfway through mixing the ingredients and realized it was meant more as a drop-cookie than a roll-out cookie. Guess this is the reason why you should read ALL the way through a recipe being starting. Oops!

We then tried to transition the half mixed ingredients into a different recipe. We mixed it, chilled it, and attempted to roll it. Well, needless to say the dough was extremely sticky and impossible to roll out. And my short temper that day caused me to become extremely frustrated real fast. By this point we were 0-2. And things were not going very smooth.

We didn't want to throw away the dough and waste the ingredients so we just started playing around! This is where the fun finally started. We added half a can of pumpkin and threw in some brown sugar. And then started adding spices until our taste buds were satisfied! Just don't ask us for the recipe. We have no clue what we added or how much.

We threw a scoop of the dough on the cookie sheet as a test. When we took it out of the oven it had baked into a perfect fluffy circle. At this point we both knew they were the ultimate whoopie pie cookie! Amazing how we went from flooding sugar cookies with royal icing to making pumpkin whoopie pies. Definitely an interesting string of events that lead to the final result!

We filled the whoopie pies with a brown sugar cinnamon cream cheese frosting. The recipe is from a post on cupcakestakethecake.com. If you can believe it, I actually haven't tasted the finished product. I know, kind of weird considering my love for sweets. But I am trying this new thing called self-control. We will just have to wait and see what the reviews are from the taste testers at the halloween party tomorrow night!



Another Sweet Escape!
-Jess

Mmmm Pumpkin!

Who doesn't love pumpkin?!? I love pumpkin pie, pumpkin bars, and pumpkin bread so I figured pumpkin cupcakes had to be good too! Dang was I right! The pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting were sooo good. The cupcake recipe was from Taste of Home and the frosting recipe was from one of my favorite blogs, Oh, Just Put A Cupcake In It.

The cupcakes were soft and moist with just the right amount of spice. And this could quit possibly be the best cream cheese frosting I have ever tasted. It had the perfect proportion of cream cheese and powder sugar. Pair the two together and it was like taking a bite of heaven!

Pumpkin Cupcakes

2 cups sugar (I used 1 cup white and 1 cup light brown sugar)
3/4 cup oil
1 15 oz can pumpkin (not pie mix)
4 eggs
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 350. In small bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. In large mixing bowl, combine sugar, oil, pumpkin, and eggs. Mix on medium until well combined. Mix in dry ingredients and beat until well mixed. Fill muffin cup up 2/3 full, bake 18-22 minutes.


Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8 oz softened cream cheese
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
6 cups sifted powdered sugar
pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla
splash cream

Cream together cream cheese and butter, add sugar, vanilla and salt and beat until creamy. Check your consistency...if you want it thinner, add a splash of cream and beat well to combine.