Double Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins

Don't you love it when you take a chance to alter one of your favorite go-to recipes and it turns out AWESOME? :) I've been making this pumpkin muffin/bread recipe for quite some time. I had the brilliant idea to swap some of the flour for cocoa powder + add chocolate chips. These muffins are SO moist & heavenly. Best of all, no oil or butter makes them like super healthy, right? :) No seriously, pumpkin is so good for you. :) I used some whole wheat white flour too because that's what I had- no one knew the difference! :)

Double Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins
yield: 2 dozen muffins- halving the recipe works great too!

• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 can (16 oz) pumpkin puree
• 2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 3/4 tsp ground cloves
• 3/4 tsp ground ginger
• 2 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 & line your muffin cups. Whisk dry ingredients together & set aside. Mix together applesauce & sugar in large mixing bowl with electric mixer. Add pumpkin until combined. Slowly add dry ingredients Add eggs one at a time until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Scoop batter evenly into muffin cups - do not fill more than 3/4 full. Bake 20 minutes, or until top springs back lightly when touched. Cool slightly & enjoy. These are best when warm and the chocolate is melty! :) Yum.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Melt-in-your-Mouth Cookies!

Oh wow. Apparently I've been busy. I really don't have much to show for it. A few shopping bags, a lot of new kitchen stuff, a few amazing meals in Las Vegas, and like a billion cookies. I really wish I'd gotten around to posting this recipe before Halloween, but I'm not beating myself up about it too much because people still love pumpkin stuff way into the fall months. I'm having a hard time believing its fall when its 85 degrees in Austin. At least my office keeps the AC going enough to give the little space heater under my desk a workout. :)

Anyway, these cookies are simply fabulous. They really do melt in your mouth- I honestly cannot tell you how many I ate. They are a little cakey & a little fall spicey & not too sweet. I was desperately looking for a home for all of these cookies since G is not a huge fan of pumpkin things (I know!!). This recipe makes  A LOT of cookies, and it is only half of the original recipe! Craziness! But seriously, please make these before you get tired of pumpkin stuff! They will make you about 837 new friends.

Pumpkin Butter Bars

This recipe is another reason that pumpkin should be eaten year-round. These are DELICIOUS! AMAZING. I've never had a baked good disappear so fast at work. I had to set one aside to take home to the bf so he could try them too. These are also easy, and you can make them too! The original recipe is from Williams Sonoma (found on the jar of their Pecan Pumpkin butter), but I grabbed it from Bakerella. I couldn't find the WS butter, so I grabbed this version of Maple Pumpkin Butter from the grocery store.

Worked like a charm! :)

Something about the yellow cake base and the cinnamon and the crumble makes these almost like a coffee cake. I brought them for a breakfast potluck last week, but they would work well as a dessert bar too. Or really any meal. :)

Ghobusters Cupcakes with SLIME!

First I saw this. Then I saw this. And this. I knew I wanted to make something Halloween-inspired for my Halloween potluck at work (woo-hoo big party!), and thus Ghostbusters cupcakes were born.

Nothing too original here, but I do think that the slime idea was kinda cute. I got a couple different reactions on the slime (which is just green buttercream), ranging from "WHAT IS THIS GREEN STUFF?! What is in the middle of this cupcake?!" to "YUM! Slime!" The chocolate pumpkin cupcake recipe was found from The Dutch Baker's Daughter, which was adapted from Amanda. It was very tasty and moist, but was still a little too muffiny for me- although the icing added more than enough sweetness. Maybe this is because I bake a lot of pumpkin muffins, but not a lot of pumpkin cake... The bf kept saying "OMG! These are the best muffins ever! You could seriously sell these." EVERY time he ate one (which was a lot- as much as 4 in one day!), but I think next time I would definitely add more cocoa to make them more chocolatey. I also need to hone my ghost-making skills, but most people seemed to know what they were! :)

My friend Sandy came over with her dog, Sonny, for dinner (I made Fiesta Chicken Salad again) and she stayed to make cupcakes with me. Oh and here are my other "helpers." G was testing out his new office chair...


And then Sonny wanted to test it out too...


Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes

• 2 cups AP flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp all spice (or equal parts ground cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves)
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup canola oil (I used vegetable)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1 can pumpkin puree (15 oz)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2-1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spices and cocoa. Set aside.

Using paddle attachment, combine sugar, oil and applesauce in large mixing bowl on low.


Add vanilla and pumpkin. Increase speed to medium and add eggs one at a time, beating well after each.

Gradually add flour fixture (so it doesn't poof everywhere!) and mix until just combined.

Turn off mixer and use spatula to scrape sides and bottom of bowl to combine everything well.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Scoop batter into muffin cups (I use a measuring scoop to make less of a mess).

Bake 18-20 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool completely before icing.

Vanilla Buttercream (and Green Slime filling)

• 1 cup butter, softened to room temperature
• 3-4 cups powdered sugar (sifted)
  
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2-4 TBSP milk
• food coloring

Using paddle attachment, cream butter for several minutes, until fluffy. Slowly add 3 cups powdered sugar (again, beware of the poof!) while on lowest speed. Increase speed to medium and add vanilla and 2 TBSP milk. Gradually add more sugar to stiffen and milk to soften until you have the perfect consistency. If you're going to pipe the icing, it will need to be a little thicker.

Separate about 1/4 of the icing into a small bowl and add food coloring until you get desired color (i.e. SLIME green), mixing thoroughly to incorporate color.

Place a long, filling tip into your icing bag and fill (no more than 3/4 full), twisting the end. If you don't have an icing bag, a Ziploc bag with the end snipped off works OK (although you really need this tip to be able to insert the filling). I am by no means working with professional tools- I got my bags and tips in a cheap cupcake decorating set from H-E-B (local grocery store)!

Next, color a spoonful of icing in a third bowl black or dark gray (this took a while for me to do with my food coloring- which is why I need gel icing for Christmas!) and place into an icing bag with only the smallest opening cut off at the end (no need for a tip unless you have a teeny tiny one).

Fill a third icing bag with the white icing to make your ghosts (I used the wider, rounded icing tip).

Once your cupcakes are cool, insert the long filler tip 1/2 inch into the top of the cupcake and squeeze for 2 seconds before pulling tip out carefully. Wa-la!- slime!

I couldn't really tell how much I was putting in there, but I knew I didn't want much, since I already had a lot of vanilla icing going on. If you want to put more you definitely could. It would also be really tasty with another flavor (chocolate? peanut butter?) inside with a different flavor (chocolate? vanilla?) cupcake. Oh the possibilities are endless!

Using the vanilla icing, slowly pipe into a circle on top, gradually piling on top like a snake and ending at the top with a little extra blob for Mr. Ghost's head. You can use the black icing to draw eyes or a face. Keep in fridge until you're ready to scare your guests! Boo!

As you can see, I ran out of white icing (next time I would make 1 1/2 times this recipe) and made a few "gak" cupcakes with my leftover slime!

Hope everyone had a great Halloween with lots of treats!

-Marissa

Amazing Pumpkin Spice Pancakes and Vacation Jars

Must. make. more. pumpkin. recipes. After posting about so many delicious recipes, I woke up Saturday morning thinking about these pumpkin pancakes from Pennies on a Platter. I normally prefer waffles, but the waffle iron I have does not know how to make good waffles. It's OK- I was able to suffer through eating these pancakes! :) They're delicious!!! So much better than I expected. The pumpkin flavor is not overpowering at all, and the cinnamon sugar really makes this dish! Please make these soon!

The bf said they were "good" and "nicely cooked"... and then informed me that he does not like pumpkin... WHAT?! He didn't tell me this until now, but he has not had a problem eating the pumpkin muffins or these pumpkin pancakes. Hmm.... I thought I might have needed to find someone else to come over and eat these when I used the leftover batter Sunday morning. But, surprise, surprise the bf gobbled them down again..hmmm all that pumpkin must be killing him!

I also wanted to share our vacation jars with you. I saw this idea at someone's house years ago and couldn't wait to start this tradition! While vacationing, I collect small souvenirs, ticket stubs, etc. in a bag and when I get back I arrange them in a jar to put on display. Tada! Decor AND special memories. It took me while to find the cheap canning jars I had envisioned, but I finally found them last week at the Container Store for around $5! I wish I had remembered this idea sooner, because I've already missed several trips. One of the best parts of making these jars is that you're always on the lookout for fun things to put in your jar and its so cheap compared to buying other souvenirs, since most of the things you put in are FREE. The bf gave me a big thumbs up!

Riviera Maya,Mexico- August 2010

London, England- October 2010.

This jar is just waiting to be filled. Any suggestions on where I should go to fill this baby up? :)

Amazing Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

• 1 1/4 cups AP flour
• 2 TBSP brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• dash of ground ginger
• dash of ground cloves
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 large egg
• 2 TBSP melted butter (or vegetable oil)

Preheat oven to 200. Set aside baking sheet or oven-safe platter. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and spices in a large bowl and set aside. Make sure to squish any brown sugar chunks.

In a separate small bowl combine milk, pumpkin, egg and butter.

Slowly incorporate wet mixture into dry mixture. Mix until just combined. The batter may look lumpy- that's OK!

Heat a greased skillet/griddle over medium heat. Pour the patter onto the skillet in 1/3 cup increments. If you want a perfect pancake shape, use the back of a spoon or bottom of measuring cup to shape. As you can tell, I was way too hungry for this step! When bubbles start forming on the top, carefully flip over with spatula.

Let cook a few more minutes until golden brown. Transfer to baking sheet and keep warm in oven while you make all the pancakes, re-greasing pan as needed.

Serve with cinnamon sugar (I made my own) and maple syrup! Mmmmm

And then go back for seconds!

Hope you had a great weekend!

Perfectly Spiced Pumpkin Muffins

Mmmmm I just love fall baking! Pumpkin is so delicious in many many things.... I've found so many delicious recipes that I want to try! My list has grown so long that I'll have to save some for next year. And the year after that. Pumpkin waffles. Pumpkin scones. Pumpkin pancakes. Pumpkin coffee cake. Pumpkin french toast. Pumpkin whoopie pies. Pumpkin cupcakes. Pumpkin ice cream sandwiches. I could go on and on...pumpkin deliciousness is everywhere!

Since I was plotting the baking of these muffins for a while, I started thinking about what else I might need to up the ante. Normally when I make muffins, I just spray the pan and don't bother using muffin cups. I knew I was going to take these to work (and give them to G's UPS man-long story) and that I was going to need more cups to make pumpkin cupcakes for my work potluck next week. I stopped by Joanne's after work and picked up all these fall goodies- for 40-70% off!

Now I know you're wondering why I needed all of this for a few muffins...well it's no secret that I like to stock up. I admit it. I've tried to slow down lately since the bf thinks I'm a baking/kitchen tool hoarder (Wouldn't it be the worst if you REALLY wanted to make brownies and didn't have enough chocolate or no citrus juicer/zester to make that refreshing lemon gelato???!!!).... Well after seeing Bree's post on her baking pantry, I realized I really need a lot more things! haha My ingredient stock is fairly up to par, but I barely have any cookie cutters, icing tips, food coloring, baking cups, etc. And these were on SALE, so it's OK... :) Don't feel too bad for me, I'm working on my Christmas wish list as we speak!

I really do need to organize my baking cabinet soon. I might even take a few photos for you once its all done. After the main cabinet is organized, my grand plan is to keep flour, sugar, etc. in large glass canisters on the counter and have plastic drawers in the pantry/under the island for all my cutters/other decor. HEAVEN! OK you caught me- my grand grand plan is to have a super amazing kitchen with zillions of storage space and a craft room! Hey- a girl can dream....

Sorry I got a little carried away...I've had this pumpkin recipe for some time now. Not sure where it came from originally, but I got it from my dearest momma a few years ago. I don't remember her making this as often as the banana bread, but she does have a delicious pumpkin cake with cream cheese icing that she still makes for my little brother when he comes to visit (his fav). Yum!

Originally it was a bread recipe, but I found that sometimes the insides would get a bit gooey if not cooked the perfect amount of time, so I started making mini loaves, then it turned into muffins and mini muffins. In college I nannied for a family and made these for the kids all the time. That's when I swapped oil for applesauce and whole what flour for AP- and no one knew the difference. Everyone gobbled them up!

Again, apologies for the iphone photos... my camera will be returning to work soon!


Perfectly Spiced Pumpkin Muffins

• 1 c cooking oil (or unsweetened applesauce)
• 2 c sugar
• 2 cups (1 16oz can) pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie mix)
  
• 3 c white whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
  
• 1 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 3/4 tsp ground cloves
• 3/4 tsp ground ginger
• 2 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 4 eggs
  

Heat oven to 350. Mix dry ingredients together and set aside.

Mix applesauce and sugar in large mixing bowl.

Add pumpkin and mix until combined.

Add dry ingredients a little at a time.

Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each.

If you were feeling crazy, this is where you could stir in nuts or chocolate chips! Prepare muffin pan and fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Tap pan to make sure batter settles evenly.

Regular muffins...

AND minis...

Cinnamon sugar streusel is also particularly yummy when sprinkled on top. Cook for 20 minutes, or until top springs back when touched with finger and tester comes back clean.

For one large loaf, cook 1:15 in greased pan. For 3 small loaves- 35 minutes each. Mini muffins only need 10ish minutes.

Isn't that cute? I mean creepy...

Best served warm- Enjoy! :)

Please share your favorite pumpkin recipes with me so I can try theme before fall is over!