Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Yes it's another pumpkin recipe...what can I say it tis the season for pumpkin!

This is another recipe from my sister Rebekah.

And sorry for the bad pic...I mistakenly put them in my silicone muffin tin without a liner and I had the hardest time trying to get them out in one piece, so I decided I was just going to have to take a picture of them still in the tin.


Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
14 oz pumpkin (1/2 a large 29 oz can)
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
12 oz bag of milk chocolate chips, or raisins or pecans *optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl or Kitchen Aid, cream the butter or margarine, then add in the sugar and cream well. Beat in the eggs then add the pumpkin and vanilla and mix well.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well.

Add in desired amount of chocolate chips, raisins, or pecans.

Line muffin tins with liners and spray Pam on the top of the muffin tin (helps with removing the muffins from the tin). Fill the muffin cups almost full if you like a nice big crunchy muffin top or a little less full if you don't want a big muffin top.

Bake for approximately 20 - 30 minutes (depending on how full you filled your muffin cups) until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Note: the fuller the cups, the more the muffin top will spread on the top of the tin, if that makes sense!

Note: You can also make this into pumpkin loaves, bake time will be approximately 60-65 minutes.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cookies

This is one of my sister Rebekah's recipes. I haven't made them for years, but as I've been wanting to make some pumpkin recipes for weeks I finally made them last week! I ended up taking them all the Church for my Relief Society lesson so I didn't a picture, but I will next time!

Pumpkin Cookies
1 cup margarine or butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups of pumpkin (14-16 oz can of pumpkin) **
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
3 cups flour

1 bag of milk chocolate chips (12 oz bag)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream together the margarine/butter and sugars in a large bowl / KitchenAid. Then add the eggs and vanilla and cream till well mixed. Then add the pumpkin and mix well. In separate bowl mix the dry ingredients together, then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until well mixed. Add the chocolate chips and mix well by hand.

Spoon onto ungreased non stick cookie sheets (if not non stick, then spray PAM on the cookie sheet).

Cook for 15 minutes. Let sit for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.

*Note: Makes approximately 2-3 dozen cookies, depending on size of cookies.

*Note: You want the cookie batter super thick, so you might want/need to add a little extra flour. The cookies should be nice and thick (almost like a mini muffin) when they're done baking. If they flatten too much you'll want to add a little more flour!

**Note: If you have a large can of pumpkin (29 oz) that you'd like to use you can double the recipe.

Enjoy!

Easy Cheese Quesidilla Appetizer

This is super easy and surprisingly yummy! I had the idea while trying to make a quick lunch one day. I was making a simple cheese quesidilla and saw some left over brushetta topping in the fridge and thought it would probably taste good on top...I was right...it's delicious!

So this is very simple and not too much of an actual recipe as I don't use exact amounts, but to help give you a bit of an idea I've guesstimated amounts here to make 2 quesidilla's.

Easy Cheese Quesidilla Appetizer

2 un-cooked flour tortillas (or cooked flour tortilla)
3/4 - 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
2 tbsp sour cream
1/2 large tomato, diced
1-2 green onions, chopped
1 tsp olive oil, approximately
1 tsp minced garlic
pinch of salt

Dice the tomato, green onions and mix together with olive oil, minced garlic and salt. Let mixture marinate while making the quesidilla.

Cook one side of the tortilla over medium heat in a large frying pan. Flip it over and sprinkle grated cheddar cheese on half of the tortilla, then fold the tortilla in half. Cook the tortilla for a few minutes and then flip it over and cook the other side. Remove the tortilla to a plate and spread a thin layer of sour cream on the tortilla and then put the tomato mixture on top.

*Note: The amount of tomatoes, green onions, olive oil, garlic and salt will depend on the amount you'd like to make. The mixture will keep well in the fridge for a couple of days if you'd like to make extra and then use it as needed.

Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Soup

A friend of Chris's made this soup at work for one of their potluck Sunday lunches and Chris liked it so much he brought some of it home for me. I was happy because it's delicious!

The original recipe was from RecipeZaar, I made a few small additions.

Butternut Squash Soup

1 tbsp olive oil
1 heaping tbsp minced garlic (or 1 clove fresh garlic, minced)
1/2 large onion, chopped
1/2 of a large butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed (about 1 1/2 lbs or 5 cups of cubed squash)
1 large carrot, diced
1 tsp ground dry sage (or 1 tsp fresh sage, chopped)
pinch of rosemary leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
3 cups vegetable or chicken broth (or 3 cups water plus veggie/chicken bouillon or base)
Parmesan cheese to garnish (or shredded cheese)

*Note: I just ran out of ginger and nutmeg, but if I had any I think I might add a pinch of one or both of these in the soup as well. Maybe in place of the rosemary leaves and maybe in addition to.

Add oil, garlic and onion to a large pot and saute over medium heat for 3-4 minutes.

Add sage, rosemary leaves, (ginger, nutmeg,) salt, pepper, broth, squash and carrots and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, or until squash is cooked through.

Remove from heat and puree in blender (puree half or all of the soup, depending if you'd like to have any chunks remaining in the soup).

Return to medium heat and continue to cook for a couple minutes before serving.

Serve garnished with cheese and fresh sage if desired.

Serve in bread bowls, with fresh breadsticks, etc.

Enjoy!

*Note: This recipe makes about 8 cups of soup, so if you want a nice big pot to feed a lot of people you'll want to double it and use a large butternut squash!

Hot Fudge Sauce

So I've been a slacker and haven't posted a recipe in over a month...I've got lots saved in my drafts, but I just haven't gotten to posting any of them. But since I've been seriously obsessed with this hot fudge sauce for the last couple weeks I thought it was only fair to share the wealth and post the recipe!

I have been searching for a good hot fudge sauce recipe since I started making "The Bomb Brownies"...I've tried a few, but haven't been happy with them, then I remembered reading this post and I decided to try it.

The original recipe called for Carnation Evaporated Milk, but since I didn't have any and it was late at night and we just had to have hot fudge sauce on our vanilla ice cream I decided to improvise! I'm going to have to make it with the evaporated milk to see which one I like better, but let's just say I'm LOVING it just the way I made it...in fact I can't get enough of it and I've been craving it every day since - so much so that I had to run to the store to get some store bought ice cream when we ran out of the good stuff! Sadly it's not as good with the store bought ice cream, but I'll take what I can get;)

Hot Fudge Sauce
1 1/2 cups of butter (3 sticks for those of us in the US of A)
1 1/2 cups of whipping cream (or 1 - 12 ounce can of Carnation evaporated milk)
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp cocoa
7 1/2 cups powdered sugar (or 2 lb. bag of powdered sugar)

Combine the butter, whipping cream & vanilla in a saucepan and cook on medium heat until butter is melted. Then add the cocoa & icing sugar & mix well on low heat. Once it is mixed well (meaning you can get rid of as many of the little chunks as you can), pour it into a blender and puree it for a good 3-4 minutes. If all the little chunks haven't disappeared, puree it for a couple more minutes. (Beware not to fill the blender too full as the heat of the sauce will increase the pressure in the blender and if it's too full the top may pop off and make a huge mess...so you may just want to puree it in two batches to avoid this. Chris also suggested not putting the lid on too tightly as that will let the pressure escape, but I'm too nervous the lid will pop off to try this method and just stick with doing 1/2 batch at a time.)

Serve over vanilla ice cream...homemade is definitely the best;)

Note: I like it made with the whipping cream better!

Enjoy!

Eggplant Parmesan

So Chris first made this for me for Valentine's dinner this past Valentine's. I was quite impressed he came up with making Eggplant Parmesan for me and then even more impressed with how much I loved it! In fact, I've been thinking about making it a lot lately, I just need to remember to get more eggplant!

Instead of your traditional Eggplant Parmesan, this is a little different as it's layered almost like lasagna...and actually the last time I made it I had the idea to add a cottage cheese layer the next time I make it. I added it this time and it was delicious! Feel free to omit the cottage cheese layer if you like;)

Eggplant Parmesan
1 large eggplant, peeled and thinly sliced
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/3 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs, approximately (I don't measure but just use as much as needed)
3 1/2 cups Rose sauce, (you can also use regular spaghetti sauce, but we prefer the rose sauce), approximately
1 1/2 - 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, approximately (again I don't measure but use as much as needed)
3 tbsp Parmesan cheese, approximately
1/8 tsp dried basil

Optional cottage cheese layer:
16 oz cottage cheese
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Dip eggplant slices in beaten egg, then in bread crumbs. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with PAM. Bake in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes on each side.

In a 9x9 inch baking dish (that has been sprayed with PAM) cover the bottom of the dish with a thin layer of spaghetti sauce. Then place a layer of eggplant slices in the sauce and sprinkle with the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Repeat the sauce, eggplant, cheese layers, ending with the cheeses on top. Sprinkle basil on top.

Optional cottage cheese layer:
Add a layer of the cottage cheese mixture sprinkled with a little mozzarella cheese in place of one or two of the cheese layers.

Cover with tin foil and bake for 35 minutes. Then remove the tin foil and bake for another 10 - 15 minutes or until golden brown.

*Note: If you don't slice the eggplant thinly enough you might want to bake the dish for an extra 10-15 minutes, as you want to make sure the eggplant is tender before removing the tin foil and baking for the additional 10-15 mins.

Enjoy!

The "I'm Addicted" Chocolate Cupcakes

My sister Rachel is a professional cake decorator and made these cupcakes for our wedding (the first pic). Chris absolutely LOVED them and was thrilled to find a number of them in the freezer waiting for us when we got home from our honeymoon (thanks to my mum for saving them for him).

I made them for Chris as a surprise on our first Valentine's Day thanks to Rachel sending me the recipe. Then I made them for him again this past Valentine's Day and decided I was addicted to them so they've been a staple in our freezer ever since. (They freeze perfectly, you just pull them out of the freezer about 1/2 hour before you want to eat one and voila...fresh yummy addicting cupcakes).

The funny thing is it's only been since this last Valentine's Day that I've become addicted to them...for some reason I'm way more into chocolate now than I ever used to be. In fact, I think I like them even more than Chris now which I wouldn't have thought was possible.

You can use any chocolate cake recipe for the cupcakes, but since Sarah discovered the Extreme Chocolate Cake recipe that's the only one I use. It really is the best.

The "I'm Addicted" Chocolate Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two muffin tins with liners and then spray with PAM. Make the Extreme Chocolate Cake recipe and pour into each muffin cup. The easiest and non-messiest way I have found to do this is to fill up a large 2 or 4 cup measuring cup with the batter and then pour the batter in to each cup. Be sure not to fill each cup more than 3/4 full as they will overflow and spread flat (instead of making a nice round top like most cupcakes/muffins). Cook the cupcakes for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

Remove cupcakes from the pan and cool on a metal rack. Once cooled, fill with chocolate ganache and then frost with Chocolate Buttercream Icing. Then try to eat just one..I dare you;)

If you're feeling really fancy you can top the cupcakes with strawberries dipped in chocolate (Rachel used Dove dark chocolate, but Chris and I like milk chocolate more than dark chocolate, so I use Dove milk chocolate).

Chocolate Ganache/Truffle Filling

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream (6 oz)

8 oz (8 squares) semi-sweet or dark Bakers chocolate, depending on your preference

1 tsp vanilla

pinch of salt

Chop the chocolate into fine pieces and put in a bowl, along with the vanilla and salt. Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan until hot, but not boiling (you will see bubbles forming just around the edges which will tell you it's hot enough). Pour hot cream over chocolate. Let sit for 30 sec or so and then whisk until the chocolate is melted. Cover and refrigerate until it reaches the desired consistency, approximately 2 -3 hours.

Fill a pastry / icing bag with the ganache and using a decorative tip with a large hole fill each cupcake with some ganache. (You'll use the tip to make a hole in the middle of the cupcake and then insert the tip in to the cupcake about 1/2 inch and squeeze some of the ganache into the hole. You'll know when it's enough as the ganache will start coming out the top.)

*Note: If the ganache is left too long in the fridge and you're unable to squeeze it through the pastry bag, let it sit at room temperature for 10 - 15 minutes and try again. You can also handle the bag a little and it will soften from the heat of your hands.

*Note: If filling 24 cupcakes you will most likely have a little ganache left over. No worries, you can keep it in the fridge and eat it with a spoon;) Or spread it on graham crackers or of course use it in another recipe. However, if you're a little more conservative in how much ganache filling you put in to each cupcake you can get away with halving the recipe: 3 oz heavy whipping cream, 4 oz (4 squares) semi-sweet or dark Baker's chocolate, 1/2 tsp vanilla, smallest amount of salt.

Chocolate Buttercream Icing

4 cups icing sugar

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 - 3/4 cup cocoa powder (depends on how chocolate-y you want it) or 3 oz unsweetened chocolate squares, melted
1 tsp vanilla

3-4 tbsp milk (just enough to get to the right spreading consistency)

In a large bowl or Kitchen Aid, cream together shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add cocoa powder and vanilla and beat till smooth. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.

Fill a pastry / icing bag with the icing and then using whatever decorative tip you'd like, frost the cupcakes.

*Note: Keep bowl of icing covered with a damp cloth when not in use.

*Note: Icing should be refrigerated in an airtight container when not in use and can be stored for up to 2 weeks. To use after icing has been refrigerated, return to room temperature and re-whip.