Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

I know I've posted a lot of pumpkin things lately, but this is probably my last one, so if you are sick of pumpkin just bear with me. Personally, I don't ever get sick of it. Since muffins are always at the top of my list of things to bake, pumpkin muffins were a no brainer this fall, and these muffins didn't disappoint. A nice basic pumpkin muffin, topped with a simple streusel, they are pretty and tasty. Sometimes a simple recipe is just the thing I'm looking for. If you need a easy but delicious pumpkin muffin recipe, this fits the bill.

I actually made these muffins twice in the last couple of weeks, first for myself, and the second time to share with friends at school. For the first batch that I made, I used the streusel recipe that I found with the muffin recipe. This is the streusel that is shown in my pictures. I thought it was very pretty, and tasted quite nice, but just didn't quite cut it as a streusel topping for me. It was a little too floury. I prefer my streusel to be chunky and buttery, so for the second batch I used a different streusel recipe which worked out very nice. I've listed both options below; either one you choose will be very tasty, it's just a matter of opinion. What really matters is just that you make these muffins. They are the perfect breakfast treat for a chilly fall morning!

Pumpkin Streusel Muffins
Adapted from: Buns In My Oven
Ingredients
For the muffins:

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2/3 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Streusel topping option #1:

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons cold butter

Streusel topping option #2

• 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions
For the streusel, combine the flour and brown sugar in a small bowl. Cut in butter until the mixture is crumbly. Set aside. 

For the muffins, cream together butter and sugars until creamy. Beat in pumpkin, buttermilk, eggs and molasses. 

Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl and mix into the batter. Stir just until combined. Fill paper lined muffins cups 2/3 full with batter. Spoon streusel topping over the muffins and bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 375, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Enjoy!

Beef Stroganoff

Cold weather always leaves me craving something hearty and warm for dinner. As I was perusing some recipes last week this Beef Stroganoff recipe called out my name and begged me to make it. Chunks of beef simmered with onions and mushrooms in broth and brandy, finished off with sour cream and served with egg noodles. It sounded like the perfect thing to satisfy my craving for something warm and delicious, and it was. Not only was it delicious, but this recipe is quite simple, not too many ingredients, and everything cooks in one skillet, even the noodles. I love only having to get one pan dirty!

Simple ingredients, simple recipe, outstanding results. This is a wonderful winter meal that I can definitely make again. All you need to do is cut up some meat into chunks, and brown them in a skillet. Remove the beef, add mushrooms and onions and cook until they release all of their liquid. Then you just add the broth and brandy, return the meat to the skillet and let it simmer for half and hour or so. Add in the noodles at the end and continue cooking until they are cooked through. Remove the skillet from the heat, add the sour cream, and dig in, yum!

This dish made me happy and warm as I ate it, the flavors are so nice. I ate my leftovers the next day at lunch and thought it was almost better the next day. The flavors had had a chance to sit and meld together, so if it seems like too big of a recipe for you or your family, have no fear, it reheats beautifully!

Ingredients shot

Cut the beef up

and brown it up

Then throw in the mushrooms

and onions

Add in the stock, brandy and beef

Finally it's time for the noodles

and sour cream

Mmmm...

Skillet Beef Stroganoff
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen
Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds sirloin tips, pounded and cut into 1/2-inch strips
• Salt and pepper
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 10 ounces white mushrooms, sliced thin
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon tomato paste
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups beef broth
• 1/3 cup brandy
• 6 ounces egg noodles (about 4 cups)
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 2 tsp lemon juice

Directions
Pat beef dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a 12-inch skillet until hot. Add half of the beef and cook until well browned on both sides, 6-8 minutes total. Transfer beef to a bowl and repeat with the remaining meat. 

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in the now empty skillet. Add mushrooms and onions and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and cook until the liquid from the mushrooms has evaporated, about 8 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook for 30 seconds. Add the tomato paste, and then gradually stir in the broth and brandy, then return the beef and any accumulated juices to the skillet. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook over low heat until the beef is nice and tender, about 30-35 minutes. 

Stir the noodles into the skillet, cover and cook for about 10-12 minutes, or until the noodles are tender, stirring occasionally. Take the skillet off the heat and add the sour cream and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and serve. 

Pink Cake Pops

At the end of this past summer, a friend an neighbor of mine approached Lara and I and asked us if we would be willing to make her cake pops for her wedding which was going to be in October. We said yes and were very excited to help her our. After making cupcakes for my cousin's wedding in May I felt prepared to try something new for another wedding. There was only one slight problem with all of this though, I had never made cake pops before. I wasn't too worried about it, I knew I could figure it out, but there was still some apprehension about the whole process. After doing a test run in August on cake pop making, I felt ready to go and just had to wait until October. In the end the whole process went very smoothly, and the cake pops turned out great. Congratulations Stacey!

In case you don't know, cake pops are basically cake that you destroy and then mush up with frosting, form into balls, place on a stick and dip into chocolate. It's not a complicated process, but it is time consuming and somewhat labor intense, well at least when you are making over 200 at one time it is! The nice thing about cake pops is that they keep very well for at least a week or two meaning you can make them ahead and not worry too much about them losing quality. Because they are full of frosting they are super moist, and once you dip them in the chocolate this moistness kind of gets sealed in, they don't dry out or loose flavor very quickly. This was nice for me because I didn't have to make them all in the one or two nights before the wedding, I actually started about two weeks before the wedding and was done several days before they were needed. This took some stress off of me which was very nice.

When it was all said and done I think I ended up with about 220 cake pops. There was a little bit of a learning curve with how to dip them in the chocolate, my first few weren't so pretty, but by the end I was a pro at it. Stacey wanted white cake with pink white chocolate and pink sanding sugar, all of which I ordered online. I really had no idea how much of the chocolate or the sugar I would need. In the end I used about 6 pounds of the white chocolate and 2 pounds of sanding sugar total, and this was for cake pops that were 30 grams each.

To be honest, I never could have done this all alone. Having a built in baking partner at home was a must for this project. Trying to study the anatomy of the head and neck and make 200 cake pops all alone would have been difficult. But with a partner, it wasn't so bad at all! Thanks Lara, we make a good team!

After dipping, letting the chocolate dry

All lined up, ready to wrap

200 cake pops later

Cake pops, the perfect wedding favor

Simple White Cake
Adapted from Annie Eats
Ingredients

• 1 cup whole milk, divided
• 6 large egg whites
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 2¾ cups (11 oz.) cake flour, sifted
• 1½ cups (10.5 oz) sugar
• 1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. baking powder
• ¾ tsp. salt
• 12 tbsp. (¾ cup) butter, at room temperature

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. In a liquid measuring cup, combine ¼ cup of the whole milk, egg whites,  and vanilla extract. Whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix briefly on low speed to combine, about 30 seconds.

Add in the butter and mix on low speed until the mixture resembles wet sand, about 30 seconds. Mix in the remaining ¾ cup of milk, then increase the speed to medium and beat for about 90 seconds more. 

With the mixture on low speed, add the egg white mixture in three additions, mixing for about 20 seconds after each addition. Scrape down the bowl as needed.

Pour the batter into a greased 9x13-inch pan. Bake, rotating the pan halfway through, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

Chocolate Madeleines

Chocolate cake was sounding good to me this weekend, but I didn't feel like taking the time to make a whole chocolate cake, plus what would I do with it? I just can't justify eating the whole thing on my own. Then I remembered my Madeleine pan; bite size chocolate cake that don't need to be frosted, perfect! This recipe requires an overnight chill in the fridge, so you have to think ahead a little, but the end product was delicious. Intensely rich, deep chocolate flavor packaged up in a two bite snack, just the right thing to satisfy my chocolate cake craving.

A simple and delicious recipe, it shouldn't have been a problem right? Well, when your oven decides to die the day you are ready to bake it is a problem. There my batter was, waiting patiently in the fridge, but there was no usable oven in sight. I finally texted my sister-in-law and asked if I could come over and borrow her oven, I didn't want all my efforts to go to waste. I'm glad I was able to end up baking these little guys, they made my Saturday afternoon study session much happier. If you have a Madeleine pan I highly recommend giving these little guys a try!

Wet and dry, ready to go

Time to chill in the fridge

A perfect little snack

Chocolate Madeleines
From Lemon and Anchovies
Ingredients

• ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon (70 grams) all-purpose flour
• 3½ tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• ½ teaspoon double-acting baking powder
• ⅓ cup plus two tablespoons (90 grams) sugar
• Pinch of salt (I don't think my pinch was quite big enough, they could have used a little more salt, so don't be afraid to take a nice big pinch!)
• Grated zest of ¼ lemon (optional)
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 6½ tablespoons (3¼ ounces; 100 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

Directions
Sift together the flour, cocoa and baking powder and set aside. If using the lemon zest, combine the sugar, salt and lemon zest in another bowl and rub the ingredients together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist, grainy and aromatic.

Using a whisk, beat the eggs with the lemon-sugar mixture until blended. Squish the butter through your fingers and add to the bowl. You will be left with little clumps of butter in the mixture–this is okay. Beat in the butter with the whisk until it is evenly distributed. Whisk in the sifted flour mixture just until the flour is incorporated and mixture is smooth. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the batter and chill overnight. If you can’t wait overnight, chill the batter for at least an hour before baking.

When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Butter a 12-mold madeleine pan then dust it with flour (even if you are using a nonstick pan) and tap out the excess.

Divide the batter evenly among the madeleine molds–you don’t have to worry about spreading the batter on the molds, the heat will do that for you. Place the pan in the oven and use a wooden spoon to keep the oven door slightly ajar. Immediately turn down the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and bake the cookies for 11 – 13 minutes, or until the cookies are domed and spring back when pressed lightly. Unmold the cookies and transfer them to a rack to cool to room temperature.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Squares

Time for round two of the pumpkin recipes. It's the fall so I think two pumpkin recipes in a row is perfectly acceptable. Since I had some leftover pumpkin puree from the pumpkin bundt cake cake I just made I decided that I was obligated to make something else. When I saw the recipe for these bars they just sounded good. Chocolate and pumpkin is one of my favorite combinations so I was sure this recipe would be a winner. I was definitely right. I know it may not look or sound all that exciting, it's just a bar, but don't be fooled by it's humble appearance. This bars turned out even better than I had hoped. The pumpkin leant it's characteristic mild flavor and moistness to each bite, the two kinds of chocolate were bursts of delicious sweetness, and the fall spices warmed the whole thing up. A perfect combination.

This is a simple recipe, not much to say other than that you should try it. All you need is a can of pumpkin, chocolate and lots of butter. There is no reason not to make this, it is so yummy!

The ingredients, ready to go

Spread the batter in the pan

Ready for the oven

Baked!

Ready to dig in

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Squares
Adapted from Martha Stewart 
Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 4 ounces white chocolate, cut into chunks
• 8 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, spices, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until smooth; beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in pumpkin puree (mixture may appear curdled). Reduce speed to low, and mix in dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in chocolate.

Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake until edges begin to pull away from sides of pan and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 35 to 38 minutes. Cool completely in pan.

Cut into squares and enjoy!

Pumpkin Bundt Cake

I know I'm stating the obvious but it's fall. So what does fall mean for baking? Pumpkin of course! I love all pumpkin baked goods, pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin scones, pumpkin donut holes, pumpkin granola, the list could go on and on. (Everything except pumpkin pie actually, I'm not a huge pumpkin pie fan.) Pumpkin lends such a beautiful color to baked goods, I just love the way it looks, I think that this lovely color plays a big role in why I love using pumpkin in these different yummies. But of course, another reason I love baking things with pumpkin is because of the wonderful warm spices that are usually added to the various breads and cakes. Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger are the perfect complement to the mild flavor of the pumpkin.

Since a beautiful, new bundt pan has recently made it's way into my kitchen, baking a pumpkin bundt cake was the perfect way to spend a cold, rainy fall weekend. The aroma of all of those fall spices lingering in the air as the cake baked was soothing and the best way I can think of to welcome fall with open arms.

This was a pretty straightforward cake. Cream together butter and sugar, add eggs, add dry ingredients in batches alternating with milk, and finally mix in the pumpkin. Voila! I did do a little tweaking with the amount of spices in the cake. I know that above I stated how much I love these fall spices, and I do, but I like them in small doses. I therefore decreased the amount of nutmeg, cloves and ginger and increased the amount of cinnamon (I love cinnamon!). For me this amount of spiciness was perfect, not too overpowering, but definitely present. If you prefer a little spicier cake feel free to add a bit more than I have written below. Either way I'm sure it will turn out wonderfully! I think this cake might be a nice alternative to pumpkin pie for a delicious Thanksgiving dessert.

 Pour batter into greased pan

 Bake!

 The new bundt pan worked beautifully!

 Finish off with a little powdered sugar

 Dig in!

 Mmmm

I'm glad it made a big cake

Pumpkin Bundt Cake
Slightly adapted from Martha Stewart
Ingredients

• 4 cups flour, plus more for dusting
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
• 2 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin puree
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 14-cup Bundt pan with cooking spray. Dust with flour, and tap out excess.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Set aside.

Beat butter and brown sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on medium speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl. Reduce speed to low. Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk. Beat until just combined. Add pumpkin puree, and beat until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake cake until golden and a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Carefully turn cake onto rack too cool completely. Before serving, dust with confectioners' sugar.

Baked Egg "Muffins"

Now that I am super busy with school, it's a goal of mine to come up with recipes that I can make in large quantities and then freeze for a quick lunch or dinner during the week. Last weekend I looked in my fridge and found some leftover egg yolks that I didn't want to go to waste so I decided to bake them up in a muffin tin for some individual egg "muffins" that I can throw onto an english muffin along with some cheese and ham for a nice breakfast or lunch. Not fancy, but simple and delicious. It works for me!

There is no recipe with this, it is more of an idea. I just whisked together the egg yolks and a few whole eggs with a little milk, salt and pepper. Then just throw in whatever else you want; I did peppers and onions but cheese, or some type of meat would be delicious too. It's kind of like making scrambled eggs but instead of scrambling them in a frying pan, pour them into a (liberally) greased muffin tin and bake. Super easy and very versatile.

One word of caution; you don't want to fill up the muffin tins very full, about halfway is plenty. You can't tell from the pictures, but as they bake the egg really poofs up and you can have a mess on you hands if it all overflows. Once they come out of the oven they collapse and aren't nearly as tall, but mine looked almost like mini soufflés when they were fresh out of the oven.

I bake my little frittatas at 350 degrees for maybe 20-25 minutes. I didn't set a timer, but just kept my eyes on the oven and waited until they all looked set up. Just watch them to make sure they don't overbake. I threw the finished product into the freezer and have been eating them all week, yum!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies

Well, I've been busy at med school for about a month and I am loving it. It is a ton of work, but it's work I want to be doing so I don't mind it at all. You may have noticed however that I haven't been quite as busy on the blog. To be honest, I haven't had that much time to bake or cook. Hopefully now that I've gotten settled in to the routine of school I'll have a little more time to spend in the kitchen, but we'll see. Regardless, I'm still here and will put up some posts whenever I can.

I pulled this recipe from the archives of the summer. I never got around to posting it then, so here it is. If you like shortbread, chocolate and peanut butter you will love these. They may look like a regular chocolate chip cookie, but they have that wonderful, sandy shortbread texture, a texture I love!

The only trouble I had with this recipe involved cutting the cookies up. The chocolate chips kept getting in the way so it was hard to cut an even cookie. Because of this, the cookies weren't really very uniform in shape or thickness. This didn't seem to affect the taste at all however, they were still wonderfully delicious!

The dough, ready to chill

Rolled into a nice log and chilled, ready to cut

Onto the baking sheet

A delicious stack 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookiesa
From: The View From the Great Island
Ingredients

• 1 stick, (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temp 
• 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour 
• 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
• scant 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions
Cream the butter and the peanut butter together in a stand mixer, with a hand mixer, or a wooden spoon. Beat in the vanilla.

Whisk the dry ingredients together and add to the butter mixture. Mix until the dough comes together.

Stir in the chips, and turn the dough out onto a piece of waxed paper. Gently pull the dough together and form it into a log. If it is still crumbly, work it with your hands until it holds together smoothly. Roll it up in the paper, smoothing the shape as you go. Twist the ends securely and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours.

Slice the log into slices with a sharp knife. Not too thick, not too thin, about 1/3 inch. If a slice crumbles a bit, just smoosh the dough back together. These don't have to be perfect disks.

Bake on a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet at 325 for about 12-14 minutes. The cookies will not be browned, and they may look undone, but don't over bake. One of the joys of shortbread cookies is that they fall apart and melt in your mouth. 

Let the cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a rack.