Pumpkin Cupcakes

Well nothing says fall like pumpkin, and while Christmas season is gearing up, I thought I had time for one more “fall-ish” dessert.  tyler’s family is coming over for dinner tonight and we are having chili, potato soup, cornbread, and pumpkin cupcakes for dessert.  A million thanks to Bridget who did a comparison of 3 different pumpkin cupcake recipes to find the best one!

I topped these cupcakes with this cream cheese frosting and some of my homemade sugared pecans.

Pumpkin Cupcakes (adapted from David Leite via Smitten Kitchen)

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for greasing pans

1 cup firmly packed dark-brown sugar

⅓ cup granulated sugar

2 cups cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

⅛ teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 large eggs

½ cup buttermilk mixed with 1 teaspoon vanilla

1¼ cups canned solid-pack pumpkin

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° (175°C). Line cupcake pans with 24 liners.

2. In a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars on medium speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt,

and pepper into a medium bowl.

3. Add the eggs 1 at a time to the mixer, scraping down the sides after each addition. Alternate

adding the flour and milk mixtures, beginning and ending with the flour. Beat in the pumpkin until

smooth. Divide the batter equally between the cups. (They’ll be about ¾ full.) Rap the filled pans

once on the counter to release any air bubbles. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted into the

center comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Cool the cupcakes on racks completely.

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Macaroons

I grew up eating chocolate macaroons, and until last month had never tried a regular macaroon.  I tried one in San Francisco and WOW, it was fantastic!  I do love coconut after all!  So for a quick and easy dessert to take to Thanksgiving dinner at my aunt’s, I decided to whip up a batch.  These are so easy to make and they taste yummy, although next time I will cut back on the almond extract as it seemed to be very potent.  I wasn’t sure how well received they would be but many of my aunts and uncles seemed to like them, so it seems they are a winner!  I drizzled a few with chocolate (leftover mini Hersheys bars from Halloween!)

Macaroons (from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

5 1/2 cups flaked coconut

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
-In large mixing bowl, combine coconut, sweetened condensed milk and extracts; mix well.

-Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto aluminum foil-lined and generously greased baking sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Immediately remove from baking sheets. Store loosely covered at room temperature.

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Au Gratin

Tyler bookmarked this recipe in this month’s Cooking Light and I was skeptical, but it won me over!  I don’t usually eat sweet potatoes or squash because they are so….sweet.  However, drench them in swiss cheese and I’m a big fan!  This recipe took some time to pull together, but it was worth the wait!

Sweet Potato and Butternut Gratin (from Cooking Light)

Ingredients

2  tablespoons  butter

1  ounce  pancetta, chopped

1/4  cup  chopped shallots

2  garlic cloves, minced

1.38  ounces  all-purpose flour, divided (about 5 tablespoons)

1  teaspoon  chopped fresh thyme

2  cups  2% reduced-fat milk

3/4  cup  (3 ounces) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1/2  teaspoon  salt

1/2  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper

1/8  teaspoon  ground red pepper

1  pound  baking potato, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch-thick slices

8  ounces  sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch-thick slices

8  ounces  butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch-thick slices

Cooking spray

1/3  cup  (1 1/2 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add pancetta; cook 1 minute. Add shallots and garlic; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Weigh or lightly spoon 1.1 ounces (about 1/4 cup) flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Add to pan; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly with a whisk. Stir in thyme. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly with a whisk; cook over medium heat until slightly thick (about 3 minutes), stirring constantly. Stir in Parmigiano-Reggiano; cook 3 minutes or until cheese melts. Stir in salt and peppers. Remove from heat.

3. Cook baking potato in boiling water 4 minutes or until almost tender; remove with a slotted spoon. Cook sweet potato in boiling water 4 minutes or until almost tender; remove with a slotted spoon. Cook butternut squash in boiling water 4 minutes or until almost tender; drain. Sprinkle vegetables evenly with remaining 1 tablespoon flour. Arrange potatoes and squash in alternating layers in a broiler-safe 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray; spoon sauce over potato mixture. Top with Gruyère. Bake at 375° for 40 minutes.

4. Preheat broiler. Broil 3 minutes or until golden. Let stand 10 minutes.

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Homemade Apple Pie…filling

Okay so the filling is homemade, but I long ago gave up on making my own pie crusts, why get myself all frustrated and pissed off when I don’t have to?  Maybe I’ll have it figured out by the time I’m a grandma!  This is Tyler’s second favorite pie (blueberry is his most favorite) and I use his mom’s recipe, which is pretty basic but very delicious!  I took some pictures of the different steps for once to share with you.

not so secret ingredient

I am horrible at peeling whole apples, so I use my apple slicer to slice them into wedges and then peel them from there, fast and *almost* foolproof.

toss in the dry ingredients

lalalalala stir it up….

begin the assembling process!  Butter on top of the apples, don’t forget to do this before you add the top crust (I almost always forget!)

time to up the cute factor, courtesy of Pampered Chef!

lookin good…

whoops, probably should of put the apple cut outs closer to the center…

brushed the top with a bit of milk

ready for baking!  I have this nifty Pampered Chef crust guard I use, it lines up well with my deep dish Pampered Chef pie plate

The finished product, hot and fresh from the oven!

Homemade Apple Pie (family recipe)

Ingredients:

2 nine inch pie crusts
6 cups peeled and sliced granny smith apples
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup flour
dash of salt
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t cinnamon
2 T butter

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2.  Combine apples, and all ingredients except for the butter in a large bowl, stir until apples are coated.
3.  Place first pie crust in the bottom of the pie plate
4.  Add filling.
5.  Cut butter into small piece and sprinkle across the top of the filling.
6.  Place top crust and seal edges.
7.  Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees, then 35-45 minutes at 350 degrees.
8.  Let cool, then eat!  (with ice cream unless you are a weirdo like my husband!)

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