Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

My dear friends in America. You know how important pumpkin spice everything is to the truest of basic chicks and if you're in New England, you know very well that pumpkin spice is the sign that fall is upon us. It's the beacon for chunky sweaters, knee-high boots, black puffy vests, plaid, apple picking and beautiful foliage.

My dear friends in the UK. I've probably done a poor job explaining the religion that is pumpkin spice and why it's so sad that it's lacking in my life here. You say "but you can wear chunky sweaters and plaid and knee-high boots and black puffy vests while apple picking here, what's the problem?". The problem is you can stick a Christmas tree in your living room and wear red and green in July but it doesn't make it Christmas! The same goes for pumpkin spice. You can wear your Boston-fall-finest in England and step on a stray leaf but it's just not the same!!!

 

I've spent the last month looking for canned pumpkin. I know it exists here. I've seen it on the bottom shelf of the 'American' section of the Tesco. But for some reason, when I truly desire it, I can't find it. And now, I have a pumpkin problem. Behold! Pumpkin! And miracles of miracles, this country has finally realized the market of expats obsessed with pumpkin spice and they have given us: Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal. Rationally, I know this is normal oatmeal with sugar and cinnamon and nutmeg and cloves BUT it's the principle of the matter. I fell into the marketing trap and purchased the Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal. Because when it comes to fall, I'm as basic as they come.

 

There have been a number of pumpkin recipes gracing this blog (and many others) over the fall years but this is a first! Because what's more basic than pumpkin spice? Brunch. And so, we have pumpkin spice brunch for one, on the balcony, overlooking the pseudo-foliaged park. Because I will make fall a thing!

 

This recipe made 6 palm-sized pancakes and were perfect with a little maple syrup. No eggs or butter required either! Flour, spices, baking powder and a little bit of brown sugar are mixed in one bowl. Pumpkin and milk in another. They come together to create a beautiful orange batter which is cooked in a lightly oiled frying pan to make pancakes. The end. 

 

Recipe

• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salte
• 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup milk

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour through sugar). Add more or less cinnamon or nutmeg as you like.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the milk and pumpkin puree.
3. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture and stir to combine until you can  no longer see any flour.
4. In a lightly oiled and heated pan, cook the pancakes as usual. They may not have as many bubbles as normal pancakes so check the bottom after a few minutes and flip until cooked through.
5. Top with maple syrup. You could also add pecans or chocolate chips to the batter for extra flavor.

DIY Pumpkin Puree

I get my hoarding tendencies from my mama. As soon as pumpkin puree is available in store, I stock up. You know that come November, the stores will be hard pressed to fulfil the demand for pumpkin pie supplies (I like that that rhymes). And sure enough, in the American section of Tesco, there is my trusty Libby's pumpkin puree--for £1.20 each. So perhaps pumpkin puree in moderation this year.

As part of my efforts to experience a New England fall in England, a group of friends and I went apple picking which became pumpkin picking which became hauling apples, pumpkins, spaghetti squash, broccoli, cauliflower and eggs home on the train.

I chose a small-ish pumpkin but let it sit on my table for two weeks as decoration before tackling how to cook it. Simultaneously, my mom was preparing her harvest for freezing so we each approached pumpkin roasting differently.

I used a peeler, much like for a butternut squash, and peeled the pumpkin skin off before slicing it in half, remove the seeds, and roasting. Basically just like a butternut squash. Alternatively, my mom poked a lot of holes in her pumpkins and roasted them whole. Good news: none of them exploded!

After the pumpkin is cooked, I used an immersion blender (yes, I took another step in planting roots here, I bought an appliance) to puree the roasted pumpkin. It's much yellower than the burnt orange you get in the canned variety but it does the trick. I stored a couple bags of pumpkin puree in the freezer and have been using it slowly for smoothies, muffins and soup!

So if you find yourself lacking canned pumpkin puree, it's extremely easy to DIY. And please don't call me Martha Stewart or Mary Berry as a result, it's actually easy.

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Peel your pumpkin rind using a vegetable peeler.
3. Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds and strands, just like you would when making a jack-o-lantern.
4. Cut the pumpkin into large chunks. Toss with olive oil and roast in a pan (I used a brownie pan, 9x12) until soft (around 30-40 minutes depending on the thickness).
5. Allow the pumpkin to cool slightly before blending.
6. You can use an immersion blender or a regular blender to puree the pumpkin. Blend until smooth.
7. Store in the freezer until needed or directly in the fridge. There are no preservatives so make sure to use it within a week. 

Pumpkin Apple Gingerbread Muffins

At long last, I have cracked the butter problem. It was a simple solution all along: a food scale. One of my flatmates brought one into our home and I think I'm in love. No more guessing grams or guessing tablespoons of butter! Now, I can weigh it. So I just have to be able to check my math, no biggie...

 

These muffins were meant to be a bridge from fall into the holiday season, combining the top fall flavors (apple and pumpkin) with the festive foods of Christmas (ginger and molasses). I've had to Google things in the grocery store aisle a few times in London, mostly because the aisles are organized differently (sugar is with coffee and not baking at some stores). But I've also Googled because things have different names and molasses was no exception. Instead, we have 'black treacle'.

 

The only time I've heard of treacle before was in the Harry Potter books when discussing treacle fudge. So now I can say I've baked with it and made magic--okay, that might be a stretch. The can of treacle is cute and British but is also very impractical for pouring. Treacle everywhere. Mischief not managed.

As always, cream together room-temperature butter (or in my case, gently microwaved butter) with the sugars until combined. Next, add in the eggs, vanilla, pumpkin puree (DIY recipe coming soon!), milk, and treacle (aka: molasses). I suggest using a mixer for this. Beat until everything is nice and smooth.

Stir in the spices, salt and baking soda and powder. Then slowly add the flour in, mixing gently to prevent a dust storm. Sometimes it's inevitable. Mix until no streaks of flour remain. Lastly, fold in the chopped apple. You could also add nuts to the batter if desired.

 

Bake at 350F for 20 minutes or until baked through. The batter makes 24 muffins. Allow to cool before enjoying, possibly with a good cup of tea--or coffee.

Recipe

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup pumpkin puree
• Scant 1/3 cup whole milk (or full 1/3 cup of greek yogurt)
• 2 Tablespoons treacle (molasses)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2-2 1/2 cups apples, peeled and chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line a muffin pan. Set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars.
3. Add the wet ingredients (eggs, vanilla, pumpkin, milk and treacle) to the butter and sugar. Mix until combined.
4. Mix in the salt, baking soda and powder as well as spices. 
5. Next, add the flour, 1 cup at a time, stirring until no flour streaks are left. At this point, I switched so a spoon instead of a mixer to minimize mess. 
6. Lastly, fold the apple pieces into the batter until evenly mixed.
7. Bake for 20 minutes until firm and cooked through.

Pumpkin Protein Bites

Last year, I went through a phase of making these protein bite snacks. And by phase I mean I made 2-3 variations in about a week and that was that. Since moving to London though, I've noticed there are a lot more healthy to-go snacks around, especially these protein bites. Okay, okay, they're called balls and people have a lot of fun with it.

  

Rather than buying these bite sized snacks to-go, it's much more efficient to just make a batch and keep them in the fridge. You can also freeze them but they need to thaw a bit before trying to bite them, trust me on that.

In a large bowl, just add all your sticky, tasty ingredients. In this case, we've got oats, pumpkin puree, pumpkin spice, protein powder and maple syrup. Mix it all together with a spoon. I think it's too sticky for a mixer but feel free to give that a try! Then you just roll them or smush them together into a ball and voila! Snack time.

I don't have a final picture of these because I ate them...but it's kind of like pumpkin oatmeal on the go. I found this recipe on Instagram! A nice change of pace. I started following cleanfoodcrush and she posted these but with a glaze I opted to skip. Her final product, plus themed nails, are a winner:

Pumpkin Protein Bliss Bites {A recipe from my Pumpkin Love cookbook- available on Amazon. These are great for people with nut, or egg allergies - simple ingredients, simple prep!} . 📌Pin it! http://cleanfoodcrush.com/pumpkin-protein-bites/ . . Makes 16-18 Ingredients: 2 cups oats, a bit more if needed 2/3 cup pure pumpkin puree 2 scoops vanilla protein powder 4 Tbsps pure maple syrup, or raw honey 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (optional) . Instructions: In a large glass bowl, mix everything well. Using a cookie scoop, or a tablespoon measuring spoon; scoop, then roll into balls (dough will be sticky! Add a sprinkle more oats if needed). Place on parchment lined plate or tray, Refrigerate, or freeze for at least an hour. . . For the vanilla glaze: Mix 1 scoop vanilla protein with 2 Tablespoons unsweetened almond, or coconut milk. Drizzle over each bite. . . 📌Pin it! http://cleanfoodcrush.com/pumpkin-protein-bites/ . .

A photo posted by Rachel Maser (@cleanfoodcrush) on Oct 13, 2016 at 3:26pm PDT

Recipe
from Clean Food Crush

• 2 cups oats
• 2/3 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 scoops vanilla protein powder 
• 4 Tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• Optional: chia seeds, vanilla glaze (see Instagram caption above for ingredients), sprinkles, crushed pecans 

1. Add everything into a large bowl. Stir/fold/mix until everything is incorporated.
2. Using your hands or a melon scooper, scoop out bite-sized balls.
3. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or into a tupperware container. Freeze for 1 hour or until firm. They have to be thawed to eat though so transfer to the fridge once they're set!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Muffins

I think I'm sending mixed messages. I've been posting some healthy recipes, some gluten free, some sugar free, a nice variety of healthy-sounding things. These muffins are by no means 'healthy' or free from anything. They're wonderful and decadent and a great twist on fall flavors but definitely more of a good for the soul treat than a good for you treat.

That all being said, these are pushing the banana walnut muffins out of the front running spot for most popular. They also were more work intensive as they have a cream cheese filling. I haven't restocked my kitchen with all my fancy gadgets so no hand mixer blending cream cheese here. I did however buy a whisk! Officially moved in. So I let the cream cheese soften overnight instead and then it was nice and soft, easily stirred without a mixer.

 

Initially, we're keeping everything separate. Flour (the gluten-full kind), pumpkin pie spices (or if you have the store bought combination of pumpkin pie spice), baking soda and salt go in one bowl. I definitely adding baking powder by mistake. It's times like these I realize I shouldn't make muffins at 9am pre-breakfast and also adding your ingredients to different sections of the mixing bowl makes it easy to scoop out such an error.

 

In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, sugar and brown sugar. There's something festive about brown sugar, it's often used for fall and holiday baking so I'm all about it. Add in the eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Simple whisking will suffice here. Carefully add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture. With a stand mixer or hand mixer, you'll get a puff of flour cloud happening. With stirring by hand, you just get some flour sloshed over the sides. Either way, expect flour showers.

 

Once the flour is stirred in and you have a lovely orange batter, fill the muffin tin about 3/4 full. Before popping in the oven though, we make the cream cheese part! Mix your softened cream cheese with sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth and spoon a solid dollop (scientifically speaking, a dollop is a tea-spoon amount--not to be confused with a teaspoon which is a precise unit) on top of each tin of muffin batter. Use a toothpick or knife to swirl around the cream cheese. It doesn't look pretty but it will bake and puff up nicely.

 

It's really hard to tell when these are done by poking the top because of the cream cheese. So definitely use a toothpick or skewer in the center of the muffin to confirm when they're baked through. Likely this will be 40 minutes.

 

Allow to cool slightly before consuming en masse. We aren't going for healthy here.

Recipe
Muffins

• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 15oz. can of pumpkin puree
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Filling

• 8 oz. plain cream cheese, softened
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Line a muffin tin and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree and sugar until combined. Add the eggs, oil and vanilla. Whisk until smooth again.
4. Slowly add the flour mixture into the egg mixture. You can use a wooden spoon for this, whatever gets all the flour mixed in and leaves you with a smooth orange batter.
5. Spoon the batter into the muffin tin, filling 3/4 of the way.
6. In a small bowl, stir/mix/beat together the cream cheese, egg yolk, sugar and vanilla.
7. Spoon the cream cheese mixture on top of the muffin batter. Use a toothpick or knife to swirl the cream cheese topping with the pumpkin batter.
8. Sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on top for fun, if you have some lying around.
9. Bake until cooked through and firm, about 40 minutes.
10. Makes 12-18 muffins.

 

Pumpkin Smoothie Bowls

I don't understand smoothie bowls. Is it just a smoothie in a bowl? Really? That seems messy. But at the same time, I do tend to eat my smoothies out of a shaker with a spoon. So maybe putting them into a bowl will be prettier and more effective.

Regardless of if you put this in a cup or a bowl or pour it straight into your mouth, it's officially pumpkin season!! I absolutely had a pumpkin spice latte in my hand at 9am on September 1st but figured it needed to get a little more official before starting the influx of pumpkin recipes that happens every fall. And apples, definitely apple recipes.

 

While pumpkin-everything is a big deal in America, I've found it's not as common in the UK. Canned pumpkin was in the America international foods section of the grocery store! And is more expensive so am using sparingly. I used pumpkin for this smoothie recipe and then made pumpkin muffins to spread the good word of pumpkin-everything.

Almond milk, vanilla protein powder, canned pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg are blended together in a blender. This makes a nice orange color, very pumpkiny, but I then added avocado to thicken it up. I also usually add spinach so it turned out a little green.

Poured into a bowl, I added a row of walnuts and chia seeds. From my Instagram research, it's apparently the cool thing to do to line up your toppings like a rainbow of flavor. For actually eating it though, I mixed it all together.

And it really wasn't that strange! The thickness of the shake and the crunch of the walnuts made it feel more like something you would eat out of a bowl.

Recipe

• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1 cup non-dairy milk
• 2 scoops vanilla protein (I prefer Arbonne plant protein)
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 ripe avocado
• Walnuts, chia seeds for topping (optional)

1. Blend everything but the walnuts and chia seeds in a blender until smooth.
2. Pour into a bowl
3. Top with walnuts and chia seeds (or other nuts and seeds). If you're on the go or don't want to eat a smoothie out of a bowl, you can add the chia seeds and other add-ins straight to the blender.

Pumpkin Ice Cream

Where there are egg whites, there are egg yolks. Following the fluffy angel food cupcakes, I had a bunch of egg yolks leftover. And I don't like to waste food so those egg yolks went into ice cream. It's not exactly ice cream season but it is pumpkin season so let's enjoy the unseasonably warm weather with some ice cream.

I recently wondered what the purpose of an ice cream maker is. You still need to put the mixture in the freezer to thicken so why do I also have to churn it in a frozen bowl for awhile? Upon discussing with a colleague, the conclusion was the churning is necessary or the mixture will just become a solid brick. So I don't have an ice cream maker so I thought if I just stirred it out of the freezer every once in awhile, that would work.

Well, I ended up with a solid brick. So I recommend an ice cream maker if you're following this recipe because the flavor is all there and is amazing but you need the machinery to make the texture right.

This recipe is from Joy the Baker's second cookbook, Homemade Decadence, which has an entire section devoted to delicious and unique ice cream flavors. Egg yolks and brown sugar are whisked together in a medium bowl. Pumpkin puree and all the flavors of fall (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger) are cooked in a small saucepan to soften the pumpkin. These are both set aside.

In a medium saucepan, heavy cream and milk are heated together. You want the milk to be just under boiling point. The cream mixture is then poured through a mesh strainer. This step miffed me at first because we aren't making any berry ice cream so don't need to catch seeds. But when the milk and cream cook, you get some curdling and the strainer is to catch those cooked pieces so you have a nice creamy ice cream. So use the strainer.

Then pour the milk and cream mixture into the eggs and sugar mixture, whisking and stirring as you go. The last piece is mixing in the pumpkin with all those spices mixed in. Important: use your ice cream maker to complete this process, following its instructions. This most likely entails pouring in the maker, letting it circulate for a bit and then freezing overnight in a bowl before serving.

For a bonus, you can add some ginger snaps to it for some extra crunch or even stir in some chocolate chips. Confirmed: it tastes just like pumpkin pie.

Recipe

• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 6 egg yolks
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk

1. In a small saucepan, stir together the pumpkin puree and spices. Allow the pumpkin to start bubbling a little bit. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and brown sugar. Also set aside.
3. In a medium saucepan, combine the heavy cream and milk. Stir together over medium heat until just below boiling. The milk mixture will begin to steam.
4. Pour the milk mixture through a strainer into a medium bowl. There will be some curds that are caught by the strainer, resulting in a spongy waste. You won't need this stuff.
5. Allow the milk mixture to cool slightly before adding the egg-sugar mixture. Whisk to combine.
6. Stir the pumpkin into the medium bowl and combine completely.
7. Follow the instructions for your ice cream maker (likely something along the lines of adding the batter to the ice cream churner bowl, churn, freeze overnight etc.).
8. You can add some crumbled ginger snaps or chocolate to this for extra decadence. Serve in abundance. 

Pumpkin Muffins

We are taking this fall situation head on. I personally would like a giant pile of leaves to jump into. Kthnx.

While pumpkin spice lattes (and everything else) have been around for a few weeks now, I hadn't cracked open a can of pumpkin until this past week. And it's gonna be all downhill pumpkin from here! This recipe only required half a can of pumpkin, so I used the other half to make some pumpkin chili (pardon the ancient and terrible photos that went with this post, I was young).

Muffin Mondays are gaining popularity at the office so after last week's zucchini muffins, I took a poll on just how ready for fall people were. Would they prefer banana (no fall for me, please), apple (okay, I know, we're getting there) or pumpkin (wooo!! It's fall!!!!!)? The resounding winner was pumpkin. I also made these during the blood-moon eclipse so maybe they should be called Lunar Muffins...

For good measure, I threw some chocolate chips into half the batch because chocolate chip pumpkin anything is a great idea. Cookies, bread, muffins, you get the idea. We do the thing where we separate our dry and wet ingredients. I used the spices that smell like fall baking. No joke, I woke up the other morning smelling apple pie in the oven. It was a lie but it stuck with me.

I love the color of pumpkin, the burnt orange of the filling makes me feel all the warm fuzzies. The flour mixture is slowly poured into the wet ingredients and stirred gently until everything is combined. I like that for muffins, I can just use a good old fashioned wooden spoon and don't have to use a hand mixer. It helps that the butter was melted for this recipe.

I think there's some serious potential for cupcake liner companies to make a liner that has a 'fill here' line. Sometimes you get too much and they overflow (not a bad thing, necessarily) or you put too little and then you have a sunken cupcake/muffin. I know the expansion rates of the batter will vary by recipe but ya know, ball park estimate.

At any rate, I filled these about 3/4 of the way full and baked for 30 minutes or so. While the first batch baked, I sprinkled chocolate chips into the remaining batter. Great plan. All in all, there were 18 muffins out of all of this.

Let's keep the trend alive, more muffins next week!

Recipe
From Joy of Cooking

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree 
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Sprinkling of chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 400 and line a muffin tin with liners (or spray with non-stick spray)
2. In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, maybe some cinnamon if you'd like).
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, milk, vanilla, pumpkin and melted butter. 
4. Once the wet ingredients are thoroughly combined, pour the dry ingredients into the wet while stirring gently.
5. Using a wooden spoon (or other stirring utensil), stir the wet and dry ingredients together until fully combined.
6. If you'd like, add the chocolate chips (or nuts) and fold into the batter.
7. Pour the batter into the muffin liners, filling 3/4 of the way full.
8. Bake for 30  minutes or until firm. 

Chocolate Pumpkin Truffles

Life is like a box of chocolates. True statement. Around the holidays, we would inevitably receive at least one box of chocolates from friends, family or business acquaintances of my parents. Part of the fun is not knowing which flavor you'll get but when your dessert is limited, you don't want to waste your chance for something good! I learned to scout out the chocolate covered marshmallows quite promptly as they were my favorite. My tastes have certainly expanded but when we move into truffles, it's harder to know what the flavors are.

A few weeks ago, I attended a pairing of wine and chocolate at a local truffle shop, Chocolate Therapy. I love the name of this place as it's a term near and dear to my heart and they really do make some very therapeutic chocolates. Truffles can come in many forms and in this case, they come in beautifully decorated and delicate chocolates filled with a variety of flavors. They have found some very unique pairings for chocolate such as basil, lavender and balsamic. I highly recommend seeking them out for hostess gifts, holiday presents or just straight up Monday treats.

Outside of the professional realm, chocolate truffles are doughy balls of chocolate that are typically covered in more chocolate. I have a friend who is a master of mint chocolate Oreo truffles and I tried my hand at snitch truffles a couple years ago (whaaaat, I've been blogging for plural years?!?).

These pumpkin truffles were much cleaner than the snitches, in part because I used a food processor to mix the ingredients together and a melon baller to shape the dough. Gingersnap cookies are pulverized into a grainy 2 cups. Pumpkin puree, or apple cider pumpkin butter in my case, is added to help create a cohesive mixture of ginger crumbs, spices and pumpkin. Melted chocolate adds a special sweetness to it all, assisted of course by powdered sugar. Everything gets mixed together until you get a dough.

Using a melon baller, or your clean hands, bite-sized balls are formed and placed on a tray lined with parchment paper. The dough should be chilled before coating in chocolate to prevent them from falling apart. Once the dough is set, you can dip them in melted white or dark chocolate. Add some sprinkles for a festive touch or leftover gingersnap crumbs. This should be done immediately as the chocolate will harden quickly as it cools.

Just to be safe, test one or two to make sure they aren't poisoned. I found these are great to bring to a party so people can just pick one up and move along the buffet.

Recipe

• 1 1/2 cups (approximately 1 sleeve) of gingersnap cookies, crushed
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree (or apple cider pumpkin butter)
• 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
• 2 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 16 oz. bag of white chocolate chips
• Festive sprinkles (optional but encouraged)

1. Using a food processor or pent up frustration and a bag, reduce the gingersnap cookies to crumbs.
2. In the bowl of a food processor or mixing bowl, combine the gingersnap crumbs with the softened cream cheese, pumpkin puree, cinnamon and powdered sugar until well-combined.
3. After melting the semi-sweet chocolate carefully in the microwave using its melt setting or over a double boiler, fold in the melted chocolate with the pumpkin dough.
4. Using clean hands or a melon baller, scoop bite-sized amounts of dough onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
5. Allow the truffles to chill in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes. 
6. In the meantime, melt one bag of white chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler.
7. Carefully dip the chilled truffles in the melted chocolate to cover. Allow any excess chocolate to drain back into the bowl before returning the truffle to the cookie sheet and coating with sprinkles.
8. Repeat the dipping-sprinkling process until all of the truffles are beautiful and tasty. 

Pumpkin French Toast with Apple Cider Pumpkin Butter

For most people, this is just another Monday but fortunately for me, it's a day off! Long weekends are perfect for sleeping in, coffee dates and brunch. This weekend was full of brunches for me, one with blogger friends and one with day-to-day friends. Even though brunch is a breakfast-lunch hybrid, I always assume brunch food to be things like pancakes, waffles, eggs and general breakfast foods.

 

The first weekend brunch was more of a lunch but man oh man was it delicious. We went to Del Frisco's in Burlington and were treated to samples from their appetizer, entree and dessert menu.

 

While each menu varies by location (slightly), this Del Frisco's is designed to be more family friendly. I must say that their flatbreads and Philly cheesesteak egg rolls were definitely family friendly but sophisticated enough for adults that it didn't feel like a standard family place like Friendly's. And save me from myself, those Philly cheesesteak egg rolls were amaaazzzziiiiiing.

 

Lucky for my waistband, the portions were smaller than standard menu items. The dessert options included mini coconut cream pies and adult milkshakes, also miniature. I thought the coconut pie would be weird, it sounds too tropical but it was delicious and like a custard pie with fresh whipped cream on top. And of course coconut shavings.

 

For my brunch menu, I was more focused on breakfast items. This included french toast from Shutterbean. I altered the recipe a little bit to use apple cider pumpkin butter instead of pumpkin butter. It's pretty simple to make the butter and then you simply add some to your regular french toast recipe for extra flavor. I prefer using Challah bread for french toast which makes fluffy slices but brioche would also work (as recommended by Shutterbean).

 

I can't believe we're half-way through October and so far I've kept up my promise for many pumpkin treats. I'm also moving towards some squash recipes, everything orange. I realize that orange is probably my favorite color. It's hard to decide but I always worried loving red, orange and yellow was more fiery and angry sounding (Aries unite!). But now I've come to the conclusion that it's really fall colors that I love. It's so hard to capture that perfect orange of autumn leaves but pumpkins and other squash certainly compliment it all very well.

 

Apple Cider Pumpkin Butter

• 1 15oz can of pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/4 cup of apple cider
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• Pinch of salt

1. Combine all ingredients into a medium sauce pan.
2. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce heat slightly.
3. Allow the mixture to cook for about half an hour, stirring frequently until thickened.
4. Remove from heat and allow to cool before placing in jars. This makes about two mason jars of butter.

 Use this butter with Shutterbean's french toast recipe or on toast. This will last in the fridge for up to 1 week. 

Glazed Pumpkin Donuts

There's a day for everything, it seems. National guacamole day was a great excuse for a margarita and burrito. And national coffee day seems like a great excuse for some pumpkin donuts. October is just around the corner and I've filled my head with pumpkin recipes, lattes and cider. Not to mention monster cupcakes, caramel apples and candy corn. So to kick it off, this breakfast treat is a double-whammy of pumpkin.

My friend gave me donuts pans and cookbooks for Christmas a couple years ago. I've taken to crossing the recipes between the books, using the cake from one and glaze from another. I always bake my donuts but my mom would fry them when we were kids. In making this recipe, we talked about the good old days when we had donuts and wondering why we stopped.

 It is my recollection that we stopped having weekend breakfasts with donuts because we started going to church. This may explain why I resented having to go to church when I was a kid and I must admit, my mom didn't disagree with this memory.

These are very simple to make and can be made say on a Sunday night to make Monday a bit sweeter. The dry ingredients are mixed together and then slowly added to the combined wet ingredients. 15 minutes later and you have baked donuts, just enough time to make the pumpkin glaze. The two pumpkin components go well together as the glaze is very sweet. I even double-dipped some of the donuts in glaze as an experiment (it was a great success). I will say that now I understand why donuts come in flat boxes. After wrapping these up last night, I found that the glaze had sort of melted off the donuts. I think it would have been safer to let them air out overnight before packing them up for transport. Still tasty though.

I hope your Monday is going well and if you have a moment, find a local Dunkin' Donuts and you'll get a free dark roast coffee. Happy National Coffee Day!

 Recipe

Donut

• 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup whole milk

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a donut pan or follow the instructions on a donut maker if you're using one.
2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt together. Make sure all ingredients are sifted together.
3. In a large bowl, combine the sugar and egg until creamy. Add the pumpkin, oil and vanilla.
4. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients in the large bowl, alternating with the milk until all ingredients are together. 
5. Fill the donut pan 3/4 of the way. Cook for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
6. Allow donuts to cool slightly before dipping in glaze.

Glaze

• 4 1/2 cups of powdered sugar (1 lb.)
• 2 teaspoons light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 canned pumpkin puree
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup hot water

1. Combine the powdered sugar, corn syrup, salt, pumpkin pie spice, pumpkin and vanilla in a large bowl. 
2. Slowly mix the ingredients together and add the hot water until all is combined. 
3. Once the donuts have cooled slightly (but not completely cold), dip the to half of the donut in the glaze. 
4. Place the donuts on wax paper to dry. Consume in bulk.