Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Please, PLEASE add these to your fall to-bake list. You don’t want to miss them!

After seeing several different recipes all over Pinterest this fall, I found the recipe here, on a blog I read regularly, and made a few small changes…primarily I used less of some of the spices because that’s my personal preference, and I made mine smaller, which I’ll detail in a minute.

For the cakes/cookies:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin (one can is pretty close)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 Tbl ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350 and line your baking sheet with parchment paper or, even better, a silicone mat.

Beat together the brown sugar and butter until combined. Add the pumpkin and the egg and beat well. Add the vanilla and beat until combined. Set aside.

Combine the dry ingredients. Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture 1/4 cup at a time and beat on low until all combined.

Scoop the dough onto the baking sheet in heaping-tablespoon size. Bake for about 8-11 minutes, or until the whoopies are firm to the touch. Let the cakes cool on the sheet for about 3 minutes and then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

After they are completely cooled, cut the cookies in half across the middle, to make a top and a bottom. It doesn’t matter at all if they are symmetrical. Each cookie, now in two parts, will be put together with the frosting, which is below.

For the frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt

Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy. Beat in vanilla and salt until blended. Gradually add powdered sugar, beat until light and fluffy. Put a dollop of frosting on each bottom of the cookie and cover with the top.

Prepare to be amazed…these are delicious!

on such a lovely plate because these were headed to a neighbor!

Taffy Apple Pizza

This is an old Pampered Chef recipe that I don’t think I’ve ever made until last night for small group…and it’s easy and really, really good. Great for fall!

1 package (18 ounces) refrigerated sugar cookie dough (I used the roll of dough, but you could also use the pre-formed cookies. You’ll just need more than one package of those to fill the baking stone.)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
3 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced or chopped
1 cup Sprite or 7-Up
1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping
1/2 cup peanuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350°F. Shape cookie dough (straight from refrigerator) into a ball and place in center of Large Round Baking Stone dusted with flour; flatten slightly. Using lightly floured rolling pin, roll out dough to a 14-inch circle, about 1/4 inch thick. Bake 16-18 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes. Carefully loosen cookie from baking stone (I didn’t do this step); cool completely on baking stone.

Combine cream cheese, brown sugar, peanut butter and vanilla; mix well. Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over cooled cookie.

Soak apple pieces in Sprite or 7-Up for a minute or so to prevent browning; drain. Arrange apples evenly over cream cheese mixture.

Microwave ice cream topping on HIGH 30-45 seconds or until warm; drizzle evenly over apples. Sprinkle peanuts over apples. Cut into squares.

Enjoy! Makes 16 servings.

Strawberry-Kiwi Jam

I found this recipe in my taste of home magazine.  My grandma makes awesome strawberry jam, but we just aren’t there enough to get it!  So, I knew I needed to try this recipe as my kids and hubby love that jelly.  Kayla and Kirk have both tried this and loved it.  This does have a TON of sugar in it, but I did follow the recipe to the exact measurements.

6 cups fresh strawberries (cut up – most I just cut in half)
3 chopped kiwi fruit
1 tblspn lemon juice
1 tblspn chopped crystallized ginger
1 pkg powdered fruit pectin
5 cups sugar

The recipe says to mash the strawberries with the kiwi fruit.  I ran it through our food processor.  Then, combine that in a dutch oven with the lemon juice, ginger(again I chopped in the food processor), and fruit pectin.  Bring to a full roiling boil, stirring constantly.  Stir in sugar and return to a full boil.  Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat; skim off foam.  Ladle into freezer containers and cool to room temperature.  Let stand for 24 hours.  Refrigerate for up to 3 weeks or freeze up to 12 months.

**Next up – blueberry jam.  Follow the same above except use 8 cups blueberries, 2 tblspn lemon juice and no ginger.  Add 7 cups sugar.

*** The strawberry jam said it made 5 cups.  I actually was able to fill 7  jelly jars (8oz).

Quick Cobbler

This is another one of my mom’s old recipes. This works great for any fruit that’s really juicy; apples are not a good choice (I like to make it with peaches in the summer; if you’re a fan of blueberry or raspberry cobbler, this would be great for those fruits, too).

It’s so easy to throw together, and it tastes best if you eat it right away! Of course, delicious with ice cream on top, too.

1/2 cup butter or margarine (and even though I’m completely devoted to butter, I use margarine in this recipe)
1 c flour
1 c sugar
1 c milk
2 tsp baking powder (I once forgot this ingredient…don’t do that. It wasn’t pretty.)
4 c any fruit, sliced and undrained

Melt butter/margarine to frying point. Then, in a bowl, combine flour, sugar, milk and baking powder into a smooth batter. Pour hot butter/margarine in a 13×9 baking dish. Pour batter over the butter/margarine and add the fruit. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

before baking - it totally doesn't matter that the batter/margarine are uneven in the pan. please note that i didn't have nearly 4 cups of peaches...probably more like 3.

finished! and if you are actually following the directions and using enough fruit, you'll see it poking up out of the crust after it's baked.

Purple Pancakes

Pardon the lack of posting…I’ve not been cooking much for the past month, due to a crazy schedule and the etsy store opening. Sonya is busy growing a baby and preparing for her arrival soon, so she’s busier than normal, too!

Matt wasn’t going to be home for dinner, so I decided it would be pancake night (he’s not a fan), since the boys all devour them. Not often content to just make normal pancakes, I decided to mix in a bunch of stuff and see how they came out. The inspiration was the bag of blueberries I just found in the freezer from last summer’s trip to Michigan. Surprisingly, they weren’t freezer burnt!

No exact measurements here, but you’ll do fine!

Get out your blender. Put the following things in it:
~3/4 cup of vanilla yogurt (I always have Dannon Natural Vanilla here – you could use plain or blueberry, too)
~1 1/2-2 cups of blueberries (it’s ok if they’re a little frozen still)
a few squirts of honey or agave nectar* (I used the agave nectar)

Blend until smooth.

Add in the following:
a few tablespoons of ground flaxseed or wheat germ (I used some of both b/c I was almost out of flaxseed)
~2 cups of complete pancake mix
water (start with 1/2-3/4 cup and add more as needed to thin the batter

Cook on a hot griddle! You want the batter fairly thin, or if it’s too thick, use a rubber spatula to spread out the batter a bit on the griddle right after you pour it on there. For the purpose of getting buy-in from my two older boys who I was afraid would flinch at blueberry pancakes, I added a few mini-chocolate chips.

Verdict: delicious. I’m not a fan of the texture of traditional blueberry pancakes, so blending them up was perfect for me!

It made a ton – probably 16+ 8-9″ pancakes, though I lost count.

*agave nectar is thinner than honey and also sweeter – to me, it’s more like a pure sugar sweetener than honey. You can buy it at any grocery or SuperWalmart. It’s great mixed into a cup of tea, also.

Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Chips

So, I was making my grocery list for hosting Christmas this weekend via this website.  I didn’t realize I hadn’t posted this much requested recipe.  Here it is!  Great for holiday gatherings, bridal/baby showers, etc.  So good!

2 kiwis, peeled and diced
2 golden delicious apples, peeled, cored and diced
8 oz rasberries (I’ve used frozen)
1 pound strawberries
2 tbspn white sugar
1 tbspn brown sugar
3 tablespoons fruit preserves, any flavor (I’ve used all different, really whatever I have here at home)
10 10-inch tortillas
Butter flavored cooking spray
2 cups cinnamon sugar

In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwis, apples, raspberries, strawberries, white sugar, brown sugar, and fruit preserves.  Cover and chill in fridge at least 15 minutes.  Preheat oven to 350.  Coat one side of each tortilla with cooking spray.  Cut into wedges and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet.  Sprinkle wedges with desired amount of cinnamon sugar.  Spray again with cooking spray.  Bake in oven 8 – 10 minutes.  Serve with fruit salsa!

Robin’s Famous Apple Dip

Thanks for stopping by from BooMama’s DipTacular 11!

My friend Robin brought this to my house last weekend and I’m not joking when I say that the plate was licked clean.

1 cup powdered sugar
1 brick cream cheese
caramel ice cream topping
Heath bits
mini chocolate chips
sliced apples (put them in a bowl and pour some Sprite over the top of them, letting them sit for a minute or so. Then put them in your serving bowl, and they won’t brown, and they won’t be bitter from lemon juice!)

Mix the cream cheese and powdered sugar together and spread on a plate. Cover with caramel topping (whatever looks good). Sprinkle on Heath and chocolate chips and serve with sliced apples. Watch it disappear!

Caramel Apple Pie II

I’ve eaten this once before. Kelli brought it to our house for dinner once 2 years ago. I decided to make it with the tons of apples we have here (all we have are golden delicious from our trip to the orchard; I should have probably reduced the sugar in this recipe due to using these instead of something a bit more tart). Still, it is so, so good.

Another note: the golden delicious apples I used are a lot juicer than, say, a Granny Smith. Which means that there is a lot of liquid in the baked pie. So either up the flour when you use this kind of apple, or just use Granny Smiths.

And, I just looked on the blog and realized that Sonya has a Caramel Apple Pie recipe, too, but it’s different than this one! Now I’ll have to try hers, too!

2-9 inch pie crusts (I used pre-made Pillsbury)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
5 cups thinly sliced & peeled apples (I used half Granny Smith & half Jonathan)
2/3 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon lemon juice
20 caramels, halved (or about 6 oz of the caramel bits)
2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 375.

To Make Taffy: In a small bowl combine brown sugar, melted butter or margarine, and 1/3 cup flour. Mix well and set aside.

To Make Apple Filling: Place apples in a large bowl. Add white sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, cinnamon, and lemon juice. Toss until all ingredients are mixed well and apples are thoroughly coated. Refrain from eating the apples like that…they will look tasty, but you need them for the pie.

Spoon half of apple filling into pastry-lined deep-dish pan. Top with half of caramels and half of taffy mixture. Repeat process with remaining apple filling, caramels and taffy mixture. Place top pastry over filling and seal well (this is very important–if edges are not sealed, caramel will leak out all over). Cut steam vents and brush top crust with milk.

Cover pie with foil and place on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil from pie and bake for another 20 to 25 minutes, until crust is golden.

Blueberry Muffins, with some updates

Sonya first posted this blueberry muffin recipe a long time ago, and it has become a staple in our house. I’ve made a few changes and calculated out some of the nutrition information, so I will include that, too.

1 1/4 cup all-purpose white flour
3/4 cup wheat flour
1/3 cup flaxseed meal (flaxseed is so good for you, and it’s better for you to eat it ground into meal)
3/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
8 oz Dannon vanilla yogurt (obviously, use what you want, but this is our favorite)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 Tbl butter, melted (this last time I used just slightly less; probably 3 1/2 T)
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries (you can use frozen, but fresh are much better)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 15 muffin cups or line with paper liners. DO NOT make mini-muffins; they don’t turn out well.

Stir together flours, flaxseed, sugar, baking soda and baking powder. In a separate bowl, combine yogurt, egg, vanilla, butter and blueberries. Stir mixtures together just until combined; batter will be be very thick. Scoop into muffin cups.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Per muffin: 118 calories, 4.5 g fat, 3.5 g protein, 2 g fiber

PW’s Chicken Pineapple Quesadillas

When I saw The Pioneer Woman’s recipe for this, I KNEW we had to try it and soon. It did not disappoint (for Matt and me, at least…the kids were underwhelmed by grilled pineapple, which I LOVE, and they chose to take their chicken off the quesadilla and eat it separately from the rest. Fine by me.). Here’s a link to her recipe, which I’ve copied here along with any small changes I made in italics.

8 whole Flour Tortillas
Butter Or Margarine
2 cups Grilled Pineapple, Sliced
3 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
Salt And Pepper, to taste
3 cups Monterey Jack Cheese, Grated
1 whole Jalapeno, Sliced
Cilantro
3 Tablespoons Barbecue Sauce

(Click over to PW’s website for a quick picture tutorial on grilling pineapple! To grill pineapple: cut wedges, stick on skewers, and grill over low heat. Cut into slices.)

(To pound chicken, place inside a Ziploc bag and pound with a mallet or large can to flatten to uniform thickness.)

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper and Cajun spice (or cumin/cayenne, etc.) Drizzle olive oil on a grill pan and grill on both sides until done, brushing with barbecue sauce. Set aside and slice into very thin slices. I actually had Matt grill the pineapple and chicken on our grill.

Warm griddle over medium heat and put sizzling butter or margarine in the pan. Slightly warm and toast tortillas on both sides, then remove from griddle and set aside. Because PW loves butter so much, I assumed you needed a lot of butter to make the tortillas cook correctly. Wrong! You really can just melt a very small amount in the pan, swirl the tortilla around on it, and brown it. The one that had a ton of butter ended up being thrown away; it was too greasy.

To assemble, sprinkle four browned tortillas with grated Monterey Jack. Arrange chicken slices evenly over the surface. Add pineapple slices and jalapeno slices. Sprinkle on cilantro. If desired, drizzle extra barbecue sauce over the top. Add second browned tortilla on top of each one. (You’ll have four complete quesadillas at this point.)

Add to oven to warm, or back to skillet to warm, until cheese is melted. Cut each quesadilla into six wedges. Serve with sour cream, pico de gallo, and lime wedges. I just served with sour cream.

I loved these A LOT. I might or might not use bbq sauce again; I like it fine, but I actually think that this would be even better if you just seasoned the chicken more heavily.

PW’s pictures are much better than mine, but here’s what it looked like before I put the tops on the quesadillas and put them in the oven: