Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins

Oh. My. These are so yummy. Forget that you think you don't like pumpkin muffins/bread/pie. Try these!

Batter:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups peeled cored and finely chopped apples

Streusel:
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
8 teaspoons butter

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F .
2. Lightly grease 24 muffin cups or use paper liners.
3. In a large bowl, sift together 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 cups sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together eggs, pumpkin and oil.
5. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture; stirring just to moisten.
6. Fold in apples.
7. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
8. In a small bowl, mix together dry streusel ingredients.
9. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
10. Sprinkle topping evenly over muffin batter.
11. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

And here's a picture of all the kids at my house today (not shown: Mason in the high chair, and the babies Ryan and Madeline).

Cookies Out....but Tortilla Soup In!

So, I have to say the cookies didn't turn out so well, but the Tortilla Soup was Yummy!

2 Tbsp. oil
2 cloves garlic
1 onion, chopped
1 (28 oz.) can peeled chopped tomatoes with juice
1/2 cup green chili
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1 pound chicken, cooked and cut into small pieces
6 cups chicken broth
Juice of two limes
1 Tbsp fresh chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
Tortilla chips
Grated cheddar cheese

In a large pot, saute garlic and onion in oil until tender. Add tomatoes, green chilis, jalapeno and chicken. Cook for 5 min. Add the chicken broth, lime juice, cilantro, pepper and salt. Simmer for 30 min. Place tortilla chips in the bottom of the soup bowls and pour the soup on top. Garnish with grated cheese. Serves 6-8.

I have modified my recipe a little I use only 1 lime and add more cilantro. I also chop some cilantro to add in individual bowls for those who would like more. I like the chips to stay crunchy so I add them to the top of the soup instead of the bottom. I hope you enjoy!

Um...Mini Apple Pie??

You all missed out on a delicious desert! It doesn't have a name, and I am not creative enough to think of a name... so mini apple pie it is! It is really easy to make....

To make it, heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a saucepan, stir together 1 cup of brown sugar, 1 cup of water, 2 tablespoons of butter, and a pinch each of nutmeg and cinnamon. Bring this mixture to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes to make a syrup. Core and peel the top third of 4 baking apples, such as Cortlands. Place them in a baking pan, fill them with raisins and walnuts, then pour the syrup over them. Bake the apples for 40 minutes. Serve them warm -- topped with ice cream, if you like.

I used an apple peeler to core my apples so that is why my apples are sliced. I added the ice cream to the tops, which I think added to the flavor! Hope you will enjoy!

Lush-ish vanilla

Things heard today at our Cookie Wednesday gathering:

"I'll bring the Vodka."
"Let's break out the Vodka."
"We need some more Vodka."
"Smirnoff is probably the best, but we can just get the cheap stuff."
"Vodka is vodka."

Before you freak out, we are making homemade vanilla. A local farmer's market sells high quality vanilla beans... 5 for $3. We thought we would make some homemade vanilla and give them away as Christmas gifts. Here's how we are doing it...

Cook's Country says: "Most of vanilla's flavor compounds are soluble in either water or alcohol, so the most shelf-stable form of vanilla is vanilla extract, produced by soaking vanilla beans in a solution of 65 percent water and at least 35 percent alcohol. We wondered if we could make our own vanilla extract by soaking a split vanilla bean in heated vodka (which would contribute very little of its own flavor). After testing several ratios of vanilla beans to vodka, we arrived at 1 bean per 3/4 cup of vodka as the proportion most closely resembling the potency of our recommended store-bought brand, McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract. We then tested our homemade extract against this supermarket product in sugar cookies, creme brulee, and vanilla buttercream frosting. In each case, our extract outperformed the commercial version, boasting cleaner, more intense vanilla flavor.

"To make vanilla extract, split a fresh bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Place the seeds and split pod in a 1-cup sealable container. Add 3/4 cup hot vodka (we used Smirnoff -a premium brand is not necessary) and let the mixture cool to room temperature. Seal the container and store at room temperature for one week, shaking gently every day. Strain the extract, if desired, and store in a cool, dark place. The extract should keep indefinitely."

chocolate peanut butter chip cookies

Oh the yum of these delectable cookies. They are smooth. They are chocolaty. They are delicious.

First, mix together th following:

1 cup butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs

Next, add the following:

1-1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 large package chocolate instant pudding
1 package peanut butter chips

Bake @ 375, 8-10 minutes

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

I LOVE Subway's cookies, especially their White Chocolate Macadamia Nut. From the little research I did online, I discovered they use Otis Spunkmeyer dough, which is an amazing frozen ready-to-bake dough that you can usually only buy from fundraisers, or in huge $200 units from food suppliers. So, I analyzed Otis Spunkmeyer's recipe for ingredients and nutrition, and decided that this recipe came the closest. I was really happy with it, though if I had higher quality white chocolate, and I think it would have been spot-on.

Ingredients
1 cup margarine, softened (yes margarine, not butter!)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
2 eggs (these need to be at room temperature)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (12 ounce) package white chocolate chips (go to a specialty store if you want the good stuff!)
1 1/2 cups chopped dry roasted macadamia nuts (make sure you toast them a little first)

Directions
1) Don't preheat your oven yet, since you'll be chilling these before baking.
2) Cream butter and sugars until fluffy.
3) Add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla and beat well.
4) Blend in flour, baking soda and salt.
5) Stir in white chocolate chips and macadamia pieces.
6) Cover dough and chill for 30 minutes (this really helps the cookies spread the right amount)
7) Preheat oven to 325.
8) Scoop onto un-greased baking pans.
9) Bake for 12-15 minutes (bake until just browning on the edges--don't over bake!).
10) Let cool on pans for about 5 minutes before taking them off.

**To keep ready-to-bake dough in your freezer Otis Spunkmeyer style, spray a cookie sheet and scoop dough remaining dough out, then flatten each scoop slightly. Freeze on tray. When frozen, transfer to freezer container. To bake: 325 for 13-16 minutes. I love doing this because I can rarely enjoy day-old cookies anymore! It's also great if you need to take a meal to someone, because you can make them in a pinch, or just give the dough as a gift!

Soft Sugar Cookies

We didn't take a picture but these are so good!

2 Cups Butter
3 Cups Sugar
4 Eggs
2 T. Vanilla
6.5 Cups Flour
4t. Soda
1t. Salt
Cream butter and sugar, add eggs and vanilla. Add dry ingredients I usually add a bit more flour if it is to sticky.
Roll thick, cut and bake at 350 for 8-12 minutes. Do not brown or they won't be soft.

Sugar cookie frosting
4 Cups powdered sugar
1/2 Cups Shortening
5T. Milk
1 t. Vanilla
Mix powdered sugar and Shortening. Gradually mix in milk and vanilla. color if desired.

Peach and Strawberry Satin Pies

Let's hear it for the successful return of Globe Cookie Wednesday! With the combination of a couple of my friends no longer working (yay for SAHMs!), Mackenzie's new baby now being 2 months old, and Amy hopefully over the worst of her morning sickness, I decided it was high time we got back to making some serious weekly treats around here.

Strawberry Satin pie is perhaps my favorite kind of pie out there, and I like a lot of pie. It's a strawberry glaze pie with a vanilla custard-like filling. I've often wondered how it would taste with other types of fruit, like peaches, so today we tried both. I have to say, the strawberry version is still by far my favorite, but it was fun to try something new!

Strawberry Satin Pie

1 (9 inch) pastry shell, baked
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup Cool Whip (approximate)

1 pound strawberries

1 small packet strawberry instant jello

1) In a saucepan, combine the sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt. Stir in milk until smooth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened (I use a whisk).

2) Remove from the heat. Stir a small amount of hot filling into egg (this tempers the egg; otherwise, your egg would cook in chunks if you added it straight to the pan). Return all to the pan, stirring constantly.

3) Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat. Stir in vanilla. Cover with plastic and cool in fridge to room temperature.

4) Whisk in Cool Whip until blended (the amount of Cool Whip I add depends on how stiff I want the filling, or I just taste it until it seems right). Spread in pie shell. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

5) Slice strawberries into pretty 1/4-inch thick slices and arrange on pie.

6) You can use any strawberry glaze method you want (but if you use that tub of gelatinous muck they sell by the berries, I don't want to know!). I've tried several, and my favorite thing to use is actually strawberry freezer jam! When I don't have that, the jello is my next favorite thing, and it's easy. Just prepare the jello as directed, and chill it for a couple hours so it's cool but still pretty runny (you might notice in the peach pie photo above that I let the jello set a little too long before spreading it on the pie!). Then just spoon the jello evenly over the strawberries (you'll only need a small amount; save the rest of the jello for the kids), and refrigerate.

Granola

Although I LOVE having cookie Wednesday, I don't think it is helping with my weight loss goals! :) I decided to try something a little on the healthy side! Boy does it smell good while cooking.

5 cups rolled oats
1 cup blanched slivered almonds
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup sesame seeds
1 cup wheat germ
2 cups shredded coconut
1 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups honey
1 cup raisins
1 cup dried cranberries

DIRECTIONS
1.Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

2.In a large bowl, stir together the oats, almonds, walnuts, pecans, sesame seeds, wheat germ, coconut and sunflower seeds. In a small pan over medium heat, stir together the oil and honey. Cook and stir until blended. You could also do this in a large measuring cup in the microwave, heating for about 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Pour over the oat mixture, and stir to coat evenly. Spread out in an even layer on two cookie sheets.

3.Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until the oats and nuts are toasted. Immediately after it comes out of the oven, stir in the raisins and dried cranberries. Let stand until cooled, and stir again to break up any large clusters. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks, but I guarantee it won't be around that long!

Next time I might add a teaspoon or two of Cinnamon. Yummy!

PS this recipe is not exsactly "Lowfat" That was more or less the though behind it though! :)

Lunch with jam, jam and bread

Disclaimer: there are no actual cookies, bars, or cakes of any kind here, but I figured today's get-together had enough sweet indulgence to qualify for this post!

Today Amy and I both needed to make bread, so we teamed up at her place, and made the delicious whole wheat bread that has become a staple at both our houses. We made some of the dough into rolls, and topped them with butter and strawberry freezer jam:

Strawberry Jam:
4 lbs strawberries
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 packet Ball Freezer Jam Pectin
Just mash or blend the strawberries, stir together with pectin, and let set (official directions are on the pectin packet).

For the other part of our lunch, we had yummy spinach salad with Craisins, candied pecans, and Honey Celery Seed dressing.

Candied Pecans:
1 tsp cold water
1 egg white
4 cups pecan halves
1 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt
Whisk water and egg white together. Add pecans and coat. Add rest of ingredients and coat well.
Spread onto sprayed jelly roll sheet.
Bake at 225 for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Then increase oven to 275 and bake for a final 15 minutes (if the nuts don't come out crispy enough, increase final temp to 300). Cool.

Honey Celery Seed Dressing: (from The Essential Mormon Cookbook)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp finely grated onion
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 tsp celery seed
Mix all ingredients except oil and celery seed in a blender. Gradually add oil and celery seed, and blend until incorporated.
*This is a very sweet dressing, which is also delicious on a strawberry spinach salad with almonds.

Ultimate Brownies

These confections are best described as bars in the best old-fashioned sense of the word--when bars, piled on a plate, dominated the bake sale or commanded the attention of anyone coming into a diner looking for dessert. Yum!

BARS:

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks

4 large eggs

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder, measured and then sifted

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch baking soda

1/8 tsp. salt

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut, optional

1 (7 oz.) jar marshmallow creme

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously spray an 11x7-inch pan with non-stick cooking spray and place it on a parchment paper-lined baking baking sheet.

In a food processor, blend sugar and butter until pasty. Add eggs and vanilla; blend well. Fold in flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and blend well. Fold in nuts, chocolate chips, and coconut and blend briefly. Spoon into prepared pan.

Bake until set and firm to the touch, 25 to 30 minutes. Spread marshmallow creme on hot cake and refrigerate, uncovered, 3 or more hours.

MUD ICING:

3 cups confectioners' sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup cocoa power, measured and then sifted

1/2 cup evaporated milk

Blend all ingredients in food processor until stiff and glossy Using a metal spatula, dipped as required into hot water, spread icing on chilled uncut bars. Chill briefly to set icing. Cut into bars. These are messy. It is a good idea to serve them in splayed-out paper liners to hold all the gooey stuff and to keep chocolate from getting all over your hands.

Fruit Pizza

FRUIT PIZZA
allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1/2 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and 3/4 cup sugar until smooth. Mix in egg. combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended.

Press dough into an ungreased pizza pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar and vanilla until light. Spread on cooled crust.

Arrange desired fruit on top of filling, and chill.

Date: June 10, 2009

Welcome

Welcome to Cookie Wednesday, a group of fun, good-looking stay-at-home moms who gather to absorb calories and conversation.