New Tricks for Favorite Treats

Trick or Treat - The treats are always the best. This Halloween I've done some new tricks with a couple of favorite recipes. My all-time-best-banana bread has become Pumpkin Bread and the always favorite Chocolate Peanut Butter Blossom cookies have become Pumpkin Blossoms.

PUMPKIN BLOSSOMS

Ingredients:

2 cups light brown sugar, packed

1 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 cup canned pumpkin

2 large eggs

pinch of kosher salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½  teaspoon ground nutmeg

½  teaspoon ground cloves

48 (or more) Hershey Kisses, any variety, unwrapped

Directions:

1.     Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Spray a mini muffin pan with baking spray. Set aside.

2.     In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar, butter, pumpkin, egg and salt until combined . Add flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Blend completely for 1-2 minutes.

3.     Using a small scoop, fill each muffin cup with about 1 ½ Tablespoon of batter.

4.     Bake for about 18 minutes. Removed from oven and immediately press a Hershey Kiss in the center of each blossom.

5.     Allow to cook in pan about 10 minutes. Remove from pan and enjoy. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

I  had lots of help unwrapping the Kisses!

Pumpkin Kisses didn't hold their shape as well as the
chocolate ones below. 

Today is a friends birthday, I'm sure there are disadvantages to having a birthday on Halloween, but it does make it easy to remember! So yesterday when I wanted to take her a seasonal treat, I altered the Banana bread I usually make by substituting 1 can of pumpkin for the 3-4 bananas.

Pumpkin Nut Bread

Ingredients: 

¾ cup butter, softened

1 package (8 0z) cream cheese, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 ½ cups pumpkin puree

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups chopped pecans, divided

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin and vanilla; mix well. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, add to creamed mixture. Fold in 1 cup pecans.

Transfer to two greased 8 inch x 4 inch x 2 inch loaf pans. Sprinkle with remaining pecans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 to 1 ¼ hours or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

In a small bowl, whisk the glaze ingredients (powdered sugar and pumpkin spice coffee creamer), drizzle over loaves.

Isn't this a lovely pumpkin color?

My favorite glaze ingredients

Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake

We're still celebrating Fall with pumpkin flavors and decorations. It is a good thing that pumpkins are grown around the world, except Antarctic, and in almost every state of the U.S. Pumpkin growers get a heavy yield on their crops - over 10 tons per acre. The production from one acre could fill four semi trailers! In the U.S. last year, over 66,600 acres of pumpkins were planted. That should keep our pumpkin tastes supplied!

Besides the lovely decorations, smells, and colors of autumn, the many pumpkin recipes are fun. This week's recipe is Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake. I shared half with the daughter and son-in-law up the hill who love pumpkin almost as much as I do. The cake was delicious, but I'll use another frosting recipe next time. The right thickness/thinness between not pourable and runny was hard to find. It tasted better than it looks! I did learn a tip for removing the cake from the Bundt pan. Spray or oil the pan just before adding the batter. This keeps the pan better coated without the oil pooling in the bottom (which turns out to be the top). That trick should help us all.

PUMPKIN SPICE BUNDT CAKE

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1 (16 oz) can pumpkin puree

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons ground ginger

½ teaspoon nutmeg

Frosting:

6 ounces softened cream cheese

2 tablespoons softened butter

2 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons heavy cream

2-4 tablespoons water

Directions:

1.     Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a Bundt pan with nonstick spray.  

2.     With an electric mixer, cream together sugar and oil on medium speed. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well in between.

3.     Add pumpkin and let the mixer run while you mix together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.

4.     Whisk together dry ingredients – flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.

5.     Turn mixer to low speed and gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix until incorporated.

6.     Spoon batter evenly into the Bundt pan, and smooth the top.

7.     Bake for 48-55 minutes, checking for doneness with a toothpick inserted in the top. Or you may check for doneness with a food thermometer reading 210 degrees.

8.     Remove cake from the oven and let cool in the pan for 15 minutes.

9.     Turn the cake onto a cooling rack. Tap the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to help loosen if necessary.

10. Let the cake cool completely before frosting.

Look how nicely this came out of the pan! 

 Whisk together cream cheese, butter, and powdered sugar. Whisk in heavy cream, and then add water by the tablespoon until the desired consistency is reached. It should be just barely pourable, but not too runny.

The frosting isn't pretty, but it tastes good!

More than a Pumpkin...

     The pumpkin is more than a squash-like gourd! Our history and culture are full of stories of pumpkins and recipes for delicious meal sides and desserts. Pumpkins stories vary from Cinderella's coach to Jack-O'Lanterns and recipes vary from appetizers to desserts. And even jokes! "How do you mend a broken Jack O'Lantern?....with a pumpkin patch!"
   
   

 My latest favorite recipe - Pumpkin Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting was a winner with the family last weekend. I'm anxious to make it again.

            PUMPKIN ROLLS WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Ingredients:

4 ¼ - 4¾ cups all-purpose flour

⅓ cup sugar

2 packets Rapid-Rise yeast

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

¾ cup canned pumpkin

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 egg

Filling:

⅓ cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

3 tablespoons butter or margarine, very soft
(and I added chopped pecans - just because!)

Cream Cheese Frosting:

3 ounces cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened

2 ½ cups powdered sugar

 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 to 2 tablespoons milk

Directions:

Combine 2 cups flour, sugar, dry yeast and salt in a large mixer bowl and stir until blended. Place water, pumpkin and butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in high in 15 second increments until very warm but not hot to the touch (120 - 130°, butter won’t melt completely). Add to flour mixture with egg.

Beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally. Add 1 cup flour; beat 2 minutes at high speed, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in just enough remaining flour so that the dough will form into a ball, knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic and dough springs back when lightly pressed with 2 fingers, about 6 -8 minutes. Cover with a towel; let rest 10 minutes.

For filling, combine brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice in a small bowl. Set aside.

Roll dough into a 15x12-inch rectangle using a rolling pin. Spread 3 tablespoons butter over dough stopping at least  ½-inch from the edges on the long sides. Sprinkle with sugar mixture. Beginning at long end of rectangle, roll up tightly. Pinch seam to seal. Cut into 12 equal pieces. Place, cut sides down in greased 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Cover with towel; let rise in warm place until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

Bake in preheated 350° oven for 25-30 minutes or until rolls are golden brown. Cool on wire rack for at least 20 minutes.

Combine all frosting ingredients in a large bowl and beat, adding just enough milk until frosting is creamy. Spread over rolls.