Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

These are one of my most crowd pleasing baked items! I found them when I was browsing TasteSpotting one day and I'm glad it's that time of year again that I could bring them back. The recipe is from Annie's Eats which is  filled with amazing recipes! This one is all about timing so read the recipe a few times and plan your strategy before you start. I made a few changes to the order of things that I think will help.

Ingredients:
For the filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

For the muffins:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree
1¼ cups vegetable oil

For the topping:
½ cup sugar
5 tbsp. flour
1½ tsp. ground cinnamon
4 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Directions:
To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a log about 1½-inches in diameter. Smooth the plastic wrap tightly around the log, and reinforce with a piece of foil. Transfer to the freezer and chill until at least slightly firm, at least 2 hours. I've been toying with the idea of just combining the cream cheese and powdered sugar and putting it into a piping bag. This would cut down on time and I think ultimately be easier.

To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend.

To make the topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to blend. Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.

Slice the log of cream cheese filling into 24 equal pieces.

In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil. Mix on medium-low speed until blended. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated. Had to get a shot of my awesome new bowl for my mixer. It's HUGE!

To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well with a small amount of batter, just enough to cover the bottom of the liner (1-2 tablespoons). Place a slice of the cream cheese mixture into each muffin well. Divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups, placing on top of the cream cheese to cover completely. Sprinkle a small amount of the topping mixture over each of the muffin wells.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving.

Enjoy! Please also take a moment to check out the fundraising progress I've made and consider making your own donation to help change the lives of victims of sexual abuse: http://www.crowdrise.com/crystalarrieta

Dad's Meatloaf

So my dad is pretty awesome. He's one of those people who was meant to be a parent and just did a really great job raising us (obviously, right?). One of his many talents is cooking. We could have 3 food items in the house and he'd whip up a wonderful meal, and only dirty one dish in the process! My skills are nowhere near his but since I'm an adult now and have to make my own meals I figured I'd take a stab at one of my favorites, his meatloaf.

I tried making a recipe once called "Dad's Meatloaf" and it tasted nothing like my dad's. I should have stopped when it said to add tomatoes but I pressed on and was sorely disappointed. I should have just asked my dad for his recipe so a few weeks ago that's exactly what I did (via text of course cuz my dad's hip like that). I finally got around to making it tonight and it tasted pretty darn close to the real thing which tastes pretty fantastic if you've never tried my dad's meatloaf.

I started with the basic meatloaf recipe from Quaker Oats but also included brown sugar, Lipton Soup Mix, and bacon per my dad's text.

Ingredients

1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef or turkey
3/4 cup Quaker® Oats(quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup catsup
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce or soy auce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 package Lipton Soup Mix

1/4 cup brown sugar

enough bacon strips to cover loaf

I ended up doubling the recipe so pretend there is an extra egg in the picture above. Since my dad doesn't measure anything I had to guess at the amounts for the brown sugar and soup mix and think that I'll use a whole packet of soup mix and 1/8 cup of brown sugar next time (for recipe as shown, not doubled). Also I would cut the onions back to 1/2 cup or less in the future. 

Preparation

Heat oven to 350°F. Combine all ingredients in large bowl; mix lightly but thoroughly. Shape meatloaf mixture into 10x6-inch loaf on rack of broiler pan.

I don't have a broiler pan and my attempt at using a wire rack was pretty abysmal so I just used a metal pan. Mike helped me mix the ingredients and shape the loaf:

Then I draped bacon strips over the entire loaf and tucked the overlap underneath. I combined 1/2 cup of ketchup with 1/2 cup of brown sugar and  spread that over the top. I think I'll put the glaze on first, then the bacon next time because I removed the bacon and with that came the glaze. I suppose if you are planning to eat the bacon and not just use it for flavor then problem solved!

Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until meatloaf is to medium doneness (160°F for beef, 170°F for turkey), until not pink in center and juices show no pink color. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing. Cover and refrigerate leftovers promptly and use within 2 days, or wrap airtight and freeze up to 3 months.

 For the double loaf it took about an hour and 20 minutes to reach 160 degrees. Mike helped me move it to another pan to cool while I prepared the rest of the meal. We got that trick from his mom who said that if it cools in the same pan it will soak up all the fat that dripped off.

 The end result isn't all that beautiful to look at but boy did it taste good! I steamed some broccoli and made rice pilaf to go with it.

 If I made you drool, please consider donating a few dollars to support the Center for Assault Treatment Services which helps children and adults who are victims of sexual assault: http://www.crowdrise.com/crystalarrieta

Made this for our at home New Year's Eve dinner. Came out just like the lava cakes at the restaurants and was a lot easier than expected!

Molten Chocolate Cakes With Sugar-Coated Raspberries

This recipe was originally featured in the USA WEEKEND article Advice A Holiday Feast - One Meal, Two Traditions on April 13, 2003.

Preheat oven to 450.

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter or unsalted margarine

8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, or bars, cut into bite-size chunks

5 large eggs

1/2 cup sugar

Pinch of salt

4 teaspoons flour (or matzo meal, ground in a blender to a fine powder)

8 extra-large paper muffin cups (or use regular paper muffin cups, which will make 12 cakes)

Garnish:

1 (6 ounce) container raspberries, barely moistened and rolled in about 1/2 cup sugar right before serving

Directions

Melt butter and chocolate in a medium heat-proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water; remove from heat. Beat eggs, sugar and salt with a hand mixer in a medium bowl until sugar dissolves. Beat egg mixture into chocolate until smooth. Beat in flour or matzo meal until just combined. (Batter can be made a day ahead; return to room temperature an hour or so before baking.)

Before serving dinner, adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 450 degrees. Line a standard-size muffin tin (1/2 cup capacity) with 8 extra-large muffin papers (papers should extend above cups to facilitate removal). Spray muffin papers with vegetable cooking spray. Divide batter among muffin cups.

Bake until batter puffs but center is not set, 8 to 10 minutes. Carefully lift cakes from tin and set on a work surface. Pull papers away from cakes and transfer cakes to dessert plates.

Top each with sugared raspberries and serve immediately.

Lorie's Peach Crumble/Cobbler

My fabulous world traveler friend Lorie makes this super easy really tasty dessert that she calls cobbler but more nearly fits the description of a crumble. Either way, I call it scrumptious and kinda healthy!

Preheat oven to 375.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of oats

1/2 cup of packed brown sugar
1/3 cup wheat flour (normal flour works if that's all you have)

3/4 stick of butter, melted

1 lemon (or 2 depending on size)

5-7 peeled peaches (or mix with pears/blueberries!)

Lubricate the baking dish. Mix the flour, oats, and sugar together with melted butter to make "cobble, " set aside. Take sliced peaches and pour lemon juice over them, spread in dish. Place cobble on top of fruit. Bake at 375 in oven for about 25 min the broil. Watch carefully at end to get it crusted just right.

Thanks Lorie!

Honey-Glazed Chicken Stir-Fry

This is one of my favorite quick, easy, healthy recipes to make. I lost the recipe at one point but googled the ingredients and found it!

Honey-Glazed Chicken Stir-Fry
From The Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook 1996

Start to finish : 25 minutes
Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients

· 12 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast halves or skinless, boneless chicken thighs

· 2 tablespoons honey

· 2 tablespoons vinegar

· 2 tablespoons orange juice

· 1 tablespoon soy sauce

· 1 teaspoon cornstarch

· 2 tablespoons cooking oil

· 2 cups vegetables, fresh or frozen (I buy the packaged stir-fry veggies in the produce department)

· hot cooked rice or couscous (I buy pre-cooked microwaveable brown rice)

Directions

1. Rinse chicken; pat dry. Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces; set aside. For sauce, in a small bowl stir together honey, vinegar, orange juice, soy sauce, and cornstarch; set aside.

2. Pour cooking oil into a wok or a large skillet. (Add more oil as necessary during cooking.) Preheat over medium-high heat. Stir-fry vegetables for 3 minutes or till vegetables are crisp-tender. Remove vegetables from wok. Add chicken to hot wok. Stir-fry for 3 to 4 minutes or till chicken is no longer pink. Push chicken from the center of the wok. Stir sauce; add to center of the wok. Cook and stir till thickened and bubbly.

3. Return cooked vegetables to wok. Stir all ingredients together to coat. Cook and stir about 1 minute more or till heated through. Serve immediately over rice or couscous.

Nutrition fact per serving: 232 cal., 9 g. total fat (2 g sat. fat), 45 mg chol., 322 mg sodium, 20 g carbo, 18 g pro.
DAILY VALUES: 30% vit A, 10% vit. C, 2 % calcium, 8 % iron.
*This recipe was taken from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, Meredith Corporation, 1996_1996.

Cheeseburger Cupcakes

This is one I get a lot of questions on so seemed like a good place to start. A while back Mike sent me this link and suggested I make these cupcakes that look like cheeseburgers. I did and they were good but boxed cake mix is not my favorite so I substituted that part with this cake mix recipe (tossing in some cocoa powder to make the chocolate cake mix). Then Mike's mom suggested using coconut mixed with green food dye for the lettuce. What a brilliant idea! And then she taught me how to make the icing (frosting?) so now the entire recipe is from scratch! Here's what I do:

Preheat oven to 350 (I always forget to do this).

Make this cake mix

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk

Cocoa Powder

red, yellow and green food dye

shredded coconut

Beat butter, sugar, baking powder, and vanilla in a large bowl with mixer on high 3 minutes or until fluffy.

Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each. On low speed, beat in flour in 3 additions alternately with milk in 2 additions, just until blended, scraping sides of bowl as needed.

Spray cupcake tins with Pam (or the like) very generously. Cover every inch!

Fill cupcake tins about 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10-15 minutes (I monitor them closely and use a toothpick to tell when they are done.) For some reason my cupcakes never seem to rise properly, even after buying a new can of baking powder, so yours will probably look much better than mine!

Once they are done, cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Now mix some cocoa powder in with the remaining batter (I just eyeball it, it will look pale but will be nice and dark once baked).

Spray cupcake tins again (I got some mini cupcake tins for Christmas and these work awesome for the patties but you can just fill normal cupcake tins about 1/4 or less full). Bake for a short time monitoring carefully.

Once they are done, cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Vanilla cupcakes should be cool by now, cut them in half horizontally with a sharp knife (try not to crush them). Once the chocolate "patties" are cool, you may need to cut or smush them to look more like patties, then place on the bottom half of the vanilla cupcake.

Now make the icing and use red and yellow food dye to make "ketchup" and "mustard/cheese." I fill a sandwich bag with each color and cut the tip to create a pastry bag, then squeeze onto the "patty." You may need to put the icing in the fridge to set a bit.

Mix the shredded coconut with the green food dye (liquid food dye works better than gel for this part) and add atop the condiments, then top with the top half of the vanilla cupcake.