Pumpkin Apple Cake

After a trip to the apple orchard with my friend, Patricia, she suggested I use some of the apples to make this cake.  I always take Patricia's advice when it comes to food!  This wholesome cake is moist and just right for Fall. 

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ¾ cup pure maple syrup, divided (or less - I only used 1/2 cup total)
• 2 cups apples, peeled and sliced into ¼ inch slices
• ¾ cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ginger
• 1 egg
• ½ cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¾ cup pumpkin puree
• 2 tablespoons confectioner's sugar (optional)
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• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place foil over the base of a 9 inch springform pan and then place sides on pan (I used an 8-inch cake pan). Grease well.
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• In a non-stick skillet, melt the butter and ¼ cup maple syrup over medium heat. Once the mixture is melted, add the sliced apples and stir to coat. Cover and let cook for 5 minutes.
• Place apples on bottom of springform pan.
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• Mix together the flour, baking soda, and spices in a large bowl. In seperate bowl, whisk together the oil, remaining ½ cup maple syrup, egg, vanilla, and pumpkin. Add to dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
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• Pour pumpkin batter over apples and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Remove pan to a cooling rack and let cool for 10 minutes. With a butter knife, loosen cake from side of pan. Remove side of springform pan. Invert cake onto a serving platter. Remove base and foil from cake. Allow to cool completely and then dust with powdered sugar.
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Pumpkin Challa

My kids and I had been learning about the Jewish calendar and certain Jewish festivals in school, so one of our projects for the week was to make Challa bread.  Challah is a braided bread made with eggs that is traditionally eaten on the Sabbath or certain holidays.  Since we are also enjoying Fall, I decided to make a less traditional Challah bread and use pumpkin!  We followed this recipe exactly, and used this video as our tutorial to do a six-strand braid for our loaves.  The bread was especially delicious toasted with butter and honey on top!

As we started to roll out the dough to make our strands for the braid, I quickly realized we had an excess of dough.  The recipe says you can make one six-stranded loaf or two smaller three-stranded loaves.  But I divided the dough and we had plenty to make two six-stranded loaves.  If you make that change as I did, be sure to reduce the baking time to about 35 minutes.    

1 cup warm water

1 package yeast

3/4 cup eggs and egg yolks (I used 7 yolks and 2 whole eggs, plus 1 egg yolk for the egg wash

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

2 tablespoons melted butter

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree

7-8 cups flour (bread flour, if you can find it), plus more for rolling.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine water and yeast. Allow to sit for 10 minutes, or until bubbles start coming to the surface. With the mixer on low, add in eggs, sugar, syrup, butter, salt, spices, and pumpkin. Slowly add in 2 cups of flour.

Switch to the dough hook, and slowly add most of the remaining flour until a nice, slightly sticky dough is formed. Add the rest of the flour, if needed. Cover bowl with a towel, and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour. Punch down and let rest for ten minutes.

Divide the dough into 6 equal parts and braid into 1 large loaf with the 6 strand method, or make 2 smaller loaves with the normal 3 strand method. (see my note above about making two loaves) Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, cover, and let sit in a warm place for one hour. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together an extra egg yolk and a teaspoon of water. Brush over the top of the loaf. Place in the oven and toss a handful of ice cubes on the bottom of the oven (optional). Close oven door and bake for 1 hour.

Chicken and Sweet Potato Soup

This was simply delicious.  The pureed vegetables add a nice texture to the mix.  I love the natural sweetness that comes from the potatoes and squash.  I used some chicken from a bird I roasted earlier in the week, which added a nice flavor to the pot.  I love soup, especially when we get to eat it in the Fall!

1. 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2. 2 cups cooked chicken, lightly shredded or chopped into bite-size pieces
3. 1 medium onion, finely chopped
4. 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 -inch dice
5. 1/2 butternut squash, or other pumpkin variety, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
6. 3-4 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium broth
7. 1 tsp dried sage
8. 1 tsp dried parsley
9. 1 bay leaf
10. 1/4 tsp salt, more to taste
11. pepper to taste
12. 1 1/13 cups whole milk 
13. 
    
14. Melt the butter in a large saucepan.  Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes and squash and cook for 3 minutes.  Add the stock, sage, parsley, bay leaf, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.  Simmer, uncovered, over moderately low heat, until the  the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
15. Using a slotted spoon, transfer 1 1/2 cups of the vegetables to a food processor or blender; puree until smooth.  Add a little broth to smooth out if the mixture is too thick.  Return the puree to the saucepan. Add the chicken.  Stir in the milk and season with salt and pepper if needed.  Simmer the soup for 3 minutes, then discard the bay leaf.  Serve hot.

adapted from original recipe found here

Pumpkin Oat and Honey Muffins

These little snackies have no flour and no sugar in them, but no one in my family seemed to miss those ingredients.  I hesitate to call them muffins because they had more of a sunken-down "pile" look and dense texture to them after cooling.  But looks aren't everything and I'll make these again anyway.  I love that I can pour the batter straight from my Vitamix into the pan.

original recipe found here

2 1/2 c oats (regular or quick is fine)
1 c plain nonfat greek yogurt
1/2 c honey
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 t pumpkin pie spice
1 c canned pumpkin
1/2 c chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray tin with non-stick cooking spray.  My most favorite is called Baker's Joy (it has flour added in). You could also use a silicone muffin pan.  (I don't recommend using paper liners for these.

Place all of the liquid ingredients in the blender (including pumpkin), and then blend adding oats in 1/2 c at a time until smooth.  You may need to stop the blender a few times to stir.  Stir in chopped walnuts after blending is complete.

Divide batter among 12 muffin cups and bake for 20 min. or until toothpick comes out clean.

Pumpkin Cranberry Nut Bread

I love flipping through the Penzeys catalogue for the recipes and found this one last week.  This bread would be absolutely perfect in the Fall, but my feeling is there's never a wrong time to eat pumpkin!  I really liked the hint of orange, but the second loaf (the recipe makes two) started drying out after a couple of days so I'd make sure to have enough people to share the bread with, or go ahead and stick a loaf in the freezer for another time.
  

3 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. grated orange rind

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 15-oz. can pure pumpkin purée

1 cup dried cherries

1/2 cup chopped nuts of your choice


Preheat oven to 350°.
Combine the dry ingredients and set aside. 
In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each one. Add the vanilla, pumpkin and dry mixture approximately 1/2 cup at a time, alternating between the pumpkin and dry mixture until all is combined. Stir in the cranberries and nuts. 
Divide the batter between two 8x41/2-inch greased and floured loaf pans and bake at 350° for 55-65 minutes. 

Pumpkin Pie Dip

I had a photo to go with this, but who knows when I'll get around to actually downloading and getting it on here.  And I'd hate for you to have to wait any longer to try out this festive dip.  Yum!



4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup sour cream
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
dash of cloves
caramel sauce to drizzle on top (optional)
graham crackers of gingersnap cookies for dipping


In a large mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer on low speed, blend together cream cheese and powdered sugar until combined, then increase mixer to medium and beat for 1 minute until smooth and fluffy.  Add in pumpkin, sour cream, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves and mix until well blended and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.  Drizzle with caramel sauce, if using, and serve with crackers or cookies.  Store in refrigerator in an airtight container (if there's any left!).

Pumpkin Waffles

My youngest gingersnap was too bothered by the mud from the pumpkin patch and couldn't make it out on her own.  But despite the mud, we are big fans of pumpkins around here - both picking them and eating them!  You can usually find a random amount of pumpkin puree in my fridge these days, just waiting to be used.  And I'm so glad I used some to try out these waffles!  I made them twice in one week and wised up the second time, doubling the batch to freeze some for a quick breakfast in the near future.  The hints of spice are just right and the cornmeal gives the waffles a good texture (less so if you grind the cornmeal very fine).  I like a dollop of yogurt and warm maple syrup on top, but my gingersnaps gobbled them up plain as snacks!


1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal, finely ground
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch ground nutmeg
Pinch of ground cloves
2 large eggs
2 Tbsp brown sugar (packed)
1 1/4 cup buttermilk (make your own using lemon juice)
1/2 cup fresh or canned pumpkin purée
4 Tbsp butter, melted (plus a little more for brushing the waffle iron)

Preheat your waffle iron.

In a medium bowl, vigorously whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.

In a larger bowl, whisk together the eggs and brown sugar until there are no more brown sugar clumps. Add the buttermilk, pumpkin purée, melted butter and whisk until smooth.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk until smooth.

Brush a little melted butter over the wells of the hot waffle maker (to make it easier to remove the waffles.) When your waffle maker is hot, working in batches, ladle the batter onto the center of the waffle iron wells, not all the way to the edge, and slowly lower the top lid of the waffle iron. Cook until your waffle iron indicates that the waffles are ready, or until steam stops coming out of the sides of the waffle iron, about 4 to 5 minutes. Open the waffle iron and carefully lift the edge of a waffle with a fork to remove the waffles from the waffle iron.

Serve with warmed maple syrup and a side of apple sauce or apple butter.

Pumpkin Butter

As we had into Fall, I wanted to share something I made last year but never got around to posting.  There are lots of different recipes for pumpkin butter floating around, but this is the one I used and was pleased with how it turned out.  The flavor was nicely spiced and smooth.  I made several batches to give away in decorated jars.  The teachers seemed especially grateful!  



1 (29 ounce) can pumpkin puree, approx. 3 1/2 cups or fresh
3/4 cup apple juice
1/2-1.5 teaspoons ground ginger (optional, sometimes I omit)
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup Sucanat (or brown sugar)
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1-2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Combine pumpkin, apple juice, spices, and sugar in a large saucepan and stir well. Bring mixture to a boil, covered with lid ajar (I prop it with a wooden spoon). Reduce heat to low-medium and simmer, covered with lid ajar, for 35-45 minutes, stirring frequently. Be careful as the mixture bubbles and pops!

Remove from heat and let it sit for a few minutes before removing lid. Adjust spices to taste. Stir in lemon juice. Once cool, pumpkin butter can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 weeks. Makes enough to fill one large mason jar or about 3.5 cups.

White Chocolate Pumpkin Pie Spice Cookies

Who says we're passed pumpkin season?  Not me!  As you can tell, these aren't the prettiest cookies (all cookies I've made with pumpkin puree tend to be soft and more cake-like in texture), but they were delicious.




2-¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
½ tsp salt
½ cups butter, softened
1 cup sugar
½ cups brown sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 whole egg
1 tsp vanilla
1-½ cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars. Add the pumpkin, egg, and vanilla and combine thoroughly. Slowly add the dry ingredients. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop spoonfuls of dough on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (or not).

Bake for 10-12 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool for a couple minutes on the cookie sheet. 

Pumpkin Granola

I didn't bother to take a picture of this one because I didn't think it was that great.  But I'm a bit picky about my granola, so you might like it.  It's on the softer more chunky side.  The flavor was fine, I just like my granola to be crunchy and not too clumpy (like my standard recipe is!).

3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Dash of ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups old fashioned oats
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup almonds
1/4 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
1/4 cup roasted pumpkin seeds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt. Stir in the brown sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla extract until smooth. Add the oats, dried cranberries, raisins, almonds, coconut, and pumpkin seeds, stirring until granola is evenly coated. It will be moist.

Spread out evenly on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes and stir the granola around. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool completely before storing in an air-tight container. Granola will crisp up once it has cooled down.

Serve with milk, yogurt, or eat it plain and by the handful.

Pumpkin Gingerbread

This is my oldest gingersnap enjoying his pumpkin gingerbread.  He and his sister helped me polish off this deliciously moist loaf.  

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp ground ginger

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup molasses

1 Tbsp finely minced candied or fresh ginger (optional)

2 eggs, beaten

3 Tbsp water

Preheat oven to 350.  Prepare a loaf pan with non-stick spray or butter to keep the pumpkin gingerbread from sticking to pan.

In a medium bowl, vigorously whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

In another bowl, use a wooden spoon to mix together the pumpkin puree, melted butter, sugar, molasses, fresh or candied ginger, eggs, and water.

Combine the wet and dry ingredients.  Stir only until incorporated.

Place batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, until a bamboo skewer inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.  Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes.  Then gently run a knife around the edge of the loaf and invert the loaf to remove it from the pan.  Let it cool on a rack for 30 minutes or longer.

The loaf's flavor will improve with time.  If you cut into it while it's still a bit warm, it may be crumbly. 

Pumpkin Cornbread

Thank you, Kendra, for sharing this recipe!  What could be bad about pumpkin cornbread?!  I served it with savory pinto beans and thought it was a good twist on the regular stuff I make.  But to be fair, my husband said he would have preferred a cornbread that wasn't as sweet to go with the beans.  Maybe it would compliment a sweet sausage soup better.  Either way, we all still liked the bread.

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour (or just use 1 cup of all-purpose)

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 Tbsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cups brown sugar

1 cup cornmeal

2 whole eggs

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/4 cup olive oil

1 Tbsp molasses

Preheat oven to 400 F.  Grease an 8x8 baking dish.

In medium bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, salt, spices, brown sugar, and cornmeal.

In small bowl, lightly beat eggs, then stir in pumpkin, oil and molasses.

Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients just until combined.  Pour batter into pan, smoothing out the top. Bake 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. 

Pull-Apart Cinnamon Pumpkin Bread

My first new pumpkin recipe of the season!  How did I wait this long?  I don't know.  But since I do love all things pumpkin, I've added a "pumpkin" tab on the right that I'll leave up for the season . . . . 

But wait.  Don't even check the other options yet because this is by far my favorite pumpkin recipe to date (this one being my favorite savory).  I had it on the menu for my husband's birthday week, but it's fairly time consuming and I never got around to it.  I almost just ditched the recipe all together.  But how can you ditch something that sounds so wonderful?  So I went for it.  I made it just because.  No one to share it with or serve it to.  Nothing extra special to celebrate.  Just a yummy treat for my family to enjoy.  And enjoy it, we did.  The whole thing, in fact.  In just two days.  Good thing I'm eating for two!  Let's just say that a pumpkin pie and a cinnamon roll hooked up.  They've got a good thing going on!  

The original recipe can be found here.  I made a few changes:




Bread:
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups bread flour

Filling:
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Glaze:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/8 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons milk
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla (you could also use 1/4 tsp rum)


Make the pull-apart bread dough: 
Grease and flour a loaf pan and set aside. 
In a saucepan over medium-high heat, brown the 2 tablespoons of butter: let it bubble and foam and when you see it start to brown, stir it so that it browns evenly. When it’s the color of dark honey, remove it from the heat and pour it into a large heat-safe mixer bowl to cool.  Be careful.  It can burn quickly if you're not watching. 
In the same saucepan, over medium-low heat, warm the milk until it bubbles. Remove it from the heat and pour it into the bowl with the butter. Stir gently, then let these cool until they’re about 100-110 degrees F (warm, but not hot). Set the saucepan aside for another use later; why do more dishes?

Stir the sugar and yeast into the milk/butter mixture and let it sit for a few minutes until things start getting foamy (it took mine about 5 minutes). Stir in pumpkin, salt, and 1 cup flour. If you haven’t already, fit your mixer with a dough hook (or just be prepared to knead with your hands). Add the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time, stirring between each addition. When the dough is combined, knead on low speed with a dough hook until smooth and elastic (about 4 minutes with a mixer - a little longer with hands).  If still sticky, add flour 1 Tbsp at a time.  I had to add about 1/4 cup more.

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover it with a damp cloth. Let it rise in a warm place for about an hour, or until it doubles in size.  It took mine two hours to double. (After it rises, you can put it in the fridge overnight to use it in the morning, but let it sit out for half an hour before rolling if you do.)

Make the filling: While the dough is rising, melt the 2 tablespoons of butter for the filling in the saucepan over medium-high heat and brown it as directed above.  Add the sugar, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice together and mix well.  Set aside to use later.

Shape and bake pull-apart bread: Once dough has double, punch down and turn out onto a lightly floured surface.  Knead a sprinkling of flour (about 1 tablespoon) into the dough. Let it sit to relax for 5 minutes.  Roll it out to a 20 inch long and 12 inch wide rectangle, lifting corners periodically to make sure it’s not sticking. If it seems to be snapping back (which mine did constantly), cover it with your damp towel and let it rest for 5 minutes before continuing (I didn't actually do this, but probably should have because it took me forever to get the dough rolled and worked out).

Spread the browned butter filling mixture over the surface of the dough, patting it down to ensure it mostly sticks. Pile it on!

Cut the into 6 strips - the long way.  You want long, thin strips - not short, fat strips (do this by cutting the rectangle in half, then cutting each half into equal thirds. I used a pizza cutter). Stack the strips on top of one another and cut the resulting stack into 8 even portioned piles. Place these piles one at a time into your greased loaf pan, pressing them up against each other to fit them all in (see picture for a visual on how they should be placed in pan). Cover the pan with your damp cloth and place it in a warm place for 30-45 minutes to rise.

While dough rises, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (or 325 if you have a glass loaf dish instead of a metal pan). When it’s risen, place the loaf in the center of the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes until dark golden brown on top (if you take it out at light golden brown, it’s liable to be raw in the middle, so let it get good and dark). Cool for 20-30 minutes on a cooling rack in the loaf pan while you make the glaze.

Make the glaze: About five minutes before the loaf is done cooling, bring the butter, milk, and brown sugar to a boil over medium-high heat in your saucepan. Remove it from heat, add the powdered sugar and vanilla (or rum), and whisk it to a smooth consistency.

Assemble and serve: Use a butter knife to loosen all sides of the bread from the loaf pan and gently turn it out onto a plate. Place another plate on top and flip it to turn it right side up. Drizzle glaze over top. Serve each piece slightly warm with a drizzle of glaze.

Penne with Pumpkin and Sausage

The other half of my can of pumpkin went towards this tasty meal.  Like most pasta dishes, it's a bit dried out as leftovers (and it makes a lot!), but has great flavor and the sweet sausage is just right.  My son wanted his carrots included in the picture!




2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 pound bulk sweet Italian sausage
4 cloves garlic, cracked and chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
4-6 sprigs sage leaves (about 2 tablespoons), cut into chiffonade (I used 1 Tbsp dried)
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup heavy cream (I used whole milk)
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, ground or freshly grated
Coarse salt and black pepper
1 pound penne rigate, cooked to al dente
Romano or Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, for grating




Heat a large, deep nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add 1 Tbsp olive oil to the pan and brown the sausage in it.  Transfer sausage to a paper towel-lined plate.  Drain fat from skillet and return pan to the stove.  Add the remaining Tbsp oil, followed by the garlic and onion.  Saute 3-5 minutes until the onions are tender.


Add bay leaf, sage and wine to the pan.  Reduce wine by half, about 2 minutes.  Add stock and pumpkin and stir to combine, stirring sauce until it comes to a bubble.  Return sausage to pan; reduce heat and stir in cream.  Season the sauce with the cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper, to taste.  Simmer mixture 5-10 minutes to thicken sauce.


Return drained pasta to the pot you cooked it in.  Remove the bay leaf from sauce and pour the sausage pumpkin sauce over the pasta.  Combine sauce and pasta and toss over low heat for 1 minute.  Garnish the pasta with lots of shaved cheese and sage leaves.  

Savory Pumpkin Cheddar Muffins

Whoa . . . WHOA these are so good.  You just thought I was done with pumpkin.  Oh, no.  I had a large can sitting in my cupboard begging to be used.  But these are so moist and yummy, it's worth buying an out-of-season-priced can of pumpkin to make a batch, or two.  Thankfully I had some friends over to help eat them all, otherwise I think I would have forgone my dinner for another muffin, or two.


1 c. canned pumpkin
3 TBSP sour cream (I used plain yogurt)
2 eggs
1 stick unsalted butter, cooled and melted
2 c. flour
1 & 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne
1 & 1/2 tsp. coarse salt
1 & 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 c. light brown sugar
1 & 1/4  c. grated sharp cheddar

Preheat oven to 400.  Lightly coat the insides of 12 muffin cups with vegetable oil or cooking spray.


Whisk together the pumpkin and sour cream.  Whisk in the eggs and cooled, melted butter until combined.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, cayenne, salt, pepper and brown sugar.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.  Add the wet ingredients into the well and gently fold until combined.  Fold in 3/4ths of the cheese.


Divide the batter among the muffin cups.  Sprinkle tops with the remaining cheese.  Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden and the tops spring back when lightly pressed.  Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out the muffins to a cooling rack.  Serve warm.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Might I suggest pancakes for your Christmas breakfast?!  No?  Ok, that's fine.  But these were really good!  We've been into pancakes lately.  It just seems to fit the holiday season - including my daughter's first birthday this week!  These have been my husband's favorite so far and I agree they were delicious, but I'll post my favorites later.


1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cup yellow cornmeal
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/3 cups milk
3/4 cups canned pumpkin
3 large eggs, separated
3 Tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla


In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, allspice, and salt.  In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, pumpkin, egg yolks, melted butter, and vanilla.  Add pumpkin mixture to dry ingredients and whisk until smooth.  In a medium bowl with an electric mixer, beat egg whites until peaks form.  Fold into batter.

Preheat nonstick griddle or skillet over medium-high heat.  Lightly spray or brush with vegetable oil (or butter!).  Pour 3/4 cup batter onto griddle for each pancake.  Cook until bubbles form on the surface, about 2 minutes.  Turn and cook until golden on the other side, 1 minute longer.  Serve with topping of your choice.