Tag Archives: dessert

Sugar Crunch Mini Pumpkin Muffins

I couldn’t tempt you all with the picture of the incredible mini pumpkin muffins my friend Cassia made for her wine-tasting party and then not share the recipe. It would have been cruel and unusual. “Cassia,” I whined, “can I pretty please have that recipe for my blog, pretty please, because if I don’t share it people might get reeeallly angry, and I don’t want a blogmob on my hands! I’m frightened and scared and the only solution is for me to haaaaaave that reeeecipe!” It turns out I didn’t have to whine at all. Within hours, she had emailed me the recipe with all her instructions.

I popped over to Target to purchase a mini muffin tin. It will have been money well spent . . . even if I only ever make these once.

Which is not going to happen.

I’m considering making them once per day for the rest of my life. Except that I also want to be able to fit into my jeans, which are the perfect dark wash. I don’t think I could find another pair like them. I’ll let you know my decision after 24 hours of careful thought.

Cassia found the recipe on this website and proceeded to modify it by absconding with the nuts and then sprinkling sugar all over them before baking. I firmly believe that the sugar topping is 100% necessary. The little crunch it produces is faint-inducingly good. Cassia didn’t make the frosting, and neither did I, but I’ll include the recipe just in case you want to give it a whirligig.

Ingredients

(makes 72 mini muffins)

1 cup vegetable oil

3 cups sugar

2/3 cups water

2 cups pumpkin purée

4 eggs

3 ½ cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

Chopped walnuts, optional

2/3 c Cinnamon sugar mix

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

Mix all of the ingredients together except for the cinnamon sugar and walnuts–first the dry ingredients:

And then the wet ingredients:

You won’t have to run your mixer for very long before it’s perfectly combined into a swirly orange fall festival that’s just begging to be dipped into immediately with a finger or two.

Fears of salmonella have never been able to keep me down.

Now let’s grease the mini muffin tin–I sprayed mine down with some baking spray. It feels so wrong, but also so right. Spoon the batter in. If you fill the little cups to the top, it will produce a larger mini muffin. I chose to make a variety. Or rather, my careless spooning produced a variety. But I say yes to diversity!

Sprinkle on some of the cinnamon sugar. With my first batch, I went pretty light on them:

But with the second batch, I really laid it on.

I like laying it on. I used about 2/3 tsp of cinnamon sugar per muffin in this second batch, but you must do what you feel is right.

If you’re a nutty kind of person, sprinkle the chopped walnuts on the top of each muffin, along with the cinnamon sugar.

The nuts by themselves are also vreeeerry good.

Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes, or until the top springs back to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean.  For some reason, my muffins took more like 30 min. If you make regular-sized muffins, they will need to bake longer.  And lastly, if you choose to go the loaf pans route, you’ll need to bake it for about 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Let the muffins cool for 5 in the pan–or not. I popped them out immediately because I wanted to get the next batch started (yes, I only have 1 tin). They should pop out easily, but if not, you can always run a knife around the edges to loosen them. Let them cool completely on a wire rack.

Take a chomp while you’re at it. It’s called ‘quality control.’

Then try not to scream as you realize that the pile of muffins keep growing . . . and growing . . . and growing. They’re cloning themselves. It’s the only explanation.

Cream cheese frosting:

1 8-ounce package cream cheese

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 tsp vanilla

4 cups powdered sugar

Mix all the ingredients until smooth. When the muffins have cooled down, either make a hole in the bottom of them and pipe some into the hole, or cut them in half and spread frosting on the halves. Or spread frosting on top! You can also choose to spread the frosting all over your face. And hands. Just so you have an excuse to lick it off.

I also experimented with adding ginger salt to the tops. Definitely good. When I make these next, I’ll do all the different toppings so that I can offer a variety to my guests. Because when 72 little sugar-laden muffins are set loose in a household of 2, guests are an absolute necessity.

Tomorrow, the PW weekend series, part 1: the Lodge. For those of you who are getting antsy, please continue to look at this picture and take deep breaths:

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Thick Strawberry-Banana Smoothie

This is the smoothie of my dreams, and I have to have it every night or I shrivel up into a mere shell of a human. If there are no bananas and our grocery budget is maxed out, I make a small sign which reads “Please help. Bananas needed asap for frightening shriveled condition” and sit on the sidewalk to terrify passerbys into dropping a banana in my hat. My addiction to this smoothie is a sickness, people–a sickness. And we all know that sickness likes company. Or was that misery? Anyway, I want everyone to experience the wonders and horrors of a lifelong dependence on this fruit-laden, creamy treat.

I used to make smoothies all the time in high school. Then I forgot they existed. And then, on a recent trip to my sister Heidi’s house in Alabama, she made one that I would have killed for. But instead of killing (which might not go over well with my pastor) I bought the ingredients myself upon my return home and I whipped one up. And then another. And then another. After wasting a decade of my life not consuming smoothies, I had to make up for lost time.

One of the best things about it: the only thing you dirty is the blender and the glass you drink it from. No chopping involved! And no ice involved—my blender can’t handle it. It jams up and the motor catches on fire. Or at least it starts smelling like it’s caught on fire. The frozen fruit does the trick of cooling the whole thing down. Since we’re in the midst of beautiful, summery, strawberry-laden days, I like to stock up on cheap strawberries, take ‘em home and freeze ‘em whole so that they’re always on hand. But in the winter, I may have to revert to the pre-frozen bags.

Ingredients

(2 servings)

1 ripe banana

1 TBS brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/3 c milk (or half & half if you’re like me)

1/3 c plain yoghurt

6 medium frozen strawberries

Toss everything in your blender. Take a leap of faith and use the half & half instead of the milk (then tell yourself it’s just this once). Blend! Drink.

If you don’t like your smoothies so thick (i.e., my husband), just add more milk. If you like ’em fruitier, just add more strawberries. If you want to exponentially add decadence, spoon in some vanilla ice cream–it’s versatile! This really is the easiest thing you’ll ever make.

Use this recipe as a base to switch up the fruit. I like to use frozen peaches, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, mangoes, etc. Get crazy and switch up the flavor of yoghurt you use. You can also spike it with some vanilla vodka if you so choose. Will you have chosen wisely? That’s for you, your tastebuds, and your ethics to work out.

After my 3rd photo shoot with this smoothie recipe trying to capture something that didn’t look like a washed-out pile of mush, I discovered 2 very important tricks. If you’re willing to put in a little extra effort (read: 2 more minutes of prep) and want to make the smoothie EXTRA delicious, try this:

-Heat up 2 frozen strawberries in the microwave for about 1 1/2 minutes. This will turn them into a schmushy, liquidy pulp. Put the whole shebang in the blender with the rest. It adds something, it really does. Probably something about chemistry and the heat reacting with the sugars of the fruit. Let’s call it “microwavization of the strawberriohelix sugarchronicon.”

-Chop up some chunks/rounds of strawberry and banana, and mix those in at the end. After photographing the garnishes (I never use garnishes on a normal night–does anyone??), I plopped ’em in to the smoothie right before drinking (read: inhaling) it. And you know what? Finding those chunks of fresh fruit as I gulped it down was DELIGHTFUL. I can sense you’re dubiousness–but please trust me! I wouldn’t lie to you! (sob of genuine-ness and sincerity catching in throat) In fact, it’s SO GOOD I MUST WRITE IN CAPS TO DRIVE THE POINT INTO YOUR MINDS!!

OK, now that we’ve seen the pretty pictures, let’s get real. This is how I really drink it: all 3 servings in one beer glass. Mmmmm.

A beer glass full of delights

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