Harvest Muffins

I love Fall and the cool crisp mornings that come with it. I found this muffin recipe while looking for a pumpkin recipe that used apples as well (see previous post). I love these muffins. They're all the flavors of Fall all in one little muffin.

• 2 ½ cups flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup pumpkin purée
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups apples, peeled and chopped
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup dried cranberries

Streusel Topping:

• 2 Tablespoons flour
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 Tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 2 muffin pans with paper liners and set aside. In a large bowl mix the eggs, pumpkin, and vegetable oil until well blended. Add the flour, sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt. Mix well. Fold in the apples, pecans and cranberries. Scoop into liners, filling them about ¾ full. Set aside. Make the streusel: in a smaller bowl mix the flour, sugar and cinnamon. Cut in the butter with 2 knives, pastry blender or with your fingers until the mixture resembles small pebbles. Top batter with a small spoonful of streusel. Bake muffins at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until muffins bounce back when lightly touched.

Makes about 2 dozen muffins.

Everything But the Kitchen Sink Cookies

My little family and I recently relocated to Colorado.

Moving is the worst. Seriously. I never need to do it again. But the biggest thing that made it worth it? The kitchen.

Oh and the views. The views are amazing.

(That's 2 apples and a cherry tree in the backyard AND to the right we have some amazing views of Mesa Verde!)

And the little fox that comes to visit our backyard at the same time every night. Or the deer that make their way through our backyard. Or the fact that the cool crisp mountains are just a 10 minute drive away. I could go on and on.

The first thing I did (with the help of my MIL) when we moved in was put together the kitchen. Today I was itching to make (and eat!) some cookies. I'm calling these the "Everything But the Kitchen Sink" cookies since I just threw in a bunch of bags of leftovers I had in the pantry. You could easily sub or leave out whatever add-ins you like. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• ½ cup old fashioned oats
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• ½ teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 ½ cups flour (¼ cup added for higher altitude)
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups sweet add-ins (I used a mixture of dark chocolate, semi-sweet and butterscotch chips. Others you could try: milk chocolate chips, raisins, dried fruit, toffee bits, caramel bits, M&M's, etc...)
• 1 cup nuts (I used toasted pecans, again, you could use whatever nuts you prefer, or leave them out)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside. In your food processor, pulse the oats until semi-fine. Set aside. In your stand up mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars together until well blended. Add the cinnamon, vanilla, eggs and lemon juice. Mix well. Slowly add the oats, flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well. Fold in the nuts and sweet add-ins. Scoop out onto cookie sheets and bake 10-12 minutes or until golden.

Yields: 50 cookies (using a medium cookie scoop).

My Favorite Scone Recipe

I love a good scone recipe. And it's taken me a few years, but I have found the perfect scone recipe. And it can be easily adapted to pretty much any type of scone you could want! I've listed a few of the ones I've tried and liked. 

• 2 cups flour
• 6 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 stick (½ cup) cold butter, cut into pieces
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• course sugar (optional)
• heavy cream, milk or buttercream (for brushing) - Also optional.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper, set aside. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in your stand up mixer. Add the butter, piece at a time. Slowly stir in heavy cream, egg and vanilla. Mix just until incorporated. Roll out into an 8 inch circle. Brush with heavy cream, milk or buttermilk and sprinkle with course sugar. Cut into triangles and place about ½ an inch from each other and bake for 12-16 minutes, or until set and edges are starting to brown. Let cool 5-10 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes 8 scones.

Recipe adapted from:

http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2014/05/18/strawberry-lemon-poppy-seed-scones/

Make these delicious scones using the above recipe:

Cranberry - Orange Scones

To the flour mixture (before adding butter) zest 1 orange into the flour. Add butter. After adding the liquids, add the juice of the orange and blend well. You might need to add more flour if your orange is super juicy. Fold in 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries (I've also used dried cranberries and actually prefer the sweetness of the dried better). Bake as normal.

Maple Pecan Scones

Add ¾ cup chopped pecans to the flour mixture (after adding the butter). Follow directions above. While baking make the maple icing: blend 4 cups powdered sugar, ¼ cup milk, 4 Tablespoons butter, melted, 1 Tablespoon brewed coffee, and 2 teaspoons maple extract until well blended and lump free. Once scones have cooled completely ice with maple icing and top with pecans. Let icing dry completely before storing in an airtight container.

Strawberry Lemon Poppy Seed Scones

To the dried mixture (before adding butter) zest in one lemon and add 2 teaspoons poppy seeds. After you've mixed everything together slowly fold in 1 cup chopped strawberries (fresh or frozen). Then bake as normal. Drizzle cooled scones with lemon glaze (if desired): Juice of 1 lemon, 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 Tablespoon heavy cream. Mix together until well blended, adding more powdered sugar as needed to get a good drizzling consistency. 

Cherry Almond Scones

After scones have been mixed, carefully fold in 1 cup (fresh or frozen) cherries (halved is a little easier to work with) and bake as normal. While baking make the Almond glaze: 2 cups powdered sugar, 3 Tablespoons milk or cream, ½ teaspoon almond extract. Mix until well combined. Drizzle over cooled scones and top with sliced almonds. 

Orange Chocolate Chip Scones

Just like the cranberry orange scones, except fold in mini chocolate chips instead of cranberries. 

Caramel Apple Scones

To the flour mixture (before adding butter) add 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon. After scones have been mixed with wet mixture, fold in 1 apple that's been chopped into bite size pieces. Bake as normal. After scones have cooled drizzle with your favorite caramel sauce. I like to use my homemade salted caramel recipe.

More scone ideas to come! :)

Apple, Bacon & Gargonzola Salad w/ Candied Pecans

I love a good salad. Especially when it's loaded with bacon and cheese! Oh and the homemade candied pecans are amazing and way cheaper than buying them in the store.

• 4 cups of your favorite greens (I like to use a mixture of baby spinach and a spring salad mix
• 1 green apple, cored and sliced
• 4 slices bacon, chopped and fried until crispy
• Crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
• Dried cranberries
• Candied pecans (recipe below)

Apple Cider Poppy Seed dressing:

• ¾  cup extra virgin olive oil
• 4 Tablespoons Apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup honey
• 3 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 Tablespoon poppy seeds
• 1 teaspoon dry minced onion

Combine all the dressing ingredients together in a mason jar or small bowl and mix well. Set aside. Or make ahead of time and keep in fridge, up to 1 week. Combine the remaining salad ingredients and top with dressing. 

Candied Pecans

• 2 cups pecans
• 3 Tablespoons packed brown sugar
• 3 teaspoons water
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Mix the brown sugar, water, vanilla and salt in a small bowl and set aside. In a large frying pan over medium heat cook the pecan halves until fragrant and roasted, about 4-5 minutes. Add the brown sugar mixture to the pecans and stir until evenly coated, remove from heat. Lay out pecans on parchment paper to cool. Store unused pecans in a airtight container.

Butterscotch Pecan Monkey Bread

This is one of my favorite sweet treats for breakfast or brunch and can be devoured by my family in less than 5 minutes.

• 12-14 unbaked frozen yeast dinner roll dough
• 1 small box of regular butterscotch pudding mix (NOT instant!)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

The night before: grease a bundt pan very well. Sprinkle pecans on the bottom of the pan. Place the frozen rolls over the pecans and sprinkle the rolls with the dry pudding mix. In a microwave safe bowl: melt the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon together until butter is melted and well blended with the sugar. About 1-2 minutes. Drizzle over the rolls. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let sit overnight at room temperature or for about 8 hours. In the morning: preheat your oven to 350 degrees, remove plastic wrap and bake for 22-25 minutes. Let cool in bundt pan for 5 minutes. Then invert onto a large serving plate and let sit there for a minute or two to get all the gooeyness out. Serve warm.

Recipe from:

http://www.bostongirlbakes.com/2013/12/31/6-ingredient-caramel-sticky-buns/