Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

These could easily be my favorite muffins EVER.  It’s probably a little deceiving to call them muffins and not cupcakes, but I’m just following suit of that ever-so-famous coffee chain for which these are a knock off recipe J

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Modified from Annie’s Eats

Yields 24 Muffins

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

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 ziplock bag, and reserve for later.

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.  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.

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.  Sometimes when I'm in a hurry, I just give a few shakes of cinnamon/sugar mixture to the top. 

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).  Cut a corner off the plastic bag containing the cream cheese mixture.  Pipe in a small dollop of the cream cheese mixture onto each muffin.  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.

 

Apple Spice Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting

Let it be known.  I am obsessed with fall flavors.  Thankfully, they’re J’s favorite as well.  The smells of cinnamon, nutmeg, apple, and pumpkin have been wafting through our apartment since before autumn’s formal arrival. 

I made these to share with our House Church and with a few of my classmates who had exams today.  I think the comments were unanimous- this is a recipe to keep!

 These cupcakes were a cinch!  I love a good doctored up cake mix, and this recipe yeilded soft, pillowy cake studded with apples.  And the frosting?  You really can’t go wrong with the combination of caramel, cream cheese, butter, and powdered sugar.  This was my first experience on the salted caramel bandwagon.  Not sure if I thought it was that much better than standard caramel, but it is nice if you are craving a salty/sweet combo!

 I think that next time I make these, I’ll add toasted walnuts. Or a caramel drizzle.  Or chocolate sprinkles.  Or a wooden stick to make them look like real caramel apples.  Mmmmm… the possibilities!

 

Apple Spice Cupcakes

From The Girl WhoAte Everything

·         1 (18.25-ounce) package spice cake mix

·         2 large eggs

·         1 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt

·         1/2 cup milk

·         1/3 cup vegetable oil

·         1 cup peeled, cored, and chopped Granny Smith apple (about 1 large apple)

"Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cake mix, eggs, sour cream, milk, and vegetable oil until incorporated (about 30 seconds). Scrape sides of bowl and then beat on med-high speed for 3 minutes. Stir in chopped apple.

Spoon batter into paper-lined muffin pans, filling two-thirds full. Bake 18-20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Do not overbake. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 20-24 cupcakes."

While the cupcakes are baking and cooling, prepare the frosting!

 

Salted Caramel

From Life on Blackberry Farm

 

·         1 cup sugar

·         4 tablespoons water

·         2 tablespoons light corn syrup

·         1/2 cup heavy cream

·         2 tablespoons butter

·         1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

·         1/2 teaspoon salt, kosher or sea

"Combine the sugar, water, and the corn syrup in a large saucepan and stir with a wooden spoon over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.

Cover the saucepan and let it cook over medium heat for 3 minutes.

After 3 minutes, remove the lid, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil.  Do not stir from this point on, but instead swirl the liquid around the pan so that the caramel doesn’t burn.

Continue to cook until the caramel turns an even amber color then remove from the heat and let stand for about 30 seconds.

*** Be careful here *** Pour the heavy cream into the mixture. The mixture will bubble up significantly and is very hot.  Stir the mixture, again being careful. Add the butter, lemon juice, and salt. Stir until combined.

Measure 1 cup into a Pyrex measuring cup. Stirring occasionally, allow to cool until thick like molasses and warm to the touch, about 20 minutes. Save any extra in a sealed container in the refrigerator. It is delicious on ice cream, not to mention your finger…"

Salted Caramel Frosting

Also from Life on Blackberry Farm

 

·         2 sticks butter at room temperature

·         8 ounces of cream cheese

·         3-4 cups sifted powdered sugar

·         1 cup salted caramel (recipe above)

Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed until creamy.  Add 2 cups of the powdered sugar into the butter/cream cheese mixture and beat to combine.  Add 1 cup of the salted caramel and beat to combine.  Add additional powdered sugar until the frosting is the sweetness and consistency you desire. 

Enjoy!

 

Java Crusted Steak

One of the first years J and I were dating, I felt completely at a loss while planning for Valentine’s Day. What does one get a guy for V-Day anyway? It seems like a very girly holiday.

 

I ended up making him dinner and getting him a book written by his favorite sports writer. There aren’t many things that say “I love you”more than a good steak! Besides, J loves coffee, and that is this steak rub’s secret ingredient! It lends a delightfully smokey flavor, whether you cook it on the grill or not! The original recipe also includes a stout glaze, but we haven't tried that yet.

Java Crusted New York Steak

Guy Fieri

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup medium grind Italian Roast coffee
• 1/2 cup black peppercorns, freshly cracked
• 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup kosher salt
• 1/4 cup granulated garlic
• 11/2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
• 11/2 tablespoons paprika
• 4 (1 1/2 to 2-inch) thick New York strip steaks

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Combine coffee, peppercorns, 1/4 cup brown sugar, salt, garlic, cayenne pepper and paprika in a small bowl. Press firmly onto steaks. Let steaks rest, covered, for 30 minutes at room temperature.

To cook, heat oil in a large saute pan until almost smoking. Add steaks and sear 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Do not overcrowd the pan. Use 2 pans if needed. Remove steaks to a baking dish and finish cooking in the oven until desired doneness. Remove to a cutting board or platter and let rest 10 minutes before slicing.

Note: Steaks are also marvelous cooked over the grill!

Easy Peasy Chicken Tacos

Because J and I have sometimes unpredictable work schedules, I have a nice artillary of simple crockpot meals.  It seems kind of silly to write down this recipe since we modify it so often, but we've been asked for it, so we'll share!

Easy Peasy Chicken Tacos

• Frozen chicken breasts (however many you want)
• 1 can black beans, rinsed
• 1-2 cups of frozen corn (or a bag of corn)
• Instant Rice or Spanish Rice box (as many servings as you want)

Potential Add-ins

• Zest and juice of 1 lime
• Cilantro
• Rotelle Tomatoes
• Sauted onions and peppers
• Etc.

Place frozen chicken breasts in crock pot.  Pour about an inch of water over the top to help keep them moist.  Leave crock pot on low for at least hours, or high for around 4 hours.  We've definitely left them in longer!  If you so desire, you can add some seasoning with your frozen chicken, or dump in a cup of salsa or enchilada sauce.  I usually don't because I would rather not clean it off the crock pot :)

When you get home from work, shred the chicken with a fork.  It should practically fall apart!  Prepare rice according to package.  When we use plain instant rice, sometimes we add rotelle tomatoes or lime juice or cilantro, etc.  Add the chicken, black beans, and corn to the rice towards the end of the cooking time and heat until simmering.

Serve with lettuce, cheese, salsa, taco shells, and/or tortilla chips!

Mini Pumpkin Spice Cheesecakes

I made these delicious morsels a few weeks ago as a "Thank you" for the Woman's Health Clinic that I had been rotating through.  It was a fun way to spoil all the girls who work so hard to provide excellent health care to women!  The next day, I passed out quite a few copies of the recipe.

I think my only critique is that after a few days, the gingersnap crust became quite soggy.  No one seemed to mind except me!  J and I served the leftover Praline Topping over pumpkin ice cream.  DELICIOUS!


Mini Pumpkin Spice Cheesecakes
This recipe is a conglomeration of approximately 3-4 different pumpkin cheesecake recipes :)

Yield: ~20 mini cheesecakes

Pumpkin Spice Filling

• ~20 Gingersnap cookies
• 16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup pumpkin puree (canned pumpkin works)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 3-4 tablespoons bourbon (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place gingersnap cookies in the bottom of foil cupcake liners in cupcake pans. 

In a large mixer, beat together cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Mix in vanilla extract and eggs. Beat in pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and bourbon until well combined. Pour mixture on top of baked crust. Bake for 20-24 minutes, or until filling is set. Cheesecake is ready to come out of the oven when the center still wobbles very slightly (the residual heat in the cheesecake will continue to bake them once out of the oven). Allow to cool completely to room temperature in pan before chilling in refrigerator. 

Praline Topping

• 1 1/2 cups pecans
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Arrange the pecans on a baking sheet in a single layer and toast them at 350 degrees for 7-9 minutes, until golden brown and aromatic. Coarsely chop the nuts.  Stir together the brown sugar, cream, and butter in a saucepan set over medium heat. Boil the mixture for about 1 1/2 minutes, adjusting the heat to make sure it does not boil over. Do not stir. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla, salt, and pecans. Cool the topping at least 15 minutes before spooning over the top of the chilled cheesecakes.

 

Serve immediately, or cover and chill until ready to serve. The cheesecake will keep, well wrapped, in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.  Enjoy!