pumpkin muffins

So very sorry I've been m.i.a these last couple of weeks! This semester is just a lot of work :( But let's not pretend that I'm so swamped in work that I haven't had time to bake. Because I have. I've been doing a LOT of baking these last few weeks. Just not quite enough blogging.

Anyway, onward, upward, and just in time for Halloween...I know you want to hear about pumpkin and how much I LOVE IT. I love it so much. I've been on a pumpkin baking spree lately: pumpkin waffles, pumpkin cookies with butterscotch chips, pumpkin scones, pumpkin pie (to come tomorrow for Halloween), but most importantly, my most favorite pumpkin recipe of all...

PUMPKIN MUFFINS!


Yes, I am that excited about them. These are the muffins that I liked even when I thought I didn't like pumpkin. These are the muffins that my mom would make dozens and dozens of (usually of the mini variety) that I would get in my lunch for the entire month of October. They are my favorite. I don't know where the recipe came from, I think it came from someone at my elementary school? So the story goes...

Enough talk...go make yourself the best muffins on earth.



Pumpkin Muffins

Dry Ingedients
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp nutmeg
1 pinch cloves

Wet Ingredients
3 eggs
1 cup oil
2/3 cup orange juice
2 cups canned pumpkin

Combine dry ingredients. Combine wet ingredients. Combine both. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes (shorter if you go with mini muffins)

I made half the recipe and ended up with 20 muffins. I topped half with a toasted almond struesel (simply mix chopped toasted almonds, brown sugar, sugar, and a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg together and sprinkle on muffins before baking)


See? So easy. Just remember the golden rule of muffin making: don't overmix the batter! Just mix it until the dry ingredients are just moistened.

black and white cookies

I was a little sad that I couldn't find time for the daring bakers challenge this month, especially since it was puff pastry! I've always wanted to try that. Nonetheless, I think I lived up to the spirit of "daring baking" by making something completely new this month: black and white cookies!

That's right, up until earlier this week I had never made a black and white cookie. I love them cause they're essentially little cakes, but in the shape of a cookie. And they are just so sweet and delicious. I also hadn't had one since my spring break trip to New York City, where we risked missing the bus back home just to get some good old black and whites before we left. So when the occasion for cookie baking arose, I dedicated my afternoon to a cookie baking extravaganza and it yielded some pretty delicious results.


Mini Black and White Cookies
from Gourmet Magazine

For Cookies:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg

For Icing:
2 3/4 cup confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

4 to 6 tablespoons water
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350. Butter 2 large baking sheets.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Stir together buttermilk and vanilla in a cup. Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes, then add egg, beating until combined well. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture and buttermilk mixture alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture, and mixing just until smooth. Drop rounded teaspoons(for real. I was not consistent at all and mine are all sorts of sizes) of batter 1 inch apart onto baking sheets. Bake, switching positions of sheets halfway through baking, until tops are puffed, edges are pale golden, and cookies spring back when touched, 6 to 8 minutes total. Transfer to a rack to cool.

Stir together confectioners sugar, corn syrup, lemon juice, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl until smooth. If icing is not easily spreadable, add more water, 1/2 teaspoon at a time. Transfer half of icing to another bowl and stir in cocoa, adding more water, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, to thin to same consistency as vanilla icing. Cover surface with a dampened paper towel, then cover bowl with plastic wrap.

With offset spatula, spread white icing over half of flat side of each cookie. Starting with cookies you iced first, spread chocolate icing over other half.