Ginger Pear Muffins

These muffins have been on my "to-do" list for about 4 months now. I tore the recipe out of a Better Homes and Gardens magazine. They were delicious. They were not too sweet, but just right. They also had a great spice flavor which paired fabulously with a cup of coffee!!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

2/3 cup mild-flavor molasses

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup boiling water

2 small pears, cut in wedges each

3 ounces dark or bittersweet chocolate broken in small pieces

raw sugar, optional

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly coat twelve 2-1/2-inch muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray and flour.

2. In large bowl combine flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. In a second bowl whisk together molasses, butter, brown sugar, and egg. Pour into flour mixture. Stir until combined. Whisk in boiling water. Divide evenly among muffin cups. Add 1 pear wedge to each muffin, press lightly.

3. Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Sprinkle with raw sugar. Add chocolate piece to top of muffins. Cool in pan on rack 10 minutes. Use table knife to smooth melted chocolate. Remove from cups. Cool completely on wire rack. Makes 12.

Also, I didn't have raw sugar to sprinkle on top, but I think it makes a huge difference on the presentation if you do add it!

Fresh Apple Cake

I went home last weekend to spend time with my friends and family. Saturday afternoon, Dad must have been craving something sweet, because he asked me if I wanted one of his fresh apple cakes. Little did I know, he was really asking me to make it. He grabs the church recipe book and pulls up his favorite fresh apple cake recipe. He asked me to start making the cake while he ran to the store to buy the apples. I suppose this cake was a team effort. I put everything together and Dad cut up the apples and mixed the nuts and apples in the batter. It turned out pretty tasty and paired nicely with a cup of coffee.

Fresh Apple Cake Recipe:

Blend in a bowl:
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla

Add and mix well:
3 cups diced apples
1 cup chopped nuts
3 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Pour mixture into greased and floured tube pan. Bake for 1 hour and 10
minutes at 325 degrees.

Oreo Balls

Oreo balls have become a necessity with all the girls in my office. All they want for Christmas is Oreo balls! Actually, any day is a good day to have an Oreo ball. This is probably the easiest recipe I have ever posted. You will not be disappointed!!!!!

1 container of Oreo Cookies
8 oz cream cheese
1 lb of white chocolate or milk chocolate (or buy a package of white candy coating)

Using a food processor, grind cookies to a fine powder. With a mixer, blend cookie powder and cream cheese until thoroughly mixed (there should be no white traces of cream cheese). Roll into small balls and place on wax-lined cookie sheet. Refrigerate for 45 minutes.

Line cookie sheets with wax paper. In double boiler, melt chocolate. Dip balls and coat thoroughly. Place on wax-paper lined cookie sheet. Let cool in refrigerator. Store in airtight container, in refrigerator. Makes around 36 balls!

Pumpkin Scones

I am really bad at keeping up with my blog. It would have been much nicer if I would have posted this recipe around Thanksgiving, when people were really into pumpkin treats! Better late than never

These scones came from my friend Liesl. (You can check out her blog for more fabulous recipes!)

Pumpkin Spice Scones

1 C. all purpose flour
1 C. cake flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground nutmeg
1/4 t. ground allspice
1/4 t. ground ginger
6 T. unsalted butter
1/2 C. raisins (optional)
1/3 C. pumpkin puree
1/3 C. heavy cream
6 T. brown sugar
1 t. vanilla

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Get out a baking sheet and line with parchment paper (not required but makes cleanup easy!). Cut the butter into small pieces, put it in a small bowl and put it back in the refrigerator. In a medium bowl, combine both flours, baking powder, salt, and all spices. Whisk together well. Place bowl in freezer (refrigerator is fine if you have no room in freezer).

In a separate bowl, combine pumpkin, heavy cream, brown sugar, and vanilla. Whisk together well. Put this bowl in freezer (or refrigerator) and take the other bowl back out. Get the butter pieces out of the fridge and dump them into the bowl with the flour mixture. Cut the butter into the flour using a pastry blender or rub it in with your fingertips until it resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the raisins if you are using them.

Get the liquid mixture out of the freezer and pour into the flour mixture all at once. Stir with a wooden spoon until everything is just moistened. The dough will be very crumbly, this is the way it should be. Turn the mixture out onto the counter and push the pile together with your hands. It should stick together fairly well. Knead it just a couple of times until everything is together. Don’t knead it too much or the dough will get too sticky.

Pat the dough out into a rough circle, 3/4 to 1 inch thick. Cut it like a pie into 8 pieces. Place pieces on the baking sheet so that they are not touching. Bake scones for about 15 minutes at 425 degrees. They should be light brown on the bottom, the tops will darken as they cool.

Pumpkin Spice Icing

(recipe from Liesl)

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice

2 Tablespoons milk

Combine all ingredients in a small dish. Brush over cooled scones, allowing some icing to drizzle down the sides.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

This was another item I baked for Thanksgiving at Mom's house. We always have a huge dinner with about 30-40 family members. It is my favorite holiday ever!!!! Everyone brings a few dishes and we eat all day long! I have been addicted to trying out new cupcake recipes and ever since I first found this recipe, I knew I had to make it. I LOVE cream cheese icing! These were perfect for fall. You could even make a few without the icing and enjoy them for breakfast!

INGREDIENTS

2 cups white sugar
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups canned pumpkin
4 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line cupcake tins with cupcake liners. (I found they bake up nicer with foil liners, rather than paper) Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and cloves. Set aside. In a large bowl combine sugar and oil. Blend in vanilla and pumpkin, then beat in eggs one at a time. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in nuts. Pour batter into cupcake cups. Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean. Allow to cool. Frost with your favorite cream cheese frosting, or whipped cream.

PUMPKIN-CREAM CHEESE TRUFFLES

I was trying to come up with pumpkin recipes for Thanksgiving. There were so many options out there and I wanted to try something new. Mom put me in charge of making two desserts and here is what I came up with. The first one I found came from Whole Foods!

They were a little difficult to make. I had to keep putting them in the freezer because they were getting soft before I dipped them. In the long run, it was all worth it! They turned out to be really yummy!

Makes about 30
These truffles pair pumpkin with gingersnap and graham cracker crumbs. For
the best results, chill truffles until you're ready to serve them.

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups white chocolate chunks
1/3 cup gingersnap cookie crumbs, plus more for garnish
1/4 cup canned pumpkin purée
1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs, plus more for garnish
1 tablespoon confectioners sugar
1/2 teaspoon orange zest
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of fine salt
2 ounces cream cheese, softened

Method
Melt 1/2 cup of the chocolate in a double boiler over medium-low heat or in the microwave for about 1 minute. Stir often to keep the chocolate from burning. Transfer to a large bowl. Add gingersnap crumbs, pumpkin, graham cracker crumbs, sugar, zest, cinnamon, salt and cream cheese and beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Transfer to a shallow bowl, cover and chill until just solid enough to roll into balls, about 2 hours.

Line a large sheet tray with parchment paper. Melt remaining 2 cups chocolate and transfer to a small, deep bowl. Roll 1 heaping teaspoon of the pumpkin mixture into a ball in your hands, then drop into the chocolate. Working quickly, gently spoon chocolate over to coat. Using a small spoon or fork, lift the truffle out of the chocolate, shake off excess and transfer to prepared sheet tray. Dollop a bit of extra chocolate on any parts that remain exposed, then sprinkle a few gingersnap or graham cracker crumbs over the top, if you like. Repeat process with remaining pumpkin mixture and chocolate, then chill truffles until chocolate is completely set, about 1
hour.

Starbucks VIA Coffee Chocolate Chip Banana Bundt Cake

This is another tasty recipe I found on my friend's blog! Liesl always finds great recipes so I trust anything she makes! I really wasn't in the mood to bake a cake last night, but one of my girlfriends (who used to be a Starbucks employee) insisted we bake the cake.  It was easy to make and paired well with a nice cup of Starbucks decaf coffee, compliments of Jessica Campbell!

Here is the recipe:

2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 packet Starbucks Via
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 medium bananas, mashed (approx 1 cup)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F.
Lightly grease a bundt pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, Via,
sugar and brown sugar. In a medium bowl, whisk together mashed
bananas, vegetable oil, buttermilk, egg and vanilla extract until
smooth and well-combined. Pour into dry ingredients and stir only
until no streaks of flour remain. Add in chocolate chips and stir to
evenly distribute. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake for about 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the
center comes out clean.
Cool in pans on a wire rack.

For the glaze:
Combine 1 cup powdered sugar with 2 Tablespoons Starbucks VIA Coffee
(I used about 1 teaspoon of the VIA and then added enough water to
make 2 Tablespoons). Brush glaze over cooled cake. Let some of the
glaze drizzle down over the sides.