FOOD RECIPES : PUMPKIN SPICE CUPCAKES

PUMPKIN SPICE CUPCAKES Food Recipes, This is a wonderful recipe for several reasons: the cupcakes are super moist and tender, they are mildly spiced and the batter goes together with one bowl and a whisk; what could be easier? They are so tasty, that they really don't need a frosting, although I like to serve them frosted with a simple maple flavored butter cream (pumpkin and maple are MADE for each other). Everyone loves these simple cupcakes!!

In a large bowl, mix together with a whisk:

(1)  15 ounce can of pumpkin (not pie filling)
1 2/3  cup of granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
(scant) 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
(scant) 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Whisk together until very well mixed, then add:

2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Mix well, then stir in 1/2 cup of raisins (optional).

Fill cupcake papers 3/4 full.  Bake in a 350 oven for 23-25 minutes (my electric oven takes 23 minutes) or until toothpick tests clean.  Remove and cool.

After the cupcakes have cooled, dust the tops with powdered sugar or frost with your favorite frosting.


I never measure my "everyday" frosting, but here's a stab at it:

Melt 3 tablespoons butter; add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/2 teaspoon maple extract.
Add 1 to 1½ cups of powdered sugar and a couple tablespoons of cream.  Whisk till smooth. If it seems a little to dry, add another tablespoon of cream.  If it seems a little too wet, had another spoon of powdered sugar.  

MAKES 24 CUPCAKES

PUMPKIN SPICE CUPCAKES FOOD RECIPES
By Coleen Marie
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FOOD RECIPES : TRICK or TREAT !!

TRICK or TREAT !! Food Recipes, I recently came across this great trick or treat idea through an old friend who found it on feeling crafty.org   It obviously doesn't need "instructions" or a "recipe" but I just thought it was so clever and I wanted to share it.

I can see a big bowl of these ready for
trick-or-treaters on Halloween!!



TRICK or TREAT !! FOOD RECIPES
By Coleen Marie
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FOOD RECIPES : SWEET AND SAVORY RICE

SWEET AND SAVORY RICE Food Recipes,

I love savory rice and picky-picky husband loves sweet rice. As a matter of fact, his all time favorite rice is plain white rice with butter and sugar on it, go figure!!

Today's rice is one that we BOTH enjoy. It goes very well with almost anything, but we especially like it with pork chops or baked ham.

.
2 ¼ cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup raw white rice
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 large cooking apple (cored, peeled and diced)
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup golden raisins
½ cup chopped toasted pecans
.
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and add the RAW rice.  Cook/stir the rice until it turns sort of opaque white. This will help keep the rice grains separate while it cooks.

Add the chicken broth and everything else in the recipe, except the pecans.  Bring to a boil and then turn the heat way down so that it is at a low simmer. Put a tight fitting lid on the pot and let it simmer for 20 minutes (don't peek).

Remove the pan from the heat, gently stir in the toasted pecans and put the lid back on for 5 minutes (but with no heat).

That's it!! The dark brown sugar and fruit lend a mildly sweet flavor to the rice and the ground cumin gives it a full flavor. This rice makes an excellent buffet dish since it also tastes great at room temperature. I hope you will try it.

NOTE: I've also used canned peaches (when I was out of apples) and it tasted great.


SWEET AND SAVORY RICE FOOD RECIPES
By Coleen Marie
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FOOD RECIPES : EASY PIZZA SAUCE

EASY PIZZA SAUCE Food Recipes, How many times have you decided to "wing it" for lunch and make little pizza's on English muffins, or french bread pizza and at the last minute you realize you don't have pizza sauce in the pantry!?!?  Well, here is a great (and super simple) pizza sauce to the rescue!!

The first time I tasted pizza was  when someone cooked a Chef Boyardee pizza for me when I was a teenager; do they still sell those pizza kits? I remember thinking it was the best thing I had ever eaten!!! lol   So, when I got married,  pizza sauce was one of the first recipes I tried to "invent".  How hard could it be... a can of tomato sauce and a little oregano, right!?!?  NOT!!! It was awful.

After decades of tweaking, we love this sauce!!

¼ cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic minced

1 tablespoons olive oil
(1) 6 oz. can of tomato paste
(1½) 6 oz. can of water
1 teaspoon dry oregano
1 teaspoon dry basil
½ teaspoon fennel seeds (do not leave out)
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
healthy pinch teaspoon dry red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon sugar (do not leave out)

In a heavy saucepan, saute the chopped onion and garlic (in the olive oil) until they are soft and aromatic.

Add everything else and simmer slowly for about 10 minutes and it's ready to use!!


EASY PIZZA SAUCE FOOD RECIPES
By Coleen Marie
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FOOD RECIPES : MAPLE SYRUP

MAPLE SYRUP Food Recipes, Our children were raised on homemade pancake syrup for two reasons. First and foremost, it was economical and easy to make. Secondly, the kids didn't care for the (waxy?) aftertaste of commercial pancake syrups, so homemade syrup was their request. 

Now, I know there are people who will write and say they can't eat anything but real maple syrup; I understand that. However, the price of real maple syrup is almost frightening, these days, ($25 for a small jug here in Alaska) and this homemade syrup is a tasty alternative. I like to make it the night before and pour it into a mason jar and let it sit at room temperature (until morning). I then microwave it for a minute or so when the pancakes are done.


If you are one of those people who grew up with homemade syrup, you know that it is a lot thinner than some of today's commercial syrup (especially when its very hot). I'm guessing that commercial syrup is thickened with high fructose corn syrup. On the other hand, it is a little thicker than real maple syrup.

This recipe is SUPER quick and easy:

1 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar (I use dark brown sugar)
3/4 teaspoon maple flavored extract  (see note)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Put everything in a large, heavy pan (use a DEEP pan because this syrup will bubble up as it boils).

Boil hard (not stirring) for 3-4 minutes, then remove from heat.   You can use it right away, but it will seem thin.  The syrup thickens as it cools. Use it just like you would any pancake syrup.

We like to eat the syrup warm (not hot).

NOTE: I like to use dark brown sugar, but light brown sugar works just as well (but syrup will be  lighter in color).

NOTE: Bring the ingredients up to a rapid-crazy boil over high heat. The liquid will try to "climb" the walls of the pan, so make sure your pan is big enough. Once it's boiling like crazy (don't stir), turn the heat down to medium high and boil for 3 to 4 minutes. I boil mine for 3 minutes, but if you want the syrup to be a little thicker, go for 4 minutes. If you boil it much longer than that, the syrup will form a few rock candy crystals in the bottom of the jar (fun to eat).

NOTE:  I prefer a maple flavored extract called Mapleine (Walmart carries it), but if you can't find it, regular maple flavored extract works well too. My family says they can't tell the difference.

MAPLE SYRUP FOOD RECIPES
By Coleen Marie
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FOOD RECIPES : CHEWY OATMEAL WHOOPIE PIES

CHEWY OATMEAL WHOOPIE PIES Food Recipes, Whoopie pies are two cookies, layered back to back, with a thick layer of frosting in between. Some have a cake texture, some are crunchy and some (like today's post) are chewy.  I like to wrap them individually so the cookies stay on the soft side (plus, since they are pre-wrapped, they are easy to toss into a lunch box, sort of like home made Little Debbie's oatmeal cookies.

This recipe has the wonderful taste of "oatmeal and autumn" spices. It is also a cookie you can easily make even if the pantry is running low on everything because there are no "special" ingredients in these whoopie pies.

2 cups brown sugar (I like dark brown)
3/4 cup butter (room temperature)
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons boiling water
2½ cups all purpose flour
2 cups quick cooking oats

Preheat oven to 350 and spray cookie sheets with vegetable spray (I don't spray, I just use parchment paper).

Cream together the butter, brown sugar, eggs, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda and boiling water. Beat until mixture is light in color and fluffy.

Beat in the flour and oats. Let mixture sit for about 5 minutes.

Roll into balls about the size of a small walnut.  These cookies don't "spread" a lot, so you can space them about 3" apart. Just try and make them all the same size.

Place the cookie dough balls on a prepared cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 10 minutes.  The cookies will look like they need another couple of minutes, but they don't. Remove them from the cookie sheet and place on a cooking rack. If the cookies are puffed up... very lightly tap the top of the cookie with the back of a fork.  Cool cookies completely.

COOKIE FILLING

1 cup butter (room temperature)
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons milk

Mix everything (starting with only 3 tablespoons milk) and add the other tablespoon if the frosting is too stiff.

Use the frosting, generously, to "glue" two cookies together.


Wrap cookies individually or keep them in an airtight container so the cookies will remain chewy and not crunchy.


CHEWY OATMEAL WHOOPIE PIES FOOD RECIPES
By Coleen Marie
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FOOD RECIPES : EASY WHITE BREAD and a THANK YOU!!

EASY WHITE BREAD and a THANK YOU!! Food Recipes, Three years ago, I started this humble little recipe blog with few expectations other than to share my tried and true recipes with my family.  I didn't receive a single comment on a recipe for weeks, but I blogged on.

Recently, my goofy little recipe web page logged it's one millionth visitor; who in the world could have predicted that?!? I have met some wonderful people on this blog and they have encouraged me and challenged me to try new recipes that are far outside my traditional comfort zone (not to mention picky-picky husbands comfort zone, lol), I thank you for that!!!

Today's post is a repeat of a basic white bread tutorial I posted in 2009. I remember creating the post because some fellow bloggers said they were "afraid" of baking with yeast.  I have described each step, with photos, in hopes that you might be encouraged to give yeast a try over the upcoming holidays.

This recipe really is nearly fool proof (I've been making it exactly like this for almost 40 years).  I hope you will surprise your family with these easy and light as air bread rolls.

5 cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon table salt
2 tablespoons dry active yeast (or 2 envelopes)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2½ cups very warm water

In the bowl of a stand mixer, place 2 cups of all purpose flour, 2 packets of dry active yeast (I use 2 tablespoons because I buy it in a larger jar), 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon of table salt and 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil (I use canola oil). Stir together and let it sit for about 10 minutes.
NOTE: Normally, most yeast recipes have you dissolve the active dry yeast in water that is 110 degrees before you add it to the flour. However, 99.9% of the time I do not do it that way. If you mix the dry yeast into the dry flour, you can add even hotter water because the flour will cool down the water before it can damage the yeast. That may sound complicated, but it isn't. The warmer water will jump start your yeast and your dough will raise faster with this method. It works so well that it is the only way I make bread (I use water that is 120 degrees). You can use an instant read thermometer to check the temperature of your water (when you first start to work with yeast) although you will quickly learn what temperature the water is by just holding your hand under the faucet.
Stir 2½ cups of 120 degree water into the flour mixture and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon while you pour. Let this mixture sit for about 10 minutes.

Add the rest of  the flour (half cup at a time) beating well in between. When the dough gets too hard to mix with your spoon, attach your dough hook to your stand mixer and turn on low.

Now here's a tip: When making dough, at this stage, something I call "shag" can be your enemy. If you add too much flour, too fast, you will get "shag" or shaggy pieces of dough.
In the next photo, see the dry white sections/layers next to the wet dough? That's what I call "shag".
Click on the photo to see the shag more clearly
Shag is not totally a bad thing, it is just a clue that it is NOT time to add more flour yet. NEVER ADD MORE FLOUR IF YOU CAN SEE SHAG.

In the next photo, I intentionally added the flour too quickly (before the previous flour was well mixed in), so that you could see the "shag" that I'm talking about.

Click on photo to get a better look

Don't panic if you see shag, just keep "kneading" with your dough hook (or by hand) and the shag will eventually incorporate into the wet dough. Don't add more flour until it looks more like this:
Eventually, you will get all 5 cups of flour into the dough. When that happens, let your machine knead the dough (gently, on a low setting) for about 6-8 minutes. Stop you mixer every once in a while and pull all the dough off of the dough hook, scrape down the walls of your bowl and turn the ball of dough completely over and start the mixer again. You will have to do this a few times until the shag totally disappears and the dough clings together in a nice semi-solid "lump".

At the end of 6 to 8 minutes (exact time is not crucial), the dough should have worked itself into a smooth ball that stays on the dough hook when you raise the hook out of the bowl. The interior sides of the bowl should be fairly clean. It should look like this:

See how the dough ball has "cleaned" all of the little bits off of the bottom and sides of the bowl? This is what you want to see. The dough will not be sticky and it will feel like Play doh when you touch it. If the dough is too soft, it will pull itself off of the dough hook. If that happens, add another quarter cup of flour and knead it a little longer.

Remove your dough from the dough hook, form it into a ball and place it in a greased bowl (I use Pam). Spray the top of the dough with a little Pam, and cover it with plastic:

Place this covered bowl of dough in a nice warm place in your kitchen. Room temperature is OK, but if you have a warmer place (less than 100 degrees) place it there. After an hour, your dough will have risen substantially, (hopefully doubled in size).


Your risen dough should look like this

When the dough has fully risen, turn it out onto your counter (some people say flour the counter at this stage, but I NEVER do) and push all of the air out of the dough, form it into a ball and cover it with an inverted empty bowl and let it sit for 15 minutes to relax (this will make your dough much easier to work).

Depending on how you want to shape your dough, follow these general directions, but use your imagination. For a loaf of bread, depending on the size of your loaf pan, this recipe will make 2 or 3 loaves. If you are using a big loaf pan, cut the dough in half. Roll it out into a large rectangle and then roll it up, pinching the ends shut. Place in greased loaf pan. spray the top of the dough with a spritz of cooking spray and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let raise for an hour or until doubled in size.

If you are making rolls, just pinch off pieces about the size of a plum and roll them into a ball. Place in a greased baking dish (lightly touching each other) and spritz the top with a little cooking spray and cover with plastic wrap. Let raise for an hour or till doubled in size.
Bake the loafs in a 400 degree preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove from pan immediately. Bake rolls at 400 for about  18-20 minutes or until golden, remove from pan immediately and brush crust with butter (optional).

NOTE: Yeast comes in little envelopes ¼ ounce envelopes (2¼ teaspoons per envelope). However, I buy yeast by the jar, so I always just use a tablespoon of yeast (3 teaspoons). Any dry active yeast will work.

NOTE: You will have much more success in your bread making if you understand that the amount of flour that goes into a recipe varies from day to day. Many serious bakers weigh their flour, but I find that keeping a close eye on how the flour is "behaving" works better than weighing. On a humid day it may take an extra tablespoon, on a rainy day a tablespoon less. So be stingy with that last half cup of flour until you see how the dough acts in YOUR climate. Keep in mind that the less flour you use, the more moist your bread will be.

NOTE: A lot of people have granite counter tops which are always cool to the touch. This will effect the length of time your bread takes to raise. I suggest that you find a warmer place to let your bowl of dough raise than on the granite.



EASY WHITE BREAD and a THANK YOU!! FOOD RECIPES
By Coleen Marie
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FOOD RECIPES : BACON, EGG, TOAST CUPS

BACON, EGG, TOAST CUPS Food Recipes, This is a very easy recipe because most of it can be made ahead of time.  It is a fun breakfast to serve company or a bunch of rowdy teenagers or a breakfast buffet crowd because it can be finished off last minute!!


There are no real measurements for this recipe; just one circle of toast, a pinch of cheese, one egg and one slice of precooked bacon for each serving (use the regular thickness bacon  because thick bacon won't work for this recipe).

These little beauties are quite filling and two of them make a hearty breakfast.

The "do ahead part" is to spray the cupcake pan generously with vegetable spray, then put a "toast circle" (unbuttered) in the bottom of each cupcake well.

Next, pre-fry the bacon. I do mine in the oven because it comes out perfectly flat and easy to work with.  Click HERE for my post on cooking bacon in the oven.

Bake the bacon at 375 (no need to preheat) for about 20 minutes, or if you are frying it, cook it about 2/3 done (you want it almost done, but still pliable).  Drain the bacon but don't let it cool down much (it tends to get stiff as it cools down). Quickly wrap each cupcake well, like this:

Put a healthy pinch of shredded cheddar ( I also like pepper jack cheese) on top of the toast, like this:

At this point, you can put them in the fridge and bring them out the next morning, or just before you make "breakfast for dinner" which is one of our favorites.

When it's time to eat, preheat your oven to 400 and carefully break an egg into each "nest"

Sprinkle with kosher salt and coarsely ground pepper. Put them into the oven for for 15-18 minutes or until the eggs are done to your liking. Let the finished eggs sit in the pan for a minute or two (don't worry, they stay very hot).

Scoop the baked egg cups out of the pan with a spoon (they come out easily). If you like your eggs done fairly well (like we do), you can pick these up and eat them out of hand, but that would be a little messy to do that if you like very soft set eggs.


I am definitely making these for Christmas morning, along with fruit cups
and cinnamon rolls!!

BACON, EGG, TOAST CUPS FOOD RECIPES
By Coleen Marie
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FOOD RECIPES : NO KNEAD PIZZA DOUGH

NO KNEAD PIZZA DOUGH Food Recipes, What is easier than a no-knead pizza crust? This recipe (like many I have) are a combination of several recipes, tweaked with years of experimentation on my part. This one is a keeper!!

We love a pizza crust that stays crispy underneath the filling, yet the edges are light and airy with big air pockets inside the dough. The hardest part of this recipe (that's a joke) is to remember to mix the dough the night before (it needs to sit at room temperature for 24 hours). No need to use a mixer and dough hook, just a bowl and spoon; it is super-easy.


3 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon yeast
1½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon olive oil
¼ teaspoon black pepper (optional)
1 tablespoon sugar
1½ cups warm water

In a large bowl, mix everything, using a wooden spoon.  The dough will be very wet and look more like a batter than a dough. Don't be tempted to add more flour at this stage!!


Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours. After 24 hours, the dough/batter will be nearly triple in size, so use a big bowl, see all those bubbles?


After 24 hours, stir the dough. It's going to be pretty sticky, but don't freak out about it.

Heavily flour your counter top and pour/scoop the dough out onto the flour.  Generously sprinkle flour over the top of the dough too.  Fold the dough back onto itself a few times. This is a little messy/sticky, so keep flouring your hands. After you've coated the dough with flour and folded it over a few times, cut it in half (makes 2 medium pizza's).

Preheat your oven (with pizza stone on center rack) to 450 degrees.
Put each piece of dough on its own piece of parchment paper and using floured hands, gently pat it into a circle, leaving the edges thicker and the center as thin as you can. Add toppings and brush the edges of the crust with a little water (not much).
The dough is going to stay on the parchment paper when you put it onto the hot pizza stone. To do this, I transfer the paper and dough by lifting it with a rim-less cookie sheet, and then I slide the whole thing off of the cookie sheet and right onto the stone. Bake it for 8 minutes.

After 8 minutes, pull the parchment paper out of the oven. Turn the bake cycle off and turn on the broiler cycle for about 1 to 2 minutes (watch closely). The hot pizza stone will continue to bake the underside of the crust, but the broiler will brown the toppings nicely.

We love those light airy pockets inside the crust!!

NO KNEAD PIZZA DOUGH FOOD RECIPES
By Coleen Marie
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FOOD RECIPES : NO ROLL JELLY ROLL

NO ROLL JELLY ROLL Food Recipes, Last year, I posted a recipe for an old fashioned jelly roll cake.  I heard from several people who said they had fond memories of their mom or grandma making jelly rolls, but they were afraid to make one themselves because they were nervous about rolling the cake.

Rolling the cake isn't hard, as long as you follow a few strict rules, but it IS messy with all of the "sprinkle towel with powdered sugar" stuff. That is why I came up with this "NO ROLL JELLY ROLL".  I think it is every bit as pretty as the classic jelly roll Grandma used to make but it is MUCH EASIER !!

This is definitely going on my holiday table this year

Basically, I baked the same 10 x 15 sponge cake that I use in the jelly roll, but I cut it into thirds and stacked them with jam in between each layer and on the top, then drizzled vanilla glaze over. I'm very happy with how it turned out. It is so simple, I know I will be making it a lot more often.

3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon butter extract (see note)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup water (see note)
1 cup CAKE FLOUR
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup jelly or jam  (see note)

Preheat oven to 375 then line a 10" x 15" pan with parchment paper and spray the paper with cooking spray, set aside.

Beat the eggs, on high, until very thick and lemon colored (takes about 5 minutes).  After five minutes, and while the mixer is still running on high, slowly add the sugar.

Put the butter extract into a 1/3 measuring cup and then fill the cup with water (extract + water should = 1/3 cup). Add the extract-water and vanilla extract to the egg mixture and mix well.

Sift the cake flour, baking powder and salt into the egg mixture and beat just until the batter is smooth (I do this step with a whisk).

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated 375 oven for 12-15 minutes (my electric oven takes 15 minutes) or until toothpick in center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and slide a sharp knife around the edges of the cake to loosen them.  Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing.


Place waxed paper or saran wrap on a cookie sheet (spray the paper/plastic wrap with cooking spray) and turn the cake out onto the cookie sheet.  This will help you transport the cake while its still hot.  The cake is much easier to cut and handle if its chilled, so I put the cake in the freezer for about half an hour before I tried to cut it.

When you are ready to assemble the cake, slice a VERY THIN edge off of each side of the cake (not necessary, but looks prettier).  Cut the cake in thirds.

Place the bottom layer on a serving plate and spread with jam (stir the jam to loosen it up before spreading). Repeat with next two layers.

Spread jam on the top of the cake and then drizzle with vanilla glaze. 


VANILLA GLAZE
1/3 cup melted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoons milk

Mix all together with a whisk.

NOTE: This recipe works best with a jam that doesn't have big pieces of fruit in it. Personally, I like Smuckers Simply Fruit; it not only tastes great but its PERFECT for this cake. Just make sure you stir or whisk the jam before spreading it, it will soften up and get smooth.

NOTE: If you do not have butter extract, just double the vanilla extract.

NOTE: This cake gets more moist after it sits for a few hours because the jam sinks into the cake a little.

NO ROLL JELLY ROLL FOOD RECIPES
By Coleen Marie
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