November 30, 2012

I hope you had an amazing Thanksgiving holiday; we did!  Now we are ready to move into the Christmas season...the tree is going up this weekend, and the outdoor lights are already illuminating the night.

We tried two dinner entrees this week, and while both were edible, neither were memorable nor worth sharing.  However, a new pumpkin recipe was so good I made it twice!  The first time I made it for our family and my writing group, and the second time I made it for the PTO bake sale.   I used pumpkin that I processed this fall, as well as applesauce that canned.  I must say, I felt very domestic using my own ingredients!

Not sure what dishes I'll be auditioning in the coming week, but hopefully there will be a few keepers.   I will be sharing with you a few easy and delicious appetizers, and if you want to email me one of your favorites, I'd love to hear from you!  Drop me your recipe at monkeysinthekitchen@gmail.com

Have a great week, and happy cooking!

New Recipe
Pumpkin Muffins

Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients

For the bread
* 3 1/2 cups (445 g) AP flour
* 2 tsp baking soda
* 1 tsp salt
* 3 tsp pumpkin pie spice
* 1/2 cup canola oil
* 1/2 cup applesauce
* 1 1/2 cups (300 g) sugar
* 1/2 cup (127 g) brown sugar, packed
* 4 eggs
* 15 oz pumpkin puree
* 2/3 cup water

For the topping
* 1/2 cup (127 g) brown sugar
* 1/2 cup (63 g) AP flour
* 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
* 2 tsp cinnamon
* 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350.  Prepare your pans of choice (muffin, jumbo muffin, mini loaves, regular loaves).
2. In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, pumpkin pie spices.  Set aside.
3. In a second large bowl, using a hand mixer, combine the oil and applesauce, then add in the sugars and mix until well combined.  Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat after each until well incorporated.  Add the pumpkin and mix well, and then mix in the water.
4. Sprinkle about half the flour on the pumpkin batter.  Use a wooden spoon to mix the flour into the batter.  Once it is well combined, incorporate the remaining flour mixture.  Stir just until no flour streaks remain.
5. Divide the batter into the pans.  Set aside.
6. To make the streusel topping, mic the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and nuts.  Drizzle the melted butter over the dry ingredients, and mix.  Sprinkle the topping over the batter.
7. Bake in the oven.  Mini loaves take 40-42 minutes, rotate about half way through the cooking time.  Large loaves take approximately 50-55 minutes.  Jumbo muffins take approximately 25 minutes.  I haven't made regular size muffins, but I would start with about 18 minutes, and then check for doneness.

Notes
I made this not only as jumbo muffins (the size you get from a bakery), but also as mini loaves.  You can also make these as regular loaves.  By adjusting your pan and the baking time you can create whatever size you'd like!