Baked Pumpkin Donuts

Another recipe found on Pinterest. Seriously... that site is crazy addictive!!!

Original recipe is found at the King Arthur site.

The Little Ladies got me a donut pan for my birthday in June (with the help of their dad), and I finally decided to christen it. Little Lady #2 is down for a nap (which means it's quiet!!), so Little Lady #1 and I went to work!

It was a pretty easy recipe to make. We didn't have pumpkin pie spice, so we used the make-your-own method that's listed. I found that 12-13 minutes was a way better time than the 15-18 that's listed in the recipe. Speaking of... the recipe on Kind Arthur's site doesn't mention an oven temp (at least not that I saw), so I went with the 425 that's listed on the pan. I might try 400 next time though.

Little Lady #1

Place the following in a mixing bowl:

1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups pumpkin purée (canned pumpkin)
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, or 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon plus a heaping 1/4 teaspoon each ground nutmeg and ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Beat everything together until smooth.

Add 1 3/4 cups + 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, stirring just until smooth.

Lightly grease two standard donut pans. (I only had one pan, so I just kept re-using it)

If you don’t have doughnut pans, you can bake these in a couple of standard muffin tins; they just won’t be doughnuts.

Fill the wells of the doughnut pans about 3/4 full, using a scant 1/4 cup of batter in each well; a tablespoon cookie scoop helps with this task. I found 4 scoops per donut well worked well.

If you’re making muffins, fill each well about 3/4 full; the recipe makes about 15, so you’ll need to bake in two batches (unless you have two muffin pans).

Bake the doughnuts for 15 to 18 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of one comes out clean. If you’re using self-rising flour, bake for the longer amount of time.

If you’re making muffins, they’ll need to bake for 23 to 25 minutes.

Remove the doughnuts from the oven, and after about 5 minutes, loosen their edges, and transfer them to a rack to cool.

While the doughnuts are still warm (but no longer fragile), gently shake them in a bag with cinnamon-sugar. Or better yet, pumpkin-spice sugar, made by combining the aforementioned pumpkin pie spice (or substitute) with granulated sugar.

If you’ve made muffins, sprinkle their tops heavily with the spiced sugar of your choice.

Buffalo Chicken Rolls

I've been M.I.A. for a while. Trying to figure out the new normal for me and my Little Ladies. We're getting there ;-)

Another Pinterest recipe! This one's from Can You Stay For Dinner.

I've become a big fan of Buffalo Chicken over the past few years. When I saw this recipe, I just had to try it.... especially since we've had egg roll wrappers hanging around for a while.

I made a version for the Little Ladies that had the slaw, plain chicken and shredded cheese on it. Little C liked them, but Little M did not.

We had them for dinner, but they'd be really good for a party! They were super easy to make too. I whipped them up in about 15ish minutes, after a veeerrrrryyyyy long day out with the Little Ladies.

Ingredients

12 egg roll wrappers (roughly 4 square inches)

1 cup cooked and shredded chicken (6 ounces)

1/3 cup Frank’s Red Hot Sauce

1 cup crumbled blue cheese (4 ounces)

1 cup broccoli slaw (dry)

Small bowl of water

Nonstick cooking spray

Blue cheese dressing, for serving

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lay egg roll wrappers on a clean work surface. In a small bowl, stir chicken* (see note below) and hot sauce until well coated, using more or less sauce depending on your spice preference. The meat should be moist with sauce.

Begin by placing one tablespoon of the broccoli slaw on the diagonal of the bottom right corner of one of the wrappers. Next, place 2 tablespoons of shredded spicy chicken evenly on top of the slaw. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the blue cheese crumbles over the chicken. Do not overfill.

To fold: Fold the bottom right corner over the stuffing mixture so that it covers it completely, with the tip of the corner now pointing to the center of the egg roll wrapper. Fold in the bottom left corner, followed by the right, so that you now have formed an envelope. Roll the wrap upward one time, leaving the top left corner open. Wet your index finger in the small bowl of water and press to moisten the top left corner. Now fold that down on top of the filled roll, sealing it like you would an envelope.

Repeat with remaining rolls.

Place the rolls on a wire rack set on top of a cookie sheet (or just on a greased cookie sheet) coated with nonstick cooking spray. Spritz each roll evenly with nonstick cooking spray. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the rolls crisp and turn a light golden brown.

*Note: To make the chicken, place 1/2 lb of uncooked chicken breast in a small pot and fill with enough water just to cover it. Bring to a boil on your stovetop, reduce the heat slightly, then simmer for about 12 minutes, or until cooked through. Drain and let cool before shredding with two forks, pulling against the grain of the meat.

S'mores Cupcakes with Graham Cracker Buttercream

Who doesn't love s'mores??

My niece's 9th birthday was last month, but her party with her friends is tomorrow. She's having a make-your-own-pizza party - how fun!

I offered to make cupcakes for her party to give her mom a little break on the party planning. I had to find something that was gluten-free since she has Celiac Disease, and also nut-free since so many kids have nut allergies. I didn't want to risk something happening with that at all.

I offered her mom a few choices and this was her pick.

I tweaked the original recipe just a bit. I used a box of King Arthur Gluten-Free chocolate cake mix instead of making a from-scratch cake like the recipe called for, along with GF graham crackers. I'd probably do the same thing if I was making a regular cake. The box I used called for 1 1/3 cups of water (plus eggs and oil), but I used only 1/3 cup of water and 1 cup of sour cream. I think the sour cream adds nice moisture to a cake!

The below recipe is how I made it, and the original can be found here at Your Cup of Cake.

Ingredients

Chocolate Cakes:

2-layer box mix of chocolate cake plus ingredients on back minus 1 cup of water

1 cup of sour cream

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sour cream

Graham cracker crumbs (fine crumbs)

Marshmallow Cream Centers:

4 oz cream cheese

½ cup Fluff (marshmallow cream for you non New Englanders)

1 ½ - 2 cups powdered sugar

Graham Cracker Buttercream:

8 oz cream cheese

½ cup butter, softened

4 cups powdered sugar

¾ cup graham cracker crumbs (fine crumbs)

1 teaspoon vanilla

2-3 tablespoons whipping cream or milk

mini marshmallows and chocolate for decoration

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 360 degrees and line cupcake pans with liners (24).
2. Mix cake mix, ingredients from back of the box and sour cream together in a mixer until fully combined.
3. Spoon ¾ teaspoon of graham cracker crumbs into the bottom of each cupcake liner. Shake pan to spread evenly.
4. Fill liners ¾ full and bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
5. Mashmallow Cream Centers: Beat cream cheese, marshmallow cream and powdered sugar. Add more powdered sugar to taste. This mixture should not be thick like a buttercream, because it will be in the center of your cupcake.
6. When cupcakes are cooled, cut out a small area from the top of the cake and pipe marshmallow cream into each cupcake.
7. Graham Cracker Buttercream: Beat cream cheese and butter until light and creamy. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and graham cracker crumbs. At this point, the buttercream will look like cookie dough. Add heavy cream a little bit at a time until buttercream consistency is reached.
8. Pipe onto cooled, marshmallow filled cupcakes and top with mini marshmallows and melted chocolate.

Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella Cloud Frosting

My niece turned 9 last week and today we celebrated. She was diagnosed with Celiac's Disease when she was about 2 and I always try to make her something "normal" for her birthday.


She LOVES Nutella, so when I found this recipe, I had to try it!


The reviews: My mom thought the cake was a little bitter on its own, but with the frosting she thought it was good. Another guest said he thought it tasted fine. I also thought the taste was fine, but the texture was a bit tough. I've never really tried any of my niece's GF stuff, so I don't know if this is a normal texture or not. It wasn't anything terrible, just not light and fluffy like most cakes.


But the person who mattered most loved them. She ate 2 and I think she would have kept going if her dad had let her!


NOTE: I topped half of the cupcakes with Ferrero Rocher chocolates (chocolate with hazelnuts). These are NOT gluten free, so make sure you keep that in mind.

Cupcake Ingredients
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose gluten free flour mix (I used King Arthur's)
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


Cupcake Directions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.
• In a large bowl, combine cocoa powder, flour, xanthan gum, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla to dry ingredients. Mix until batter is smooth.
• Fill prepared baking cups 2/3 full. Bake around 20 minutes, until tops spring back when touched.

Frosting Ingredients (Makes enough to frost 12-15 cupcakes - double for above cupcakes)

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled slightly

1/3 cup Nutella

1 tablespoon milk

Frosting Directions

• In a large bowl, beat butter and powdered sugar for a minute until well combined. 
• Add vanilla and mix until combined. 
• Add the melted (and cooled) chocolate and beat on medium speed until frosting smooth. 
• Finally, add Nutella and beat until well combined. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes and enjoy!

Recipe from 52 Kitchen Adventures

Traditional Slaw Salad

I love Cole Slaw and was introduced to Broccoli Slaw last year - not bad! I found the recipe below on a bag of Broccoli Slaw and tried it out. It's pretty good!


(I know this isn't some fancy recipe, and it came off the back of a bag of shredded broccoli, but remember that this is a place to compile recipes)


Like all Cole Slaws, you could definitely add raisins, golden raisins or dried cranberries to the mix.


Ingredients
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 1/4 cup vinegar (I used cider vinegar)
2 tsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste
12 oz Cole Slaw or Broccoli Slaw mix


Directions
Blend together first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Add slaw mix and gently toss until coated. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Asparagus with Lemon Vinaigrette

A friend told me about a recipe he found in a grocery store magazine for a lemon vinaigrette for asparagus and it sounded amazing. I decided to give it a shot for Easter dinner and it was fantastic!

Ingredients

1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

3/4 teaspoon fresh Thyme leaves, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

3/4 teaspoon coarse salt or sea salt

pinch fresh cracked pepper

2 pounds fresh asparagus stalks, washed and trimmed

Directions

In a jar, combine olive oil, lemon juice, Thyme, garlic, salt and pepper. Cover and shake vigorously until combined. Store in the refrigerator and serve at room temperature.

Steam asparagus until crisp-tender; do not overcook! 

Drizzle vinaigrette over asparagus to coat lightly.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Easy Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots

Found these for Easter dinner.


Ingredients
16 ounces baby carrots
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup water
dash salt
pepper, to taste


Directions
In a medium saucepan, combine the baby carrots with remaining ingredients. Stir to blend ingredients. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and continue boiling (uncovered) for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until carrots are tender and the liquid has evaporated.
Serves 4 to 6.