Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Last night we had dreaded left-overs for dinner. I h.a.t.e left-overs. I have been trying to be better about eating them because, "waist not, want not" right? I had dreams of making something delicious. Something that would leave the whole house smelling wonderful for the rest of the night. Something that would make my husband fall in love all over. But alas, I pulled out the left over stir-fry and rice. Yum. So to make up for my lack of a mind blowing dinner, I made these little devils for dessert! I got the recipe here.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling

Makes 12-14

3 cups AP Flour

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

1 - 15 oz. can of pumpkin

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream Cheese Filling

1 - 8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened

1 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature

1 - 16 oz. package of powdered sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

a pinch of cinnamon (to taste)

Beat together brown sugar, sugar, oil and pumpkin.

Add eggs one at time, mixing well after each addition,
followed by the vanilla.

In a separate bowl, shift together the dry ingredients.


Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined.

Using a pastry bag with a round tip, or a big zip top plastic bag with one corner snipped, squeeze out concentric circles of batter, starting from the middle and working outward until the circles are about 2 inches in diameter.

Bake for 11 minutes and cool on a rack.

Beat together cream cheese and butter. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. Frost flat side of half the pies and top with another piece.

Enjoy right away or chill overnight.

*I halved the recipe and it still made 14 pies.*

Key Lime Pie

I got this recipe from a "culinary mystery" novel written by Josi Kilpack. (See her book here . See all the recipes from this book here .)

KEY LIME PIE

4 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 tbsp. grated lime zest
1/2 tsp. salt
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 egg yolk
1/2 c. fresh lime juice (about 4 limes; if using key limes, use about 1/3 c. juice and add more to taste)
whipped cream (for garnish)
sliced limes (for garnish)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Using electric beaters, mix cream cheese, lime zest, and salt until creamy. Add sweetened condensed milk and mix until incorporated. Add egg yolk, mix until combined. Add lime juice and stir until well blended. Mixture will thicken slightly. Pour filling into your choice of prepared crust (a recipe for a crust using animal crackers is given in the book, see link for recipe above) and bake until set, about 20 - 30 minutes. Cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours before serving. Garnish with whipped cream and slice limes.
Serves 8.

Note: Key lime pie is not naturally green. Most recipes call for a couple of drops of green food coloring to the mixture before pouring into crust.

Chewy Peanut Butter Snickers Cookies

I have really developed a love for cooking/baking over the last little while and if I were home more, I would spend a lot more time doing it. As it is, I made these cookies at 9pm one night just because I couldn't stand it any more. And then I spent the next few days devouring them. I adapted this recipe from here.

Chewy Peanut Butter Snickers Cookies

2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons corn syrup
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
20 mini snickers candy bars cut into small chunks

1 - Preheat oven to 375 F
2 - Cream together butter, peanut butter and sugars until smooth.
3 - Beat in 1 egg at a time
4 - Mix in water, corn syrup & vanilla
5 - Add flour, baking soda & salt and mix until just combined
6 - Fold in the snickers chunks
7 - Form dough into balls using approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons dough per ball
8 - Bake for 12-14 minutes or until edges are golden

9- Allow cookies to cool a few minutes before removing to cooling racks

Kickin it off right!

What better post to begin "Our Recipe Blog" with then a dessert?! I made these this past weekend for a family party, and even though they overflowed in the cupcake liners and stuck to the pan, everyone loved them! I got the recipe here.

Simply Sinful Cinnamon Muffins

Topping

1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup diced pecans
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
3 tablespoons soft butter

Filling
1/2 cup Baker's Cinnamon Filling mix*
3 to 4 tablespoons water

*Or substitute 3 tablespoons butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon for the Baker's Cinnamon Filling mix and water.

Batter
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
3/4 cup milk
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons Signature Secrets(r) Culinary Thickener or cornstarch
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup cinnamon chips or butterscotch chips

Preheat your oven to 400°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake papers, or grease it lightly.

Prepare the topping by mixing the ingredients together until crumbly. Set aside.

Prepare the filling by mixing the Baker's Cinnamon Filling with enough water to make filling with a soft, pudding-like consistency. Set it aside.

To make the batter: In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, milk, and eggs. In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, including the chips. Add the dry mixture to the liquid, stirring just until combined.

Divide half the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Dollop 2 teaspoons cinnamon filling onto each muffin, then top with the remaining batter. Sprinkle with topping, pressing it in lightly.

Bake the muffins for 20 to 25 minutes, or until they're golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and wait 5 minutes before transferring them from the pan to a rack to cool. Yield: 12 muffins.

You can top these with a confectioners' sugar glaze when they're done or just eat em' plain. Delish either way!