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Pumpkin Bread

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pumpkin bread

I have been attempting to start this post for pumpkin bread the entire month of October, but it just didn’t happen.  Our laptop computer keyboard is currently out of commission for the letters r, f, v, and the number 4 (and also the hyphen key, but that’s a bit more manageable.)  You never realize how often the letter r comes up in the English language!  It definitely makes writing posts more challenging.  Here’s hoping Santa brings me a new laptop this Christmas.

Even though Halloween is now in the past, it’s never too late for pumpkin recipes in my opinion.  I came across this recipe for pumpkin bread on Pinterest and the pin claimed it was Starbucks’ recipe for pumpkin bread.  I don’t know if that’s true, but I think it tastes pretty close!

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Pumpkin Bread
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
 
Ingredients
  • cooking spray
  • 1 and ½ cups all purpose flour
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp ground cloves
  • ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
  • ⅔ cup sugar
  • ⅔ cup brown sugar
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 3 egg whites
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Grease a glass loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.
  2. Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cloves, and nutmeg in a medium-sized bowl.
  3. Then, mix the sugar, brown sugar, milk, egg whites, and pumpkin together in a large bowl. Stir ingredients together until fully mixed.
  4. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture. Stir until completely incorporated.
  5. Pour into loaf pan and bake for 65 minutes or until center is set. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

Source: Slightly adapted from The First Year Blog

If you are like us and can’t get enough pumpkin recipes this fall, here are a few more from the 2 Sisters 2 Cities archives:

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Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts

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Fall for Pumpkin Doughnuts

I warned you that pumpkin recipes were coming!   And of course I am finding more use for my doughnut pan!

These baked pumpkin doughnuts were phenomenal with their buttery cinnamon sugar outside and their delicious pumpkin spice inside. The day after making them, I was so excited to get out of bed to eat another doughnut with my coffee.  There’s nothing like a cool fall morning with a yummy pumpkin goodness.  Bring on the pumpkin baked goods!  I know, I know- pumpkin is totally overdone, but it’s one of the reasons why I love fall.   I even have a pumpkin Pinterest board- check it out here!

Pumpkin Doughnuts

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Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts
Author: 
Serves: 12
 
Ingredients
For Doughnuts
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1½ cups granulated sugar
  • 1½ cups canned pumpkin puree
  • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp. ground ginger
  • 1½ tsp. salt
  • 1½ tsp. baking powder
  • 1¾ cup All-Purpose flour
For Topping
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, 1 stick
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In the bowl of your mixer add all doughnut ingredients except flour and mix together until smooth. Add in flour and mix until just combined.
  3. Spray a doughnut pan with non-stick spray. Fill each doughnut mold with batter and fill ¾ths the way.
  4. Place in oven and bake for 15 to 18 minutes until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.
  5. Let doughnuts cool in pan 5-10 minutes before taking out of doughnut pan. You can loosen the edges with a butter knife. Place doughnuts on wire rack.
  6. Repeat for additional batch (if using a 6 doughnut pan)
  7. In a heatproof bowl, melt butter in the microwave. Watch carefully so the butter doesn’t boil over.
  8. In a medium bowl stir together sugar and cinnamon.
  9. Dip doughnut in butter, shake slightly to stop dipping and then dip doughnut in cinnamon sugar, covering both side. Let dry at room temperature on a wire rack over a baking sheet. Store in an airtight container for 1-2 days.

 

Stack of Pumpkin Doughnuts

Source- Adapted from the King Arthur’s Flour Blog

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Turkey, White Bean, and Pumpkin Chili

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Turkey, White Bean, and Pumpkin Chili recipe

I was once again a test cook for the Once a Month Mom freezer cooking site for November’s diet menu.  The menu is accessible to anyone, but you have to sign up for a membership for access to the grocery lists and customized recipe cards.  I really enjoyed making a number of new things that I would not necessarily think to make on my own.  Some of the menu items we have really liked in our house are the French Dip sandwiches, the Buffalo Quinoa bites, and the English Muffin Breakfast Pizzas.  My favorite menu item however was the Turkey, White Bean, and Pumpkin Chili!

Turkey White Bean and Pumpkin Chili

The best part about the chili (besides it deliciousness) was how easy it was to prepare.  I sautéed the turkey, onions, and garlic beforehand and then just threw everything in the crockpot.  We ended up going on a family hike that day and it was wonderful to come home to dinner ready to be served.  Don’t tell your picky eaters that there is pumpkin in it- they will never know the difference!  The leftovers are very easy to freeze and be reheated whenever you need another easy meal again.

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Turkey, White Bean, and Pumpkin Chili
Author: 
Recipe type: Entree
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • -Cooking spray
  • -2 pounds ground turkey
  • ½ tsp olive oil
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tsp chili powder, to taste
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 2 (15 oz cans) of white northern, rinsed and drained
  • 15 oz can pumpkin puree (not to be confused with pumpkin pie filling)
  • 4.5 oz canned chopped green chiles
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • low-fat sour cream or plain Greek yogurt for topping (optional)
  • toasted sunflower seeds or pepitas (pumpkin seeds) for topping (optional)
  • salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. In a large skillet, cook the ground turkey until browned and no pink spots remain. Add turkey to slow cooker once cooked through. Return pan to the stovetop and sauté onion and garlic for 3-4 minutes. Add cumin and saute for another 30 seconds. Add onion, garlic, and cumin mixture to the crockpot. Add chili powder, bay leaves, oregano, beans, pumpkin puree, chiles, salt and pepper (to taste) and chicken broth to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours.
  2. Remove bay leaves before serving. Serve with sour cream or Greek yogurt and toasted sunflower seeds or pepitas.

Source: Slightly adapted from A Blog About Food and Skinnytaste

Do you have a favorite chili recipe to warm up to on a cool fall day?

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Crockpot Cider with Mulling Spices

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Crockpot Cider with Mulling Spices

There is nothing better in the world on a fall day than apple cider, except that is warm, mulled cider.  One of my favorite ways to make mulled cider is with my crockpot.  This crockpot cider can cook anywhere from two to eight hours and it will make your house smell heavenly.  If you don’t own a crockpot, this recipe can also be made just as easily simmering on low on your stovetop.

This crockpot cider is perfect for any fall party, whether it be a birthday party to a football game watch.  Set aside a small ladle with some mugs and allow your guests to help themselves to the cider.  Just be sure to reset your slow cooker to warm (from low) about 3o minutes before your guests arrive.  I find that the low setting is a bit too warm and might burn your tongue if you take a sip too quickly.

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Crockpot Cider with Mulling Spices
Author: 
Recipe type: Drinks
Serves: 8
 
Ingredients
  • 2 quarts cider
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 1 and ½ tsp whole cloves
  • 1 orange, cut into slices (optional)
  • cheesecloth
Instructions
  1. Pour the cider into a slow cooker. Add brown sugar and orange slices. Cut a 7"x7" square of cheesecloth and put the cinnamon sticks and cloves in the cloth. Tie into a pouch and add the spice pouch to the crockpot. Cook on low for 2-8 hours. Before serving, remove orange slices and spice pot. Serve with cinnamon sticks if desired.

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Mini Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting

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The boy is officially obsessed with mini cupcakes.  It seems like every grocery store we go to has stacks of them lined up waiting for him in the bakery section.  It’s nearly impossible for me to get through the store without a meltdown for “cakes!”  Since this thing for “cakes!” thing doesn’t appear to be going away, I decided to make some mini pumpkin muffins today so I could at least control what went into them.  I topped them off with some cream cheese frosting and I have to say, they are pretty darn good.

While I wouldn’t actually qualify these as healthy treats, it does have a good amount of pumpkin in it.  That should count for something, right?  I also cut the amount of sugar back in both the muffin and cream cheese frosting recipes and I really don’t think it is missed at all.  I’ll keep you posted on his reaction to mini pumpkin muffins when he wakes up from nap time…[edited post-nap: T just woke up from his nap.  When he walked downstairs and saw all the muffins, he said, “whoa, cakes!”  He took a bite of one and proclaimed “hooray!”  I’ll take that to be a good review of mini pumpkin muffins.]

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Mini Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting
Author: 
Recipe type: Breakfast or Dessert
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 10
 
Ingredients
  • For mini pumpkin muffins:
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
  • ⅓ cup vegetable oil
  • 2 large eggs
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 1 and ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or alternatively use ½ tsp cinnamon, ¼ tsp ginger, ⅛ tsp ground cloves, and ⅛ tsp nutmeg)
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • For cream cheese frosting:
  • ¼ cup butter, softened
  • 4 oz (in weight) reduced fat cream cheese (but not fat-free)
  • ¾ cup powdered sugar
  • ½ tsp vanilla
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a mini muffin tin with paper liners.
  2. Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, and sugar in a large bowl. In a separate medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and whisk until combined.
  3. Divide batter among muffin cups. I made 24 mini muffins with this recipe and had a little batter leftover. I only have one mini muffin pan so I decided to make 3 large muffins with the leftover batter instead of making a second batch of 6-8 more mini muffins. Bake mini muffins for 18 minutes and large muffins for 25-30 minutes. Muffins are done with a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean.
  4. While the muffins are cooling, make the cream cheese frosting. Mix all ingredients on on high until soft and whipped. Spread onto muffins once cool or apply using a pastry bag with a frosting tip.
  5. Store in fridge since the frosting has cream cheese in it.

 

Source: Pumpkin muffin recipe adapted from smitten kitchen and Cream Cheese Frosting recipe adapted from The Pioneer Woman.

Panera Mac and Cheese

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I recently came across this recipe for Panera Mac and Cheese and knew I needed to make it on the next cold, rainy fall day that we had.  I made a batch of it this afternoon while Baby T was napping (he is recovering from a cold and is ever so grouchy when he is sick.)  I figured some mac and cheese would be the perfect antidote for his dinner tonight.

My first memory of going to a Panera was when I had my first job out of college.  My apartment was just down the street from one and I would stop in all the time to grab a weekend bagel or even a loaf of bread to serve alongside dinner.  I hadn’t been to one in years, but lately my family and I seem to be going all the time.  I’ve actually never tried the Panera Mac and Cheese before, but I have heard rave reviews. I’m usually a Mediterranean Veggie on Tomato Basil kind of girl, but after making this recipe, I might be leaning towards the Mac and Cheese next time.  Or then again, I could just make this recipe again…

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Panera Mac and Cheese
Author: 
Recipe type: Entree
Cuisine: American
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • 1 (16-ounce) package of small pasta shells (I used Orecchiette)
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 and ¼ cup whole milk
  • 1 and ¼ cup half & half
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¼ teaspoon hot sauce
  • 4 oz. white American cheese, chopped
  • 8 oz. white cheddar cheese, shredded
Instructions
  1. Prepare pasta according to package directions in a large pot of water. Drain pasta and return cooked pasta to the pot.
  2. Melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook 1 minute, whisking constantly.
  3. Gradually whisk in milk and half & half. Add mustard, salt, and hot sauce to pan. Cook over medium heat, whisking until mixture thickens and bubbles. Remove from heat.
  4. Add cheese by the handful, stirring until cheese melts and sauce is smooth.
  5. Pour cheese sauce over pasta and stir until incorporated.

Source: Adapted from MyPanera.com and Annies’s Eats

Do you grab a bite to eat from Panera occasionally?  What’s your favorite menu item?

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

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It is officially fall!  I have made one of my favorite fall desserts… Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies.   Everyone is always asking me for my recipe,  so here it is!  I have changed it over the years to make the best pumpkin cookies ever!

Pumpkin Chocolate-Chip Cookies
Makes about 3 dozen.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips or chunks

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.

3. In an electric mixer cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy. Add the pumpkin, egg, and vanilla and beat just until blended.

4. Mix in the dry ingredients.

5. Stir in the chocolate chips.

6. Drop the batter by heaping tablespoons 1 inch apart on the baking sheets.

7. Bake the cookies for 15 to 18 minutes or until lightly browned.  Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Enjoy!!!!  Happy Fall!

Sister K

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