Have a GRAIN Holiday: Pumpkin Crumb Muffins with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Filling and Salted Caramel Sauce

How many times have your grand baking plans ended in disaster?  For me, it has been quite a few.  This Thanksgiving was no exception, except thankfully this time I was able to turn it around into a total baking win - and I found a new favorite muffin recipe in the process. 

I had very high hopes for Thanksgiving dessert.  I was going to make crepes for the first time.  We prepared all of the fixings (the filling, the sauce) ahead of time besides the crepe batter - we left that to the last minute so that the crepes would be fresh when it was time to eat… It turns out crepes are not as easy to make as all those Parisian crepe makers make it look.  After many attempts, we finally got some that weren't so bad-looking, but they were hardly the perfect looking pastry I had envisioned.  While it tasted pretty good, it just didn't live up to my expectations.  I think I'll leave the crepe making up to the experts.

The morning after, I found myself awake early... with a muffin craving... and lots of extra ingredients left over from the failed crepe making experiment.  Armed with a variety of premium flours from Hodgson Mill, I set to work.    The end result was an absolutely perfect Morning-After-a-Holiday muffin (or any other day muffin, for that matter).  These moist, Whole wheat Pumpkin Muffins have a brown sugar crumb on top, and a Cinnamon Cream Cheese filling.  The Salted Caramel drizzle is an absolute MUST and takes these muffins to the next level of awesome.  I enjoyed these so much, I think I'll be making them on the day after Christmas, too.  You would never guess there are whole wheat!  I really think the high quality flour used made a big difference here.  The awesome people of Hodgson Mill are giving out $1 off coupons good on any 5 lb bag of Hodgson Mill flour or cornmeal, click here.  Plus, they are doing a 25 Days of GRAIN holiday sweepstakes.  One winner will be selected to win every day for 25 days – winner's choice of $25 worth of gluten free products or an assortment of whole wheat baking mixes and flours.

Pumpkin Crumb Muffins with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Filling and Salted Caramel Sauce,

makes 12 muffins

Ingredients for the muffin: 

1 1/2 cups White Whole Wheat Hodgson Mill flour

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

14 oz pure pumpkin (aka pureed pumpkin, canned pumpkin)

2/3 cup canola oil

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Ingredients for the Crumb topping: 

1/2 cup White Whole Wheat Hodgson Mill flour

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Ingredients for the Cinnamon Cream Cheese Filling:

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 Tablespoons sugar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Line a muffin tin with 12 liners and set aside.

Prepare the filling: Using a hand mixer, combine the softened cream cheese and the cinnamon and sugar.  When they are fully incorporated, add in the vanilla.  Mix to combine.  Transfer the mixture to a piping bag and refrigerate.

Prepare the crumb topping: In a medium bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter with a fork or whisk.  It should form small crumbs.  

Prepare the muffin batter: In a large bowl, whisk to combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, pumpkin, eggs, oil, and vanilla.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.  Fold in the wet ingredients until combined.

Fill the wells of the cupcake tin with the batter, about 2/3 full.  Pipe a dollop of cinnamon cream cheese filling onto the top of the batter.  Then, sprinkle each muffin with crumb topping.

Bake for about 18 - 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the batter (not the cream cheese) does out clean with only small crumbs.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the pan before removing to a cooling rack.

Salted Caramel Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup salted butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup granulated sugar

1 1/4 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt + additional for topping

Directions:

In a saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter together with the heavy cream.  Remove from the heat and set aside.  

Spread sugar into a thin, even layer at the bottom of a large pot.  Turn the heat to medium-low and allow the sugar heat up for 8 minutes, no stirring.  Let the sugar continue to heat up for the next 8 minutes.  Towards the end of this time, it should begin to liquify.  

When it begins to appear light brown and clear in spots, begin to fold the melted sugar on top of the unmelted sugar with a spatula.  Continue to fold until the entire thing has melted and it turns golden brown - This happens very quickly, so keep a close eye on it.  

When it turns golden brown, remove it from the heat and quickly stir in half of the cream-butter mixture - Stirring continuously the entire time.  Be careful to avoid bubbles and splashes from burning you.  Don't be scared if it begins to harden and clump.  If this happens, return the pot to medium-low heat and stir constantly until it has all melted.  Be patient!  If you want a thicker caramel, keep on the heat, stirring constantly for another 10 minutes.  Keep in mind, it will thicken as it cools.  As the last step, add in the sea salt and stir to incorporate.

Drizzle on top of the pumpkin muffins immediately before serving.  The caramel sauce can be stored in the refrigerator, and heated in the microwave prior to drizzling.  Serving suggestion: Sprinkle a small amount of sea salt on top of caramel drizzle before serving.

Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice

Nothing says Fall like pumpkin flavored things.  The coffee shops are filled with pumpkin lattes, delis have pumpkin muffins, even ravioli are filled with pumpkin in the Fall.  And I love it!  Towards the end of the summer, I never can wait for Fall to get here to eat all of the pumpkin goodies.  


That being said, as much as I love pumpkin-flavored things, I've never bought pumpkin pie spice.  And today in Central Florida, it's like a monsoon.  I'm talking trees down in my neighborhood and water coming up through my tiles in the living room (but that's another story).  Not the kind of weather that makes you you want to go to the store solely to buy pumpkin pie spice.  So what do you do if you're stuck in the house and craving pumpkin goodies, with no pumpkin pie spice?  Make your own, of course!  I found this recipe for Pumpkin Pie Spice on My Baking Addiction, and I had all of the spices on hand.  You probably do, too!

Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice from My Baking Addiction

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground ginger

2 teaspoons nutmeg

1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves

Combine all spices in a small bowl and whisk to combine.  Use a funnel to pour into a small air tight jar.  

Club: BAKED - A Tale of 2 Pumpkin Muffins

Today is October 1st.  Break out the pumpkin!  If you're looking for an excuse to buy pumpkin now that its on the shelves, try these muffins.  I altered it (drastically) from the savory Pumpkin Cheddar muffins recipe that was chosen as this week's baked goodie for Club Baked, and I'm happy with the results.  In addition to my savory to sweet adjustment, I also split my batter in half and made two varieties: Espresso Pumpkin Muffins and Pumpkin Pie Muffins.  I'm not sure which one I love more!  I've posted my recipe below as it is so different from the original, but if you're interested in the savory Pumpkin Cheddar version, see Billie of the blog Chocolate & Chakra - the host of this week's recipe.  Thanks for hosting and picking this wonderfully Fall recipe, Billie!

Pumpkin Muffins two ways: 1 with Espresso and 1 with Pumpkin Pie spice
Yields 15 cupcake-sized muffins
Ingredients:
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
3 tablespoons light sour cream
2 large eggs, room temp
1 stick unsalted butter, melted & cooled
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie spice (home-made!)
1/2 teaspoon Espresso powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar + extra for sprinkling


Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 F.  
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine pumpkin and sour cream.  Add the eggs and butter and combine. 
In another bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt and sugars, and whisk to combine.  Add to the pumpkin mixture.  
Divide the batter in half.  In one half of the batter, add the pumpkin pie spice.  In the other half, add the espresso powder.  Or, if you want an entire batch of 1 variety, simply double the amount of that spice and omit the other.  
Put in standard sized cupcake tins lined with cupcake liners.  Sprinkle the tops with granulated sugar.  
Bake for 14 - 17 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.  Serve warm!

Oops! Who ate those?

Visit the other Club Baked bakers to see how their Pumpkin muffins came out!  I can't wait to see how the savory version tastes - I was too scared to try it!  

SMS: Ginger Custard Pumpkin Pie

This weekend it began to feel like Fall in Florida.  Up until now, it was still a consistent high 80's - 90's.  But Friday morning started off chilly and it has been long-sleeves weather ever since.  It is definitely a nice change!  And what better way to make it feel extra Fall-ish than to make a Pumpkin Pie.  

Pumpkin Roll

Last weekend was the Cocoa Village craft fair here in Central Florida. And we rented a booth for our aprons!





It was tremendous fun! The first day was quite rainy (ok, torrential and cold and windy is a more accurate description), but the second day was gorgeous. We had a great time meeting all the people who came to our booth. It was a success! I look forward to doing more of these types of events.

And now to the baking. School is finally over for the semester and now it's the holidays! With a little time off from school, hopefully I can catch up on some baking. But here is a long overdue dessert (I made it for Thanksgiving!)






Pumpkin Toffee Roll Cake, from Paula Deen.
I made some changes to the recipe, and posted them below. But be sure to check out Paula's original recipe HERE, and even watch a video of how she made it HERE.

Ingredients for Cake Roll:
3/4 C cake flour
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
6 large eggs, room temperature. Separated.
1/3 C granulated sugar
1/3 C packed light brown sugar
2/3 C canned pumpkin
1/3 tsp coarse sea salt
Powdered Sugar

Ingredients for Toffee Cream Filling:
1 tsp unflavored gelatin
2 tablespoons grand marnier
1 C heavy cream chilled
1/4 C powdered sugar, sifted
1/3 C Heath bar pieces, and additional 1/2 C for garnishing
Powdered Sugar
Dulce de leche, made from sweetened condensed milk (notes below)
Small amount of store bought caramel sauce

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375. Grease a jelly roll pan, line with parchment paper, and lightly grease the parchment.
Sift flour and spices together in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, beat egg YOLKS together with the two sugars until it thickens. Add the 2/3 C pumpkin to this yolk mixture. Beat on low until mixed. Add dry ingredients, and continue to beat on low until mixed. In a separate CLEAN bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until stiff peaks form. Fold whites into the cake batter.
Use an offset spatula to spread the batter into the prepared jelly roll pan. Drop the pan on the counter a few times to release air bubbles. Bake about 15 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
Remove from oven and while it is still hot, dust it GENEROUSLY with powdered sugar. Turn the cake out on to a kitchen towel, and fold one edge of the towel over 1 of the long edges of the cake. Immediately roll up and place edge down in the refrigerator for one hour. After one hour it should be cooled completely - Do not leave it in there much longer or it will crack when you attempt to unroll it!

For Filling:
Pour grand marnier into a small saucepan, and add the gelatin. Let it soften for about 5 minutes. Then stir over low heat until the gelatin dissolves. While this is cooling, beat the chilled cream with the powdered sugar until peaks form. Fold in the gelatin and 1/3 C of Heath Bar chunks.

Unroll the jelly roll cake slowly and gently. Sprinkle toffee pieces on the unrolled cake to taste, and then spread the cream-toffee filling over, using an offset spatula to smooth.

Beginning at the long edge of the cake, roll up the cake using the towel to help you. Place the cake onto a platter with the seam down. Cut small pieces off the ends of the cake to make straight edges. Dust generously with powdered sugar. Pour a small amount of the store bought caramel on top of the roll - just enough to make something sticky for additional toffee pieces to stick to. Sprinkle toffee on top to taste.

For Dulce De Leche:
Pour a can of sweetened condensed milk into a baking pan. Sprinkle sea salt on top and cover with tin foil. Place this baking pan within a larger baking pan filled with warm water. Put in a 425 degree oven and bake for about an hour - or until it turns a nice brownish caramel color. Let cool. If small chunks appear in it, add milk as needed, and use electric mixer to beat until smooth. To serve, warm in the microwave and pour over slices of cake. I didn't get any pictures of the cake with the dulce :(



The cake was a hit at Thanksgiving. It is impressive looking and really isn't that difficult to make at all! Would definitely make this again!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Okay, so I know it's a little late in the season for Pumpkin, but I think it's tasty any time of year. I was hesitant to do a George Duran recipe just because I tend to stick with recipes from my favorite Food Network chefs when I'm getting a recipe from FN's website, but the high rating and loads of great reviews changed that... and I'm glad! These are delicious. They are a pumpkinny hybrid of chocolate chip cookies with the texture of a muffin top (quite an accurate comparison I got from Dan's sister). Lightly fall-spicey, complimented perfectly with the chocolate chips. Super soft, cakey, light, fluffy, and moist at the same time. I certainly agree with their 5 star rating. The only changes I made to the recipe was scaling it down... below is my version:



Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies from Food Network & George Duran
Ingredients:
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 C granulated sugar
1/2 C light brown sugar
1 Large Egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 C canned pumpkin puree
1 1/2 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
3/4 C - 1 C (to taste) milk chocolate chips

Preheat to 350. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter. Add both sugars slowly, a little at a time, until mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the egg. Then add the vanilla and pumpkin puree.
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Slowly add the flour mixture to the pumpkin batter in 3 parts. Stir in the chips.
Scoop the cookie dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies are browned around the edges. Remove from the oven and let sit on cookie sheets for 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Iced Pumpkin Cookies

Mm..fall. More pumpkin recipes! I had half a can of Pure Pumpkin left from the Pumpkin Cupcakes, so I decided to use it! Turns out to have been a good decision, because these cookies are delicious.



The recipe came from FoodNetwork.com's Iced Pumpkin Cookies but I chose not to do the accompanying icing, but rather a different one which I will post below. I scaled the recipe down to use half of the pumpkin puree I had left (I have glorious things planned for the remaining portion).

Pumpkin Cookies adapted from FoodNetwork.com
Ingredients:
1 stick butter, soft
1/2 C granulated sugar
1/2 C Pure Pumpkin
1/2 an egg (I know, I'm so annoying)
1/2 tsp pure vanilla
1 C A.P. Flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Preheat to 350. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the pumpkin, egg, and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Stir this in to the butter mixture.
Drop by tablespoons on to a baking sheet lined with parchment.
Bake about 15 minutes or until lightly golden.

Icing for Pumpkin Cookies
Ingredients:
1 1/2 Tablespoons butter (does not have to be softened)
2 Tablespoons of milk
1/4 C packed light brown sugar
5/8 Tsp pure vanilla (one quarter + one eighth)
1/2 C of confectioner's sugar

In a small saucepan, melt the butter together with the brown sugar and milk on medium heat. Stir until it is thoroughly combined and dissolved. Remove from heat and let sit for about 5 minutes to let it cool. Add the confectioner's sugar and milk and stir until combined. Fill a small bowl with the icing, and take cooled Pumpkin Cookies, and dip them up side down into the icing. Set on to parchment and allow to set (though it is just as delicious while the icing is still wet!! :)



Happy delicious Pumpkinny Autumn, everyone!

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Honey-Caramel Buttercream Frosting

It's Fall! Though it doesn't feel like it so much here in Florida, judging from all the Thanksgiving (and Christmas) decorations that adorn the stores, it must be fall. Oh and plus, it's my birthday on Sunday, so its gotta be that time of year :) I am still enjoying the lull in my thesis work, so I had time to make a batch of Cupcake-of-the-Weeks. And this week.. mmboy. These are the best I've made in a while. Even Daniel was quite taken aback by these absolutely delicious fall-ish Pumpkin Cupcakes with Honey-Caramel Frosting. The pumpkin cupcakes were very moist, with subtle spices, and the frosting was abbbbsolutely gorgeous. Sweet, slightly caramelly & honey-y, with flecks of caramel streaked throughout. I know, you're jealous.

Pumpkin Cupcakes adapted from MarthaStewart.com. Makes 12 cupcakes.
Ingredients:
1 stick butter
1 cup Cake flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground gingers
Heaping pinch (if that even exists) of Nutmeg
2 eggs, room temperature
1/2 C light brown sugar
1/2 C granulated sugar
about 7 - 7.5 ounces canned Pure Pumpkin
1/2 tsp maple syrup

Preheat to 350. Put paper liners in 12 wells of a cupcake pan.

In a small pot, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Once it has all melted, slowly raise the temperature up to medium, stirring occasionally. Cook until it turns brown (for more instructions on that, see this site and this site). Make sure to keep an eye on it, because it takes a little bit of time... but it goes from yellowy to brown real quick! I followed that second instructional site on how to brown butter... and when it reached the desired color, I took my pot off the store and shoved it in to cold water to stop the cooking immediately:



Set melted brown butter aside and let it cool.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and spices together. Whisk to combine.
In another bowl, beat the eggs lightly. Whisk in the two sugars and the cooled butter. Add the dry ingredients and whisk/fold it in...Do not overmix! Whisk in pumpkin and maple syrup.

Bake about 20 minutes, when a toothpick inserted into the cakes should come out clean. Allow to cool for 5 minutes in pan on wire rack, then remove cakes and set directly on wire rack to cool.



Honey-Caramel Buttercream Frosting enough to frost 12 cupcakes nicely.
1 stick of unsalted butter, softened
2 Tblspn honey
2 Tblspn melted Kraft Caramel bits, or whatever caramel you have on hand
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners sugar

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer slowly at first to incorporate all ingredients. Then, increase speed to high to get light and fluffy. Beat for 3 - 5 minutes.


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