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.

Sweet and Salty Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Are you into the Sweet and Salty trend?  We so completely are.  Every recipe I make includes fine sea salt in one way or another.  This new recipe, however, take it to a whole other level.  This is like a cross between a potato chip and a chocolate chip cookies... in a good way.  It has the sweet and chewiness of a oatmeal chocolate chip cookie combined with the salty addictiveness of a potato chip - I definitely "could not stop at just one".

*The basic oatmeal chocolate chip cookie dough recipe is formed into balls which is then rolled in a combination of Sugar in the Raw and fine Sea Salt.  The original recipe called for 1 1/2 Tablespoon of salt, but I found that to be just too much.  So, in the recipe below I reduced it to 1/2 Tablespoon.  If you find it to too salty / not salty enough, simply adjust the recipe to fit your tastes.

Sweet and Salty Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies adapted from My Kitchen Addiction
Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 egg, room temperature
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup raw sugar (such as Sugar in the Raw)
1/2 Tablespoon fine sea salt* (see note about salt amount above)

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl.  Add in egg and beat until smooth.  Add the corn syrup and vanilla, and beat until fully incorporated.

In a separate bowl, whisk to combine oats, flour, baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt.  Gradually add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, mixing on low until the batter comes together.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Towards the end of chilling, preheat the oven to 375 and line several cookie sheets with pre-cut parchment.  In a small dish, combine raw sugar and fine sea salt.  Roll cookie dough balls to about 1 inch, and roll each in the sugar-salt mixture.  Using your palm or a flat spatula, press down gently to slightly flatten.  Bake 8 - 10 minutes or until edges are just barely golden - do not over bake!  Cool on pan about 5 minutes and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Truffle Cookies with Sea Salt

Today is October 28th.  Halloween is just around the corner... and there are already Christmas decorations and advertisements all over the stores and TV.  It does feel like Fall gets a little bit rushed, especially after Halloween is over.  Oh well, might as well start planning those Christmas cookies now then, right? :)

These unique Chocolate Truffle Cookies would be a great addition to any Christmas cookie platter.  They have a nice shiny "crust" (similar to the top of a brownie) and the inside has a texture that combines a chocolate cookie, a rich fudgy brownie, and a chocolate truffle.  And BONUS - they're super easy to make.  

do you see the napping doggy in the picture above?

Chocolate Truffle Cookies with Sea Salt, adapted from Ghirardelli

Ingredients

• ¼ cup all purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ cups dark chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 eggs, room temp
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• fine Diamond Crystal sea salt for sprinkling
• additional 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips (optional) for mixing into prepared dough

Prepare cookie sheets with Precut Parchment paper. Set aside.

In the top of a double boiler, melt chocolate and butter until smooth. Turn off the heat and let chocolate sit over warm water. 

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt and mix to combine. 

In another bowl, whisk together sugar and eggs.  Slowly add the warm chocolate mixture. Stir to combine. 

Add vanilla and mix. Stir in flour mixture, mixing just until incorporated, do not over mix. 

If adding chocolate chips to the batter, allow to cool for a few minutes (if batter is too warm, the chocolate chips will melt). Stir in chocolate chips. Then chill for at least 10-15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Scoop rounded tablespoons of batter and place on prepared cookie sheet. Sprinkle each cookie lightly with sea salt. Bake for approximately 7-8 minutes until the outside looks slightly cracked. Do not over bake because they will continue to bake a little as they cool once removed from the oven. Cookies should be soft and gooey in the center.

Bourbon Salted Caramel Rice Krispie Treats... Krispie Treats for Grown Ups!

It doesn't matter how grown up I get, I'll never stop loving Kellogg's Rice Krispies treats.  I've made Smore Krispie Treats, Mexican Vanilla Krispie Treats, Crunchy Peanut Butter Krispie Treats, and now, Bourbon Salted Caramel Krispie Treats - a treat fit for a grown up.  Since I had some extra Bourbon Salted Caramel left over from the Coffee Ice Cream Tart, and an enormous family sized box of Rice Krispies, I decided to combine the two.  The result?  Probably the most delicious krispie treat I've tried to date.  

Bourbon Salted Caramel Krispie Treats

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Homemade Bourbon Salted Caramel + additional for topping

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

1 10 ounce bag of mini marshmallows

6 cups of Kellogg's Rice Krispies cereal

Line an 8 x 8 square pan with parchment paper. 

Melt salted caramel and butter together in a large saucepan over low heat.  Add marshmallows, stirring until marshmallows are completed melted down (this will take longer than it does with traditional kris pie treat recipes).  Stir in Kellogg's Rice Krispies cereal until well coated. Then, turn out the mixture into the square pan.  Cut into squares when completely cooled and set, and serve with a salted caramel sauce drizzle. 

Bourbon Salted Caramel Sauce

The salted caramel sauce that topped the Coffee Ice Cream tart I made recently became the star of that dish.  Its taste fell somewhere in between butterscotch and caramel and with the addition of sea salt and bourbon, it had such a unique, grown-up taste.  It was great on the coffee ice cream tart... but I have a feeling it'd be great on nearly anything.  It can be stored in the fridge, and then microwaved and served warm.    

Homemade Bourbon Salted Caramel Sauce, adapted from Lick My Spoon

Ingredients:

1 cup granulated sugar

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons diamond crystal fine sea salt
1 1/2 tablespoons Kentucky bourbon


Heat the sugar and water in a medium saucepan on medium-high heat and stir occasionally until the sugar dissolves.  Stop stirring and allow the mixture to come to a boil, swirling the pan occasionally.  
When the mixture becomes dark amber, add the butter. The mixture will foam up, whisk until the butter has melted. Once the butter has melted, remove the pan from the heat.  
Add the heavy cream and whisk to incorporate.  Add the sea salt and bourbon and stir until smooth.  
Allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes, then pour into a glass container and let cool to room temperature. Don’t worry if the sauce seems too thin at first, it will thicken as it cools. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Warm in the microwave before serving.

Club: BAKED - Mississippi Mud Pie AKA Coffee Ice Cream Tart

The Club: BAKED bakers are at it again.  This time the recipe we're all making (making, since no baking is required!) is Mississippi Mud Pie aka Coffee Ice Cream Tart.  It involves a homemade chocolate cookie crust with a bourbon chocolate fudge filling topped with coffee ice cream.  


The original recipe tops the whole thing off with a chocolate topping, but I thought there was enough chocolate already so I made a Bourbon Salted Caramel Sauce (Good decision! Recipe found here).  Besides the caramel sauce, the only other adjustment I made to the original recipe was to omit the nuts and use chocolate animal crackers instead of chocolate wafer cookies (like a few others, I couldn't find these at any local stores either!).  I loved the crust that resulted - it reminded me of the chocolate crunchies found in store-bought ice cream cakes... and who doesn't love those??  The whole pie was reminiscent of an Ice-Cream-Cake version of one of those frozen blended coffee drinks... yum. 


We really enjoyed this dessert, especially with the Bourbon Salted Caramel Sauce.  The saltiness provided a nice counterpart to all of the sweetness.  But hands down our favorite part of the cake was the crunchy-like cookie crust.  Be sure to visit the Club: BAKED site to see how this pie came out for the other bakers.  Stop by Jess' blog, The Saucy Kitchen, for the recipe.  Thanks for hosting, Jess!

Sea Salted Blondies

A little while back, I saw this post for Salted Blondies on one of my very favorite blogs, 3 B'S .... Baseball, Baking, & Books. I bookmarked it and KNEW I'd have to come back to it when I had time. Her inspiration came from The Delicious Life which was a Heath Bar version. I chose to make Ingrid of 3 B's Version: White Chocolate Chip and Macadamia Nut Blondies. Yummm.

Just as both bloggers claimed, this recipe was super easy. And it came out Super, Super Delicious. Mmm. On my way home from a meeting with my professor yesterday, Daniel called and said, "I think I may need my stomach pumped... I had too many blondies". Yes, they're that good. Dan and I agree that they're cookie-er tasting than other blondies I've made...if that makes any sense. The extra touch from the coarse sea salt really put these over the top. I used my favorite go-to sea salt: Diamond Crystal All Natural Coarse Sea Salt. I use it in every recipe in place of regular salt and it adds an extra dimension to all my creations.





Sea Salted Blondies, with Macadamia Nuts and White Chocolate Chips from 3 B's & The Delicious Life
Ingredients:
1 C A.P. Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/8 tsp Baking soda
A heaping 1/2 tsp of Diamond Crystal All Natural Coarse Sea Salt
1 C brown Sugar
1 stick butter, melted & slightly cooled
1 large egg, room temoerature
1/2 tsp Vanilla
3/4 C white chocolate chips
~1/4 C Chopped Macadamia nuts

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease an 8×8 baking pan, line it with parchment, and lightly grease the parchment.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a separate bowl, beat together the brown sugar and the melted butter. Add the egg and vanilla. Beat to combine.

Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Before completely combined, add the white chocolate chips and the nuts (reserving about a Tblspn of the nuts to sprinkle on top). Pour batter into pan and sprinkle with remaining nuts. Also sprinkle the batter with more coarse sea salt.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool for 10 minute and then remove the blondies using the parchment sling to allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Enjoy as is or warmed up with ice cream on top!