Tag Archives: Cinnamon

Glazed Cinnamon Raisin Scones

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We got new neighbors last weekend (total bummer to be moving New Year weekend) – and I’ve been waiting until the dust settles next door to bring over some baked goodies and say “hello!”. My super awesome talented cousin posted this recipe on her blog today and I decided it was perfect for saying “Welcome to the neighborhood”.

I prepped these scones in my food processor. I love that you pulse, pulse, pulse the dry ingredients, add the shortening, pulse some more, add the milk and raisins, pulse some more and you’re basically done. (does pulse not look like a word anymore to you too?) And only one thing to clean! As always with scones, don’t over mix your dough. I just knead it two or three times to make sure it’s all combined and then pat out the dough lightly with my palm. Continue reading →

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Baked Eggnog French Toast

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It’s a Christmas morning tradition in our home to have a big gorgeous breakfast together. For many years I’ve made french toast, eggs, bacon, sausage etc. for my family. This year, I decided to try something that would keep me away from all that flipping bread over a hot griddle. I’ve tried overnight french toast before, but didn’t want to go that route since I had zero time before Christmas day to prepare it. So, I kind of made up this version – and included some eggnog to give it a holiday twist. For the rest of the year, I’ll just use all milk instead of part nog. The great thing is that it came together in about 10 minutes, and then baked while we were reading the Christmas story and opening gifts. Easy and delicious. Continue reading →

Eggnog Vanilla Candied Nuts

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It’s an awesome day today! MOPS this morning was fantastic, making up Dutch Apple Pies with my girls. Tonight I’m going to see Harry Potter at midnight. Well, actually – I’m getting in line at 7pm. Obviously I will need some snacks while waiting. I was in the mood to try something new that I could put a bag of in my purse. Wait, doesn’t everyone smuggle snacks into the movie theater? No? Just me? Hmmmm.

You may have noticed, I don’t put nuts in my baked goods. Not sure what it is, but I just don’t like eating something deliciously soft and then finding a hard nut in there. However, I adore nuts on their own merits.  The grocery store nearest my home has a nut bar and I absolutely LOVE their vanilla cinnamon coated macadamia nuts. But, they are $16 a pound. Seriously? I found a recipe for candied nuts and thought I’d put my own spin on it. Voila. Eggnog Vanilla Candied Nuts. Oh goodness they are so delicious. And way less expensive than purchasing them. I got a pound of walnuts on sale at WinCo (have I mentioned how happy I am to have one nearby now?) for $3.50 and threw together this recipe. Gonna try them next with macadamia nuts. I’m sure this would be amazing with whatever nut you particularly love. Continue reading →

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Muffins

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Sometimes, you just want a doughnut. If you’re like me, you have trouble justifying the drive to a bakery just to buy one, so you get a dozen. And then eat them all. Not good. Here’s my take on a mini-muffin that tastes just like a delicious doughnut. Without the guilt. The original recipe for this used butter, I like to substitute applesauce wherever I can – and always have success when using it in muffins or bread. These are light and delicious. Bet you can’t eat just one! I’m glad I’m heading out of the house – otherwise there’s no way these would make it to the meeting I’m taking them to tonight!
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Apple Crisp Cups

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It’s a well documented fact that I love mini desserts. I don’t know what it is about them. Maybe it’s that no matter what you’re making, if you turn it into a bite sized version, it gets a little more adorable. And somehow, being able to pop the entire thing in your mouth makes it taste even better. Apple crisp is one of my favorite fall desserts. Since I’m not a fan of pie crust in general, crisps are way better in my book. But, there’s never enough “crisp” to go around it seems. Enter the Apple Crisp Cup. Mini muffin tins filled with crisp crust surrounding spiced apples with more crisp on top. Oh baby.

Apple Crisp Cups

Apple Crisp Cups

4 large Granny Smith apples – peeled, cored, and chopped
1/4 cup apple cider
2 tablespoons white sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, or to taste
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups butter, cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen for 10 minutes
1/2 cup candied walnuts, chopped fine

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 2 mini-muffin tins.
  2. Mix apples, cider, white sugar, and 3/4 teaspoon of cinnamon together in a saucepan, and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Simmer until apples are partially cooked, about 5 minutes; remove from heat.
  3. Combine flour, brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and nutmeg in a food processor, pulse until blended. Add the cubed/frozen butter and pulse until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. If you do not have a food processor, cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter. Dump the butter mixture into a large bowl and add the oats by hand.
  4. Place a heaping tablespoon of the crust mixture into a mini muffin cup, and, using the back of the tablespoon, press it into the cup so that it covers the bottom and pushes up the sides of the cup. Make the crust go all the way to the top of the little muffin cup, and patch any holes with more crust mixture. Place about 2 teaspoons of apple filling in the crust. Take two cups of the crust mixture and combine with 1/2 cup candied walnuts (optional). Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of the crust mixture over the filling. You will probably have about a cup of the crust mixture left over…don’t worry, you didn’t do anything wrong.
  5. Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
  6. Allow to cool in the pans about 10 minutes. Then, slide a butter knife around the edge of each crisp and pop out of the muffin tin. Place on wire rack to cool completely.

Apple Strudel Muffins

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Yesterday, my power was out the entire morning and most of the afternoon. It was very frustrating. I realized how completely addicted I am to my computer. When the power came back on, my monitor got fried and now won’t display anything. Computers are pretty worthless without a screen to show you what it’s doing. So, I’m typing on my little pink laptop – and having to stoop to non-RAW/unedited photos because this computer doesn’t have a program on it that can read RAW file format. Sigh. Woe is me.

None of these issues however, can stop me from baking. And, amazingly enough, these muffins taste just as good without the fancy-pants photo. The shredded apple gives moisture and flavor to the entire muffin while the apple chunks add that extra “Oh! I’m eating an apple muffin!”. This recipe makes 12 normal sized muffins, or 6 jumbo/bakery style muffins.

 

Apple Strudel Muffins

 

 

Apple Strudel Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons applesauce
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup peeled and chopped apples*
1 cup peeled and shredded apples* (use the biggest holes on your grater)
*Total, you’ll need about to large apples

Strudel Topping

1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin pan, or use paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
3. In a large bowl, beat together butter, sugars, applesauce and eggs until smooth. Mix in vanilla. Stir in apples, and gradually blend in the flour mixture. Using an ice cream scoop, spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin pan. Batter will be thick like a cookie dough.
4. In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture is like coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over tops of mixture in muffin pan. Depending on how much sweetness you like, you’ll either use about half the mixture (like me) or more to your taste.
5. Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Allow to sit 5 minutes before removing muffins from pan. Cool on a wire rack.

Snickerdoodles – Take Two

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Today was my second attempt at the perfect snickerdoodle. I changed my recipe just a bit, replacing some of the butter with shortening. I also used a bigger ball of dough to get a slightly more domed cookie. I think I have found perfection. Puffed and soft, with just the right texture – these are exactly what I was looking for. Don’t be tempted to substitute the cream of tartar for baking powder – the tartar mixed with the baking soda is what gives these cookies their fast lift. As they de-puff slightly, you get the signature cracks of a snickerdoodle.

Snickerdoodles - Take Two

Snickerdoodles

1/2  cup butter, softened
1/2  cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons white sugar
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
  2. Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar. Add the eggs and the vanilla. Sift together flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Add to wet ingredients until just combined. Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.
  3. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls. I wanted them a good size, so I used 2 T of dough per ball.
  4. Mix the 3 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
  5. Bake only one sheet at a time for 8 minutes, or until set but not hard. The cracks should still look moist. Allow to cool 3 minutes on baking sheets then remove to cool on a wire rack.

Snickerdoodles

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A wonderful friend at church paid me a very sweet compliment on my Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes – and mused about what my snickerdoodles must taste like…posted on facebook no less. What a great guy. So, now I am in search of the perfect snickerdoodle recipe for him. Nathan, here’s my first effort. Not good enough for you yet. But I shall keep trying.

I think the combo of shortening and butter (when the right ratio is achieved) will give me the puffed cookies I want with the flavor I’m looking for. I’m thinking next batch will be half butter/half shortening, because this batch was a little flat for me. It’s important to take your cookies out of the oven when the cracks still look a little moist – they will look underdone, but as they cool they’ll harden and if you wait til the craggy parts look dry…that’s exactly what your cookies will be. D.R.Y.

Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles

3/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons white sugar
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
  2. Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, the eggs and the vanilla. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.
  3. Mix the 3 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
  4. Bake 8 minutes, or until set but not too hard. Allow to cool 2 minutes on baking sheets then remove to cool on a wire rack.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

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The first day of fall isn’t technically for another couple of days – but today’s weather is my perfect autumn day. As Winnie-the-Pooh would call it, it’s a blustery day. A touch of dark storm clouds and a  swirling breeze, not quite strong enough to be a full on windy day, but enough to stir the branches of the multicolored trees. Days like this make me want to fill my home with the pungent spices of cinnamon and clove. Bible study worship night is the excuse I needed to make these delicious pumpkin spice cupcakes.  I always round my teaspoons/half teaspoons of spices because I just think that makes it better. But there’s really no technical measurement for a rounded teaspoon.  So there you go.

Shout out of thanks to my sister Amy – who gave me a can of pumpkin puree, which (in my opinion) is worth its weight in gold currently due to the great pumpkin puree shortage of 2009. My grocery store still doesn’t have any of the Libby’s stuff on their shelves…and who wants to bake with organic fancy puree that’s $4 a can? Well – I guess maybe you will if you want to make these cupcakes before the regular stuff comes back in stock. :(

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes w/Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp salt
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup applesauce
1 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 1/4 cup pumpkin puree

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese,
softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
  1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 24 muffin cups, or line with paper muffin liners. Sift together the flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, clove, allspice, salt, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.
  2. Beat 1/2 cup of oil, applesauce, white sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl to combine.  Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to blend into the mixture before adding the next. Stir in the milk and pumpkin puree after the last egg. Stir in the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups. I like to use an ice-cream scooper to make nice rounded cupcakes.
  3. Bake in the preheated oven until golden and the tops spring back when lightly pressed, about 19-21 minutes. Cool in the pans for 5 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
  4. While the cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting by beating the cream cheese and 1/4 butter with an electric mixer in a bowl until smooth. Beat in the confectioners’ sugar a little at a time until incorporated. Add the vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; beat until fluffy. Once the cupcakes are cool, frost with the cream cheese icing.

Whenever I’m frosting cupcakes, I put a ziploc bag into a glass, fill it with icing and then snip a corner – and do a swirl on top. I always go back and add more frosting it seems, because the pretty swirl just isn’t enough frosting for me.