Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

I had house guests this weekend so I thought it would be nice to make some baked goods for the morning in case someone was hungry and I wasn't around to make breakfast yet.  Also, a can of pumpkin has been sitting in my cabinet since Thanksgiving and I have been wanting to use it.  Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins seemed like the perfect thing!

Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

Courtesy of Cooking Light

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour, about 6 3/4 ounces

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup low fat buttermilk

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 large egg

2/3 cup dried sweetened cranberries, chopped

cooking spray

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife.  Combine flour, baking soda, and next 5 ingredents through cloves.  Stir well with a whisk.

Combine granulated sugar and next 5 ingredients (through egg) in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended.  Add flour mixture to sugar mixture; beat at low speed until just combined.  Fold in cranberries.

Place 12 paper muffin cup liners in muffin cups; coat liners with cooking spray.  Spoon batter into prepared cups.  Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until muffins spring back with touched lightly in center.  Remove muffins from pan immediately; place on wire rack.

The best part is they are only 190 calories each and for a quick breakfast they are very moist and lovely.  I topped each of mine with 3 dried cranberries for a little garnish.  Unfortunately, the my kitchen light went out on Saturday so it was a little dark in there when I took this picture!  

Spring in a Jar

The weather has been so nice here in Orange County lately that I have been contemplating having a nice picnic outside for a while now. I have been envisioning a nice Sunday afternoon spent outside enjoying nature, away from Television, Computers, iPhone....just relaxing outside. Hearing the birds chirp and stuff like that.

I saw a recipe for Strawberry Layer Cake and it just seemed like the perfect inspiration for my Spring picnic. I am not an advanced picnic planner or anything, but I do know that a cake is not that portable. Stubbornness took over and I came up with the idea of making mini layered desserts with the cake in jars. Seemed like the perfect answer because there is no way Brian and I alone could eat a whole cake. I ended up with enough little jars to give to people and freeze a few for a rainy day!

Ingredients for Dessert in a Jar:

Small Wide Mouth Jars

Large Plastic Ziplock Bag or Piping Bag

Round Cookie Cutters

1 pint Strawberries, cleaned and sliced, stems removed

1. Make the cake as directed. Let cool completely. Find the appropriate size round cookie cutter to fit the bottom of the jar and cut out the cake to fit. You will only need one of this size per jar. Then find a slightly bigger size cookie cutter to fit higher up in the jar and cut out one of this size for each jar.

2. Once you have cut out all your cake pieces, place a small one in the bottom

of each of your jars.

3. Pour all your frosting into your plastic bag (or piping bag) and push it all to one corner in the bottom of the bag. Do not zip the top closed there will be too much air inside.

Twist the top of the bag gently and pipe a little frosting on top of each cake round.

4. Arrange a layer of sliced strawberries over the first layer of frosting.

Top with the second (larger) cake round.

5. Pipe another layer of frosting.

6. Top with sliced strawberries.

You are done! Aren't they cute?! Stay tuned for a Pie version!

Going Bananas!

I love bananas. I can't understand why a lot of people don't like them. They are full of nutrients and are a great way to have a snack that actually fills you up. I do my best to make food with ingredients that are in season, even though in California we are lucky that we can pretty much get anything all year round.

This recipe for Monkey Bread looked good, is fairly healthy and I bet you have most of the ingredients in your cabinet! I had everything, including the squishy banana!!

As you can probably see, those little dark brown things are not wrinkly like the raisins should be...they are chocolate chips. I have to give Brian some incentive to eat it!

Bananas aren't his favorite...

How good does that look? It tasted great too. The whole pan lasted 24 hours.

Sent from Heaven

My Dad is a big fan of baked goods...such a big fan that we call him "The Cookie Monster" His favorite kind are Oatmeal Raisin, and believe me, we have all tried numerous new recipes to find the perfect one. I saw this one for Carmel Apple Oatmeal Cookies in my favorite Cooking Light Cookbook and just had to try it!

The carmels were a lot more difficult to chop than they make it sound in the recipe, but I may have gotten so frustrated because I was making this and my risotto at the same time. Once I got going, it went faster...the result was ooey, gooey carmel throughout the cookies. I almost got those tiny toffee bites when I was at the grocery store, but I am so glad I got the Carmel candies.
Do not back down from it!

I baked them on Silpats and I suggest using them. I think otherwise the carmel would melt all over the pan and regardless of how much cooking spray you use you would be scrubbing the pans for a indefinite amount of time. Not to mention the carmel would probably burn.

Brian is my resident taste-tester and he grabbed a cookie, bit into it and said, "Oh my Gosh! Where did this recipe come from? Was it sent from heaven?!? These are amazing!"

If I were you, I would try it out...if he only knew there were less than 100 calories in each one!

Great Start

There is nothing better to start your day than a workout and a great breakfast! This morning marked the first day of my family's new private bootcamp. For the past 7 months we have been going to a bootcamp down the street, but they moved a lot further away and at 5:30 am no one wants to drive further or wake up earlier. Our solution: Make our own bootcamp! It is fabulous!

Last night I made these Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins as a new addition to our normal breakfast this week. My hopes are that Brian would like them and his brain would get its "unhealthy craving" for the day and be tricked! They are made with whole wheat flour and oats and really taste good. The part in the recipe where you toss the blueberries in flour first really works. They are pretty quick to make (despite my lack of interest in baking) and are great!

Batter-I used steel cut oats so I think that is why they are more grainy and visible. They tasted fine though. I sometimes make dumb choices at Trader Joe's!

Brian's Chocolate Soy Latte made with our Nspresso (best machine ever!)

Overeasy Eggs (with extra pepper)

Beautiful Muffins

What a great start to a great day! What do you do to start your morning??

I LOVE Pumpkin!!

Warning! This recipe is not low in calories!

Every Thanksgiving I try to make a new recipe with pumpkin, because I looooove pumpkin! I am the wacko who waits all year till the yogurt shops start having pumpkin, the one who waits all year till I can get a pumpkin spice latte, and the nut who buys a pumpkin to roast in the oven and eat instead of carve and put on their doorstep. So, all year I look for new and different things to make with pumpkin! It also, oddly enough, is the only time of year that I am willing to bake over cook.

This year, one of my customers told me about this cake that Paula Deen makes called Gooey Butter Cake. I guess the original version is a yellow cake with a gooey center, but when I researched it, I found that she has a Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake!!

Mixing the Crust

I expected it to look more like packaged cake mix usually looks when you mix it, but it became more of a dough!

After the "dough" was pressed into the bottom of the baking dish

Mixing the Pumpkin Gooey Part

Baking Finished, was a little worried about how long to bake because she says, "40-50 minutes" and like I said, I am not a professional baker so I was unsure. I baked for 48 minutes, I think I should have taken it out 8 minutes earlier. I was worried though...there is always next time.

Finished Product! I made some homemade whipped cream (can not stand the kind in the can) and garnished with a little nutmeg

All in all, it turned out great, but unfortunately this is not the kind of eye appealing dessert that people are dying to try, you really need to plate it. Besides that it is really simple to make, and Paula lists other variations on the recipes so even if you don't like pumpkin, you will be able to find a version you like!

What is your favorite pumpkin dessert? What is your favorite Thanksgiving dessert?