Pumpkin Muffins

Let me just start out by saying that ANY recipe that has 5 stars from 4,609 people will ALWAYS get vote. That's what this pumpkin muffin recipe got, and it is well-deserved. This muffin, which is actually meant to be a loaf, is moist, flavorful, and delicious. Even if you adapt it to your liking, it STILL turns out a winner. So go make this recipe...now.

We start out with the ingredients.


Mix the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients separately.




Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients, and mix until just incorporated. Don't over-mix, but keep going until you don't see any huge clumps of flour. Fill the cups about 2/3 and add any toppings at this point.



I doubled the recipe because I made this the other night, and my dad ate 3...in one sitting. 3. However, doubling a recipe that is already meant for a HUGE batch can lead to some shortages. I only had a cup and a half left of vegetable oil, but the recipe calls for 2 cups, so I substituted apple sauce for the remaining half cup.



Also, to make this muffin a little healthier, I made it with whole white wheat flour instead of the usual all-purpose flour. I love whole white wheat flour because it's much lighter and milder than its friend, the dense whole wheat flour. Use it in your baking! It's very similar to all-purpose...but healthier!

I hope you enjoy this recipe. It's called the Downeast Main Pumpkin Bread, and it's a-mazing! Did I mention that it got 5 stars with over 4,000 reviews?? :)



The directions below are for a loaf, but these can easily be made into muffins. Lower the baking time to 25 minutes.

Ingredients

• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup water
• 3 cups white sugar
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
3. Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. If making muffins, lower time to 25 minutes. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Pumpkin Bundt Cake

When my friend first sent me this recipe, I started drooling. This bundt cake screamed to be made. I could almost taste the pumpkin cake from my laptop screen. So, what else could I do but make it?

The directions are pretty simple, and it uses ingredients that you can find around your house, minus the pumpkin puree. And unlike many other bundt cakes, this one only uses a stick of butter. Phew! See? A cake can be good with less butter! The cake was moist, fluffy, and had a good balance of pumpkin flavor. The cream cheese icing was a good complement to the spice of the cake, although I had to adapt it a little because I didn't have any milk on hand. So instead, I used water. Other than that, just follow the directions to the T and you should have no problems.



close-up shot.


Pumpkin Bundt Cake by Baking Bites:
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/4 cups pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, followed by the vegetable oil and vanilla extract.
Whisk together buttermilk and pumpkin puree in a small bowl or measuring cup.
Stir about 1/3 of the flour mixture into the butter mixture, followed by half of the pumpkin mix. Stir in another 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by the remaining pumpkin and the remaining flour. Mix only until ingredients are just combined and no streaks of dry ingredients remain visible. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake for about 45 min, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly touched.
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 1 bundt cake; serves 10-12

Vanilla Cream Cheese Glaze
2 oz cream cheese, room temperature
2 tbsp milk
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a small bowl, beat all ingredients together until very smooth. Drizzle over cooled cake.

Pumpkin Bread with Chocolate Chips

It finally feels like fall, doesn't it? There's a little chill in the morning that makes me want to drive to the nearest Coffee Bean and order a hot cup of coffee. The trees in my neighborhood are starting to turn orange and the air smells crisp. And so begins the month of reflecting on life's blessings.

Anyways, onward to the goods! There is no better way to welcome fall than to bake something with pumpkin in it. Am I right, or am I right? This pumpkin loaf is moist, pumpkin-y, and pretty good if I do say so myself. I added chocolate chips to the batter because, as you know, chocolate makes everything better...and I do mean EVERYTHING.

The recipe is from food.com:

Ingredients:

2 2

Servings Size

• loaves

Yield: 2 loaves

• 2 cups pumpkin puree
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup oil
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger

Directions:

Prep Time: 10 mins

Total Time: 1 1/4 hr

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease 2 loaf pans.
2. Mix together well the pumpkin, sugar, oil and eggs.
3. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and raisins, and mix well.
4. Pour into loaf pans and bake for 60-65 minutes or until inserted knife comes out clean.

Did someone say Pumpkin Cheesecake?

For awhile now, I've been browsing different recipes to find the perfect dessert that would match the coming of fall. There was no doubt that pumpkin had to be involved with this project. Pumpkin bread, pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin juice (for you Harry Potter fans), and pumpkin white hot chocolate. None of these really sparked the "I-gotta-make-this-RIGHT-NOW" feeling until I came across this recipe.

Leave it to Paula Deen to create a delicious and, of course, buttery dessert: pumpkin cheesecake. I was kind of nervous because I had never attempted to make cheesecake before. Nevertheless, I was ready for a challenge. Strolling down the aisles at the market and putting the can of pureed pumpkin and 3 packages of cream cheese into my basket made it pretty obvious to the outsider what I was planning to do back home.

Yes, I made a gigantic mess.

Yes, I almost burned myself pouring the boiling water for the water bath. Yes, I couldn't REALLY tell how much "jiggle" my cheesecake was supposed to have, but whichever way my cheesecake turns out, my little pumpkin friend is now relaxing in the fridge after a long bake in the oven.

So here's the final product. I can't wait to try it tomorrow!






Crust:

• 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 stick melted salted butter

Filling:

• 3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin
• 3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For crust:

In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Add melted butter. Press down flat into a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.

For filling:

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined.

Pour into crust. Spread out evenly and place oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.