With Sprinkles on Top

I’m back! It’s November 30th – which is the last day of fall, in my non-scientific opinion. I thought I’d make one last fall-inspired recipe – caramel apple muffins. I made these a few weeks ago and am just now getting around to blogging about them! They were delicious — but a bit more yummy if served warm!

Caramel Apple Muffins
Recipe Source: Sugarcrafter
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2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup milk (at least 1%)
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped peeled tart apple
12 caramels, chopped

For the topping:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup quick-cooking oats
3 Tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a muffin pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, spices, and salt.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, butter, and vanilla.
3. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in the apples and caramels.
4. Combine all of the topping ingredients in a small bowl.
5. Fill muffin pan cups 3/4 full, and then sprinkle the topping over the batter. (Mine overflowed a bit, so I would suggest filling a bit less than 3/4 full)
6. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool in the pan 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool slightly. Serve warm.

No recipe for today! My baking projects might slow down in November, mainly for the following reasons:

1. Graduate school.
2. Graduate school.
3. Graduate school.
4. My oven is currently on the fritz. And by that I mean, every time I use it, the screeching and wailing fire alarm goes off. Less than ideal, wouldn’t you agree?

For today’s post I thought I’d answer the top 5 questions I get regarding this blog and my love of baking. If you have any other questions, feel free to comment.

What do you do with all the stuff you make?
I give it to friends, take it to work, eat some of it myself, or cut the recipe in half so I don’t make quite as much.

How do you not weigh 300 pounds?
Surprisingly, I don’t really have a sweet tooth. I have a salt tooth instead. :) That and I run a lot, about 15-20 miles a week — I’m currently training for a half marathon. So it all balances out.

Do you ever write your own recipes?
No. I don’t have the time to experiment or perfect new ideas. And seriously… have you seen all of the amazing cookbooks, food blogs, and magazines out there?! Why invent your own when there is deliciousness everywhere you look?

Do you post each and every recipe you bake?
Yes and no. If it’s a comedic disaster, I will post it — cause I like to keep it real. But if the recipe just turned out to be bland or not recommendation-worthy, I don’t bother writing about it. I think blogging about something that I didn’t like defeats the purpose of this blog.

Would you ever consider opening your own bakery?
No. No. No. And no. I want my hobby to remain my hobby — once it becomes work, the magic is gone.

Sick of pumpkin yet? Too bad. THIS is the bread that changed my mind about pumpkin. I’m slowly starting to like pumpkin, though I doubt I’ll ever be able to handle pumpkin pie! My co-worker Jackie brought this bread into the office and I had a piece – I fell in love. Immediately requested the recipe and had to have more! Thank you to Jackie for sharing this treat with me :)

Pumpkin Raisin Bread
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2/3 cup shortening
2-2/3 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 cups pumpkin
2/3 cup water
3-1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2-1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 cup raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour 2 9×5″ loaf pans. Mix all ingredients and bake 65-75 minutes.

Happy Halloween! If I’ve learned nothing else from baking these cookies, it’s that I could never be a surgeon. Just LOOK at those shaky spiderwebs! I’m sure the real spiders of this world would shake their little arachnid heads in shame. But it’s okay, I’m cool with it.

Pumpkin Spiderweb Cookies
Recipe source: unknown
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Cookies:
2-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
3/4 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
1/4 cup milk
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs

Icing:
3 cups confectioners sugar
3 Tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 Tablespoons plus 4 teaspoons milk
2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or spray with nonstick coating spray.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and allspice. In small bowl, stir together the pumpkin and milk. In large bowl, beat sugar and butter until blended – about 1 minute. Beat in eggs. On low speed, alternately beat in flour mixture and pumpkin mixture, ending with flour mixture.
3. Drop 1/4-cupfuls of dough onto prepared sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Spread slightly with spatula.
4. Bake 1 sheet at a time for 13-15 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center tests clean. Remove to rack to cool.
5. For the icing: blend powdered sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, and 3 Tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons milk until smooth. Remove 1/3 cup icing to small bowl and stir in cocoa and remaining 2 teaspoons milk. Transfer chocolate icing to plastic piping bag; snip off corner.
6. Turn cookies flat-side up. Spread white icing over one cookie. Beginning in center, pipe a spiral of chocolate icing. Starting in the center, drag a knife through spiral for spiderweb pattern. Repeat with all cookies. Let stand until set.

Makes about 14 cookies. If your icing is too thin, add more powdered sugar. If your icing is too thick, add more milk to thin it. This icing sets quickly, so try to work as quickly as you can.

Rice Krispie treats rank high on my list of favorite baked goods (though, to be technical, no baking is actually involved!). I made these slightly modified treats for a movie night with my friends. They are super fast and easy to make!

Yield: About 24-30 treats

Trick-or-Treat Rice Krispie Treats

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A Halloween twist on a classic treat!

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Additional Time 2 hours

Total Time 2 hours 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 4 cups mini marshmallows
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 5 cups rice cereal
• 1 cup candy corn, divided
• Halloween sprinkles (optional)

Instructions

1. Spray a 9×13″ baking pan with nonstick spray (or you can line the pan with parchment paper).

2. In a large saucepan, melt butter over low heat and stir in pumpkin pie spice. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.

3. Add rice cereal and 3/4 cup candy corn – stir until well coated.

4. Press the mixture into the prepared pan (it helps to use a nonstick spray-coated spatula or spoon). Press remaining 1/4 cup candy corn into the top of the cereal bars & top with sprinkles.

5. Cool for 2 hours and cut into bars.

Notes

Your yield will depend on how big or small you cut your bars.