Pumpkin Bread

One of the snacks I made for our trip to Penn State was this pumpkin bread. It's definitely not fall unless I've made some pumpkin goodies! This is yet another recipe that my parents typed up and put in a book for me when I first moved out on my own, so I'm not sure of the original source (I need to just look at my mom's collection the next time I'm there and see if I can figure all these out!).

Anyway, this is good stuff. Though chocolate will always be my favorite, I must say that the scent of pumpkin-flavored treats baking is one of the best ever. (Apologies for the less-than-stellar picture...I'm losing daylight both before and after work!)



Pumpkin Bread

1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1 1/3 cups brown sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 16 oz can pure pumpkin
2/3 cup water
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottoms only of 2 loaf pans, 9 x 5 or 3 loaf pans, 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inches. (You can use mini loaf pans too.) Mix sugar, oil, pumpkin, water, eggs and vanilla. Stir together flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, baking powder and nutmeg. Mix into pumpkin mixture. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 60 to 70 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean; cool 5 minutes. (Maybe it's just my oven, but mine were done at around 55 minutes.) Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans. Cool before slicing. (If you use mini pans, bake for approximately 30 to 40 minutes.)

Easy Crumbly Cornbread

Once again, I must give credit to my mom for pointing me toward a recipe. I'm not sure how she chose this one out of all the cornbread recipes out there, but Shaun and I are grateful - it's really tasty! Of course, with two sticks of butter included, it's not something we have all the time (and I rationalize it since it's not like we eat it in one sitting, right??). But just as we like our soft and crumbly cupcakes, we like this soft and crumbly cornbread. Throw some honey butter on there and mmmm...good stuff.

I hired my hubby as the photographer for this post...I think I might give him the permanent position!

The original recipe can be found on cooks.com, but I changed a few ingredient amounts and cleaned up the directions a bit. The first time I made the original, the middle was underdone while the edges got dark. To avoid that the second time, I turned it into corn muffins instead, but we didn't like that quite as much as the original. This last time, I used the amounts below in the 9 x 13 pan, and it was just about perfect - but there's definitely some leeway if you want to experiment.

Easy Crumbly Cornbread

1/2 lb. butter
3 eggs
1 cup milk (original says 1 1/4 cups)
3 cups pancake mix
2/3 cup sugar (original says up to 1 cup)
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 to 3/4 cup cornmeal

While pre-heating oven to 350 degrees, melt butter in 9 x 13-inch pan in oven. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Beat eggs with milk in a separate bowl. When butter is melted, carefully remove from oven, and pour egg/milk mixture and butter into dry mix. Stir to combine - batter will have a few lumps. Pour into the butter-greased pan. Bake for about 30 minutes or until center is firm to touch. Allow to stand 3-5 minutes before serving.

Cinnamon Buttermilk Muffins

One last post before I take off for Minnesota tonight!

I only ended up with about 5 of these (PW Spreads again)...the narrow eastern edges and the little bump on the northern border liked to break off and I gave up and cut the rest into squares. Oh well, at least I got to use the MN cookie cutter I've had for three years...even though Shaun said it just looked like someone took a bite out of a regular cookie, haha. Anyway...

I made Cinnamon Buttermilk Muffins for breakfast over the 4th of July weekend to use up some of the leftover buttermilk I bought for making cupcakes. I had made them once before and they were so good that now when I buy buttermilk, I anticipate making these almost as much as the cupcakes! I found the recipe at Annie's Eats, and it's originally from Williams Sonoma. I had similar results to Annie - I got 10 muffins rather than 9, and the butter/sugar/cinnamon topping amounts listed were way more than I needed.

These are a quick, easy, and YUMMY breakfast treat!

Cinnamon Buttermilk Muffins

7 Tbs. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg (I used ground)
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the topping:
2/3 cup sugar
1 Tbs. ground cinnamon (I halved the cinnamon/sugar mixture and still had a bit left over)
6 Tbs. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted (I used about 2 Tbs. salted since I ran out of unsalted)

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Grease 9-10 standard muffin cups with butter or butter-flavored nonstick cooking spray; fill the unused cups one-third full with water to prevent warping.

To make the muffins, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, combine the butter and sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat well until pale and smooth.

In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Add to the butter mixture in 2 additions, alternating with the buttermilk and vanilla. Stir just until evenly moistened. The batter will be slightly lumpy.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each three-fourths full. Bake until the muffins are golden, dry and springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Unmold the muffins and let stand until cool enough to handle.

To make the topping, in a small, shallow bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon. Put the melted butter in another small bowl. Holding the bottom of a muffin, dip the top into the melted butter, turning to coat it evenly. Immediately dip the top in the cinnamon-sugar mixture, coating it evenly, then tap it to remove excess sugar. Transfer the muffin, right side up, to the rack. Repeat with the remaining muffins. Let cool completely before serving.

Back next week!

Cinnamon Chip Muffins

I heard about cinnamon chips several months ago but hadn't tried any until Christmas. I picked some up at the store without knowing what I was going to make and ended up finding this simple recipe on the Hershey website. We had these when my family was visiting and liked them, so I finished up the bag with a partial batch this past weekend.

Cinnamon Chip Muffins

2 cups all-purpose biscuit baking mix
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 cup HERSHEY'S Cinnamon Chips
2/3 cup milk

Heat oven to 400°F. Grease or paperline 12 muffin cups (2-1/2-inches in diameter).
Stir together baking mix, sugar, vegetable oil, egg, cinnamon chips and milk in medium bowl just until moistened. Divide batter evenly into prepared muffin cups.
Bake 15 to 18 minutes or just until browned. (ours had a slight crisp to the outside after just 15 minutes) Cool slightly; remove from pan. 12 muffins.


Yay for finally making something during the day for better picture results!