Pumpkin Butterscotch Bars

I'm still on a quest to find the perfect bar cookie...this is pretty good. It received a unanimous "do again" from the family but I don't think that it's the ONE. It has a very moist, dense texture and the butterscotch chips are super yum. I like to eat them straight out of the bag...did I say that out loud??

Pumpkin Butterscotch Bars
adapted from Martha Stewart

2 c. all purpose flour
1 T. pumpkin pie spice
1 t. baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter
3/4 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 c. white chocolate chips
1 1/2 c. butterscotch chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly spray a 9x13 baking dish with non stick spray. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt. Stir together and set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitter with the paddle attachement, beat together the butter and sugar on Med/High until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well combined. Mix in the pumpkin puree. With the mixer on low speed add the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Fold in the white chocolate and 1 cup butterscotch chips with a rubber spatula.
3. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan and sprinke remaining 1/2 cup butterscotch chips over the top of the batter. Bake until edges begin to pull away from sides of pan and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs, about 35 minutes. Cool pan on wire rack. Let cool completely before cutting.

Brown Butter Pumpkin Cupcakes

Cupcakes seem to be all the rage right now and I have to confess that I don't really get it. Maybe that's because I'm not a cake person or maybe it's because I tend to forget to set the timer and end up with baked goods that are too done, I'm not really sure. I do think they are super cute and have succumbed to the cute factor and bought a cupcake cookbook. Martha Stewart's Cupcakes.

I tend to shy away from Martha's recipes as a rule because she is so fussy and the ingredient list is always as long as my arm but this one has sucked me in. I've been looking at it for 2 weeks now and today's the day. Brown Butter Pumpkin Cupcakes here we come. Of course I added more spices because it just felt like I should and I'm not sure that the browned butter was really worth all the time it took to hover over the pan until it finally turned brown but the result was a pretty darned good pumpkin cake that smelled divine. Add to that the Cinnamon Cream Cheese frosting (it's yum on graham crackers too) and we have a winner. I guess Martha knows what she's talking about after all!

Brown Butter Pumpkin Cupcakes
adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes

1 1/2  sticks unsalted butter, room temp (I didn't have unsalted butter so I just reduced the salt)
1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 4 tsp cloves
1 cup pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 325. Line muffin tin with paper liners (I've never had real success with the foil ones). In a saucepan melt the butter over med-low heat and continue to cook, swirling the pan occasionally, until the butter begins to turn golden brown. Skim the foam (this is the butter fat separating from the rest) from the top, and remove from heat. Pour into a bowl to stop cooking (you can go from golden brown to black before you realize it even happened if you aren't paying attention...but I don't know anything about that). Let cool.

In another bowl blend together the flour, baking powder, salt and spices. In your mixer blend the eggs, sugar, and pumpkin until smooth. Pour in the butter and mix well. Slowly add the flour mixture and mix just until combined.

Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups, fill each about 3/4 full. The batter isn't runny like a typical cake batter, it's kind of fluffy and stiff so don't get in a hurry, just be patient as you are divvying it out. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick come out clean. Set your timer, do as I say not as I do! :)

Cool on wire racks completely.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
1 stick butter, softened
1 8 oz cube cream cheese
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract

Beat butter and cream cheese with a mixer until fluffy. Reduce speed to low (this is critical or you are going to have a giant mess). Add sugar slowly, 1 cup at a time until fluffy and mixed well. Add cinnamon and vanilla. Frost away!

Pumpkin Pie for Bri

I'm not really a pumpkin pie fan. Something about the texture icks me out, too slimey or something but Bri really likes it. This is the recipe that I found that makes pumpkin pie bearable. It has an extra egg to help it bake up a little bit firmer so it's not so jiggly, some brown sugar to give a hint of molasses and I never have evaporated milk so it's got whole milk with some heavy cream to add some richness. It's good enough that even I will eat it. Who knew?

Pumpkin Pie

Pastry for 1 crust pie
3 eggs
1 15 oz can pumpkin
½ c. sugar
¼ c. packed brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
¾ c. whole milk
¼ c. heavy cream

Beat eggs, add pumpkin and stir well to combine. Combine sugars, cinnamon, salt, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg in a small bowl. Stir spice mix into the pumpkin. Mix in milk and cream.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. While oven preheats let filling sit so that is can come closer to room temperature. This will help it to bake more evenly.

Pour into pie shell and bake for 15 minutes; shield your crust. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 50-60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Take the foil off the edges at approx the 30-40 min left point.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

It just felt like fall today so I pulled out the pumpkin. I despise making cookies because I hate standing there and changing cookie sheets etc and I wasn't really in the mood for cake (astonishing I know) so I decided to make muffins instead.

I burned the first pan because I forgot to set the timer but the second pan came out perfect. Just the right combo of spices, pumpkin and chocolate. Yum.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

4 egg
2 cups sugar
16 oz pure pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup canola oil
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt
12 oz chocolate chips

1. In large mixing bowl beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin, vanilla and oil until smooth

2. Mix dry ingredients together and mix into pumpkin

3. Fold in chocolate chips

4. Fill greased or paper lined muffin cups 3/4 full

5. Bake at 400 for 16-17 minutes

Servings: 30

Cooking Times
Cooking Time: 17 minutes

Oven Temperature: 400°F

Calories 219.35; Total Fat 11.62g; Total Carbohydrates 27.74g; Fiber 0.94g;Protein 2.52g