Carrot Muffins with Cream Cheese Icing

I am really trying to show my son the different ways we can eat food. He loves carrots, but only one way - raw! This is how he is with everything. I figured if we  bake/cook together he will see what ingredients go in something and learn to appreciate the variety of flavors and uses for each ingredient. We will see! Since we had an abundance of carrots, we decided to make carrot muffins. Well, originally I said "carrot bread" and Ant man retorted with "carrot cake" and we settled on "carrot muffins!" Love the conversations with my son! Also, I should note that this recipe is all my own, as are all of the recipes that I post here. They are not tweaked recipes or recipes I just love as is... they are my creation! This recipe will make 18 muffins. I like to use a muffin pan with liners instead of greasing the pan. Makes it easier to transport and a much easier clean up.

Carrot Muffins
Dry Ingredients
2 cups Flour
1 cup Brown Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Course Sea Salt (yes, I love cooking/baking with this)
1 1/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon
3/4 tsp Ground Ginger
1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg

Wet Ingredients
2 cups Shredded Carrots
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
3/4 cup Orange Juice, no pulp
3 Large Eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

 

Preheat oven to 350* F.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together wet ingredients, aside from carrots (those are added at the end). Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Mix with a spatula until all ingredients are combined. Then, add carrots a 1/2 cup at a time and mix until incorporated. Repeat until all carrots have been incorporated. Fill muffin liners 3/4s full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Once completely cooled to room temperature, ice with cream cheese icing recipe.

Cream Cheese Icing

I love frosting, icings, and glazes... I also love making them just as much as I enjoy consuming them :) Below is my cream cheese icing recipe. This recipe can ice 18 cupcakes/muffins/cookies... double to ice a cake.  Another great use for this recipe is as a cake filling!

Cream Cheese Icing

4 oz Cream Cheese, almost at room temperature

1 cup Powdered Sugar

1 tbsp Milk

1/2 tbsp Vanilla Extract

2 tbsp softened Butter

In a medium bowl with a spatula, mix together all ingredients. This will take some elbow grease, but is worth it in the end. Then use it to ice your favorite cookies, muffin, cupcake, or cake!

Pumpkin Alfredo Rigatoni

Oh.Em.Gee! Delish. Fall is the best time of year for cooking. I'm always drawn to cooking with pumpkin during this season. The following recipe would be great for any occasion but especially for those cold, sunny Fall days. I failed in the picture department :(. I made this for an impromptu dinner party and we were all drinking and laughing, so the picture was lost in the shuffle of enjoying company! Promise this is delicious... everyone said so and the empty baking dish proves it. Next time I make this, because there will be a next time, I will take a picture!

Pumpkin Alfredo Rigatoni**
1 1/2 lbs Rigatoni, cooked al dente
1 1/2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
1 cup Half-and-Half
1-15 oz can Pumpkin Puree (not for pies)
3/4 cup Shredded Parmesan, set aside 1/4 cup for topping
3/4 cup Shredded Romano, set aside 1/4 cup for topping
2 Bay Leaves
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cook pasta as directed on box, but not all the way. Make sure the pasta is al dente.  Preheat oven to 425° F. In a medium sauce pan, combine heavy whipping cream, half-and-half, pumpkin puree, and bay leaves. Whisk until pumpkin is completely combined with cream. Once combined add salt and pepper to taste, turn heat on medium and whisk continuously. Add Parmesan and Romano and continue to whisk at a consistent speed until cheese is melted. Do not allow the sauce to bubble/boil. If it starts to bubble/boil, reduce heat. Once the cheese is melted, remove from heat and remove bay leaves. In a glass 9 x 13 baking dish, mix pasta and sauce. Cover with remaining Parmesan and Romano cheese. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, just until cheese is melted and slightly golden.

**For some added protein, add a cup of shredded chicken to the pasta and sauce in the baking dish before covering with cheese. I like to purchase a whole roasted chicken from Sprouts (a local grocery store) and use this for the shredded chicken.

Strawberry "Shmarsh"mallow Pancakes

Twas the night before Saturday, we were out at play.
When a loving Mother called upon her adorable son to decide what they shall have for din-din.
"Strawberry Shmarshmallow Pancakes," he exclaimed!
The loving mother obliges.

Strawberry "Shmarsh"mallow Pancakes (makes 8 to 10 medium pancakes)
Dry Ingredients
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp course sea salt
1 tbsp sugar

Wet Ingredients
1 cup milk
2/4 cup strawberry purée (about 10 to 12 strawberries pureed in a blender)
3/4 tsp vanilla
1 egg

2 tbsp butter for cooking. For a healthier take, use non-stick cooking spray - butter flavored.

In a medium bowl, mix dry ingredients. In a small bowl, mix wet ingredients. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and whisk until mixed. Using 1/4 cup dry measuring cup, scoop batter and pour onto greased nonstick cooking pan. Wait until bubbles appear to flip. Flip and the pancakes should be done in less than a minute at that point.

S'Mores Cupcakes, Sans the Campfire

Bringing the campfire tradition to the schoolyard because my marshmallows bring all the grahams to the yard! O.k. I will stop now :) For work I signed up to bake a dozen cupcakes for a fundraiser. I decided on S'Mores cupcakes. YUMMMOOOOO!  I began with my basic chocolate cake/cupcake recipe (below, makes 24-28 standard size cupcakes), followed it up with my delicious vanilla butter cream frosting, topped it with marshmallows and crushed graham crackers. If I had a culinary torch I would have toasted the tops of the marshmallows, which means I would have done frosting, graham crackers, and then marshmallows and toasted with the torch. As always, ingredients are listed in the order they are needed.

Chocolate Cake/Cupcake Recipe
Dry Ingredients
2 cups sugar, leveled
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour, or cake flour if you have it, leveled and not packed
3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa, leveled
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon course sea salt (if you don't have, table salt is fine)

Wet Ingredients
2 eggs
1 cup milk (whole, 2%, or 1% will work)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Garnish Ingredients
1/4 bag of mini marshmallows
10 Graham Crackers, crushed

Heat oven to 350° F and line cupcake pan with liners. In a large mixing bowl, whisk dry ingredients in order listed. Then add wet ingredients (but not hot water) in order listed into bowl with dry ingredients. Beat on medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water. Don't panic, the batter is meant to be thin. Fill liners 1/2 to 2/3 full with batter. Cupcakes will bake for 18 - 20 minutes. Take cupcakes out of tin and cool completely before frosting.

Then frost with my spectacular vanilla butter cream frosting recipe.

Top with mini marshmallows and crushed graham crackers.

Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting

Yes, I realize buttercream is one word but I don't put mine together because my buttercream frosting is just that buttery AND creamy and both need to be distinguished. This frosting is tested, tried, and a true winner! I receive compliments all the time when I use this recipe.

Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 tbsp unsalted butter, cold
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon course sea salt
1/3 cup whole milk
1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

In a large bowl, cream the softened butter until smooth. Then add cold butter and cream until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, salt, milk, and vanilla and mix until smooth and creamy.

Pumpkin Scones

There is just something about this time of year that makes me want to cook everything with pumpkin in it. I scoured the Internet for a spectacular pumpkin scone recipe. All, and I mean ALL, of them were the exact same recipe claiming to be the best. I could tell by the ingredients I would be eating a pumpkin flavored brick. So I did what any good person does... I set out to create my own pumpkin scone recipe... voila.  PS I list my ingredients in order of use.

Pumpkin Scones
6 tbsp of frozen butter, cubed (the smaller the better)
Wet Ingredients
1/4 cup  milk (whole, fat free, 1%.. whatever you like it will still be great)
1/4 cup nonfat Greek yogurt (my fave brand is Faye)
1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie puree mix)
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
Dry Ingredients
3 cups flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp course sea salt (or regular salt if that's all you got, but I love baking with course sea salt)
1 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Utensils Needed
Knife
Measuring Cups and Spoons
Medium Bowl
Large Bowl
Rolling Pin
Fork
Whisk
Spatula
Pizza Cutter (not necessary but useful)
Parchment Paper (not necessary but helps with mess when kneading and rolling out dough)

Preheat oven to 425° F. Cube butter and place in the freezer. In a medium bowl, mix (with a fork) wet ingredients and place in refrigerator until ready to use. In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients (I like to use a whisk to mix so it breaks the clumps up and adds a little air to the mix). Once mixed, add cubed butter. Toss with a spatula until butter is nicely coated. Then add wet ingredients and fold with a spatula until ingredients are combined. Transfer dough to a well floured surface (this is when I use parchment paper, put the flour on the parchment paper that is on the cookie sheet). Dust the top of the dough with flour and knead with floured hands about 6-8 times just until the dough holds together in a ragged ball. Add flour as needed to prevent sticking. Roll dough into a 12 inch square. Fold dough into 3rds like a letter. Should form a 4 inch square. Put dough on a floured plate and place in freezer for 5 minutes. Put dough back onto floured workspace and roll into a 12 inch square again. Roll dough into a tight log. Lay long seam down and press the log into a 12 inch by 4 inch rectangle. Cut into 4 equal rectangles with knife or pizza cutter. Cut each rectangle diagonally to form 2 triangles. Transfer to baking sheet either lined with parchment paper or greased with nonstick cooking spray.  Bake until tops and bottoms are golden brown, 15 - 20 minutes.