Pumpkin Scones

The other day I found a Starbucks knock off recipe for these scones. I changed the recipe a little bit, and they didn't disappoint. Well, except I wish we would have had more for breakfast the next day. These scones are thick and super moist. The spicy glaze on top is just the right touch. Can't wait to make them again.

Ingredients for Scones:

2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar (minus 1 tablespoon)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/4 teaspoon ginger

6 tablespoons cold butter

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

4 tablespoons half-and-half

1 large egg

Ingredients for Spiced Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons milk

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1 pinch ginger

1 pinch cloves

To make scones:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and spices in a large bowl. Cut butter into the dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly. Set aside.

In a smaller bowl whisk together pumpkin, half-and-half and egg. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Form dough into a ball.

Pat dough out onto a lightly floured surface and form into a one inch high rectangle (9 inches by 3 inches). Use a pizza cutter to slice dough twice through the width making three equal-sized pieces. Cut those pieces in half diagonally to make 6 triangular slices of dough. Place on greased baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes.

To make glaze:

Combine all ingredients together. Drizzle over scones while they are warm and allow icing to dry before serving (about 1 hour).

Halloween Graveyard Cups

These Graveyard Cups are a Halloween tradition. Even when I try not to make them, I am told that I must do it. And then I'm glad we do because they are yummy. This year I tweaked the ingredients to make a superior recipe. It's basically a chocolate trifle -- with worms. Yum. I made these for my piano party last week. I also made some from Jessica's pumpkin trifle recipe since some of my students are weird and don't like chocolate. We put gingersnap cookies in them and used cinnamon for the "dirt" on top. Thank goodness Olivia helped me make them all. She said she has the "gift of whisking". The pudding was perfect!

Ingredients:

1 package chocolate sandwich cookies (Oreos)

2 big boxes instant chocolate pudding

16 ounces heavy cream

1/8 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 brownie mix, made according to package CAKE BROWNIE directions

24 Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies

decorating gel

24 gummy worms

24 clear 12 ounce plastic cups

Directions:

Crush chocolate cookies. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons crushed cookies in the bottom of each cup. Cut cooked brownies in 1 inch cubes. Place 5 cubes on top of crushed cookies. Beat cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla together in mixer until it becomes the consistency of whipping cream. Put 3 tablespoons on top of brownies. Make pudding according to package directions. Put about 1/4 cup on top of whipped cream. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of crushed cookies on top. Write RIP on Milano cookies with decorating gel. Stick cookie in trifle. Place a gummy worm beside it. Refrigerate.

*I didn't actually measure each layer. Just estimate and eyeball it. The measurements are just suggestions. Happy Halloween!

Rustic Italian Tortellini Soup

You can expect to see a lot of soup recipes from me in the next few weeks. First, it finally is starting to feel like fall here in New Mexico, which means I want to eat soup for every meal. Second, soup is fast and easy to make. And third, it's one of the only ways I can force myself to eat some vegetables once in a while! This recipe is from the Taste of Home 2009 Healthy Cooking cookbook.

Rustic Italian Tortellini Soup

1 lb. Italian sausage (mild)

1 medium onion, chopped

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 cans (14.5 oz each) chicken broth

1 3/4 c. water

1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 pkg. (9 oz) refrigerated cheese tortellini

1 pkg. (6 oz) fresh baby spinach, coarsely chopped

2 1/4 tsp. minced fresh basil or 3/4 tsp. dried basil

1/4 tsp. pepper

dash crushed red pepper flakes

shredded Parmesan cheese, optional

1. Crumble sausage into soup pot; add onion. Cook and stir over medium heat until meat is no longer pink and onion is tender. Add garlic; cook and stir 2 minutes. Add the broth, water and tomatoes. Bring to a boil.

2. Stir in tortellini; return to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5-8 minutes or until tortellini are tender, stirring occasionally. Add the spinach, basil, pepper and red pepper flakes. Cook 2-3 minutes longer or until spinach is wilted. Serve with cheese if desired.

*I couldn't find refrigerated tortellini at my local Wal-Mart. Not surprised. I used Barilla dried tortellini in three cheese flavor and just boiled it for a few minutes before adding it to the soup. It worked pretty well, but the pastas fell apart a little bit after I added the spinach.

Caramel Apple Sticky Buns

I like caramel apples, especially in October. So when I saw this recipe I new I had to try it. This recipe actually makes two pans, so I decided to take one to a lady I visit teach. As I was getting into the car, I saw some nice little tread marks on the tinfoil. Not a good thing to see when you have platter of warm, gooey sticky buns sitting on the floor of your car all ready to be delivered to one very lucky person. The funny thing was, Aubrey did the exact same thing to a plate of homemade Oreo cookies I was taking to the same lady a month earlier. You would think that either she or I would learn. . . or maybe it's a sign that dropping off a treat is not real visiting teaching. So anyway, Dave insisted on taking the smashed rolls to work the next day and he convinced several coworkers that they need to get women in their lives. They are that good.

(Adapted from Pioneer Woman)

Roll Dough

Ingredients:

2 cups whole milk

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup canola oil

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

4 1/2 cups flour, divided

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon (scant) baking soda

1/2 teaspoon (heaping) baking powder

1/2 cup softened butter

2/3 cup brown sugar

4 tablespoons cinnamon

For the Caramel Topping

1/2 cup salted butter

1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon dark brown corn syrup

2 tablespoons cream

2 tablespoons apple juice (optional)

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and finely diced

Directions:

To make the dough:

Heat milk, oil, and 1/2 cup sugar until warm (do not boil). Allow to cool to lukewarm. Sprinkle in yeast and 4 cups flour. Stir gently and cover with a tea towel, allowing it to rise for 1 hour. After 1 hour, mix in remaining flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

To make the caramel topping:

Add 1 stick butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, cream, and apple juice to a medium saucepan. Allow to melt over low heat until totally combined. Allow to boil for a few seconds, then remove from heat. Set aside.

To make the rolls:

Divide dough in half and roll out into a large rectangle. Spread on half the softened butter, half the brown sugar and half the cinnamon. Roll into a long jelly roll and then slice into rolls.

To assemble:

Spray a deep dish pie pan (at least 9 inch) with cooking spray. Pour in half the caramel topping. Sprinkle half the diced apples over the top, then arrange sliced rolls all over the pan. Allow to rise for 20 to 30 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes, covered in foil for the first 25 minutes. Invert on a serving plate 5 minutes after taking out of oven. Repeat with the other half of dough.

I used a 9 inch cake pan as the original recipe suggested and it boiled over in my oven. The pie pan worked fine. Next time I may try to make it in a 9 X 13 pan and an 8 X 8 pan. Also, in the photos above I only used one apple total. I've made it since and put a whole apple in each pan. Everyone loves the apples.

Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle

I bought the new 2010 Taste of Home Holiday Recipes magazine at Costco on Friday. I've been thumbing through it all weekend. It's one of my favorite holiday traditions, thanks to you, Hilary! I got the inspiration for this recipe from that magazine, but I changed it up enough that I'll just post my version below. The trifle is made up of three layers: gingerbread, pumpkin, and whipped cream. The trifle is ready to eat as soon as it is assembled, but definitely tastes better the second day.

Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle

Gingerbread (adapted from allrecipes.com):

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. applesauce

1/4 c. butter, softened

1 egg

1/2 c. molasses

2 1/2 c. flour

1 1/2 tsp. soda

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. ginger

1 tsp. cloves

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. hot water

Pumpkin Layer:

1 pkg. instant vanilla pudding

2 c. milk

1 c. pumpkin puree

1/4 c. brown sugar

Whipped Cream Layer:

8 oz. Cool Whip (or use real whipped cream)

First, make the gingerbread. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9-inch pan. Cream together butter and sugar. Add applesauce and egg. Mix in molasses. (Note: I started this recipe before I noticed how much molasses I had in my pantry... which was only about 1/3 cup. The original recipe calls for a full cup. It was really good with just what I had on hand, but would probably taste great with the full cup if you like molasses.) In a large bowl, sift together flour, soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet mixture and mix just until combined. Stir in hot water. Pour into prepared baking pan and bake for approximately 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Allow cake to cool completely.

Make pudding according to package directions. Add pumpkin puree and brown sugar and stir until smooth.

Assembling the Trifle:

After cake has cooled completely, cut into cubes and layer half the cake in the bottom of a glass bowl. Spread half the pumpkin mixture over this layer. Top with half the cool whip or whipped cream. Repeat layers, ending with whipped cream on top.

This dessert turned out really pretty and so yummy. Next time I make it I will use more molasses in the gingerbread and also use real whipped cream instead of the light cool whip I had in my freezer.

(**I'm sorry there are no line breaks in this recipe. That's really annoying. Why won't blogger just publish it the way I wrote it!?)

Pumpkin Spice Granola

I had a half-cup of pumpkin puree left over from another recipe and was also out of homemade granola this morning. After searching the Internet, I combined a few recipes and came up with this recipe. It turned out pretty good, although the pumpkin flavor is a little more mild than I would have liked. The house smelled wonderful while it was cooking though!


Pumpkin Spice Granola

5 c. rolled oats
1/2 c. wheat germ
1 c. coconut
1 c. nuts (I used almonds, but pecans would be good.)
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. pumpkin puree
1/4 c. applesauce
1/4 c. maple syrup (could use honey)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together oats, wheat germ, coconut, nuts and spices. In a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar, pumpkin, applesauce, maple syrup and vanilla. Pour over oat mixture and stir until well combined. Spread onto two greased cookie sheets. Bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. I like my granola really crunchy so I ended up cooking it for around an hour. Add dried cranberries after granola is cooked. Store in an airtight container.

Triple-Layer Mud Pie

So, now that it is October, I started thinking about Thanksgiving (I know that it is still a long time before Thanksgiving, but believe me, I have been restraining myself), and this is one of our family's favorite pies. I found it on a "Jell-O" flier in a grocery store about 4 years ago. You can see a picture of it here.

3 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted

1/4 cup canned sweetened condensed milk

1 OREO Pie Crust (6 oz.)

1/2 cup chopped PLANTERS Pecans, toasted

2 pkg. (3.9 oz. each) JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding

2 cups cold 2% milk

1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided

MIX chocolate and condensed milk; pour into crust. Sprinkle with nuts.

BEAT pudding mixes and 2% milk with whisk 2 min.; spoon 1-1/2 cups over nuts. Stir half the COOL WHIP into remaining pudding; spread over pudding layer in crust.

TOP with remaining COOL WHIP. Refrigerate 3 hours. *Don't use whole, unpasteurized milk to make the pudding... it makes it taste like soap.