Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Muffins

I was flipping through recipes last night trying to find a decent unprocessed recipe for pumpkin muffins. I couldn't really find anything that sounded all that great, so I decided to take a regular recipe and alter it to fit my needs. I had no idea these muffins would turn out as good as they were! I didn't take pictures along the way, so you'll have to settle for looking at these gorgeous muffins in their finished state.

Ingredients: 

4 eggs

1 c sorghum syrup

1 c honey (or agave nectar)

2 c pumpkin

1 1/4 c applesauce

3 c whole wheat flour

2 t baking soda

2 t baking powder

1 t cinnamon

1/2 t pumpkin pie spice

1 t salt

1/3 c cocoa

1/4 c chocolate chips (I used this recipe)

Mix eggs, sorghum, honey, pumpkin, and applesauce in a large bowl. In another bowl, mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Gradually mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients until fully incorporated, then add the chocolate chips. Remove about 1/4 of the batter into a small bowl and add the cocoa. You can adjust the cocoa to taste. 

Scoop pumpkin batter into muffin tins. Fill each cup about half way. Then add a spoonful of the cocoa/pumpkin batter on top of each. Using a knife, gently swirl the cocoa batter around without mixing it in. 

Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes. 

This made about 30 muffins for us. I seriously could have eaten all 30 of them! 

Chocolate Mousse

At the beginning of the October Unprocessed challenge, I had lots of craving. Lots, and lots of cravings! They have subsided for the most part, but I did do a search the other day for a dessert that was quick and easy, yet still met the "kitchen test". I kept finding recipes for chocolate avocado mousse, but kept skipping past them because chocolate avocado mousse sounds disgusting.

But the more I got to thinking about it (and the lack of wide selection of recipes), I figured I would try it out. I happened to have avocados in the refrigerator and chocolate mousse did sound good.....

I saw several variations on the basic recipe. Some were vegan, some were low fat, and some were clearly just a way to clean out a refrigerator. But they all had the same basic core: 

Avocado

Cocoa

Milk of some sort (most had almond or coconut milk)

Sweetener (most used agave nectar)

So I grabbed the blender and threw all of my ingredients in: 

1 Avocado, cut into large chunks

1/4 c cocoa

1/4 c skim milk

3 Tablespoons honey

Pinch of salt

Few drops vanilla

After less than a minute of blending, here's what I had: 

Yes, that is the result of just a few ingredients in a blender. And it was delicious! Even my husband, who hates avocados, just about licked the bowl. I didn't tell him until afterwards what it was. he looked at me a little funny, but there was no complaining! 

October Unprocessed-Week 1 Successes and Confessions

We are a full week into our October Unprocessed journey. Other than the cereal, it's really not too bad. Even my husband and stepson are managing. Our dinners haven't changed a whole lot, but we have learned a few things:

1. They are learning alternatives for syrup on their whole wheat pumpkin waffles such as natural peanut butter or honey. I don't like syrup, so I have just stuck with plain butter.

2. Nothing cures a salty snack craving like some fresh feta cheese!

3. My 16 year old stepson is fairly limited with his choices for lunch at school. I gave him the free pass on this one and told him he could eat as he thought was best. Most days, he is eating the regular lunch option, but is choosing fresh fruit as his sides. On the day they had hot dogs last week, he chose to only eat fruit, cheese and milk-skipping the hot dog completely.

4. After the first day, giving up my beloved Starbucks was much easier than I thought it would be. But, I did get a regular coffee from there today. I really can't see the point in a $3 cup of regular coffee, but I did it anyway because I needed the extra caffeine.

5. After a few days without artificial sweeteners, we really started noticing more natural sweet flavors. My husband and stepson both thought my regular homemade tomato sauce was sweet. It's the same recipe I've been using for years, but they just finally noticed how sweet the tomatoes are.

6. We found one brand of bacon that passes the kitchen test. Bacon makes the world a much happier place and it turns out I love BLTs! Who knew?

7. Chocolate chips-I read the ingredients on a bag of chocolate chips and realized they were out of the question. But, in my opinion, I could use unsweetened chocolate to make my own chocolate chips that would pass the "kitchen test". It was a tedious process, but it was worth it to have some chocolate chips to add in to whole wheat pumpkin bread. I should also mention that these were less "chip" and more "flake", but they served the purpose!

Chocolate "Chips"

1 bar unsweetened baking chocolate, broke into pieces
Honey
Vanilla
Dash of salt

Using a double boiler (or a glass bowl over a pan of boiling water because the second pan of your double boiler has mysteriously gone missing), slowly melt chocolate.

Stir in a dash of salt and honey to taste. I used about 2 heaping serving spoons full.

Remove from heat and stir in about a teaspoon of vanilla and spread on a silicone baking mat

I'm not sure why it looks lumpy in the picture-it was actually smooth. Anyway, refrigerate until set then cut into pieces, or break some pieces off as you need them.

I've used these in breads and snacks this past week and we really like them. My favorite way to use these is in greek yogurt with a drizzle of honey, a spoonful of peanut butter and topped with a few pieces of chocolate.

Now, time for my confessions

Over the weekend, I canned a ton of pears. I made pear sauce, pear butter and caramel pear jam. I ate a spoonful of the jam. It was delicious! I don't regret that decision.

While making ribs over the weekend, my barbecue sauce just didn't turn out quite right, so at the very end, I brushed some Sweet Baby Rays on them and stuck them under the broiler to get that sticky, sweet finish.

Our purpose in this journey is more about awareness than a strict 30 day change, so I don't mind a few stumbles along the way. My hope would be that on November 1, we don't dive into boxes of cereal and gallons of sweet tea, but we evaluate our choices every day and make smarter decisions going forward, focusing on whole, natural foods.

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookie In a Cup

I love chocolate chip cookies....maybe a bit too much. That's why I love all these "in a cup" recipes-portion control. I have very little willpower when it comes to cookies, so I try not to keep them around the house. This recipe fills my cookie craving, and keeps me from eating too many!

What you'll need: 

1 Tablespoon butter

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 Tablespoon brown sugar 

1 egg yolk

a few drops of vanilla

1/4 c flour (add slowly, you might need less)

pinch of salt

pinch of baking soda

pinch of baking powder

1 Tablespoon chocolate chips

1 Tablespoon mint chocolate chips

Melt butter in microwave in coffee cup (if you have one, use a shorter, wider mug). Add everything except flour, egg yolk and chips and mix well. When everything is incorporated, add egg yolk and most of the flour. Mix until dough thickens like a normal chocolate chip cookie dough, adding flour as needed. Since my chickens produce abnormally large eggs, I had to use more than 1/4 c flour, but I'm guessing 1/4 c would work for a standard egg. Last, mix in chips. Microwave on high 45 seconds. If you're using a taller mug, you may need to add more time-about 5 or 10 seconds each time. 

Nailed It!

Pinterest....the virtual bragging grounds that inspires us all to think "I can do that!" I'll be the first to admit I pin things all the time that I think I'll do one day. And then something else shiny and glittery snags my attention and I never think about that wonderful recipe I just pinned. I'm an pinner full of great hopes and dreams....and an empty reality. Yesterday, I decided to start changing that. I went through all the pins I had looked at recently and decided to actually do one!

There are several pins of this going around and I don't know if I have the original post here or not, but here's what I was going for....

Source: delish.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Two problems here....1. When I saw this, I thought it looked simple enough....who needs to read the instructions?! 2. The pin doesn't really have any instructions.
I figured it couldn't be that hard....mold dough over muffin tin and bake. I think I did something wrong....

The good thing is, it's still chocolate chip cookies so we all sat around picking pieces off the muffin tin. Lesson learned....I promise I will read the instructions next time. Well, probably not, but I will not attempt these ever again! 

Chocolate Blackout Cake

Is there anything better than chocolate topped with chocolate? Only if it's topped with even more chocolate! And that's exactly what the Chocolate Blackout cake is.

"The Blackout Cake was the creation of Ebinger's, a famous New York-based neighborhood bakery chain. An indecently rich, dark tower of chocolate, this cake has become something of a Holy Grail for many bakers. Cult-like fans went through Blackout withdrawal when the bakeries closed down and The Cake disappeared. Many have tried to re-create this cake; I feel this version comes close. It is a multi-stepped process (remember, this was a bakery specialty) but it can easily be broken down into components." -Food Network show "Sara's Secrets" 


I assume my mom followed the recipe on the food network site. All I know is I got this picture the other night on my phone: 

So much chocolate! Maybe it's just me, but I think it's kind of cruel to send someone pictures like that and not bring me a piece of cake.

So I figured the only logical thing I can do with these pictures is to share them! I hope you all are craving chocolate cake like I did after seeing these!!

Make sure to visit the fantastic blog parties on my sidebar, and of course, link up all your made from scratch recipes on my Tuesday linky-Made From Scratch Tuesday!

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

The husband and I were watching Food Network the other night when they made Banana Split Cookies. He was inspired. Well, inspired to pick up the ingredients for me to make them anyway. The show we were watching, Tough Cookies, didn't give a recipe, so I just made it up as I went. Here's what we came up with:

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter flavored Crisco
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
• 1 ripe banana
• 1 teaspoon banana extract

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat crisco, granulated sugar, brown sugar, banana, banana extract and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add egg. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

 Now on the show, they used took the cookies and filled them with white chocolate ganache and strawberries, then topped them with whipped cream, chocolate sauce and a cherry. We didn't do all that. Instead, we filled them with a ganache/frosting mixture.
To make the filling, finely chop one bag of white chocolate chips.

In a small saucepan, heat one cup of heavy cream until hot, but not boiling. Stir into white chocolate until fully incorporated. Add half a teaspoon of banana extract. Chill.

Spread on cookies and enjoy!




Make sure to visit the fantastic blog parties on my sidebar, and of course, link up all your made from scratch recipes on my Tuesday linky-Made From Scratch Tuesday!

The Perfect Red Velvet Cupcakes

My pal Jeannie from Jeannie's Gym Journey just completed another figure competition. So first, congrats Jeannie! Second, since the competition is over, she has a few days off her insane diet. Do you know what that means? All the goodies you can eat! I made some red velvet cupcakes for her and since I can't literally share with all of you, I figured I could at least share the recipe.

Red Velvet Cupcakes
1 1/2 c butter, soft
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
1 t salt
2 1/2 c flour
1 1/2 c sugar
1 fluid oz red food coloring
2 T cocoa
1 c buttermilk
1 T vanilla
1 t baking soda

Start by creaming together the butter and sugar. Then add the rest of the ingredients. Fill cupcake tins about half way and bake at 350 for approximately 17 minutes.

For the icing, there will be no cream cheese icing on these red velvet cupcakes! Oh no! We use cooked icing.

What you'll need:

1 c milk

3 T flour

1 c sugar

1 c butter (soft)

1 t vanilla

In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk flour into milk. Cook over medium heat until it thickens. Remove from heat and cool completely.

When the milk and flour mixture is cool, whip butter and sugar together. Add cooled milk/flour and vanilla. Spread on cooled cupcakes. If the icing is too thin, let it sit in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes, then spread.

Wondering what this new icon below is? It's time for another Iron Chef Challenge by Ott,A! Since June is dairy month, it's time to link up all your recipes using milk on A Latte With Ott,A!




Now, it's time to link up some of those great dishes you make from scratch!
Here are the rules:
1. You can link up as many posts as you'd like.
2. My only content rule is it has to be made from scratch.
3. If you want to put my button somewhere, that'd be cool. You can grab the code for the Made From Scratch Tuesday button on the top right of my sidebar.


Make sure to vote on your favorite link up by clicking the "like" button! We may have some giveaways in the future for the recipe with the most likes!

Super Easy Quick Chocolate Treat

 Strawberries have been on sale everywhere lately, so we've had a fridge full of strawberries for the last few weeks. Quite honestly, you can only have so many strawberry shortcakes, banana split brownies, strawberry-mango crisps, strawberry mango muffins, and triple chocolate strawberry cakes. Time for something different!

To make these awesome little treats, here's what you'll need:
Strawberries: washed and hulled
Chocolate chips (mini chips works best)
Whipped Cream

After washing and hulling the berries, cut just a little off the bottom so they'll stand up in a baking dish. Fill the berries with a few chocolate chips. Bake at 375 until soft, but not mushy--about 10 minutes. Top with whipped cream and serve!

Yep, it's THAT easy! I garnished these with some fresh berries as well for a little different texture.

Make sure to visit the fantastic blog parties on my sidebar, and of course, link up all your made from scratch recipes on my Tuesday linky-Made From Scratch Tuesday!

Peanut Butter Brownie Cups

I just planned my girls weekend getaway to Savannah, GA. I'm so excited! For the foodie in me, I can't wait to go to Paula Deen's restaurant. To get in the Paula spirit, I made a Paula-inspired dish tonight.

Peanut Butter Brownie Cups
(adapted from the recipe here)
 Instead of using the box mix, I used the Nestle Brownie recipe since they're cake-like anyway.
For the filling, mix 1 1/2 c peanut butter and 1/4 c powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350. Mix brownies as recipe calls for.
Grease muffin tins and pour in enough batter to cover the bottom of each cup. Then scoop a spoonful of the peanut butter/powdered sugar mixture in the center.

Pour more batter over the top and bake for 25 minutes. Let cool just enough to be able to touch and remove from pan. Cool on wire baking rack.

Make sure to visit the fantastic blog parties on my sidebar, and of course, link up all your made from scratch recipes on my Tuesday linky-Made From Scratch Tuesday!

Fondue for Two

Since Borders is closing, we did some shopping lately and found some things we didn't necessarily need, but definitely wanted. That's where I found this cute fondue set. It came with a little book of fondue recipes, but I figure why go with someone else's creation when I can make my own, right? Now a while back, I joined up with Coffeemate and the Brew Crew. Cute, right? Anyway, the Brew Crew hooked me up with a sample pack to share coffeemate with my friends. I had planned on sharing all my goodies with my bloggy pals, but the weather happened and I couldn't make it to my January meeting, so I shared with another group of pals.  But never fear! I will be sharing recipes created using coffeemate on here for you all.

Banana Eclairs

**Warning**

If you've made a New Year's resolution to diet, lose weight, cut back, or anything of the sort, TURN BACK NOW! I guarantee these will kill any diet plan! These little bits of heaven pack a whopping 361 calories each.

If you're still with me, get out your pastry bag and be prepared to enter bliss.

The husband wanted dessert tonight.  But he couldn't figure out what sounded good to him, so he said "surprise me". I hate that. Just tell me what to make! So, off to the cookbooks I go. Eh, nothing sounded good. But wait! What's this? Cream Puffs? Hmmm....eclairs are basically long cream puffs with chocolate on top. So, Eclairs it is!

 

What you'll need:

1 c water

1/2 c butter

1/8 t salt

1 c flour

3 eggs

banana pudding

chocolate glaze

In a 2 qt saucepan, combine water, butter and salt. Bring to a boil and add flour, all at once. Stir well until all flour is incorporated and the dough forms a large ball. Set aside and cool for exactly 10 minutes.

 

Add in eggs, one at a time. Stir until fully combined.

 

 

Add dough to pastry bag. Pipe onto lined baking sheet. You'll want each one to be about 1 inch wide, 3/4 inch tall and 4 inches long.

 

Bake at 400 about 32 minutes. Tops will be brown and firm.

 

Cool completely. Cut  length wise, or if you prefer to fill them, cut off the ends. 

 

Fill the pastry bag with banana pudding and use a medium-large round tip. Fill each eclair with banana pudding, then top with chocolate glaze. Refrigerate at least one hour. It's usually best to taste test one before serving to guests :)

I'm pretty sure I just found heaven in my kitchen, eclair form!

2, 3, 5 Easy Dessert

Are you looking for the Tuesday feature "I canned a lOTT, now I'm baking in my Bistro"? click here

I think I've dug myself in a hole here. I've been cooking so much lately, the husband is starting to expect all these great meals all the time! AHHH! Sometimes, dinner is simply baked chicken with some potatoes and veggies. What can you do? Easy...whip up a great dessert that seems like you spent a lot of time on it. Shhh...he'll never know the difference!

Dessert for 2; 3 Ingredients; Done in 5 minutes

What you'll need:
1 box instant pudding
1 roll of Oreos (or 1/3 of a regular package)
2 cups milk

To begin, crush up the Oreos in a gallon size Ziploc bag.

Put 1/8 c (or 2 Tablespoons) crushed Oreos in the bottom of a small ramekin.

In a medium bowl, combine two cups milk with contents of pudding box and mix well with a whisk.

Fill ramekins with just under 1/2 c pudding.

Sprinkle more Oreo crumbs on top

DONE! Yes, that's right; you're done! Refrigerate until time to eat or serve right away. Now, you'll have some extra pudding and Oreo crumbs. I guess you could fix some for your kids. Or, eat the evidence. I'll never tell :)
When I make these for company that just shows up (we all have those friends), I make them in these double-shot glasses I have left over from the days I used to be able to handle two shots...of anything. If I'm really trying to impress, I'll garnish with a piece of orange rind, or a fresh mint sprig if I have it around. Kind of fancy for what we normally call Dirt Pudding!

Have a recipe to share? Link up here. 

This post was linked up to some of the parties shown here.

Summer Love

Here's one from last summer....


There's really nothing fancy about the ingredients, but it's all in the way you put it together. And really, who can resist chocolate, strawberries and whipped cream??!!

Chocolate cake, baked in 2 round pans
Ganache
Strawberries
Whipped Cream (Redi Whip)

When your cakes have cooled, top one round cake with 3/4 of the ganache and strawberries sliced thinly.
Add second cake
put the remaining 1/4 ganache in the center of the cake. Add fancy cut strawberries and Redi Whip around the edges. If you're already making the ganache with heavy whipping cream, then you could make your own whipped cream and decorate the cake using pastry bags and various decorating tips. It tastes so much better, but I just don't take the time to do so whne Redi Whip As you can see in the picture, I had issues with the strawberries staying in place, but that just goes to show the importance of picking your own berries or buying some locally rather than at the grocery store!
This cake works better with a dense chocolate cake, so I recommend using
this one, or even making it with brownies instead of cake.

Chocolate Lava Cake

Super yum! I made the mistake of making this for Shannon, then had to make it several more times. The best part about this is you can make it start to finish in 15 minutes!



Preheat oven to 450











Ingredients
6 Tablespoons butter
1/2 c dark chocolate baking chips
2 eggs
3 Tablespoons Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons flour
pinch of salt





In small saucepan over low heat, melt together butter and chocolate, stirring intermittently. In small bowl, mix together remaining ingredients. When butter and chocolate are all melted, stir into bowl of egg/sugar/flour/salt.
Pour into two small ramekins and bake 8 to 10 minutes. Cake will be done when edges are set. The middle of the cake will not be set! Let cool a few minutes and enjoy!

Optional: Try different toppings like strawberries or raspberries rolled in sugar.

chocolate chip banana bread

this is one of those things i make quite a bit. i usually end up bringing it into work because we don't need two loaves of banana bread at home!

2 eggs
1 c sugar
1/2 c oil (substitute applesauce)
3 T milk
2 c flour
1/2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 t vanilla
3 large bananas, mashed
chocolate chips

mix all ingredients, except chocolate chips, well. stir in chocolate chips and pour evenly into two pregreased loaf pans. bake at 350 for 55 minutes. when bread is done, let cool in pan on wire cooking rack for 10 minutes then remove from pan and finish cooling on rack.

Peppermint Patties

Here's one that's really easy to make and very kid friendly!

4 c powdered sugar
2 egg whites
few drops mint flavoring

chocolate baking chips


Beat egg whites until foamy. Add mint flavoring (I prefer peppermint). Stir in powdered sugar, about 1/2 c at a time until dough gets thick, then continue mixing powdered sugar in with your hands, kneading as you go. I suggest wearing rubber gloves! If the dough is too sticky, add powdered sugar tablespoon at a time. When all the sugar is mixed in, shape dough into quarter size pieces and put on cooling rack to set. It will take a few hours to set all the way.

When mint pieces are set, melt chocolate in double boiler and dip mint pieces in. Place on wax paper to cool.

Faith made these today. I have to admit, that little girl has some awesome kitchen skills! These turned out great.