Fall Recipe Roundup

Since today was the first day this school year that I regrettably walked out of the house without a coat, it seems like a good time to do a recipe round-up of fall recipes!

And of course, this means pumpkin. Lots and lots of pumpkin.
I keep canned pureed pumpkin in the house year-round, since it makes a good substitute in baking for some of the butter, fat, and oil (I use up to half of the amount of fat called for and for the rest I use applesauce or pumpkin). But since it is a seasonal item, I tend to stock up during these fall months. Since its just hitting the shelves, now's a perfect time to make some fall-tasting recipes and also buy some extra to hoard for the rest of the year.

*Not all of these are skinny, healthy, or low calorie, but I tried to include recipes that are somewhat good for you, or at least not terrible for you! And a treat once in a while isn't a bad thing either. You can't deprive yourself of all good things!

Skinny Pumpkin Spiced Snickerdoodles

From Skinnytaste

These look like every good taste of fall in one bite.

Pumpkin Mousse Shooters

From Eat Yourself Thin

A healthy, easy, and elegant dessert for a holiday party. Or a Tuesday night.

Crock Pot Pumpkin Spice Latte

From Urban Nester

I'm not a fan of the Pumpkin Spice Latte from a certain coffee shop. It tastes like a toddler threw together a bunch of things he likes to eat thinking it will result in the most amazing food ever and then it ends up tasting like a hot mess. (Literally.) But I could come around to this recipe.

Baked Pumpkin and Sour Cream Pudding

From Smitten Kitchen

I haven't made anything from Deb that hasn't been fabulous. This looks like it wouldn't disappoint!

Frosted Pumpkin Cake

From Cooking Light via Dwell on Joy

A healthier spin on a classic cake

Pumpkin Baked French Toast

From Minimalist Baker

Hello Saturday morning post-run breakfast!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

From Eighteen 25

Hello Sunday morning post-long-run-to-burn-a-bunch-of-calories breakfast!

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A few that embrace all good things about fall, even without the pumpkin...

Crock Pot Cinnamon Pecan Bread Pudding

From Shape Magazine

Just think about how good your house would smell waking up to this in your slow cooker!

Roasted Acorn Squash and Chai Ice Cream

From Say Not Sweet Anne

Vegetables and dessert? Shut up. Seriously. This looks amazing.

Warm Coconut Rice Pudding

From Cooking Light Magazine

Everything comforting...

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And one savory dish that screams "Falling Leaves and Football!"

Bacon Cheddar Beer Risotto

From Emily Bites

And its only 6 points per serving. What?!?!

AWITLOL - Day 4

Woah, almost didn't make it up today!

A note about water... I drink a lot of water. Obscene amounts. Fish-like quantities. And as much as people say "when you think you're hungry, you're probably just thirsty" they are absolutely right.

Even if you're not ready to start a major lifestyle change or if you don't need to but want to tweak a few habits for your health...

Drink

More

Water.

My travel coffee mug is by my side for 50% of the teaching day (I cut myself off at noon).

And for the other 50% of my teaching day, this cup is by my side.

This reusable cup holds 32 ounces of water, meaning that drinking just two of these equals my daily requirement. I usually shoot for three (96 ounces), just because with all of the talking and singing, I need to hydrate a little more. I didn't usually take this cup home with me over the weekend, but I've started to, so that I'm encouraged to carry this cup around the house with me and drink just as much water at home as I do at school.

BTW - the recipe that's included today is "inspired" by a popular recipe from Weight Watchers members. It is simply a cake mix combined with one can of pumpkin and 1 cup of water. I didn't want to use a packaged cake mix, though, so I did some digging on Pinterest and found a few substitutes that I worked in. Enjoy!

Sunday

Breakfast

• Pumpkin muffin (see below)
• Nonfat blueberry Greek yogurt

Lunch

• Green beans, 1 1/2 cups
• stuffing, 1/2 cup
• chicken tenderloins pieces, 2
• Trader Joe's pumpkin bread, baked into cake form for a birthday (Happy Birthday, Asheley!)

Dinner

• Thin-crust pizza, cheese and tomatoes, 2 slices (or rather, squares to equal 2 slices)
• Apple

Snacks

• Pumpkin muffin (I had to sample them to make sure they were good before serving them!)

Pumpkin Muffins

Adapted from here and there

Ingredients

2 cups white whole wheat flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 cup nonfat dry milk

1 1/3 cup sugar

1-15oz can canned pumpkin

1 cup water
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional - will raise the points value)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Place muffin liners in cups of a standard muffin tin, and spray liners with non-stick spray.

Mix together all ingredients until well-combined and mixture is mostly smooth. 

Spoon into 24 muffin tins and bake for 20-24 minutes.

Makes 24 muffins, 2 points each

Bound and Determined

Early last summer, shortly after this sweetie pie was born...

I embarked on a "10 Days of Real Food Pledge" mentioned before.  About that time, Steve was heading out on a golf weekend in Wisconsin, so of course I had to send along some home-baked cookies. What kind of road trip would it be otherwise? But since I was starting a kick of "real food," I made some alterations. I also found myself short on key ingredients, so I tweaked here and there in addition to the other alterations.

Later on, I found out that the cookies didn't make it across the state line. And since then, I've been gently reminded that the cookies are going to be a necessary part of future golf trips. Here's the wrench in the plans... did I write down the alterations to the recipe? Of course not. So, with this year's golf trip looming, I've thrown myself into recreating the cookies. Its been a mission and I'm not sure if the motivation is providing the guys with a tasty cookie or just being able to recall and recreate a recipe so that I don't have to go through this again.

And, last night, I did it! I finally cracked the code to the infamous Golf Trip Cookies.

You know that scene in My Fair Lady right before they sing "The Rain in Span"? That's what I felt like singing out, but it was 10:45 and I didn't want to wake up H and E.

A few words before jumping in...
~ Rather than using a tablespoon to dole out the cookie dough, its easier to use a small ice cream scoop. I also use the same scoop for making muffins (one scoop for mini-muffins, three scoops for regular muffins.) Here's a reference to how big the scoop is that I use:

Then you get nice, even, consistent cookies to bake:

Apologies for no photos of the finished products. As soon as they were cool enough, I tried one or two for quality control and put the rest into the freezer so we wouldn't go crazy eating them this weekend.

You know what's really tasty?
Frozen chocolate chip cookies.

~ If you do any amount of baking with whole wheat flour (or white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour), go ahead and grab some Vital Wheat Gluten. Because the shells/bran of the whole wheat flour cuts apart the gluten in the batter, adding some in at the end will eliminate that crumbly texture that sometimes comes in whole wheat baked goods. Figure about 1 teaspoon per cup of flour (more or less).

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from The Betty Crocker Cookbook

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup raw (turbinado) sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups white whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons vital wheat gluten

12 oz. (1 bag) dark chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 375.

In a mixer, beat butter with raw sugar and brown sugar until mixture is fluffy. Add egg and vanilla.

In two additions, add the flour, then mix in the soda, salt, and wheat gluten. Mix in chocolate chips and stir just until combined.

Scoop batter onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes (mine are perfect at 9 minutes). Cookies should be slightly spread, rounded, and still look a bit under-cooked on top. Let sit for a few minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

Makes approximately 3 dozen cookies.

Sharing is Caring

I love baking, and of course, love eating those things I bake too. But unfortunately, its not always a good idea for us to have all kids of sweets and carb-a-licousness sitting around our house. So, this year, I decided to start sharing a bit more - not only will this spread the love a little, but it'll also help the waistline. Which is necessary. So I'm caring for myself and caring for the people around me too.

(If those people around me are also looking to help their waistlines, well, I'll have to think about that one...)

This is one that went over particularly well. Think of these bars as being just like fruit streusel bars. Except swap out the fruit for a really creamy, chocolaty filling. But the best part is that it makes a huge pan of bars, so there's enough for you and enough to share! (Or, as in our case last week, even enough for you, enough for your husband to share at work, and enough for me to share at work.)

And since we're sharing, one tip for you today. I've started using dark chocolate chips almost exclusively in my baking. And the most reliable source for buying them (in my case) has been Aldi. The chips don't use corn syrup, only sugar as a sweetener, and since the chips are 60% cacao, they're not super-sweet. So even if you're making somehting with lots of sugar, it doesn't turn out to be over-the-top sweet. And dark chocolate is healthy, isn't it?!

So look for these when you go to make these bars:

Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Bars

From my mom's recipe box, credited to my aunt, Linda Rinsema

Ingredients

Crumb Crust

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup shortening

2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

3 cups old-fashioned oatmeal

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon soda

1 teaspoon salt

Filling

12 oz dark chocolate chips

1 can Eagle sweetened condensed milk (fat-free is fine)

2 Tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixer, cream together the butter, shortening, and sugars. Add each egg one at a time. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until it forms sticky crumbs.

Press 2/3 of the crumb mixture into the bottom of a jelly roll pan (10x15), lightly greased with shortening. The layer will be thin, just make sure none of the pan is showing through.

In a medium saucepan, melt together all of the filling ingredients over medium heat. Stir constantly to avoid scorching. Once melted smooth, spread chocolate over bottom layer leaving 1/4 inch around the sides. Sprinkle the remaining crumbs over the top of the chocolate and press in lightly.

Bake for 25 minutes until oatmeal mixture is set. Cool completely before cutting.

Makes 24 bars

Nostalgia and Buttercream

My mom had her birthday back in September, and asked if I could make this cake, since it was one that Grandma Rinsema used to make. I'd spent a number of visits over the summer looking through Grandma's recipes, and I haven't quite finished yet. My pile of recipes I'd like to try or just keep for nostalgia is growing steadily. Whether or not I use the reicpes,  its been a neat glimpse into food from the 1950's and on (There were a few versions of salads that called for powdered lime jello in the salad dressing... not sure I'll be trying that one!)

The picture below is the cake I made in September - the cake was good, but a little dry, and the texture seemed off. Coincidentally, I read an article that mentioned overbeating egg whites would dry out the mixture. How about that? So when my birthday rolled aorund in November, mom tried making it for me. I mentioned the thing about the egg whites, and sure enough! Beating them just to the point of peaked and no further gave the cake a perfect, cake-y texture.

And all of the butter doesn't hurt either.

Tips for frosting the cake...

• Freeze the layers for 30 minutes - a few hours before frosting
• Spread a thin layer of frosting over the layer and then refrigerate it for about an hour to let it set. This is called the "crumb" layer, to avoid the crumbs getting pulled up into the frosting.
• After you frost the whole cake, take a wide-surfaced spatula, lightly press down, and then quickly pull it off the cake to get the finished look on the frosting. Continue until the whole cake is covered like this.

Cold Water Cake with Buttercream Frosting
Recipes courtesy of Gertrude Rinsema

Ingredients
1/2 c Crisco
1 c Sugar
1 t salt
1 t vanilla
1/3 c cold water
1/2 c cocoa
2 1/2 c cake flour
1 c cold water
3 egg whites
3/4 c sugar
1 1/2 t baking soda
1/3 c cold water

Directions
Cream Sugar and Crisco til light and fluffy. Add salt and vanilla. Combine 1/3 c cold water and cocoa, beat into creamed mixture. Add flour to mixture alternately with 1 c cold water. Beat after each addition. Beat egg whites, til peaked--gradually add 3/4 c sugar and beat til stiff. Fold meringue into batter. Combine soda and 1/3 c cold water. Stir to dissolve soda. Stir in batter. Bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Butter Cream Frosting (doubled for layer cake)
1 c shortening (1/2 crisco, 1/2 butter)
1 1/2 c powdered sugar
1/4 c milk
1/2 t almond extract

Combine and mix 5 minutes at high speed. Can store in refrigerator. Beat before using.

I Made Pound Cake

Strawberries were only $1 for a whole pound today, and they were good strawberries too! I suppose some people would go home with these strawberries and make a nice fruit salad, or eat them on top of some yogurt, or even plain. I made pound cake to eat with the strawberries. It balances out the salads we had for dinner tonight. I should note that I planned on making salads for dinner tonight after seeing the strawberries at the store and deciding that I would make pound cake to be their date for the evening.

Who better to turn to than Paula Deen? I mean, pound cake got its name from using a pound of butter after all, and why not go straight to the self-proclaimed expert on this one. Granted, it doesn't use a pound of butter, but there's plenty in the recipe to make up for that. Here's the thing, though. Its really light and (at the risk of sounding like a Food Network host) has a perfect crumb to it. And when you take it out of the oven and let it cool on the counter, it gets this crispy crust that you can peel off because you're going to invert it onto a plate anyway so no one will know the difference (well, now you do, but it still tastes great!).

P.S. Will we ever be able to make anything in a bundt pan without thinking of My Big Fat Greek Wedding?

Buttermilk Pound Cake
From Paula Deen & Friends: Living it Up, Southern Style

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable shortening (otherwise known as Crisco - I can never keep "shortening" and "oleo" straight.)
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325. Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan (make sure to get the shortening/flour into all of the creases).

With a whisk, lightly mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and set aside.

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter, shortening, and sugar until fluffy. Add tghe eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients and the milk mixture/buttermilk alternately to the butter and sugar, beginning and ending with the flour. Add the vanilla and mix well.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake for 1 hour 45 minutes, or until the cake is done. (The cake will slightly pull away from the sides of the pan when its ready, and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.)  Remove the cake from the oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes.  Invert onto a cake plate to serve.

Top with macerated strawberries. (Clean, hull, and slice strawberries; mix with some sugar and allow to sit until juices form. If needed, add more sugar to increase the amount of juice. Just be warned that the more sugar you add and the more juice it makes, the less firm the strawberries will become.)

Paula Deel says it serves 8. I'd go more with 10.

Christmas Eating, Part 1

This year, I have been so excited for all of the food I get to make! Call me crazy, but the fact that I had to use Google Calendars to figure out what I would make and when... that just about did me in. I love it.

For round one, its been mostly sweets, much to the chagrin of Steve. But most of it has been given away (or  ever-so-selflessly taken care of by the dog) which is what I love about baking and cooking during this time of year anyway. If its all about family and friends, that's who I should be sharing with!

So for starters, a few recipes that I've made, two sweet, one savory. If there's still time (or room on your own calendar) to make one of these for Christmas or New Year's, I highly recommend it!

Recipe #1 - Banket

This one gets top billing because it is banket. Enough said.
I did figure out, though, that while butter makes most baked goods 10x better, it is not the case for this particular pastry. It makes the dough too delicate and it doesn't stand up well with the filling. I'm making another batch this week and will definitely use margerine. My Grandma Smits used Imperial, so that's my plan too!


No Air Banket
Recipe from Grandma Smits, Jane Adama, and Helen Koopman

Ingredients
Dough
2 cups cold margerine, cut into small pieces
3 cups flour
1/4 cup water

Filling
1 pound almond paste (please don't use the stuff in a can!)
2 cups sugar
2 egg whites (reserve the yolks for later)
Almond flavoring, optional

Directions
1. Mix dough ingredients until they just come together and margerine is completely incorporated. Form into a flat disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate.

2. Mix filling ingredients.

3. Roll out half of the chilled dough to approximately 10 x 15 inches and cut in half (no need to seperate the two halves. Its just a dividing line).  Divide the filling into fourths. Take 1/4 of the filling, roll into long segments, and place lengthwise down one section of the dough. Roll the dough tightly around the filling, overlapping the two edges, and seal with your fingertips. Pinch together the two ends of the roll. Place seam side down on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, and repeat with other half of the rolled out dough.

4. Repeat step three with the remaining dough and filling.

5. Lightly beat egg yolks with 1 Tablespoon of water. Brush on the top of each roll, sprinkle with sugar, and cut small, shallow slits on the top of the dough to release some of the steam (about 1"-1.5" apart).

6. Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes until golden brown on the top. Keep the banket on the pan, but set the pan on a cooling rack. Once cool, wrap in plastic wrap - they will keep well for about a week (if it lasts that long) or wrap in a layer of tin foil as well and freeze.

Makes 4 - 15" sticks


Recipe #2 - Almond Roca
This might be the easiest candy to make. If you have a good candy thermometer, there's nothing to fear! I've made 4 batches, one more than necessary, because I was sure one of them wouldn't turn out. Right now, we still have about half of a batch sitting on our counter, calling my name, if that tells you anything about my success with the recipe. It works, trust me! No adjustments needed.

Almond Roca
Only slightly changed from the recipe at Taste of Home

Ingredients
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1 cup butter, cubed
1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons boiling water
2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions
1. Sprinkle almonds on a 10 x 15 baking sheet. Bake at 300 for about 15 minutes until toasted (you'll know when they're done - as soon as you can smell the almonds, take them out).  Remove the pan from the oven (don't remove the almonds from the pan) and set aside. Turn off the oven.

2. In a large saucepan over low heat, cook butter and sugar for 5 minutes. Add water and corn syrup. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook, stirring occasionally, until a candy thermometer reads 290° (hard-crack stage). Quickly pour over almonds. Sprinkle chips on top and put in the cooling oven for 1-2 minutes or until melted. Spread chocolate over candy.

3. After chocolate is spread, use a pizza cutter to cut the candy into the size pieces you'd like to have when you break it later on. They won't always come out perfectly, but it  creates a slightly more uniform candy. Cool completely; break into pieces. If you want a more "rustic" looking candy, skip the cutting earlier on and just break it up how it wants to be broken.

Makes about 1 1/2 pounds of candy


Recipe #3 - Ham & Cheese in Puff Pastry
Are you going to a Christmas party where there will be kids? Want to take something good to eat that's not too far outside of a kid's preferances? This is the thing. The title pretty much explains it all. My mom's made it before and eaten it as a main course, and why not? Its pretty much a fancy ham and cheese sandwich, but you can totally get away with making it an appetizer or finger food at a festive party.

Ham & Cheese in Puff Pastry
Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients
1 package frozen puff pastry, defrosted
1 Tablespoon whole grain mustard
1 Tablespoon dijon mustard
1/4 pound black forest ham
1/2 pound swiss or gruyere cheese
1 egg beaten with 1 Tablespoon water (for egg wash)

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a 10 x 15 baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Lay 1 sheet of puff pastry on a floured board and carefully roll it out to 10 by 12 inches. Place it on a sheet pan and brush the center with the mustard, leaving a 1-inch border around the edge. Place a layer first of ham and then cheese, also leaving a 1-inch border. Brush the border with the egg wash.

3. Place the second sheet of puff pastry on the floured board and roll it out to 10 by 12 inches. Place the second sheet on top of the filled pastry, lining up the edges. Cut the edges straight with a small, sharp knife and press together lightly. Brush the top with egg wash and cut a few slits in the top to allow steam to escape.

4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until puffed and golden brown. Cut into desired size pieces, whether for a main dish or for an appetizer/finger food. Allow to cool for a few minutes and serve hot or warm.