Homemade Pumpkin Spice Creamer

My disclaimer for this post is that I LOVE Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Lattes, hot or iced. This recipe is not a replacement or copycat of a PSL, but it will help scratch the itch between your Starbucks runs.

Over Labor Day weekend, I spent some time searching for pumpkin recipes. I found recipes for bread, muffins, desserts of all kinds, and pancakes. But when I found this recipe for pumpkin spice creamer, I was really excited to try it. This week, in Houston, was slightly cooler and very rainy. It's our first hint that our seasons are changing from oppressively hot to mildly hot, our version of fall. 

This creamer involves just a few ingredients and it is super easy and fast to make. Simply combine a milk of some kind (I used half and half this time), some pumpkin, maple syrup, and a ton of spices in a saucepan.  Whisk until warm. Then stir in the vanilla extract and allow it to cool. I poured it back into the half and half bottle and relabeled it for easy storage. All in all, I think it took about 10 minutes from start to finish. And as a bonus, it cost less than $2 to make about 16 servings of creamer. You have to try this scrumptious taste of fall!!!!

Adapted from :  http://www.afitnurse.com/2013/10/clean-pumpkin-spice-coffee-creamer.html

Ingredients:

2 cups (1 pint) half and half 

2 Tbls. canned pumpkin (not pie filling)

2 Tbls. maple syrup (use the good stuff, this serves as a sweetener as well)

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients except the vanilla extract in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk until combined and mixture is warmed. 

2. Turn off the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. 

3.  Allow to cools. Then place it in a container in the fridge. 

Bread Basket - English Muffins

Bread Basket - English Muffins

I LOVE English Muffins!  Ever since I was a girl, these were a special treat.  Lately, I've been working on making all of the bread that my family eats.  Number one because it is way cheaper!  Number two because I'm really intrigued by clean eating and trying to minimize the amount of preservatives that my family consumes.  This recipe is also a great way to sneak in some more whole wheat to my family's diet.  So a few weeks ago, I stumbled onto this recipe on Pinterest and I just couldn't wait to try it.  This last Saturday, I finally had my chance.  A few edits and then English muffin bliss   They were delicious.  An amazing cross between a biscuit and bread.  They didn't have the characteristic nooks and crannies that I am used to, but they were tender and had a fantastic flavor.  You definitely MUST give these a try for your next breakfast treat.  :)

Ingredients:  

1 c. milk

3 Tbsp. butter

3 Tbsp. sugar

1 c. warm water (105-110 degrees)

1/4 oz yeast

3 c. all purpose flour

2 c. whole wheat flour

1 tsp. salt

cornmeal for pans

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, sprinkle yeast over the warm water.  Stir to combine.  Cover with a towel and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
2. In a small pot, combine the milk, butter, and sugar.  Stir over low heat until the butter is melted.  Allow to cool until it is between 105-110 degrees.
3. (I used my KitchenAid for this part, but it can also be done by hand.)  In the mixer bowl, with the dough hook attachment, combine the 3 cups of all purpose flour, the yeast/water mixture, and the milk/butter/sugar mixture.  Stir to combine.  Once incorporated, all the whole wheat flour.  Allow the mixer to run for about 3 minutes to lightly kneed the dough.  Then, allow the dough to rest for 5 minutes.
4. Cover two cookie sheets with parchment paper, lightly sprinkled with cornmeal.  
5. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/2 inch thick.  Using a biscuit cutter, cut out the English muffins.  Do not twirl the cutter as you cut out the muffins.  Carefully place each muffin on the cookie sheet.  Sprinkle with corn meal.  Cover with a towel and place in a warm spot to rise for 45 minutes.  Dough should at least double.  
6. Heat a cast-iron (or other heavy bottomed) skillet over medium-low heat.  WITHOUT adding any grease, carefully place muffins in the pan, careful not to overcrowd and ensuring that muffins are not touching.  Cook muffins on each side for about 8 minutes until well-browned.  Allow to cool slightly on a wire rack.  
7. Split English muffins and enjoy!

* Yields about 16 muffins.

**Adapted from My Fair Baking Recipe (http://myfairbaking.blogspot.com/2012/12/homemade-english-muffins.html)

Beignets

Dusty and I took our first jobs after college in New Orleans.  We absolutely LOVED it there: the people (especially our friends at St. John), the food, Mardi Gras, and so much more.  We lived there for just over 15 months until Hurricane Katrina relocated us back to Houston.  One of the new foods we tried and fell in love with were beignets.  There was nothing like walking around in the French Quarter and stopping into Cafe du Monde for a cup of coffee and an order of these sweet, fried, delicious treats.  When we moved back to Houston, I tried everything to recreate the experience at home.  I've used the box mix you can find in the grocery stores and several other recipes.  But this is hands-down the best recipe I've ever found.  I prepared the dough in the bread machine but you could adapt this recipe to be made without it too by blooming the yeast first and then adding the remaining ingredients.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup milk
1/4 water
1 egg
1 Tbls butter
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
cooking oil for frying
sifted powdered sugar for dusting

Preparation Instructions:

1.  Add all ingredients (except the oil and powdered sugar) in the order listed to the bread machine.  Select the 1 1/2 pound dough cycle.  When the cycle is complete, remove dough from the machine.  Punch down.  Cover and let it rest for 10 minutes.
2.  Divide the dough in half.  On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion into a 9-inch square.  Cut into 16 squares.
3.  Fry dough squares (2 or 3 at a time) in hot oil (at 375 degrees) for 1 to 2 minutes or until golden brown, turning once.  Using a slotted spoon, removed from oil and drain on paper towels.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

adapted from Better Homes & Gardens:  The Complete Guide to Bread Machine Baking

Weekend Waffles

After much nagging from Dusty over our Christmas vacation (love you honey!), I'm once-again writing for my blog.  :)  There hasn't been a lot of cooking in our house during the last part of 2011.  Just a month after my shoulder surgery in September, Dusty and I found out that we had a baby on board.  Drosche #3 is due in June 2012 and since then I've struggled with morning (noon & night) sickness.  We've eaten a lot of boxed, already prepared, and fast food.  But it slowly starting to get better and I'm looking forward to cooking again and resurrecting the blog.  :)

So, onto a new and exciting post...  I love big breakfasts! During the week, I have a list of quick and healthy breakfasts for me and the kiddos posted on the side of the fridge, things like yogurt, cheese sticks, toast and peanut butter.  Lots of things that we can just grab and go.  But on the weekends, I like to do breakfast up right.  This morning, we had the cousins over for a sleepover and so with three extra mouths to feed, I knew my go-to waffle recipe would be awesome.  We're trying to cut out a lot of the processed, boxed/canned foods and so a few weeks ago, I found this waffle recipe.  It's super easy and if you double it, you'll have plenty of leftovers to freeze.  And the best part is that you can pop them in your toaster or microwave just like an eggo during the week.  So this is written as my doubled recipe which will make a TON of waffles, but you can always half it if you don't want all of the leftovers.  And fear not, I know there's a lot of powdered sugar on those waffles in the picture, they are sweet enough, I just like my waffles almost like desert.  :)

Ingredients:
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup white sugar
4 eggs
3 cups buttermilk (regular milk can be substituted but I love the tang this provides)
2/3 cup butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preparation Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder and sugar.  Set aside. 
2. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Stir in the buttermilk, butter and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture; beat until blended.
3. Preheat your waffle iron.
4. Ladle the batter into a preheated waffle iron. Cook the waffles until golden and crisp. Serve immediately. 
5. If you are going to freeze the leftover waffles, allow them to cool completely.  Then stack between layers of wax paper in a gallon-sized Ziploc bag.  

Adapted from a recipe posted on All Recipes:  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/classic-waffles/detail.aspx 

Berry compound butter

This is the recipe that launched this blog.  I read about berry compound butter on Pioneer Woman's site and it was all I could think about all week.  I had some strawberries in the fridge and I keep thinking about yummy strawberry butter melting over biscuits, french toast, waffles, pancakes, the list could go on and on.  I planned on making it during the week, but the week quickly got busy, and before I knew it, it was Saturday.  Which is just fine in my world because Saturdays are typically a little slower, a little calmer, a little bit special.  So I woke up on Saturday morning and made french toast (using some inspiration for Pioneer Woman's recipe) and this strawberry compound butter.  Since it's just my little family, I modified the recipe to include one stick of butter and about 1/3 cup of strawberries.  Let me tell you, it was everything I had hoped it would be and more!  So grab a stick of butter and some leftover berries lying around your house.  You definitely do not want to pass up this recipe. 

Ingredients

• 1 pound Unsalted Butter, Softened
• ½ cups Raspberries
• ½ cups Blackberries
• 1 loaf Crusty Bread: Baguette, French Loaf, Etc.
• 4 whole Egg Yolks
• 2 cups Half-and-half
• 1 Tablespoon Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla
• Zest Of One Lemon
• Maple Syrup For Serving
• Sifted Powder Sugar, For Serving (optional)

Preparation Instructions

Make the berry butters: in separate batches, whip 2 sticks of butter at a time on high using the whisk attachment. Switch to paddle attachment. Add either raspberries or blackberries. Turn mixer on low for only about five seconds, just long enough for the berries to begin to mix in/break up, but not so long that it turns into a mess. Clean mixer bowl and attachments and repeat with other kind of berry.
With each batch, turn mixture out onto a long sheet of plastic wrap set over a long sheet of foil. Use the wrap/foil to roll the butter into a cylinder: first seal the plastic wrap around the cylinder, then secure the foil around it. Twist the ends, gradually applying more pressure as you twist in order to make the cylinder taut.
Once it’s a nice, neat cylinder of foil, place into the freezer for 30 minutes in order to quickly solidify it, then transfer it to the fridge until you’re ready to use it. Butter should be nice and firm.
NOTE: You can add a little sifted powdered sugar to the butter to make more of a sweet spread for bread and muffins! For French toast, though, the maple syrup makes things sweet enough.
To make the french toast, cut bread into slices 1/2 inch thick. In a dish, mix together egg yolks, half-and-half, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla. Whisk to combine. Dip bread slices in mixture, coating both sides, then remove from dish and set aside. Repeat until all bread is coated.
Heat iron skillet or griddle over medium heat. Sizzle butter in the pan when hot. Cook French toast on both sides until golden brown, being careful not to burn.
Remove berry butters from fridge. Unwrap one end and cut slices. Lay one slice each onto each serving of French toast. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired, then drizzle with warm maple syrup.

Recipe from Pioneer Woman's website:  http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/07/french-toast-with-berry-butter/

A twist on banana muffins

If your house is anything like mine, you probably have a few sad bananas lying around.  I went looking for a new recipe, mostly because I didn't have any milk in the house yesterday morning, and stumbled on this great recipe for Chocolate chip banana muffins.  Not only did the recipe include chocolate chips, but it also had some cocoa powder in the mix.  I just had to try them.  Let me tell you, this is a fantastic recipe.  I substituted vegetable oil for the sunflower oil listed in the original recipe, but other than that, I followed it to the letter.  We've been snacking on them this weekend and I think they will also be good for our breakfasts on the go during the school year.  Ok - go preheat the oven and give these a try.  Trust me, you're going to love them!   

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas 2/3 cup vegetable oil 1 egg, beaten 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup white sugar 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
2.	In a medium bowl blend the banana, oil, egg and vanilla together.
3.	In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Stir in the banana mixture until just blended. Fold in the chocolate chips. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin, filling 3/4 full.
4.	Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.

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Printed from Allrecipes.com 7/24/2011