Pumpkin Pie

I got this recipe from Foodnetwork.com. It is one of Paula Deen's recipes so you know its gonna be rich and definitely not low fat! Her recipe calls for adding melted butter towards the end of the mixing process but I added it at the beginning with the cream cheese and liked the way it turned out. I made this pie this weekend for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner with my future in laws. My fiance's brother who is a big pie fan thought it was really good.

1 - 8 oz package of cream cheese
2 cups canned pumpkin
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg plus 2 egg yolks
1 cup half and half
1/2 stick butter, softened (room temperature)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 piece of pre-made pie dough
whipped cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place 1 piece of pre-made pie dough down into a (9-inch) pie pan and press down along the bottom and all sides. Pinch and crimp the edges together to make a pretty pattern. Put the pie shell back into the freezer for 1 hour to firm up. Fit a piece of aluminum foil to cover the inside of the shell completely. Fill the shell up to the edges with pie weights or dried beans (about 2 pounds) and place it in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the foil and pie weights and bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is dried out and beginning to color.

For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined. Add the sugar and salt, and beat until combined. Add the eggs mixed with the yolks, half-and-half, and melted butter, and beat until combined. Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, and beat until incorporated.

Pour the filling into the warm prepared pie crust and bake for 50 minutes, or until the center is set. Place the pie on a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Cut into slices and top each piece with a generous amount of whipped cream.

Macaroons

My sister and I love macaroons; we fell in love with them when we bought a box at Whole Foods. I wanted to try to make them so found a recipe from AllRecipes.com. The smell of coconut is intoxicating!

4 egg whites
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease and flour cookie sheet. In a medium bowl, beat egg whites, vanilla, almond, and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in sugar and whip until stiff. Toss together flour, salt, and coconut in a separate bowl; fold into egg whites. Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheet. Bake 18 - 20 minutes or until golden. Allow cookies to cool.

The first time I made these I noticed it was too wet and when I baked them they did not come out as coconut mounds, more like a flatter cookie. Next time I added more coconut flakes until mixture was more coconut than mix so the shape held better.

Poppy Seed Muffins

Another winning recipe from AllRecipes.com. My fiance's sister in law loves these and I made them for her for her baby shower. I especially love the almond extract addition.

3 eggs
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/8 cups vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
3 cups all purpose flour

Beat together eggs, sugar and vegetable oil. Add milk, salt, baking powder, poppy seeds, vanilla extract, almond extract, and flour. Mix well. Bake in paper lined muffin cups (recipe makes about a dozen) at 350 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes. Tops should be browned and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.

French Toast

I got this recipe from a Betty Crocker cookbook. I love breakfast foods and was looking for a good french toast recipe and this one was a crowd pleaser. I like to garnish with fresh berries, black berries and raspberries especially. The finishing touch is dusting the powdered sugar on top. Pass the syrup!

3 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
8 slices of bread
cooking spray

Beat first 5 ingredients together in a bowl (one wide enough to dunk your sliced bread into or you can always pour mix into square baking dish so its easier to cover bread with batter). Heat frying pan over medium high heat. Spray pan with cooking spray. Soak bread slices on both sides and place into pan (two at a time is what I do). Let them brown and flip slices over to brown other side. Once both sides are golden brown place on baking sheet and place in warm oven to keep crisp.

Applesauce Muffins

These are a nice treat to have around the house when you are looking for something sweet. They have that great cinnamon aroma.

1/2 cup margarine
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup applesauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cupcake holders into cupcake pans; this recipe makes about a dozen or so. Cream margarine and sugar. Add eggs and beat until smooth. Blend in cinnamon, allspice, baking powder, and baking soda. Now add 1/2 cup of applesauce and 1 cup of flour. Blend until smooth and then add remaining 1/2 cup of applesauce and 1/2 cup of flour. Once blended divide batter into cupcake holders. Bake for about 17 minutes.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

For my fiance's brother's birthday, instead of a cake I made him a stack of chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches. I used the chocolate chip cookie recipe that is on this blog (all purpose flour instead of whole wheat this time though!). I let the cookies cool completely. Then put vanilla ice cream between two cookies, wrapped them in plastic wrap, and put them in the freezer to set. They came out really well except the only complaint was that they were SO big, but SO yummy!

Apple Pie

I think I got this recipe off of AllRecipe.com a long time ago but its been so long I can't remember. When I studied abroad in England, I attended Lancaster University, a school about 3 hours north of London. My flatmates and I got together and made a Thanksgiving feast for our friends and so I wanted to make pie and this was the recipe I used.

6-7 Granny smith apples, sliced
2 pie crusts (I have not delved into dough making so I buy the pre-made ones from the store)

Place crust in pie dish and press down firmly so it covers dish. Layer apples in dish. Slice other pie crust into strips about 1/2 inch wide. Using these strips create lattice top; it may sound complicated but its not so bad. You just line every other strip across your pie top vertically. Then with the strips remaining you weave them over and under horizontally across the vertical ones. Pinch edges so that strip ends are connected to the rest of the edges of the pie crust.

The following ingredients are for the sauce:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1/3 cup of butter (unsalted)
1 tablespoon of flour
1/3 cup of water

In a small pot on low heat, add all ingredients and mix till combined. It should have a consistency of a thick a sauce, like syrup. Once combined, take off heat and pour into pie. The sauce should be able to enter the pie between the lattice top and any sauce that gets onto the crust will make a lovely glaze look. Bake for about 35 minutes; crust should be golden brown.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

I got this recipe from BonAppetit magazine (April 2007 issue). I have made classic chocolate chip cookies many a time but wanted to take a try at the chocolate dough ones. The magazine had this as a cookie to make ice cream sandwiches with; I just baked them and ate them alone and they were pretty good. I brought them to work and by the end of the day only crumbs were left.

2 cups all purpose flour (I substituted whole wheat flour)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 12 oz package semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Sift flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. Use electric mixer to beat butter until fluffy. Gradually beat in both sugars. Beat in eggs one at a time, then vanilla, and dry ingredients. Stir in chips. Drop 2 big tablespoonfuls batter onto prepared sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly. Bake until cookies are dry but soft to touch, about 20 minutes. Let cool.

Serve with cold glass of milk for dunking. Delicious!