Dear Husband...

Dear Mr. Awesome,

I would like to apologize for pulling the old "Bait and Switch." When you married me, I was much thinner. Then we got married and I started baking and cooking yummy things. So now you have a larger version of me. You'll get the old me back. Soon. I promise.

Love,

Mrs. Awesome

Peanut Butter and Pumpkin Dog Treats!

I found a fantastic recipe for homemade dog treats. We like to eat things without preservatives...why shouldn't our pets?! This was super easy, and I actually had everything on hand. It says to bake for 40 minutes, but my Prince likes his treats a little chewy...I did 20 minutes, added extra peanut butter and a little more cinnamon. Enjoy!!!!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 C Whole Wheat Flour

2 Eggs

1/2 C canned pumpkin

2 TBSP Peanut Butter (I added 2 more!)

1/2 TSP Salt

1/2 TSP Ground Cinnamon (I added another 1/2)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Whisk together ingredients in large bowl. Add water as needed to help make the dough workable, but dough should be dry and stiff. (We used our hands to knead!)

3. Roll dough 1/2 inch thick and cut into pieces. (I used a tiny heart cookie cutter for my little one. Bigger dogs might like a larger portion.) :)

4. Bake until hard, about 40 minutes. (I did 20 for a softer treat)

5. Enjoy!

(Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com)

Pumpkin Spice Cream Chese Muffins!

With Fall in the air, I decided it was time to make my favorite muffins ever! They are kind of time consuming, but worth every minute. There is a cream cheese center and a yummy cinnamon and sugar crumble on top.

I made a double batch to make sure I had enough for a party I was going to and for work on Monday. Here is how they turned out! My co-worker said they were the best things she's ever had of mine. :)

If you make them, let me know how they turn out!

Happy Fall!

All the yummy spices!

Half the batter with cream cheese in the middle

Rest of batter and the crumble on top! I made the mistake of using softened butter, so it was more of a layer than crumble.

Not the prettiest things, but they turned out AMAZING!

Here is the recipe!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Yield: 24 muffins

Ingredients:

For the muffins:

3 cups flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. ground cloves

1 tbsp. and 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

4 eggs

1 ¼ cups vegetable oil

2 cups sugar

2 cups pumpkin puree

For the filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

For the streusel topping:

½ cup sugar

¼ cup and 1 tsp. flour

4 tbsp. butter, cubed

1 ½ tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and powdered sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and whip until smooth.  Form into a log on plastic wrap or foil, making sure that the diameter is small enough to fit into the well of a muffin pan.  Wrap the log up tightly and freeze until slightly hardened, 1-2 hours.

To make the muffins, combine the flour, spices, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl.  Mix well and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the eggs, vegetable oil, sugar and pumpkin puree.  Mix until well combined.  Add in the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined.

To make the streusel topping, combine all ingredients in a small bowl.  Mix together with a pastry blender or two forks until crumbly.

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Line two muffin pans with paper liners.  To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well halfway with batter.  Remove the cream cheese log from the freezer and slice into 24 equal slices.  Place a slice in each muffin well.  Divide the remaining muffin batter evenly among the muffin cups, on top of the cream cheese.  Sprinkle the streusel topping over the top of the batter.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Let cool completely before serving.

Pumpkin Goodness

This delightful little trifle has just been added to my Thanksgiving menu. Jealous?

Psssst! Here's the link, friends! Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle

Strawberry Champagne Cupcakes

I finally got the urge to make these delicious sounding cupcakes on Friday night. I blogged about it awhile ago, but have been so busy I didn't have the time to make them.

I will say they didn't turn out the way I'd hoped. The cupcake recipe itself was to DIE for. So yummy, and I think it was the addition of Olive Oil instead of butter. Could be wrong, but these were really moist and rose perfectly. 

The glaze is another story. I think I made it to early, and added too much Champagne. Whoopsie. Instead of being a glaze, it kind of just soaked the top and made it spongy. Next time I'll add less Champagne and wait until the very last second to make the glaze.

Maybe a whipped cream frosting would be delicious too???? Too many ideas, too little time.

Baking with Mom

So my Mom has been telling me for years that I need to learn how to make a pie crust. Since I have lots of fun toys for the kitchen now that I was able to register, it makes cooking and baking much less painful.

So this Sunday (during boring Football), she made the trek down from Auburn to teach me her tricks. I also thought this would be a perfect time to make the Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese Muffin recipe I found online. She even brought her very own matching apron!

The muffins turned out amazing, minus one little blunder. I was only supposed to put half of the batter in, then the cream cheese, then the rest of the batter. I MAY have forgotten to do that. Bless her heart, she scooped out half of the batter and we then proceeded to put the filling inside. It still wasn't as deep as I would have liked but still turned out amazing! Very moist and delicious. The crumb topping doesn't hurt either. Mmmm.

The pie crust turned out amazing, but the cherry part didn't work out so well. We used the canned cherry pie filling and I think less of the liquid would have been better. It's still delicious though!