November 2014 Wrap Up

This month was filled with the flavors of fall – lots of pumpkin and cinnamon and some apple, too! There were many recipes I had hoped to make that I didn’t have time for, but hopefully next year!

Breads & Muffins

I made this raspberry bread recipe before, so when raspberries went on sale for $1/pint (strange for this time of year!), I bought a big stack of containers and decided to do some baking with some of them. The bread took way longer to bake this time than last and ended up with edges that were a little dark. I will have to try this again in the spring to figure out what went wrong, since it baked so beautifully the first time.

These apple cheddar muffins were a favorite of ours after apple picking in the fall when we lived in NYC. I haven’t made them since then, but remembered to make them this fall (with some store-bought apples!). Glad I remembered! They are as delicious as I remember. I’ve always liked that they are more savory than sweet. The recipe was give to me by a friend several years ago. I have always meant to try them with white cheddar but haven’t yet. It’s on the to-do list!

1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt (can omit if using salted butter)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup shredded cheddar (sharp is best)
1 large egg
1/2 cup apple juice
1/4 cup butter, melted (I always use salted)
1 cup finely chopped, peeled apple (a tart one like Granny Smith is best)

Combine four, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Add cheese. Beat eggs with apple juice. Stir in butter and apple. Add all at once to flour mix. Stir until moistened. Bake for 25-30 mins @375F.

Makes 10 muffins.

Brownies & Bars

I think I’ve mentioned before how much I love coconut, and this recipe for coconut sugar cookie bars caught my eye when I was looking for something new and different to make for the school bake sale. They were simple to put together and so incredibly delicious. These will be a recipe I make again and again, for sure.

I also made this recipe for Nutella swirled pumpkin bars for the bake sale. As I mentioned in my baking with pumpkin blog post, these weren’t exactly what I had hoped they’d be. I had hoped to be making something more bar/brownie like, but I should have paid closer attention and realized that it was actually more of a thin loaf/muffin recipe. I do like the idea of them, but would need to increase the spices next time because, aside from the bites of Nutella, the bars were a bit too bland, in my opinion.

I made a second coconut flavored bar recipe this month, too. These chocolate coconut MOUNDS brownie bars were a huge (very huge!) hit with everyone, and I think they will need to be made again! I used my stand-by brownie recipe for the base and then followed her instructions for the coconut filling and chocolate top.

Cakes & Cupcakes

I did a few different cupcakes for the bake sale, too, including these fall cupcakes, butterfly cupcakes, ombre swirl butterfly cupcakes, and ombre swirl snowflake cupcakes. The last item I made for the bake sale was this chocolate peanut butter cake. I used this icing recipe that I had used when I made a larger version of this cake with a chocolate ganache a couple of years ago.

Tané was planning a large birthday celebration for her mother, and her baker backed out on her fairly last minute. She asked if I could help out, and I was happy to have the chance to try out some different cupcake recipes and to make this pretty black scroll and purple petal cake (inspired by this picture). I made 4 different cupcakes:

1. German chocolate cupcakes with coconut pecan frosting: I used this cake recipe and this icing recipe. I had two major hiccups with them (2 of the boxes of Bakers German Chocolate squares I bought were completely covered in green mold when I opened them, so I needed to get more, and I over-toasted the nuts on my first attempt at the icing) but the end result was completely delicious. I can’t wait to make these again!
2. Red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing: I have made a red velvet cake recipe in the past, but after great success with it the first time, the other times it wasn’t as good. I looked at lots of recipes and decided to try this one because of how moist she described them to be. The first batch was nice and moist, but I felt the cocoa made them too dark and the taste too much of chocolate. I made a second batch that looks like a much better color and tasted perfect. For the second batch, I only used 3 tsp of cocoa instead of 3 Tbsp. Even though there was Greek yogurt and buttermilk in the recipe, I decided to add in a tsp of vinegar because it is always present in other red velvet recipes. I also added in ½ tsp of salt since sweet recipes always need a little!
3. Lemon cupcakes with lemon buttercream: Because I was so pleased with the red velvet cupcakes, I decided to try out the lemon cupcake recipe from the same blogger. The only change to the recipe that I made was to add in ½ tsp of salt to the recipe. The lemon buttercream recipe was one I had written down last summer. I am not sure what the source was, unfortunately.
4. Carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese icing: I love carrot cake, but I hadn’t made one since Leighton’s first birthday cupcakes 6 years ago. I considered recipes from Ina Garten, Smitten Kitchen, Pioneer Woman, and Wilton, but in the end I made the recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction. The only change I made to the recipe was to omit the nutmeg.

Cookies

I made several different collections of decorated sugar cookies this month. The first was for Sophia’s birthday, when I made this collection of teacups and teapots. I used this picture as inspiration. Next I made some soccer ball & goal cookies (unlike the inspiration photo, I didn’t attempt to use an edible marker or piping icing to make the balls, and instead opted for edible images to make the balls) and stickman soccer cookies (this was my inspiration) for Leighton’s soccer team on the last day of the season. The last collection was for Thanksgiving.

I made one recipe of non-sugar cookies this month, too. These pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are a keeper, as I mentioned in my baking with pumpkin blog post. I had wanted to try these pumpkin oat chocolate chip cookies, but didn’t get to them just yet.

Scones & Biscuits

I made two biscuit recipes this month. The first recipe was for these Greek yogurt biscuits. I had made them in the spring, and we all really liked them. I am not sure what took me so long to make them again! The second recipe was for pumpkin Greek yogurt biscuits.

Another pumpkin recipe this month was for the Starbucks copy cat glazed pumpkin scones. I had been making these for several years and will continue to do so for many more! They are so good!

Other Goodies

As described in my baking with pumpkin blog post, the recipe for these baked pumpkin donuts is another delicious treat – and a great excuse to pull out my donut pan that doesn’t get used enough!