Turkey Autumn Chili

Okay, so it's winter.  Whatev.  This yummy chili is still perfectly relevant for these dark winter evenings, and a great way to use any cans of pumpkin from your Thanksgiving stash.  There's perhaps nothing as comforting to eat for dinner than a warm bowl of chili!

Turkey Autumn Chili

from The Crockpot Blog

• 1 lb turkey breast cut in cubes (I used ground turkey - make sure you brown it first!)
  
• 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
  
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
  
• 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
  
• 1 C pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cubed (I used a can)
  
• 1 onion, chopped
  
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
  
• 1/2 C frozen corn
  
• 1/2 C chicken broth
  
• 1 T chili powder
  
• Optional topping: sliced avocado, shredded cheese, sour cream, etc...
  

Combine all ingredients (except for toppings) in a 6qt slow cooker.  Cover and cook on the low temperature setting for 10 hours.

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

If you like to read food blogs, you've probably been reading tons of pumpkin recipes.  And why not?  Pumpkin is a classic fall ingredient, and I love embracing this delicious flavor.

I was looking for something to go along with my morning pumpkin coffee, but was short on time.  After reading a few recipes and deciding to rely on Bisquick, I came up with this pumpkin pancake recipe.

This was so good that by the time I finished cooking and was ready to sit down and eat, most of my family had already finished.  Little sneaks - they would grab a pancake here and there as I filled the plate and feasted before breakfast was officially served.  Even the baby enjoyed chowing down. 

They were light and fluffy with just the right amount of pumpkin spice flavor - not too overwhelming but definitely present.  Delicious.

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

a Lauren's Kitchen original

Ingredients

• 2 cups Bisquick
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 1 1/4 cups skim milk
  
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
  
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  

Preheat large skillet over medium heat.

Mix all ingredients together until well-combined.

Spray skillet with cooking spray (I used butter flavored).  Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, drop batter onto skillet.  Cook until the edges start firming up a little and you get some bubbles.  Flip, and cook for another 2 minutes or so.

Serve warm with desired toppings (syrup, butter, pumpkin butter, etc).

Pumpkin Cake Brownies

One of my goals for 2010 is to be a little more vigilant about knocking off the last 5 baby pounds and eat a little healthier. (I refuse to use the phrase "New Year's Resolutions" because those are always thrown out the window by Jan 10.) My big downfall, though, is that I just freaken love food - sweets in particular.


So when I stumbled upon this recipe from Hungry Girl, I knew I have found a snack that could satisfy my taste buds while also toning my waist. One of these brownies has way under 200 calories!

They are DELICIOUS - I really felt like I was eating a gooey brownie, so no fake diet food for me. Her recipe has you use a muffin tin for these, but I poured the batter into my 9x9 Pyrex to create brownies instead.

And if you despise pumpkin, fear not - you can't even taste it.


Ingredients

• 1 box devil’s food cake mix
• 1 can solid pack pumpkin (15 oz.)

Mix the two ingredients together. Don't add anything else that may be mentioned on the box, such as eggs, oil, or water. The mixture will be very thick and you will be tempted to add in other things to make the batter smoother. DO NOT DO THIS AS IT WILL RUIN EVERYTHING! Place batter into muffin tins (or mini muffin tins) lined with paper, or sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Makes 12 regular or 36 mini muffins (or 16 brownies!).

Pumpkin Banana Chip Muffins

I love baking muffins, and I couldn't wait to get going on some pumpkin flavors this fall. I have a great recipe courtesy of my friend Brooke, but I was in the mood to try something different. As usual, a trip to my google reader presented me with exactly what I wanted.


These muffins from Cooking and Eating in the Windy City were exactly what I was looking for. I had some bananas that needed to be baked and an eager three-year-old to help me lick the spoon.

The only change I made was, as usual, to add some chocolate chips instead of the topping listed below.

These were gone in NO TIME. Seriously, I don't think they lasted 24 hours in my house. Delicious.



Ingredients

• 1/2 cup pumpkin
• 1/2 cup mashed bananas
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp salt

Topping

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup oats/nuts
• 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Mix the wet ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Make a well in the center, and add the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined. Spoon into greased muffin tin, and top each muffin with 1 Tbsp of topping. Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Superbowl Snack Throwdown: Spicy Harvest Muffins

Happy Friday the 13th! We're back to regular weekend voting, so scurry on over to HighLowAha to cast your vote by 9pm EST on Sunday! (You can also vote for the secret ingredients for the next two weeks.)

First, thank you all a billion times for participating in last week's festivities; I certainly had a blast!

Kate won the Halftime Competition, so in addition to a week's victory, she also was granted the right to select our next ingredient. She did a very good job giving herself the upperhand; she must have known that I am not a cayenne person and that this week would be a challenge! :)

Unfortunately, I must once again present you with a very mediocre photo. I brought my baby, uhh I mean my camera, to be fixed after its little tumble, and it's not yet ready. Bummer, too, because I was really hoping to have it for Ryan's pirate party this weekend. Arrrgh.

Don't let this crappy picture fool you; I LOVE these little muffins! I had no idea what to make with the use of cayenne, so I visited my friend Google; these spicy pumpkin carrot muffins from Fancy Pants Foodie popped up. I really wasn't sure about them at first, but I figured I'd give them a shot, and I am glad I did. The flavor in these guys is just unbelievable. I actually took some liberties with the title because I wanted the name of these muffins to truly harness the fact that they really embody so many fall flavors.

If you are really hesitant about the cayenne, it can easily be omitted. I did leave it off of about half because I was afraid Ryan wouldn't eat them otherwise. Both versions were equally fantastic!

These will go very quickly - not just during your football games, but also during Thanksgiving or any event this autumn.

Ingredients

• 2 sticks unsalted butter @ room temp
• 1 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 2/3 c. molasses, unsulphured
• 2 eggs, beaten, @ room temp
• 14 oz. can pumpkin (or equivalent amount cooked, pureed pumpkin)
• 1-3.5 oz. container carrot baby food (or equivalent amount cooked, pureed carrot)
• 3 1/2 c. all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 3 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 c. dried cranberries, raisins or currants
• 1/8 tsp. cayenne powder (smoked if you have it)
• cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. If using fresh, cooked pumpkin, strain puree for at least 30 minutes in cheesecloth or a wire sieve.

In a standing mixer, cream the butter at medium-high speed until soft and lightened in color.

Add molasses and 1 1/2 c. of the brown sugar, beating until combined and light in texture.

Add the eggs, pumpkin and carrot, and mix on medium speed until blended.

In a separate bowl or on a flexible cutting board, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour into wet ingredients and gently fold together, being careful not to overmix.

Fold in the cranberries, raisins or currants.

Using a spoon or large disher (what I used), fill muffin cups three-quarters full. Sprinkle muffins with cinnamon sugar and with cayenne to taste.

Bake for 12 – 15 minutes.

Pumpkin Waffles

A few weeks ago, I had a little date with my buddies Ryan and Daniel at IHOP. I ordered some kind of omelet, and it came with three buttermilk pancakes. As I was ordering, however, I noticed a sign for their season pumpkin spice pancakes. For a mere $1.67 more, I quickly requested to swap out the buttermilk for the pumpkin.

They were AWESOME, and as soon as I got home, I searched for my own recipe. I found this one, however, for pumpkin waffles on the Betty Crocker site. I made them the very next day in my awesome circus animal waffle iron that my brother gave me for my birthday.

They were absolutely delicious! The pumpkin flavor was just enough to be noticeable without being too overpowering for my less-than-enthusiastic-about-pumpkin husband. I chose to not make the apple butter, but I'm sure that would have been yummy too!

Ingredients

• 2 1/3 cups Original Bisquick® mix
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• Powdered sugar, if desired

Heat waffle iron; grease with cooking spray, vegetable oil or shortening. In large bowl, beat all waffle ingredients except pecans and powdered sugar with wire whisk or hand beater until blended. Pour batter onto center of hot waffle iron. Close lid of waffle iron.

Bake about 5 minutes or until steaming stops and waffle is golden brown. Carefully remove waffle. Sprinkle with pecans and powdered sugar. Serve with syrup.

Pumpkin Spiced Cream Cheese Breakfast Rolls

When I saw these Breakfast Rolls on Picky Palate, I knew that they'd be perfect for Halloween morning.


My trusty sous chef, Ryan, helped me, as usual, which made them even more special. I love cooking and baking with my little guy!

I learned something during this endeavor, however. Usually, when I don't think it matters, I buy store brand stuff. So I bought (or THOUGHT I bought) 2 tubes of Stop and Shop brand crescent rolls. When I went to cook them, however, I realized that I bought one generic and one Pillsbury.

I still didn't think it mattered, even when I noticed that the Pillsbury ones were much easier to work with. They rolled better, pinched better, and sliced better.

But I really learned that in this recipe, you have to go with the real one! Check out these rolls after baking:

Guess which one is generic and which is brand name? :)

When it came down to flavor, however, they both tasted the same - absolutely delicious! They made more than we could eat at once, and didn't reheat super well, so next time I will likely only use one tube - of the Pillsbury ones, of course!

Ingredients

• 2 packages/cans Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
• 4 0z cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 Cup brown sugar
• 1/4 Cup canned pumkin (Libby’s)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Unroll crescent rolls to form 4 rectangles placed side by side. Pinch seams together to form one long rectangle. Place cream cheese, brown sugar, pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg into a mixer; beat until well combined. Spread mixture over crescents leaving a 1/2 inch border around edges. Starting at long end, roll up then cut into 1 inch pieces. Place around 2 9 inch cake pans that have been sprayed with cooking spray. I left the centers open so the rolls form a circle.

2. Bake for 28-30 minutes or until rolls are golden brown. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes. Frost warm rolls with cream cheese frosting recipe below.

Frosting

• 4 oz softened cream cheese
• 1/2 Cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 Tablespoon canned pumpkin (Libby’s)

1. Mix all ingredients into a large bowl until smooth. Spread over warm rolls.

Pumpkin Scones

I could not wait to try these Pumpkin Scones from Cooking Up Memories. I love scones, and I love pumpkin, so... voila! YAY!

For some reason, though, my glaze wasn't as opaque and glaze-ish as hers; it just kind of saturated the scone and made it unnecessarily soggy. I think I didn't use enough powdered sugar, though - I just finished what was left in the box without measuring. So that was probably the cause! I definitely didn't have enough for the spiced glaze, so I didn't even attempt that.

Anyway, when you scope out these pictures, notice how each shot seems to have fewer and fewer chocolate chips...

What a little grub!

SCONES

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 7 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 6 tablespoons cold butter
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 3 tablespoons half-and-half
• 1 large egg

POWDERERED SUGAR GLAZZE

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons whole milk

SPICED GLAZE

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons whole milk
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 pinch ginger
• 1 pinch ground cloves

To make the scones:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or line with parchment paper.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices in a large bowl. Using a pastry knife, fork, or food processor, cut butter into the dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly and no chunks of butter are obvious. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, half and half, and egg. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Form the dough into a ball.

Pat out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle (about 9 inches long and 3 inches wide). Use a large knife or a pizza cutter to slice the dough twice through the width, making three equal portions. Cut those three slices diagonally so that you have 6 triangular slices of dough. Place on prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 14–16 minutes. Scones should begin to turn light brown. Place on wire rack to cool.

To make the plain glaze:
Mix the powdered sugar and 2 tbsp milk together until smooth.

When scones are cool, use a brush to paint plain glaze over the top of each scone.

To make the spiced glaze:
Combine the ingredient for the spiced icing together. Drizzle this thicker icing over each scone and allow the icing to dry before serving (at least 1 hour). A squirt bottle works great for this, or you can drizzle with a whisk.

Apple Pumpkin Chili

Pumpkin-Fest '08 continues in my kitchen, and this time the Big Orange entered the crockpot!

When this was posted on Proceed with Caution, I printed it immediately to be used on my next crockpot Wednesday.


It smelled so amazing in the crockpot, and it was so simple to prepare. I actually threw it together the night before and stashed the insert in the fridge. That morning, all I had to do was pop into the pot and push the buttons. Awesome.

The taste was fabulous, too! Nice and warm and fall-ish... and not too spicy! I LOVE not-too-spicy chili!



For all of you moms, I also figured out that the key to getting my kid to eat dinner is to let him wander underfoot as I'm trying to take pics for the blog. It doesn't matter at ALL how much (or how little) he's eaten - once he sees me fiddling with the dishes and the camera on the window seat or table, he's all over it. I have been catching so many shots lately with little hands fingers sneaking in.

I just might start feeding him at the window seat...!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground turkey or chicken, browned in a skillet
• 2 cans (15 oz each) white beans
• 1.5 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, cleaned, and sliced
• one medium shallot, diced
• 1 granny smith apple, diced
• 1/2 can pumpkin puree
• 2.5 cups chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon dried sage
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• grated cheddar cheese, for topping

Combine all except thickener and cheese in a crockpot. Stir to mix ingredients. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6. Add thickener (equal parts broth and cornstarch) if desired and heat on high for a few minutes to thicken sauce. Serve, topping with grated cheese.

Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Brownies

I was so excited when Nana told me that Aunt Mill and Uncle Morris were here from Florida this week! We obviously don't get to see them more than once or twice a year, so we really treasure their visits.

I quickly volunteered to bring some dessert, and knew that this would be perfect. These Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Brownies from Cara's Cravings have been circling my blog circle and keep popping up on my reader. I had to give them a chance!


I suppose it's better late than never, but I only JUST NOW LEARNED that you are supposed to bake brownies for a good 10 minutes longer if you use a glass pan. Do you have ANY idea how many batches of brownies I've eaten with a spoon? Do you know how many times I've used muffin tins just to avoid the embarassment of brownie mush? Have you any clue how many times I've skipped out on the brownie idea altogether out of fear?

Well, live and learn. Unfortunately, that lesson came AFTER I made these guys. ;)

Gooeyness aside, these tasted very yummy! I brought some leftovers to Denise and George when we stopped by today to visit little baby Abby.

Ingredients:

Brownie Batter

• 3/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Cheesecake Batter

• 6 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp each ground ginger and ground cloves

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8x8" square metal baking pan.

Beat together melted butter, sugar, and vanilla, then beat in eggs one at a time. Combine dry ingredients and then gradually stir into butter mixture with a wooden spoon. In separate bowl, beat together cheesecake batter ingredients.

Spread about 2/3 of chocolate batter into prepared pan, and spoon cheesecake batter over. Dollop remaining brownie batter over cheesecake batter. Swirl the batters together by running a butter knife back and forth through the pan.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until center is set. Cool completely on wire rack and chill before cutting and serving.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream

My second encounter with the ice cream maker didn't go quite as smoothly as my first, but it wasn't too bad.

I am not having luck finding Ben & Jerry's Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream, so I figured I'd make my own!



I couldn't find a recipe, so I combined one for cheesecake ice cream that I found on the Food Network along with the one for pumpkin ice cream that came with the machine.

I did use light cream and whole milk in place of the heavy cream and light cream, but the consistency was by far icier than when I made it last time. I actually had to let the container sit out for a good half hour before I could even scoop it out.

The taste, however, was freaken fantastic!!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups light cream
• 6 egg yolks
• 8oz cream cheese (low fat is okay, but avoid fat-free), softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cups canned solid pack pumpkin

1. Freeze bowl of machine for 24 hours.

2. Scald light cream in heavy saucepan. Whisk yolks, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Gradually whisk in the cream; add the spice. Return to saucepan and stir over medium-low heat until mixture thickens, about 10 minutes; do not boil. Remove from heat. Whisk in the heavy cream and the pumpkin. Strain into bowl; refrigerate until well chilled.

3. Assemble ice cream maker according to manufacturer. Turn to the proper setting ("stir" for a KA Mixer attachment). Using a container with a spout, pour mixture into freeze bowl. Continue on "stir" for 15 to 20 minutes or until desired consistency. Immediately transfer ice cream to serving dishes, or freeze in airtight container.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

Okay, don't mind the pictures. They were dark, and these are my feeble attempts with the editing software I didn't know I had.

Anyway, these cookies are SO YUMMY! They taste like little bits of pumpkin bread... Even my husband, the self-proclaimed "anti-pumpkin-ist" keeps eating them.


I got this awesome recipe from Living Insanity, who picked it up from allrecipes.com. I followed her suggestions and they are reflected below. Definitely a keeper!

Ingredients

• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. Add milk and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt.

Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well; add chips.

Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 365 degrees F (175 degrees C) for approximately 12 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.

Pumpkin Risotto

Two of my current culinary obsessions together in one bowl! What could be better!!

This side from Ashlee was really good, and pretty easy to make. I served it alongside of the Pioneer Woman's Crispy Yogurt Chicken, and it was quite a nice compliment.


Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 small yellow onion, minced
• salt and ground black pepper
• 1 c. arborio rice
• 1/4 c. dry white wine
• 2 c. warmed chicken stock
• 3/4 c. canned pumpkin puree
• 2 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

In a large nonstick skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion, season with salt and pepper. Toss to begin cooking. Add rice, toast for 2 minutes. Add white wine and cook until the liquid is evaporated.

Add 1/3 c. chicken stock, stirring in between additions, about every 3 minutes.

After all of the stock is absorbed, add the canned pumpkin. Turn heat to low and let the rice cook and pumpkin absorb into the rice.

Add parmesan cheese, stir, and plate.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Thank you, thank you, thank you to Brooke for making this bread and blogging about it, thus bringing it into my life.

I love pumpkin, and though it's available in canned form year-round, something seems a bit "off" when you try to use it outside of autumn!

Funny, unrelated pumpkin story: I looove pumpkin. Love it. So every year I am so excited when Starbucks brings back their pumpkin spice latte. And every year I giddlily skip into the store and order a venti, nonfat. And...

Every year I remember that I hate the pumpkin latte.

Oh well.

Anyway, this bread was SO easy to make, and it smelled amazing in the oven. And the taste? To die for. Even my pumpkin-hating husband ate two slices!

I brought one of the loaves to my in-laws' house and kept the other one here; I am sure it won't last very long, though!

Oh, and Brooke was right about the 32-servings-is-a-crock thing. Who slices their loaves into sixteen slices? Crazy.

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup fat-free plain yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 4 large egg whites
• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture, stirring just until moist. Stir in chocolate chips.

Spoon batter into 2 (8 x 4-inch) loaf pans coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pans on a wire rack, and remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.

Yield32 servings (serving size: 1 slice)Nutritional InformationCALORIES 152(30% from fat); FAT 5g (sat 1.2g,mono 2.5g,poly 1.1g); PROTEIN 2g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 10mg; SODIUM 137mg; FIBER 1.1g; IRON 1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 26.5g

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

I needed another muffin recipe for my in-service day tomorrow, and I knew I wanted to do this one from Brooke. I had starred this long ago and never got around to making to them; I was pysched to get to them today!

I obviously have to wait until tomorrow to try them out, but the batter? Oh. My. God. So good and tasty. And I adore dump-and-mix steps - no worries about the order of the ingredients and additions!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour


• 1 tsp cinnamon


• 1 tsp nutmeg


• 1 tsp ground cloves


• 4 tsp pumpkin pie spice


• Pinch of cardamom (optional) (I omitted because I didn't have any.)


• 1 tsp salt


• 1 tsp baking soda


• 4 eggs


• 2 cups sugar


• 2 cups canned pumpkin


• 1 ¼ cups vegetable oil


• 8 oz package cream cheese*


• Chopped nuts (I omitted.)

*The best cream cheese to use is the cheesecake flavored kind (I used plain because I didn't even notice this note until I was blogging about it - whoops!). Put the entire tub or brick on a piece of tin foil, and shape it into a long log. Put it in the freezer while you mix and fill the pans, up to an hour. Unwrap and cut with a sharp knife. If the disks are too big around, cut thick slices and then cut them in half. This keeps the cream cheese in one big lump, and also lets you push it down into the batter. (Best. Tip. Ever.)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix ingredients together except cream cheese and nuts. Fill muffin tins (greased or paper cups) half full. Put 1-2 tsp cream cheese in the middle, pressing down. (Make sure you really get it in there - I didn't do mine deep enough, and I ended up with raised blocks. I had to smooth it out immediately after taking them out of the oven.) Sprinkle with 1 tsp chopped nuts. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean from the muffin part (do not touch the cream cheese!). Let cool in pans for 5 minutes, then remove to racks to cool completely. Do not touch the cream cheese until it cools, as it is very very hot.

Makes 24 muffins.