Corn & Jalapeno Mini Muffins

The combination of flavors in each one of these mini muffins really packs a punch!  It’s a delightful combo of sweetness from the honey, a bit of heat from the jalapeños and hearty cornmeal.  These are perfect side to serve with tacos or any Mexican dish.  Try pairing them with the Crockpot Chicken Tacos we featured on the blog last week!

Servings:  16 (recipe will make a total of 32 mini muffins)

Size:  2 mini corn muffins

Points Plus: 2pp

Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time:  10-12 minutes

Rating: 5 stars – Excellent!

Ingredient List:

2/3 cup yellow cornmeal

¼ cup flour

¾ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. sugar

⅛ tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

1 egg, lightly beaten

½ cup milk

¼ cup honey

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

2 large jalapeños, seeded and diced

½ cup shredded cheddar cheese, reduced-fat

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375°. Lightly grease a mini muffin tin with cooking spray.  Combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a medium bowl.  In a separate, larger bowl combine the egg, milk, honey and melted butter with a whisk.  Add the dry ingredients to the large bowl and stir until well mixed.  Fold in the jalapeños and cheddar cheese with a spatula.  Fill each muffin tin about 2/3 full.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Tip:

Serving these warm are a MUST!  Although you can save time and make these ahead of time, they really are best when they are just out of the oven.  Of course you can pop them back in oven to warm them up just before you are ready to sit down too!

XOXO Megan

Champagne Orange Bundt Cake

I came across this recipe on Pinterest as I was searching for a fun, festive dessert to serve on New Year's Eve.  The original recipe (found here) comes from the Muffin Tin mom's blog.  I wasn't able to find the orange mimosa flavored sparkling wine that her recipe calls for so I improvised and used a combination of champagne and orange juice instead - two ingredients you already need for the frosting!  I also chose to omit the sliced almonds to cut down on pp.  Enjoy this bubbly cake!

Servings: 10

Size: One slice of 1/10 of the cake

Points Plus: 8pp

Level of Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Bake Time: 25-30 minutes

Rating: 4 stars - Very good

Ingredient List:

Cake Batter

1 box white cake mix

2/3 cup champagne

1/3 cup orange juice

3 eggs

Baking spray

Frosting

¼ cup champagne

¼ cup orange juice

1 ½ cups powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°. In a medium bowl, mix together the cake mix, champagne, orange juice and eggs until well combined.  Pour batter into a lightly greased bundt pan.  Bake according to the directions on the box, about 25-30 minutes.  Allow the cake to cool completely before you frost it.  To make the frosting, first combine the champagne and orange juice in a large bowl.  Add the powdered sugar a ½ cup at a time until the frosting reaches the consistency you are looking for.  It will be more of a glaze than a thick frosting.

Tip:
I don't know about you, but I REALLY struggle when it comes to making frostings!  I think the key is to not have too much liquid so you don't have to add as much powdered sugar to even out the consistency.  That said, you could use slightly less champagne and orange juice in the frosting to make for a thicker frosting if you prefer. 

XOXO Megan

Frosted Pumpkin Cookies

I have had this recipe saved to my Pinterest dessert board for quite awhile.  It comes from the Parent Pretty blog – check out the original recipe here.  I made a few modifications, most notably, I cut the recipe in half.  I wasn’t ready to have 5 dozen cookies staring me in the face and testing my self-control!  2 and 1/2 dozen seemed like a much more reasonable amount for me to make.

Servings: 2 ½ dozen (or 30) cookies

Size:  1 cookie

Points Plus: 4pp

Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time:  10-12 minutes per cookie sheet

Rating: 4 stars –  Very good

 

Ingredient List:

Cookies:

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. ground nutmeg

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

½ 15 oz. can pumpkin

2 cups flour

Frosting:

¼ cup butter

¼ cup packed brown sugar

2 or 3 tsp. milk

½ tsp. vanilla

2 to 3 cups powdered sugar (depending on frosting thickness/consistency)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Using a mixer, beat the butter for 30 seconds.  Add in sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg and beat until well combined.  Add the egg and vanilla, mix well.  Next, beat in the pumpkin.  Finally, add in the flour in multiple steps, not all at once.  On an ungreased cookie sheet, drop heaping teaspoons of cookie dough a few inches between each cookie.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Cool on a wire cooling rack.

To make the frosting, heat the butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan on the stove.  Make sure the mixture is well combined and smooth.  Transfer the butter/sugar into a bowl, whisk in the 2 tsp. milk and vanilla.  Beat in powdered sugar, add more until frosting is to your desired level of thickness vs. more of a glaze.   You may need to add additional milk to acheive the frosting thickness you prefer as well.  Once the cookies have completely cooled, spread frosting on top.

Tip:

I can't stress enough the importance of waiting until your cookies have cooled before you add the frosting to the tops.  I was impatient and my cookies although started out looking great (see picture above), but I quickly watched my frosting droop and melt off the top and setlle into small pools at the edges of each cookie. :(

XOXO Megan

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cakes

These are DELICIOUS, indulgent little cakes!  I served these at a family brunch recently and they were very popular.  Adding in chocolate chips is a perfect pairing with pumpkin!  And mini chocolate chips are just so cute. :)

This recipe comes from Skinnytaste.  The original recipe has these made into mini-muffins which would make 28 mini muffins or 14 regular sized muffins if you wanted to try a different variation for less points (see all pp values listed below).

Servings:  6

Size:  1 mini bundt cake

Points Plus: 8pp

Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time:  25-28 minutes

Rating: 4 stars – Very Good

*PP value for 1 regular muffin would be 4pp, 1 mini muffin would be 2pp

Ingredient List:

½ cup whole wheat flour

¾ cup all purpose flour

¾ cup sugar

¾ tsp. baking soda

1 ¾ tsp. pumpkin pie spice

¼ tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. salt

1 ½ cup canned pumpkin (equal to 1 15 oz. can)

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 egg whites

2 tsp. vanilla

2/3 cup mini chocolate chips

Cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°. Spray the mini bundt pan with cooking spray.  In a large bowl, combine the two types of flour, sugar, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon and salt; mix well.  In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin, oil, egg and vanilla – beat until well combined, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl.  Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture in multiple steps.  Do not over mix.  Fold in the mini chocolate chips with a spatula.  Using a spoon, drop spoonfuls of batter into each mini bundt mold.  Bake for 25-28 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let your mini bundt cakes cool before serving.

Tip:

An easy way to get your mini bundt cakes out of the pan is to flip your cooling rack upside down and place on top of the bundt pan.  Flip both the pan and rack upside down so the cooling rack is right side up (set on your counter) and the bundt pan is upside down. Your mini bundt cakes should pop right out of the pan and be perfectly placed to cool!

XOXO Megan

Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice

Has this ever happened to you??  You start a recipe and realize you forgot to pick up one ingredient?  Or you realize you just used up the last bit of a spice that your recipe calls for? 

Well… this little recipe shows you how to make your own pumpkin pie spice!  Pumpkin pie spice is a delicious blend of fall flavors.  You might be surprised that your spice cupboard is already stocked with all the ingredients you need to make your own blend!

Servings:  Depends on your recipe needs

Size:  Total recipe makes about 5 Tbsp.

Points Plus: 0pp

Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time:  n/a

Rating: 3 stars – Good

Ingredient List:

3 Tbsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. ground ginger

2 tsp. nutmeg

1 ½ tsp. allspice

1 ½ tsp. ground cloves

Directions:

In a small bowl, mix together all ingredients until well combined.  Store your homemade spice blend in an air-tight container.  Keep on hand for delicious pumpkin recipes!

Tip:

Making your own spices is fun and easy!  There are lots of other options out there to try out –taco seasoning, chili powder, popcorn seasonings and other spices and rubs for chicken or beef.

Keep this recipe handy since it will be used in another pumpkin recipe later this week on the blog!

XOXO Megan

Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes

We are excited to bring you PUMPKIN WEEK!!!

Fall, autumn weather always gets me in the mood for something pumpkin.  You are in luck this week as Katie and I bring you lots of delicious pumpkin recipes to try out and add to your fall recipe list.   

I love finding new ways to bake with pumpkin.  This is a modification from my original cherry cheesecake recipe, but with pumpkin instead of cherry pie filling.  Enjoy!!

Servings: 20
Size: 1 mini cheesecake
Points Plus: 3pp
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Rating: 3 stars – Good 

Ingredient List:

Gingersnap cookies

2 8 oz pacakges of reduced fat cream cheese

¾ cup white sugar

1 cup pumpkin, canned

2 eggs

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Pecan halves

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Line a regular muffin tin with paper or tin liners. Place one gingersnap at the bottom of each liner; this will act as the ‘crust’ for your cheesecakes. Cream together the cream cheese, sugar first until fluffy.  Add in the pumpkin, mix well.  Next add the eggs, one at a time, and the cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice.  Fill each muffin liner with the cheesecake mixture, about ¾ full.  Bake for 20-24 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack.  Top each mini cheesecake with a pecan half.  Refrigerate before serving.

Tip:

One piece of candy corn would also be a cute topping for each cheesecake.  Unfortunately, I made my batch of these the week after Halloween so all the shelves had been cleared of candy corn.  Pecan halves worked great as a substitution though!

XOXO Megan

Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Everyone needs a signature dish!  What is a signature dish you might ask?  Well it is recipe that you can make quickly and is something you can make well.  And it really becomes your signature dish when people come to know and remember you for this particular recipe!

This delicious breakfast cake might very well be my own signature dish.  It is SO good!  The cake’s consistency is moist, yet light and fluffy all rolled into one.  It’s kind of cross between a muffin and a coffee cake.  I came across this recipe on Pinterest and tried it out for a weekend visit from my family.  Soon after this visit, this recipe quickly became one of our favorites!

Servings:  12

Size:  1/12 of an 8x8 pan

Points Plus: 6pp

Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Bake Time: 35-45 minutes

Rating: 5 stars – Excellent

Ingredient List:

½ cup unsalted butter

2 tsp. lemon zest

¾ cup sugar (+ 2 Tbsp. to sprinkle on top of cake)

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour (reserve ¼ cup to toss the blueberries in)

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. kosher salt

2 cups blueberries, fresh berries

½ cup buttermilk

Cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°.  In a large bowl, mix together the butter, lemon zest and ¾ cup sugar with a mixer until the texture is light and fluffy.  Add the egg, vanilla and beat until well mixed through.  Wash the blueberries and lightly pat dry with a paper towel.  In a cereal bowl, toss the blueberries in ¼ cup of flour (this helps the blueberries to stay whole and got get smashed and bleed into the rest of the cake).  Whisk together the remaining flour (1 ¾ cups), baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl.  Add half of flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture, mix well.  Next add ¼ cup of buttermilk to the batter.  Repeat these steps with the remaining flour mixture and buttermilk.  Using a technique of alternating your dry ingredients with buttermilk allows for easier mixing for your cake batter.  Once the batter is mixed well, use a large spatula to gently fold in the blueberries.  You will likely have leftover flour from the ¼ cup you used to toss the berries – you don’t need to add all of it into the batter.  Spray an 8x8 pan with cooking spray.  Spread batter evenly into the pan.  The batter consistency will be quite thick.  Sprinkle 2 Tbsp. of sugar on top of the cake.  Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the top is golden brown.  Use a toothpick to check to see if it comes out clean.  Depending on your oven, it may need to bake for an additional 5-10 minutes.

Tip:

Use this lemon zester I told you about last week to make zesting the lemon a breeze!

This recipe can EASILY be doubled and made in a 9x13 pan instead of the 8x8!  If you are serving this for a brunch I would recommend going with the doubled version since people will want seconds.

XOXO Megan

Chocolate Chip Scones

Scones are one of my favorite breakfast foods!  A warm scone and cup of coffee is perfect for a Saturday morning.  Here’s a great recipe I found on Skinnytaste for a lightened up version of chocolate chip scones.  The recipes calls for two kinds of flour – if you choose to just use all-purpose flour know that the pp value will increase. 

Servings:  12

Size:  1 scone

Points Plus: 5pp

Level of Difficulty:  Medium

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time:  20 minutes

Rating: 4 stars – Very good

Ingredient List:

¾ cup cold buttermilk

¼ cup sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup white whole wheat flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

3 Tbsp. chilled butter (it must be cold), cut into small pieces

¾ cup chocolate chips

Cooking spray

1 large egg white, lightly beaten

1 ½ tsp. sugar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375°.  Combine the buttermilk, ¼ cup sugar, vanilla and egg in a bowl, stirring with a whisk.  Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.  In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.  Cut in chilled butter with a pastry blender, or you could use a fork, until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  Gently fold in chocolate chips.  Add the milk mixture, stirring until just moist.

Place dough on a floured surface and knead lightly four times with floured hands.  Form dough into a 9-inch circle on the baking sheet, about a ¾ inch thick.  Using a knife, cut dough into 12 wedges (make sure your cuts going all the way through to form 12 scones). Brush egg white over the top of the scones and sprinkle evenly with sugar.  Bake until golden, about 18-20 minutes depending on your oven.  Serve as warm scones with coffee!

Tip:

Cutting in the chilled butter into your flour mixture takes patience!  Keep at it and your dough will soon resemble the crumbly, coarse texture that is needed for scones. 

XOXO Megan

Banana Bread Muffins

I was really craving banana bread and was in the mood to make a homemade baked good.  I also had some bananas that were well past their prime.  So I thought why not shake up the traditional banana bread recipe and try to turn it into muffins instead of loaves.  We have a family favorite recipe so I took that and adapted it into muffins.  Another perk, one muffin instead of a slice of bread is a great way to cut some points!

Servings:  16

Size:  1 muffin

Points Plus: 4 pp

Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time:  18-20 minutes, depending on your oven

Rating: 3 stars – Good

Ingredient List:

½ cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. baking soda

2 cups flour

¼ tsp. salt

1 cup mashed bananas

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Line a regular muffin tin with paper or foil liners. Cream butter and sugar together, mixed thoroughly.  Add eggs, one at a time and beat well. Sift flour, baking soda and salt, combine in a separate bowl.  Add flour mixture to the butter/sugar/eggs, alternating with bananas.  Fold in nuts (if you prefer).  Scoop the banana bread mixture into muffin tins, filling each about ¾ full.  Bake for 18-20 minutes.  Check with a toothpick to test if they are done!

Tip:

You can easily convert this recipe back into loaves if you prefer slices of banana bread instead of muffins.  Double the recipe above and pour into loaf pans instead of muffin tins.  The doubled recipe will make 3 loaves of banana bread. Bake the loaves for 55-60 minutes.  Adjust the color of your bread/muffins depending on what sugar you used.  I went with white sugar in these muffins, but you could substitute ½ cup of brown sugar to make a darker muffin.

XOXO - Megan