Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

I love pumpkin. So naturally there was no doubt that I would love these. They are incredibly moist and they're good hot out of the oven or cold from the fridge. I think I might have even liked them better cold when the cream cheese firmed up a little. The crumb topping made waay too much, I didn't even use half of it, so I would reccommend cutting the amounts in half for it. Also, it says the yield is 24, but I ended up with a little batter left over, enough for 3 more without the cream cheese. Which worked out perfectly since Rylee didn't really like the cream cheese. You could also put chopped nuts in the batter or topping if you wish.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Annie's Eats

Ingredients:

For the filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

For the muffins:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. ground cloves

1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

4 large eggs

2 cups sugar

2 cups pumpkin puree

1¼ cups vegetable oil

For the topping:

½ cup sugar

5 tbsp. flour

1½ tsp. ground cinnamon

4 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Directions:

Make the filling by combining the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a log about 1½-inches in diameter. Smooth the plastic wrap tightly around the log, and reinforce with a piece of foil. Transfer to the freezer and chill until at least slightly firm, at least 2 hours.

To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend. In another bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil. Mix on medium-low speed until blended. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.

To make the topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to blend. Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.

To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well with a small amount of batter, just enough to cover the bottom of the liner (1-2 tablespoons). Slice the log of cream cheese filling into 24 equal pieces. Place a slice of the cream cheese mixture into each muffin well. Divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups, placing on top of the cream cheese to cover completely. Sprinkle a small amount of the topping mixture over each of the muffin wells.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving.

Yield: 24 muffins

Chocolate Ricotta Muffins and Mini Smore's for kids (or adults)

Have leftover ricotta you don't know what to do with? If you're looking for something other than lasagna, here's an alternative. Rich, chocolatey muffins!

I also made some mini smore's today to give Rylee her first smore. I was going to use Teddy Grahams, but instead found these cute little Spongebob Graham crackers (that were cheaper). I didn't have a campfire available, so I just put the mini marshmallows on a fork and roasted them over the gas stove top. They're nice for smaller kids to be able to eat, or even older ones.

Chocolate Ricotta Muffins

Ingredients:

1 cup ricotta cheese
2 large eggs
1 1/3 cups milk
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups granulated white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder, sifted
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Place rack in the middle of the oven. Line 16 muffin pans with paper liners or spray with a non stick vegetable spray.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk the ricotta cheese and then add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the milk, vanilla extract, and cooled and melted butter, mixing well. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder,, salt, and cocoa powder. Add the ricotta mixture to the flour mixture. Stir just until combined and then fold in the chocolate chips. Do not over mix this batter or the muffins will be tough when baked.
Divide the batter amongst the 16 muffin cups using two spoons or an ice cream scoop.
Place in the oven and bake about 20 minutes or until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
Makes 16 regular-sized muffins.

Mini Smores:

Teddy Grahams/Spongebob Graham Crackers

Mini Marshmallows

Hershey Bar

Just assemble 1 square from Hershey bar on graham cracker, top with 2 mini marshmallows (roasted, or not) and top with graham cracker.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

I've had this recipe from Pinch My Salt bookmarked for a while. The other day matt brought in this HUGE zucchini that was hiding in the garden. It was seriously the biggest zucchini i've ever seen!! It probably weighed like 3 lbs. Immediately I knew what I wanted to do it! (well..about 1/2 of it since the thing was so huge!) This recipe is originally from Cooking Light and uses applesauce in place of butter. It was amazing! I seriously LOVED this stuff! As did Matt and Rylee. They're so moist and fluffy. I made them right before dinner and ended up eating it for dinner. And dessert. And as a snack throughout the rest of the evening. I also was a huge fan of using a mini muffin pan instead of a loaf pan. It cooked sooo much faster and there's no slicing involved. And they're just cute as little muffins. Since I still have half of the monster left in my fridge I think I might make another batch since yesterday's is about gone =\

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:
3/4 C. sugar

3 T. vegetable oil

2 large eggs

1 C. applesauce

2 C. all-purpose flour

2 T. unsweetened cocoa

1 1/4 t. baking soda

1 t. ground cinnamon

1/4 t. salt

1 1/2 C. finely shredded zucchini (about 1 medium)

1/2 C. semisweet chocolate chips (mini chocolate chips also work well)

cooking spray

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.2. Place first 3 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at low speed until well blended. Stir in applesauce.3. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture, beating just until moist. Stir in zucchini and chocolate chips. Spoon batter into a 9×5-inch loaf pan (or mini muffin pan) coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour (or about 15 min. if using mini muffin pan) or until wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack, then remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Yield: 16 servings (serving is one slice) (I got 36 with mini muffin pan)
Nutrition info (per slice): Calories: 161; Fat 5.1 grams; Protein: 2.9 grams; Carb: 27.3 grams; Fiber: 1.4 g; Chol: 27 mg; Sodium: 145 mg

Chocolate Chip Muffins

I got a jumbo muffin pan last month for my birthday and decided I need to break it in. I tend to like things (cupcakes, cookies, muffins, etc) either tiny or really big. Regular size seems boring. Even though I do make regular sized things a lot. Originally I was searching for a chocolate chocolate chip muffin recipe but didn't find one I wanted to try and settled for just chocolate chip (for now) since these looked pretty good. Matt thought these were really good. I thought they were good too, but not exactely what I was looking for. This muffin does have pretty good taste but is kinda thick/dense. I wanted something more lighter and fluffy, more like a cupcake I guess :) Still, it's not a bad cupcake at all and will go in my book until I find one to replace it.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

found on joy of baking

(who needs a fancy plate when you can use a paper towel??)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1 cup milk or cream
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cups granulated white sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips (I used milk)

Topping:
1 tablespoon granulated white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 deg F. Butter muffin pan or line with liners.
In a bowl whisk together eggs, milk and vanilla.
In another bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt then stir in chocolate chips. Fold the wet ingredients (including butter) into flour mixture just until combined. Tough muffins will result from over mixing.
Fill muffin cups evenly with batter. In a small bowl combine topping ingredients and sprinkle over each muffin.
Bake about 18-20 min. or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool about 5 min. before removing from pan.
Makes 12 regular size muffins (or 6 jumbo)