Pumpkin Scones with Cinnamon Drizzle

So I had leftover pumpkin and decided it was finally time to make those scones I have been saying I would make. Like the pecan pie, I've never made pumpkin scones. Again, I found a recipe that looked good and had at it. They were SO easy to put together and only 10 minutes to bake. The drizzle took 2 seconds to put together. Like the other scones I made, I made sure to line the baking sheet with foil and coat the foil with non-stick spray. They didn't stick at all. Oh and make sure you let them cool all the way before adding the drizzle. I was a bit anxious and put it on too early, but oh well!

Here's the recipe:
(recipe courtesy of green tea blog with some of my additions)
Oven at 425 degrees

2 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter cut into small pieces
1 egg
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For the drizzle:
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
some cinnamon and nutmeg- eyeball it
2 tablespoons milk

In one bigger bowl, mix all dry ingredients. With a fork, your hands, or a pastry blender mix the small pieces of butter in the dry ingredients until it looks like coarse meal.

In a separate smaller bowl, combine the pumpkin, egg, and vanilla.

Put the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Don't over mix or you'll end up with tough scones. Once combined, pat the dough into a circle until about 1/2 inch thick or so. Cut the dough in half and then cut triangular scones. Bake for 10-12 minutes and cool.

Drizzle:
Mix all three ingredients together and stir to combine, but remember don't drizzle until the scones are cool!!

Have fun:)

Pecan Pie

I made two pies recently. I made pumpkin pie using the same recipe that I had already posted and I also made pecan pie, which was a first for me. I found a recipe on foodnetwork.com that looked good. I have no experience with this type of pie, but this looked like a typical recipe. Anyway, it came out well, except the crust stuck a lot to the pie plate for some reason. I may spray the plate with non-stick spray next time to see if that works. I also think I baked it a little too long. The recipe says to bake until the edges are set, but the middle is still fluffy and I think I just left it in the oven too long, but it still tasted good.

The recipe says to toast the pecans and that's highly recommended because it added a nice toasty flavor to the pie. Only toast the pecans once you chop them coarsely because the more surface area to toast, the better they taste. To toast pecans, set the oven to 400 degrees and place the pecans on a baking sheet. I'd say keep them in the oven for about 5 minutes, turning them once. You want to see that they have browned, but are not too brown.

And I skipped the bourbon.

Oh, for the crust, I used the same recipe I posted with the pumpkin pie, so you can find that there. But you'll want to pre-bake it. So once you make the crust, stick something heavy on the bottom so it doesn't crack /or bubble, cover the crust in foil, bake at 400 degrees for 20 mins., remove the foil, reduce heat to 350 and bake 10 mins. or until golden.

Here's the recipe:
(recipe courtesy of foodnetwork.com)

Happy Baking! Sorry no picture; it was eaten before I thought of taking one:(

Oven: 350 degrees

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 2 cups chopped toasted pecans
• 1 to 2 tablespoons bourbon
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten

In medium saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and stirring constantly, continue to boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the nuts, bourbon, and the vanilla. Set the mixture aside to cool slightly, about 5 minutes. (If the crust has cooled, return it to the oven for 5 minutes to warm through.) Whisk the beaten eggs into the filling until smooth. Put the pie shell on a sheet pan and pour the filling into the hot crust.

Bake on the lower oven rack until the edges are set but the center is still slightly loose, about 40 to 45 minutes. (If the edges get very dark, cover them with aluminum foil half way during baking.) Cool on a rack. Serve slightly warm or room temperature.

Mini Vanilla Cupcakes with Ganache Frosting

Last minute decision tonight to bake. I've had this recipe bookmarked for like a month now, so it's definitely about time. Nothing much to add to the recipe, except that I added two chocolate morsels to each cupcake cup for some extra chocolate-y goodness. Make sure to let the cupcakes cool all the way before putting on the ganache and make sure to put the ganache on while that is still hot because it will harden. Happy Baking!

This recipe is courtesy of zoecuisine.com


Cupcakes:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks of butter at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon pure almond extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed for 3-5 minutes or until light yellow and fluffy. Crack the eggs into a small bowl. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl down once during mixing. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well. The mixture might look curdled, don't be concerned!

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, salt, baking powder and soda together. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and the milk to the batter in 3 batches, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Make sure to scrape all the flour off the sides of the bowl into the batter.

Line mini cupcake tins with paper cupcake cups. Spoon a heaping teaspoon full of batter into each cup. The cups should be filled about 3/4 of the way to the top with batter. Bake for about 13-15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center. Let cool completely before frosting.

Makes approx 30 mini cupcakes or 1 - 9" round cake.

 

Ganache Frosting

Ingredients:

1/2 cup heavy cream

4 oz (1 large bar) good quality semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Instructions:

Place chopped chocolate in a medium size mixing bowl. In a small saucepan heat the cream until boiling. Remove from heat and pour the hot cream directly over the chocolate. Stir with a rubber spatula until completely incorporated and smooth. 

Dip the cupcakes into the ganache while it is still warm. It will harden when it cools.