Pumpkin Cupcakes

I love these cupcakes, and I love making desserts in the Fall with pumpkin (especially when they are this easy!) They are really moist because of the pumpkin, and made healthier by a few substitutions. For example, applesauce is used instead of oil and lighter versions of ingredients are used in the frosting (light butter and Neufchatel). Both of these substitutions cut down on fat in the recipe. These are great to make anytime in fall, not just around Halloween! People will be asking for the recipe and it’s so easy that you almost do not want to tell them! I hope you enjoy these amazing cupcakes as much as I do!

Ingredients

·      1 package of yellow cake mix

·      1 ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice

·      ½ can of pure pumpkin (half of a 30 oz. can)

·      3 large eggs

·      ½ cup applesauce (plain or cinnamon, cinnamon just adds more flavor)

·      1/3 cup water

·      1 package Neufchatel Cheese

·      ½ stick of Light Butter

·      2-3 cups of powdered sugar

·      1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1.     Preheat the oven to 350* F.

2.     Line 24 muffin tins with cupcake cups (paper liners or silicone).

The cupcake papers were too cute, so I had to share them.

Both of these came in a pack together and I could not pass them up.

3.     In a large bowl or electric mixer, mix cake mix, pumpkin pie spice, pumpkin, eggs, applesauce, and water until moist.

I always crack eggs into a separate bowl, this way egg shells do not get into the ingredients.

4.     Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.

The batter comes out a little thicker than normal cake batter.

Filling a bag with the batter works very well to fill the cups without the mess!

5.     Pour the batter into the muffin cups, filling them ¾ full.

Try not to fill the cupcakes too little or too much.

6.     Bake the cupcakes for 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the cupcake.

7.     Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes and then remove from pan and cool completely.

8.     For the frosting, cream together Neufchatel and butter.

I let the butter and cream cheese (Neufchatel) come to room temperature before creaming.

I think next time I make this I will add more powdered sugar to make the frosting a little thicker.

9.     Add the vanilla to the frosting mixture and mix.

10. Slowly add powdered sugar to the frosting.

11. Once frosting is complete, frost each cupcake.

The cupcakes come out this beautiful orange color. 

12. Decorate with sprinkles if desired.

I really liked these sprinkles; one had pumpkins and bats, the other had tombstones and then I put little ghosts on both of them!

Greta in her lobster costume!!!

Let's just say she was not a huge fan of the costume...

Fruit Pizza Tarts

Growing up my sister would always ask for fruit pizza for her birthday instead of a cake. Fruit Pizza is sugar cookie dough topped with cream cheese frosting and then finished with your favorite fruits. This past weekend my sister and I had a Halloween party and the snacks were all finger foods. I thought of making mini fruit pizzas and putting them into muffin tins. After tweaking the recipe and simplifying ingredients, I came up with these bite size delights. These are very customizable since you can put whatever type of fruit on them that you like.

(I made these at my sister's apartment, sorry about the picture quality.  I took them all with my iPhone, so the lighting may be off.)

Ingredients

• 2 packages premade sugar cookie tubes (cut and bake)
• 1 package of Neufchatel Cheese (1/3 less fat cream cheese, look for it with the cream cheese)
• 2 cups of powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1/2 stick of light butter
• 1 tub of light frozen whipped topping (thawed)
• Fruit of your choice. I used:
• 1 quart of strawberries
• 1 pint of blackberries
• 1 small can of mandarin oranges

Directions

1.  Set the cookie dough, neufchatel cheese, and butter out to start warming to room temperature. 
2. Take a small amount of the dough (approximately 1 1/2 inches or so) roll into a ball and then flatten it out so that it is relatively thin (if it is too thick the tart will just have more cookie and less room for filling). 

The rolled cookie dough

My sister decided to get in the Halloween mood with this dough by making a skeleton face.

The flattened cookie dough, I used my hands, but a rolling pin would work.

3. Spray the muffin tins with cooking. Take the flattened out cookie dough and put it into the muffin tin. If need be cut the edges so that the tarts lay flat. 

A butter knife can just be taken around the edges to even the dough.

3. Gently roll the edges of the dough into the cup to prevent the dough from sticking to the top side edges of the tin. 

Gently roll the edges of the tarts inwards, this allows the tarts to come out of the pan easier.

4. Bake for the shortest time recommended on the cookie dough package. (I cooked mine for 7 minutes at 325*).

The tarts will come out of the oven very puffy, so don't worry.

5. After baked, let the tarts cool in the pan.  Make sure to cool completely. 

This tart turned out a little thick, so initially thinner is better and will make the final tart lighter.

6. For the frosting, cream together the Neufchatel cheese and butter with an electric or hand mixer.

Cream the butter and Neufchatel together evenly.

7. Add the vanilla and mix together with the frosting.
8. Slowly add the powdered sugar while mixing on low.
9. Once the frosting is mixed, fold in the entire container of whipped topping and put into a quart size bag. When ready to fill the tarts cut the corner of the bag to easily allow you to fill the tarts. 

Make sure to fold in the whipped topping, otherwise it can lose its shape.

Putting the filling into a bag makes it really easy to fill each cup without the mess.

10. Fill the cups 3/4 (or more) full with the cream cheese frosting/whipped topping.

You could add some food coloring to the filling to make these really festive for any holiday.

11. Add the desired amount of fruit to each cup.

Choose which ever fruit to fill the cups with. These have fall colors, so they were perfect.

 

Makes about 24 cups

I was out of town so Greta was not in the Kitchen with me, but I have many pictures of here to share.

Baked Mac and Cheese

 

At my Grandma’s we have a large Sunday lunch and often people bring dishes that are always really good and we always have a ton of leftovers. One of my favorite recipes is this baked macaroni and cheese, I almost always have two or three servings! I love macaroni and cheese and try many new recipes (so I may have to make a section just about Macaroni and Cheese recipes).

Ingredients

 

3 tablespoons Butter

2 cups uncooked macaroni

1 ½ teaspoons salt

¼ teaspoons pepper

2 cups shredded cheese

1 beaten egg

4 cup milk

Greta begging for food...again

Directions

 

1. Preheat oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Melt Butter then put into a 9x13 pan. 

I melted the butter in a small bowl first.

Spread the melted butter evenly in the bottom of the pan.

3. Mix macaroni, salt, pepper, and cheese and put them in the pan. 

4. Beat egg and mix with the milk, pour over macaroni

5. Bake at 375* Fahrenheit uncovered for 45 to 60 minutes.

  Notes
      * I have tried to make this recipe with whole wheat noodles (many different blends, brands, etc.) but it always seems to turn a little off. In this recipe I used 100% whole wheat noodles, and it turned out better, but I would stick with just plain noodles for best results. 

Bacon Meatballs

Inspired by EvilShenanigans

I was using  StumbleUpon and came across this recipe many times and finally decided to make it. As meatballs these were not very good, they were dry (somehow even though there was a pound of bacon) and not flavorful enough. However, I think these might be good if they were shaped into patties and then eaten as hamburgers instead of meatballs. I did pair the meatballs with a sweet / smoky BBQ sauce and this helped counteract the dryness.

Ingredients

           

·      1 pound bacon (I used Plumrose Smokey Maple)

·      1 ½ pound ground beef

·      2 teaspoons salt

·      2 teaspoons smoked paprika

·      2 teaspoons dry oregano

·      1/2 teaspoon black pepper

·      1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

·      1 egg

Directions

1.     Cut the bacon into 1 inch pieces and pulse in a food processor until no longer in large chunks

Greta's picture is here instead of food processed bacon, see notes below for the reason why.

2.     Add the bacon to a large bowl and then add all of the other ingredients.

3.     Mix the meat until completely combined.

I used a two tablespoon spoon to measure the meatballs, which worked great.

4.     Ball the meat to about 1 inch to 1 ½ inches in diameter and place into a preheated pan and brown on all sides.

Pre Browned

Browned.

5.     To a preheated oven 400 degrees Fahrenheit add the meatballs and cook for about 10- 15 minutes. 

After bakes, definitely set on paper towel to drain the grease.

Here are the meatballs with the BBQ sauce.

Notes

·      You may want to try cooking the bacon beforehand, and then crumbling it into the ground beef.

·      FYI: the bacon is really gross when processed in the food processor.

 

Sweet and Spicy Black Beans and Corn

The finished product (with some brown rice)

I can’t take credit for this recipe, but it is a homemade recipe that I have made numerous times (thanks Brad for creating this). This is a healthy side dish that would be great with stuff from the grill or even a side on Mexican Food night. The sweetness and spiciness can be adjusted to fit anyone’s palate. I love this recipe, because it’s so easy and so good.

Ingredients:

·      2 cans of Black Beans (one drained, the other not drained)

·      1 can of whole kernel Corn

·      Jalapeños to taste

·      Brown Sugar to taste

·      Black Pepper to taste

·      Chili powder (about 1/8 teaspoon)

Directions:

1. Add everything to a medium saucepan.

I halved the recipe and added the entire can of corn, it is better to follow the recipe's proportions.

2. Bring the mixture to a boil and stir occasionally to avoid burning.

The dish should have some sauce with it, and should be thick.

3. Heat thoroughly.  

The Black beans and corn served with brown rice and chicken topped with Peach BBQ sauce.

Notes:

*The corn could be made extra delicious by draining the canned corn and roasting it under the broiler.