Cranberry Pumpkin Walnut Loaves

Jumping back into Tuesdays with Dorie with this delicious fall flavored mini bread!  You can find the recipe here at Rebecca's site, thank you for hosting, Rebecca!   I love pumpkin baked goods (and anything pumpkin, really) and this was my first pumpkin recipe of the season, now I can't wait to make some more pumpkin goodies.

I used frozen cranberries and raisins, I debated using dried cranberries which I also have in my pantry but went with the frozen ones since I have so many to use up.  They add a delightful juicy burst of tartness when you get a bite with one. I think they bread would have been a little prettier with fresh cranberries, will have to remember that for next time.  I have been baking along with TwD just not posting, so I'm looking forward to the October make up date to share the rest :) Thanks for visiting!

Not Quite Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

It's my turn to host for Club: BAKED!  I thought it would be fun to give these Red Velvet Whoopie Pies a go and then forgot to add the red food coloring, go figure!  So here are my Brown Velvet Whoopie Pies :) I've never had or made whoopie pies before although I see them all over. They've always looked like a fun treat to me and now I know that they are!

These were a big hit with my whole family, they are definitely a delicious treat and quite easy to make! I loved the cream cheese frosting and walnut combo. Thanks for baking along with me this week, I hope you all had fun with this recipe and I can't wait to check out your red desserts :)

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Baked Explorations
Yield:10-12 large or 15-17 small pies

For the Whoopie Pies
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa powder ( like Valrhona)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened, cut into pieces
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening, at room temperature
3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon red gel food coloring

For the Cream Cheese Filling
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt

For the Assembly
1/2 cup toasted walnuts,chopped coarsely


Make the Pies


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.


In a large bowl, sift together the flour,cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.


In a small bowl, whisk together the canola oil and buttermilk.


In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and shortening until smooth. Scrape down the bowl and add the sugars. Beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, add the red gel food coloring, then mix on low speed for a few more seconds to incorporate. Do not over mix.


Turn the mixer to low. Add the flour mixture, alternating with the buttermilk mixture, in three separate additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture until just combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl , then mix on low speed for a few more seconds.


Cover with plastic wrap and chill the batter in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes.


Remove the batter from the refrigerator. Us a a small ice cream scoop with a release mechanism to drop heaping tablespoons of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Bake for 10-20 minutes, until the cookies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cookie comes out clean. Let the cookies cool completely on the pan while you make the filling.


Make the Cream Cheese Filling


Sift the confectioners' sugar into a medium bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until it is completely smooth. Add the cream cheese and beat until combined.


Add the confectioner's sugar, vanilla, and salt and beat until smooth. Be careful not to over beat the filling or it will lose structure. (The filling can be made 1 day ahead. Cover the bowl tightly and put it in the refrigerator. Let the filling soften at room temperature before using.)


Assemble the Whoopie Pies


Spread the walnuts in an even layer on a small plate.


Turn half of the cooled cookies upside down (flat side facing up)


Use an ice cream scoop or a tablespoon to drop a large dollop of filling onto the flat side of the cookie. Place another cookie, flat side down, on top of the filling. Press down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edges of the cookie. Turn the whoopie on its side and roll through the walnuts. Repeat until all the cookies are used. Put the whoopie pies in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to firm up before serving.


The whoopie pies will keep for up to 3 days on a parchment lined baking sheet covered with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator.

Walnut Almond Baklava

I've got another nut filled Greek treat to share this week -- Baklava! This one is from Tessa Kiros' book Food From Many Greek Kitchens and I am sharing it with I Heart Cooking Clubs for their Getting a Little Nutty theme of the week. I enjoy baklava and had made it one time before, but it is not something that picky husband likes so I hadn't made it again. I was hoping that now that my kids are a little older they would love baklava, so I gave it another go...

Baklava

Tessa Kiros -- Food From Many Greek Kitchens

Makes about 30

Syrup

2 cups sugar

2 tablespoons honey

juice of 1/2 lemon

strip of lemon peel

2 or 3 small cinnamon sticks

1 cup almonds, crushed but with some texture

1 cup walnuts, crushed but with some texture

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

22 sheets phyllo pastry, cut to the dimensions of your dish (I used a 9 by 13 baking dish and did not have to cut my phyllo at all)

2/3 cup (1 and 1/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted to golden brown

30 or so whole cloves for decoration

Preheat oven to 350. To make the syrup, put the sugar, honet, lemon juice, lemon peel, and cinnamon in a saucepan with 1 cup water and bring to a boil, stirring. Simmer for 5 to 6 minutes, then take off the heat and cool.

Mix the almonds, walnuts, sugar, and cinnamon together in a bowl. Habe the phyllo sheets ready, covered by a dish cloth to prevent them from drying out. Brush the base of an 8 and 1/2 by 12 inch baking dish (I used a 9 by 13 pyrex) with butter. Lay 1 sheet of phyllo on the bottom and brush with butter. Cover with another sheet, brush it with butter and continue in this way until you have a neat stack of 10 sheets lining the bottom of the dish. Spread half the nut mixture over the phyllo, patting it down firmly and leveling the surface. Cover with another 2 sheets of phyllo, buttering each one. Scatter the rest of the nuts over evenly and press down gently. Now lay down the last 10 sheets of phyllo, butter each one, of course, and finishing with the last layer buttered.

Using a small sharp knife, cut diamonds on the diagonal of about 2 and 1/2 by 2 and 1/2 inches. Cut all the way through the layers of phyllo, as this will make it easier to lift out the pieces when serving. Flick just a little cold water over the top to prevent the layers from curling up.

Stuf the center of each diamond with a clove. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until gently golden on top. Gently pour half of the syrup all over the baklava. Wait for it to be adsorbed, then pour over the rest. Leave to cool totally before serving. Will keep, unrefridgerated, for at least a week, covered with a dish cloth or foil to deter bees and flies.

~~~~

This was so yummy! It was very sticky syrupy and crispy crunchy on top followed by a softer soaked bottom. Delicious stuff! I shared some with the neighbors and heard it was great. Picky husband didn't want to try any, the kids did try some but didn't like it :( 0h-well. I've had lots of baklava at restaurants and such and this was right up there with the best. I missed the pistachio flavor though, so would definitely add those in next time. This is definitely a great baklava recipe, I just wish my family would have liked it more!

Grilled Nectarines with Greek Yogurt, Honey, and Walnuts -- Random Recipe #3

My Random Recipe this week is Grilled Apricots with Greek Yogurt, Warm Honey, and Toasted Walnuts from Bobby Flay's book Grill It!.

I remember buying this book for picky husband a few years ago, he never ever cooks but does like to grill steaks or hamburgers and I thought this might give him some new ideas for his grilling endeavors. I don't think he ever even looked at it, oh-well. After I randomly grabbed this book off the shelf and got ready to flip to a recipe I was thinking "no meat" since I wasn't really in the mood to convert a meat recipe over to the veg side with tofu or tempeh or something (which I do often, but this time I just wanted to make a recipe, not really fiddle with one) and I was pleasantly surprised when the page I flipped to had a beautiful photo of a nice fruit dessert.

This is a very simple recipe, the "parts are the whole" sort of thing, which was fine with me! It also gave me an excuse to pull out my poor electric indoor grill that I never use. Yay for using things that take up space! ;) I already had Greek yogurt, honey, and walnuts at home, so the only ingredients I needed were the apricots. Of course, since it is not stone fruit season here, I was half expecting to not find fresh apricots, which is exactly what happened. The recipe preface says, "If you can't find fresh apricots or they are out of season, substitute fresh nectarines, peaches, or plums. Don't let this recipe go to waste." Okay then. Fresh nectarines it is.

Grilled Nectarines with Greek Yogurt, Warm Honey, and Toasted Walnuts

adapted for an indoor grill from Bobby Flay's book Grill It!

6 ripe nectarines

3 tablespoons canola oil (I used veg oil)
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
3/4 cup Greek yogurt
Fresh mint sprigs, for garnish, optional (I did have mint growing in my herb garden last summer, but none now, of course)

1. Heat your grill to high. With the electric grill and it's temperature control dial I would have liked a little guidance as to what temperature high is, I just cranked it up all the way, which is 425. I know outdoor grills get much hotter, but this ended up working just fine.

2. Brush the nectarines with the oil, place on the grill cut side down, and cook until golden brown and caramelized, about 2 minutes.

Turn the nectarines over and continue cooking until just warmed through, about 2 minutes longer.

I did about 3 minutes per side and had nice grill marks, but they were still pretty crunchy in the middle.

3. While the nectarines are cooking, combine the honey and walnuts in a small pan, place on the grates of the grill, and cook until heated through, about 3 minutes. I just combined them in a bowl and microwaved it for 30 seconds.

4. Remove the apricots from the grill and place 3 halves on each plate. Top each half with some yogurt and drizzle the honey-walnut mixture over the top. Garnish wish a mint sprig, if desired. Serves 4.

~~~

I was thinking of making these for breakfast for the kids but decided to cook them up at lunch time with my youngest and then serve them as an after school snack. I'm sure they will be a big hit. My youngest loved this, although it is something you will have to cut up into small bite sized pieces for kids, unless maybe grilling them on a real grill would make them softer? Not sure. I was ready to have these with a spoon and soon realized they are a knife and fork kind of treat. All in all I thought this was a very nice simple recipe and can't wait to try it with some seasonal stone fruit this summer. I think that you could also swap the Greek yogurt for some vanilla ice cream for a sweeter dessert, although my little guy liked it with the yogurt very much. Fruit, yogurt, nuts, and honey, what's not to love? Thanks, Bobby! :)

Apple Cake with Dark Rum Sauce -- Random Recipe #1

I'm always trying to cook and bake things from my extensive cookbook home library (okay, two very full bookshelves, but might as well be a library) and have so many books that I haven't even tried one recipe from. One of my favorite ways to pick something to make, on a whim -- this is just for fun cooking here -- no meal or dinner party stress, is to randomly snatch a book off a shelf and randomly flip through the book to a page and make whatever is on that page. Is that crazy? I am a horrible decision maker and random is just so easy and to the point. I've done that since I was a kid looking at my mom's cookbooks, kind of like when you spin a globe and stop it with your pointer finger to pick a surprise vacation spot, remember doing that as a child? I do. Not like we ever went on any of those vacations, but they were sure fun to day dream about.

Anyway, I decided that I would do a little "series" and post about my random recipes. I do have some order to this, start on the top shelf, rotate shelves, etc. because I do love order, it's just the decision making that I find comfort in when it is random. For me a random recipe is a treasure waiting to be discovered, it's not the one you pick because you love the ingredients, or you saw a gorgeous photo of, or that was recommended by a blogging friend, the recipe is just there, waiting patiently for you to give it a try. My kids love to try the surprise recipes!


My first random book is from the top shelf, I didn't peek and just grabbed a book. It turned out to be Babe's Country Cookbook. Do you remember the movie Babe from the mid 90s? A sweet little movie I haven't seen since it was out in theaters. Will have to Tivo this and share it with my children :) I must have gotten this as a gift soon after the movie was out although I really don't remember where I got this sweet little book. I've looked through it many times over the years but never made anything from it. It has some delicious sounding recipes too, just didn't get around the making any. Just the perfect book to start Random Recipes off on...


The recipe I randomly flipped to is called Esme's Apple Cake with Dark Rum Sauce. Now I don't remember who Esme was in the movie, I'm thinking that she was probably the farmer's wife...anyway, this recipe was simple and I had all the ingredients already, score! -- don't you love when that happens?

Apple Cake with Dark Rum Sauce
adapted from Babe's Country Cookbook by Dewey Gram

Cake
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons water
2 Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, seeded, and coarsely grated (about 2 and 1/2 cups) I did not have Golden Delicious and ended up using 4 smaller apples
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Rum Sauce
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 and 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup dark rum -- I used Myer's Rum Original Dark -- Jamaican import, mon :)

Preheat your oven to 350. Butter a 9 by 9 by 2 inch square baking pan. I lined it with foil and sprayed the foil with baking spray.

In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. In an ample bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter until creamy. Beat in the brown and white sugars until well blended and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and the water. On low speed, beat in the flour mixture until well blended.


Fold in the grated apples and chopped walnuts.


Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.


Baked in the 350 degree oven for 30 to 35 minutes -- I needed the full 35 -- or until the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.


Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool. Cut into nine squares.


Making the rum sauce: in a small saucepan, melt the butter, and whisk in the brown sugar and cream. I would say add it all in at once and then heat it up to prevent the chance of the cream to curdle, or at least warm up your cream first in the microwave. Cook over low heat, whisking ever now and then, until the sugar is dissolved, about 6 minutes. Set aside to cool. Then stir the dark rum into the cooled butter-sugar sauce. Serve with whipped cream. Makes 9 servings.

~~~

I had a nice time putting this cake together and finally trying a recipe from Babe's Country Cookbook. The cake was moist and delicious, a nice homey dessert. The apples seemed to melt right into the cake and the caramel-like rum sauce really took it over the top. My mom who was visiting enjoyed this cake very much and had two pieces. Two out of three kids liked this one too, although I served it to the kids as more of an "apple bar / snack cake" without the rum sauce since the rum doesn't cook off or anything, I didn't think it would be kid appropriate. I think you could just as easily leave the rum out of the sauce if you so desired. Thanks for reading along on my little random recipe adventure. I'm going to try to do this weekly but no promises, okay? :)

Basic Biscuits & Apple Nut Muffin Cake

Time for a Tuesdays with Dorie twofer! I didn't get to last week's recipe on time, but late is better than never, right? I made the Apple Nut Muffin Cake with an apple fresh from the orchard and it was delicious!

my three sweeties at the apple orchard

All three kiddos loved the cake, which I cut into squares for a quick breakfast snack.  I followed the recipe almost exactly, my only change was to use a 9 by 13 pan since I couldn't locate my 8 by 8 one, so my muffin cake squares are a little thinner than they should be, but that just made them easier to munch :)   Thank you to Katrina at Baking and Boys for this TWD pick, you can find the recipe for Apple Nut Muffin Cake here at Katrina's site if you do not have Baking From My Home To Yours.

I made today's TWD pick, Basic Biscuits, yesterday when my kids got home from school.  They were wonderful, were the the best biscuits I've ever made or had? Could have been, yeah, they were that good!  I mixed the ingredients in the food processor (a tip I've learned from Baking From My Home To Yours) to ease up preparation (not that it was that difficult in the first place.  I also always just cut my biscuits one time, unless I'm going for specially shaped (i.e. heart) biscuits.  It is quick and easy, gives them a rustic almost square shape, and no scraps to re-roll :)

Above is before baking, below is after. I baked on an insulated baking sheet lined with foil and sprayed with cooking spray.  I baked for 14 minutes just like the book said, although I usually take my biscuits out a touch sooner, these were just perfect. 

Look at how light and fluffy and "top hat high" these got, love that part of Dorie's description in the recipe!

All in all, two perfectly delicious TWD treats in a row!  A huge thank you to Jennifer at Cooking for Comfort for this recipe pick -- you can find Dorie's recipe for Basic Biscuits here at Jennifer's site, this one is a keeper :)  I'll leave with an extra shot of the Apple Nut Muffin Cake, a side view so you can see all the goodies (apples, raisins, walnuts) baked in...yum!

Nutty, Chocolaty, Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake

Our treat of the week for Tuesdays with Dorie is Nutty, Chocolaty, Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake, picked for us to try by Jennifer of Cooking for Comfort, thank you Jennifer!

Orange zest mixed with sugar above, about to whip in the butter.


Before baking shot above, I used my Wilton Queen of Hearts bundt pan that I've had for almost eight years. I got it shortly after picky husband and I got married -- it was my first bundt pan and is still baking strong :)

After baking shot above, after baking 60 minutes exactly and testing done.

I did not have enough batter to do a second swirl and be able to cover it with batter so I just did the one swirl with about 75% of the swirl ingredients. It didn't swirl too much, but I was just happy the cake didn't break apart after unmolding, which I was nervous about after reading the P&Q section on this cake.

I used all of the swirl ingredients, even the raisins, we are all raisin fans in our house. My youngest and I were the only taste testers so far and we loved it. My favorite part was the aroma while it was baking, thanks to the fresh orange zest, which added so much flavor to this cake! Another delicious bundt cake from Baking From My Home to Yours :)

Canadian Butter Tart Muffins

These are one of my new favorite muffins. I found the recipe here at the Recipes and More website and was so surprised at how good these were. This is an easy recipe and the kids loved helping with the maple syrup on top -- although that was quite messy!

Canadian Butter Tart Muffins

from Recipes and More

1 1/2 cups raisins

1/4 cup granulated sugar (white)

1/2 cup butter, cut into chunks

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla or butterscotch flavoring

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup walnuts ,chopped or pecans

1/3 cup maple syrup

Place raisins, sugar, butter, eggs, milk and vanilla in a large saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until mixture is hot, slightly thickened and just beginning to bubble, about 4 or 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375F, prepare 12 muffin cups or insert paper muffin cups.

Stir flour with baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in center of flour mixture and pour in warm raisin mixture, stirring until just combined. (I just added my flour mixture into the raisin mixture, it does look really thick but it will come together, don't worry) Stir in nuts until evenly mixed.

Spoon batter into muffin cups. Bake in 375 oven until golden and a knife or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean -- 15 to 17 minutes.

Remove from oven immediately and pour about 1 tsp of maple syrup over the top of each muffin . Cool in cups for 10 minutes, then turn out onto rack. Tastes best served warm. -- I drizzled the syrup on after removing the muffins to a cooling rack since I thought they might get stuck inside of the cups with the syrup and crumble, which would not be good.

These were so delicious and just perfect for a cool fall morning, plus they made the house smell amazing while baking! Kids and picky husband all loved these muffins so they are a make again for us for sure :)