Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting

(Wyatt frosted these beauties!)

I got this recipe from a co-worker several years ago. Now I make them every year around “pumpkin” season. They are so delicious! It was originally a vegetarian recipe (hence the soy milk), but I’ve always just used regular milk and they turn out perfect. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/3 cup oil

1 cup sugar

¼ cup soy milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 ¼ cups flour

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp salt

½ cup chocolate chips

1.     Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Line muffin pan with cupcake liners.

2.     In a medium bowl, stir together pumpkin, oil, sugar, soy milk, and vanilla.  Sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt.  Stir together with a fork – don’t use a handheld mixer, as it will make the batter gummy.  Once well combined, fold in the chocolate chips.

3.     Fill liners two-thirds full.  Bake for 22 to 24 minutes.  Transfer to wire rack and let fully cool before icing.

Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting

Makes a little more than needed to frost 12 cupcakes

½ cup shortening

½ cup margarine

3 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted if clumpy

1 ½ tsp vanilla

¼ cup soy milk

Cinnamon, to taste

1.     Beat the shortening and margarine together until well combined and fluffy.

2.     Add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes.

3.     Add cinnamon, to taste {I never measure, just like ½ tsp or until it looks/tastes how you want}

4.     Add the vanilla and soy milk, beat for another 5 to 7 minutes until fluffy.

The Best Burger Ever

Lately I've been craving Red Robin's Southwest Burger. The problem is that I hate to eat out. I hate it for many reasons, and one of the reasons is that I enjoy cooking, and I enjoy the satisfaction of eating a delicious meal that I made myself.

So I set out to make my own perfect burger:
1/3 lb, Bacon, Guacamole, Pepper Jack cheese (Red Robin uses swiss, so I made Mark's with Swiss, but when I go to RR, I get pepper jack instead)

Sorry I devoured the burger before I thought to get a picture.

Ingredients:
Guacamole: 2 avocados + packet of guacamole mix. I made the guacamole hours before dinner so the flavors would be nice and strong
1.5 slices of bacon per burger
Large Buns: I used Kaiser rolls with sesame seeds. It was the only ones in the store large enough for the burger I had in mind
Ground beef: 1/3 lb each burger
Mayo (RR uses Mayo as their only condiment, I don't like Mayo so I use ketchup)
Pickles
Red Onion
Lettuce, shredded
Cheese: I used Pepper Jack for mine because I like the extra kick. Mark prefers his with Swiss
Tomatoes, sliced
Salt, pepper, garlic powder all to taste

Tools:
Timer
Electric griddle
Metal Spatula



Directions:
Shape patties to be about 3/4 of an inch thick, with a diameter of approximately half an inch larger than the bun. Add seasonings while shaping, and once shaped, add a little more.

Once griddle is ready to go, preheated to 350 degrees, place buns on. Let buns become mostly toasted, because once the meat is on the griddle, the temperature will drop dramatically and will slow down the toasting.

Place patties on griddle, so that they're not touching each other, if they are touching, they won't cook as evenly. Turn on timer.
At 2:15, using metal spatula, flip burgers, carefully. As soon as you flip them, add cheese, otherwise it won't have enough time to melt. If the meat patty tears, the cheese can work as a glue.
Add bacon.
By now the buns should be properly toasted.
On the bottom bun add mayo, pickles, onion, tomato (order doesn't really matter, but to make it more organized, I prefer it this order). On the top bun spread the guacamole and mix the shredded lettuce (This is how RR does it).
At 6:15 (4 minutes after flipping) burgers are ready! Carefully place onto bottom bun and top with the top! Enjoy! If you want to make sure the burgers are cooked to perfect temperature, use a meat thermometer, it should read at least 165 degrees.


This burger was big enough that we didn't need anything on the side, and I still didn't finish the whole burger!

Delicious Pot Roast

I've made pot roast for years and years, always searching for that perfect recipe. That perfect taste, and soft beef. This recipe can be cooked in the oven for about 4 hours, or in the crock pot on low for 8+ hours. Either way, it tastes wonderful and is fall-apart-tender.

Delicious Pot Roast

Herb Rub:

1 TBS. dried rosemary

1 TBS. dried Thyme

1 TBS. olive oil

1 TBS. garlic powder

1 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. ground black pepper

1 tsp. dried bay leaves

1 (5 pound) boneless beef chuck roast

4 cups low sodium beef broth, plus extra as needed

2 TBS. olive oil

3 beef bullion cubes

1. In a small bowl, mix herb rub ingredients until smooth.
2. Pat the beef dry with paper towels and rub on all sides with herb rub.
3. In frying pan, heat 2 TBS. olive oil over medium heat.
4. Add the beef and cook until browned on all sides, about 12 minutes.
5. Remove the beef and place in crock pot.
6. Add beef broth to frying pan and scrape up the brown bits that are on the bottom of the pan.
7. Poor beef broth in crock pot. Beef should be over halfway covered by liquid. Add more as needed.
8. Add beef bullion cubes to crock pot.
9. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.
10. Beef will fall apart at this point. Pull it out of the crock pot and transfer to serving dish. Spoon some of the liquid over the beef to keep it moist.
11. Transfer the remaining liquid to a pot on the stove. Thicken to gravy consistency.

Fried Chicken

Another wonderful foodnetwork.com recipe. Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside. Tim loves his fried chicken with mashed potatoes, and it makes for one delicious meal.

Fried Chicken

Chicken pieces (I like to get the picnic pack, with breasts, drumsticks, wings, etc.)

2 cups lowfat buttermilk

2 TBS kosher salt

2 TBS paprika

2 TBS garlic powder

1 tsp cayenne pepper

Flour for dredging

Vegetable shortening for frying

1. Place chicken pieces in plastic container and cover with buttermilk. Cover and refrigerate for 12-24 hours.
2. Melt enough shortening over low heat to come just 1/3 inch up the side of a 12 inch cast iron skillet or heavy frying pan. Once shortening liquefies, raise heat to 325 degrees F. Do not allow oil to go over 325 degrees.
3. Drain chicken in a colander.
4. Combine salt, paprika, garlic powder and cayenne pepper.
5. Liberally season chicken with this mixture.
6. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.
7. Place chicken skin side down into the pan. Put thighs in the center, and breasts and legs around the edges of the pan. Oil should come half way up the pan.
8. Cook chicken until golden brown on each side, approximately 10-12 inches per side. More importantly, the internal temperature of the chicken should be right around 180 degrees. (Be careful to monitor shortening temperature every few minutes.)
9. Drain chicken on a rack over a sheet pan. Don't drain by setting chicken directly on paper towels or brown paper bags. If you need to hold the chicken before serving, cover loosely with foil, but avoid holding in a warm oven, especially if it's a gas oven.

Family Friendly Chicken Enchiladas

I got this recipe from a good friend, Shalyse Clayton. The recipe makes lots of enchiladas. I doubled it this time and fed close to 30 people!

 

Family Friendly Chicken Enchiladas

3 cups cooked and shredded chicken

2 cans (10.75 oz each) cream of chicken soup, condensed

1 cup sour cream

1 can (4 oz) diced green chilis, drained (optional)

1/4 cup dried minced onion

2 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese, divided

12 plus corn tortillas

1/3 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. combine chicken, 1 can of soup, sour cream, chilis, onion, and 1 1/2 cup cheese.
3. Lightly fry corn tortillas just so they are flexible and don't break when you roll them.
4. Fill tortillas with a couple spoonfuls of chicken mixture. Depending on how full you fill them, you may use 15 or 16 tortillas.
5. Roll filled tortillas and place seam side down in a greased 9 x 13" pan.
6. Combine remaining soup with milk and spread over tortilla rolls.
7. Sprinkle remaining cheese over top.
8. Cover and bake 25 minutes.
9. Uncover and bake 5-10 minutes more, or until heated through.

Serves 6-8

Variation: 1 can (10 oz) enchilada sauce can be used to top enchiladas, in place of the soup and milk mixture.

Christmas Treats

Every year for Christmas, we make a wide variety of Christmas treats. Some we give away as gifts, others we consume at home over the month. Some of these were traditional treats we made as kids growing up. Others I have added to my recipe book over the years. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

Peanut Butter Haystacks
Chocolate Haystacks
Chocolate Snow Swirl Fudge
Peanut Butter Fudge
Chocolate Covered Pretzels
Chocolate Covered Snow Peaks
Chocolate Truffles
Sugar Cookies

Sorry it took me so long to post the rest of those recipes. Hopefully you all enjoy them in the years to come.

Chocolate Covered Pretzels

I can't remember where I got this recipe from, but it's pretty simple. There is not much better than chocolatey and salty mixed together.

Chocolate Covered Pretzels

1 package (12 oz) semi sweet chocolate chips

1 TBS shortening

2 dozen pretzel rods or large pretzel twists

Assorted sprinkles or small candies for decorating (optional)

1/2 cup white chocolate chips (optional)

1. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with aluminum foil.
2. Combine the chocolate chips and shortening in a large microwave safe bowl and microwave until the chocolate is melted, stirring every 20-30 seconds. When chocolate gets overheated it thickens and becomes unworkable, so watch your chocolate carefully! Take it out of the microwave when there are still unmelted chips remaining, and stir until the final chips melt.
3. If dipping pretzel rods, hold a rod by one end and dip it in the chocolate, leaving an inch or two uncovered. If you are dipping pretzel twists, drop the whole pretzel in the chocolate and submerge it slightly. Use a fork to pull the pretzel out of the chocolate. Shake the chocolate dipped pretzels several times to remove excess chocolate, and place it on the prepared baking sheet. If you are using sprinkles or small candies, sprinkle them on when the chocolate is still wet. Repeat with remaining chocolate and pretzels.
4. Place the pretzels in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to set the chocolate.
5. If desired, melt the white chocolate and drizzle it over the pretzels for a decorative look. Briefly return the candy to the refrigerator to set the white chocolate before serving. I like to do semi sweet chocolate drizzled with white chocolate, and white chocolate drizzled with semi sweet. Do whatever kind you like.