You don’t need my recipe, just bake a pumpkin pie

If you have a can of pumpkin, you have a pumpkin pie recipe. Every label has one.

So why would I post a recipe for something as easy as pie? Because sometimes we forget how simple and quick it is to bake one of America’s favorite pies. And I like eating creamy pumpkin pie all year long, not just at the Thanksgiving table when I’m stuffed full of turkey and gravy.

I’m posting this recipe mostly for my 10-year-old niece, Katera, who loves pumpkin pie. She reads my blog and bakes on Sundays before the Indianapolis Colts take the field. And for my nephews, the T-boys, who suddenly appeared in my kitchen when they heard “pumpkin pie” at Christmas.

And don’t freak out about making a pie crust because unless you have an extraordinary family recipe, Pillsbury, Hy-Vee, and other brands, sell refrigerated pie dough that is as good as any homemade crust (that I’ve ever made anyway).

Alright kiddo, let’s bake some pie!

Place pie crust dough in pie plate(s). Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, add the can of pumpkin.

In a small bowl, lightly beat 2 eggs with a small whisk or a fork.

Add the beaten eggs to the pumpkin.

Add 3/4 cup sugar.

Add 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Add 1 teaspoon cinnamon.

Add 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger.

Add 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg.

My secret is that I add a couple of dashes of pumpkin pie spice.

Pour in a 12-ounce can of evaporated milk.

Beat on medium speed until well combined.

Pour into the unbaked pie crust(s).

Baked the pie for 15 minutes at 425°. Reduce the oven temperature to 350° and cover the crust with a pie shield or foil so it doesn’t get too brown. Bake an additional 50-55 minutes.

Remember to do the dishes while you wait for the pie to bake. Your mom will appreciate it. You can probably put everything in the dishwasher.

Pumpkin Pie

This recipe makes two pies. Or, if you have a deep-dish pie baker like the one I have, it will make one pie. It makes two pies if you have two smaller pie plates, like glass or aluminum.

1 box refrigerated, ready-to-bake pie crusts, (two pie crusts)

1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie mix)

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

couple dashes of pumpkin pie spice, optional

1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk

whipped cream to top the pie when you eat it

1.  Preheat oven to 425°.

2.  Place pie crust dough in pie plate(s). Set aside.

3.  Crack the eggs into a small bowl and gently beat with a small whisk or a fork. In a large mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin, eggs, sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice (optional), and evaporated milk. Beat on medium speed until well combined.

4.  Pour the pie mixture into the pie crust(s).

5.  Bake at 425° for 15 minutes. Then pull out of the oven and cover the edge of the crusts with foil or a pie shield like the one I have from Pampered Chef. That way, the edges of the crust won’t burn.

6.  Turn the oven temperature down to 350° and bake an additional 50-55 minutes. The edges will look done and the middle will be just a little bit jiggly. If you stick a knife in the middle of the pie, it should come out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

7.  You can serve it once it’s cooled, or put it in the refrigerator. Eat it with a generous pile of whipped cream.

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See how easy that was, Katera? When you bake yours, text me a picture. And maybe save me a slice?

Love, Aunt Staci

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{To-live-for Pumpkin Butterscotch Coffee Cake}

I brought this cake to work in celebration of Kari’s birthday. On Monday, Mary sent me an email with the subject line “to die for”. She wrote: “The pumpkin brown sugar cake/coffee cake/whatever it is called was extremely delicious. I told Paige that my plan to just eat half and save the rest for the next day worked for about 12 seconds. I checked your blog but didn’t see the recipe there. Please share!”

So this one’s for you, Mary! And for those of you who have thrown out all your muffin recipes except the butterscotch muffins I made for the cops, this is very similar so your recipe box is getting even lighter.

The aroma of this cake baking in the oven is intoxicating. It is THE cake you want to bake if you have guests coming, your house is on the market and you’re holding an open house, or you can’t get the smell of your kid’s hockey bag out of the back entry.

1 cup butterscotch chips

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 3/4 cup white sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup pure pumpkin

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Streusel

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Top the cake with a sprinkling of powdered sugar.

Make it:

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a regular-sized Bundt pan. Melt 1 cup of butterscotch chips over low heat on the stove or in the microwave, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and salt. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, oil, eggs, vanilla and melted (and cooled to room temperature) butterscotch chips. Gradually stir the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture, stirring until well combined.

For the streusel, in a small bowl, mix the brown sugar, chopped pecans, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice.

Pour half of the cake batter into the Bundt pan. Toss the streusel mixture evenly over the cake batter. Pour the rest of the cake batter over the streusel. Bake at 350° for 60-65* minutes, or until toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven, turn the Bundt pan upside down onto a cooling rack and let cool for 15 minutes before lifting the pan off the cake. When cake is completely cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

*My Bundt pan is the Pampered Chef Stoneware Fluted Pan so the bake time may be longer than what it would take in a metal Bundt pan. You may want to check the cake after 50 minutes of baking time.

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Have you fallen in love with the pumpkin and butterscotch flavor combination?

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{Thanking the Cops with a Muffin Stop}

My friend, Tracey, is unpredictable. And randomly sweet. Which is why I love her. One day, she commissioned me to bake three dozen muffins to bring to our local police department.

Tricia Squashingroff-Schwartz and Officer Joe Fishbaugher from the Brookings Police Department

Tracey wasn’t trying to get out of any parking tickets, she just wanted to let them know there are people who appreciate the work they do. Our community had just experienced two senseless tragedies from two fatal car accidents in town, one of them killing a 17-year-old boy from the local high school. (Tracey’s 17-year-old daughter was about ready to get her driver’s license so I suspect she may have been experiencing some “mom” emotions – and rightly so.)

It was easy to pick the first two flavors because my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip and Butterscotch  muffins are the ones I get the most compliments on, and the most requests for. The third flavor was triple chocolate. Chocolate in a breakfast food. Enough said.

 

I made extra pumpkin muffins and brought them to work. (Michal, here’s the recipe I promised you!)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Makes 36 regular muffins

2 1/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup oil

6 eggs

2 1/4 cup canned pumpkin

3/4 cup water

4 1/2 cups flour

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoons ground cloves

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 1/2 cups mini semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400°. Grease muffin pans or use cupcake liners. In a small mixing bowl, lightly beat the sugar, oil, and eggs together. Add pumpkin and water and stir. In a large, separate bowl, mix the flour, soda, baking powder, spices and salt. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients just until combined. Gently stir in the chocolate chips. As with most muffin batters, don’t over-mix or the muffins will be tough. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Lightly spray tops of muffins with cooking spray – this gives the muffins a lightly crispy top. (A little restaurant trick my sister, Kalli, taught me.) Bake 20-25 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

I used my square muffin tin which is a nice change from traditional round muffins.

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I gave these butterscotch muffins five stars on the Taste of Home website. You can view the recipe here. It quickly becomes a favorite go-to muffin recipe for all occasions. While you are on the site, take a look at this Cappuccino Muffins recipe. I haven’t tried them yet but I need to! 

My sister, Heidi, emailed me the Triple Chocolate Muffins recipe on Wednesday, April 18, 2001. (I printed the email and stuck it with my recipes.) I was eight months pregnant. All she wrote was, “Thought this recipe might also be one that you might enjoy!!!!” I wonder if I was having a pregnant-woman-chocolate-meltdown?

Triple Chocolate Muffins

3 cups flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

4 Tablespoons cocoa

1 1/2 cups milk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 stick butter, melted and slightly cooled

2/3 cup dark chocolate chips

2/3 cup white chocolate chips

Melt the butter first so it has time to cool. Preheat the oven to 325°. Grease 12 regular muffin cups or use cupcake liners. Stir together the flour, baking powder, cocoa and brown sugar. Mix well. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, milk, sour cream and melted butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring just until combined. Stir in the dark chocolate and white chocolate chips. 

Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

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Tracey’s gift to the Brookings Police Department is one of my favorite random acts of “sweet” kindness. I’m guessing they don’t receive appreciation as often as they should.

Enjoy the muffin recipes! Let me know if you bake a few dozen and give them in your own random act of “sweet” kindness.

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{KAHLÚA Pumpkin Chocolate Cheesecake}

My friend Teresa gave me a Pumpkin KAHLÚA Cheesecake recipe in 1994 and I’ve been making it the same way ever since. Until now. I couldn’t help but to add chocolate to the recipe this time [the Ghirardelli made me do it]. Luckily it was just as delicious as I imagined because I prepared it for Thanksgiving dinner with the in-laws; which by the way, was one of the most amazing Thanksgiving meals I’ve ever eaten. Thank you Lindsey and Jesse!

Crust:

3/4 cup gingersnap cookie crumbs

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake:

2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened to room temperature

1 cup sugar

4 eggs, room temperature

1 lb. can pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie mix)

1 cup semisweet chocolate

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup KAHLÚA

Make the crust:

If you don’t have a food processor, you can make crumbs in a blender. I used to make crumbs by smashing cookies/crackers in a Ziplock bag but I’ve found that using my blender gives me finer crumbs which helps the crust stay together better. In a bowl, combine gingersnap and graham cracker crumbs with powdered sugar and butter. Toss to combine. Press crumbs evenly onto bottom of greased 9-inch springform pan. Bake at 350° for 5 minutes.

I’ve found a new LOVE. And luckily for anyone who likes to bake cheesecake, you can buy as many of my new loves as you’d like! A few months ago, I saw this blog post from Bakers Royale and I went nuts over the mini cheesecake pans that she used. (Chicago™ Metallic) I used them for the first time this week and now I wonder if I’ll ever make a traditional 9″ cheesecake again.

For the cheesecake:

• Melt chocolate on low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside. You want the chocolate to cool before you add it to the cheesecake mixture.
• In a mixer bowl, beat softened cream cheese until smooth. Gradually add sugar and beat until light. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, being careful not to overbeat. Transfer 1 cup mixture to a separate bowl and blend in melted chocolate. Set aside.
• Add to the remaining cheesecake mixture: pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and KAHLÚA. Pour half of the pumpkin mixture into prepared crust. Top with the chocolate mixture and then top with the remaining pumpkin mixture. If you want to make a marble effect, use a table knife to gently cut through layers using an uplifting motion and then swirl.
• Place in the oven and bake at 350° for 45 minutes. Without opening the oven door, let the cheesecake sit in the turned-off oven for 1 hour. Remove from oven and cool completely before chilling in the refrigerator.
• You can top each serving with a small amount of whipped cream. The chocolate garnishes are simple to make. Melt a small amount of semisweet chocolate in a sealed Ziplock bag on very low heat in the microwave. (The small snack-size bags work really well.) Snip a tiny corner of the bag and make your designs on a piece of wax paper. Let cool completely and then set in whipped cream.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. Here’s to many more. Cheers!

Staci

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{Maple Iced Pumpkin Blondies}

If you haven’t heard, the 2009-2010 canned pumpkin shortage is history! So get that can opener cranked up because if you don’t bake a pan of these crazy-good Maple Iced Pumpkin Blondies for Thanksgiving, you might as well skip the holiday all together. And you wouldn’t want to disappoint the pilgrims.

Bars:

2  1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2  1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp salt

1  1/2 cups brown sugar

3/4 cup butter softened (1  1/2 sticks)

1  1/2 tsp vanilla

2 large eggs

1 cup pumpkin

Maple Cream Cheese Icing:

 6 ounces cream cheese, softened

2 Tablespoons butter, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

1-2 tsp maple flavoring

Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease a 15×10-inch jelly roll/bar pan. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon pumpkin pie spice and salt. In large bowl beat sugar, butter and vanilla extract. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in pumpkin. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Spread into prepared pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes of until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan. For Maple Cream Cheese Icing: Beat cream cheese, butter and powdered sugar in a small mixer until smooth. Add flavoring. Spread on completely cooled bars. Lightly sprinkle with cinnamon.

 This recipe is adapted from C&H Sugar.

What are some of your favorite Thanksgiving sweets?

 

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{Pumpkin Chip Cookies}

Pumpkin is one of my favorite flavors and one of the yummiest “baking smells.”  I don’t know how long ago I found this recipe in a Taste of Home magazine but it’s been in my recipe box for long enough to become a family favorite. These soft cake-like cookies have been enjoyed at many of our fall and winter holidays. If you’ve never tried pumpkin and chocolate together, you are in for a serious treat!

 I  shared some of these with my sister and nephew this week and my sister texted me to say, “these cookies are ‘da bomb’, you need to do a blog post !” I couldn’t agree more, Heidi so here it is. I’m kicking myself because as I write this blog post, I am traveling to the Black Hills and I FORGOT THESE COOKIES AT HOME. What was I thinking?? Oh, and the house is locked up like Fort Knox so don’t even think about raiding my cookie jar.

1 1/2 cups butter, softened (3 sticks)

2 cups brown sugar

1 cup sugar

1 can (15 oz) solid-pack pumpkin

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups quick-cooking oats

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (this is my own addition)

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups (12 oz) chocolate chips

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars. Beat in the egg, pumpkin and vanilla. Combine the flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool. Makes 10 dozen. 

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I sprinkled the cookies with cute little chocolate vermacelli  I bought while I was on my annual sister’s trip last year. I’d never seen such tiny little chocolate sprinkles–it was one of my best finds that year! Like a kid in a candy store…

If you enjoy the flavor of chocolate and pumpkin paired together, we also enjoy the Pumpkin Chip Muffins from Taste of Home. I often bake them in mini loaf pans at Christmas time and give them as gifts.

What pumpkin recipes do you enjoy?

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