Hello Celebritys

We had some extra pumpkin in the fridge left over from when I made pumpkin bread the other day. I wanted to make something different, something yummy, and something fun. I met all of those criteria with these Pumpkin Spice Muffins.

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 tsp. pumpkin spice (I made my own with 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. ginger, 1/8 tsp. nutmeg and 1/8 tsp. cloves)
1-1/4 cups plus 1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
1. Put oven rack in center position and preheat oven to 350-F. Put liners in muffin cups (we were out of muffin liners, so I greased the muffin pan)
2. Whisk together flour and baking powder in a small bowl.
3. Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, 1-1/4 cups sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl until smooth, then whisk in flour mixture just until combined.
4. Stir together cinnamon and remaining 1 Tbsp. sugar in another bowl.
5. Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be 3/4 full) - I used 1/4 cup of batter in each muffin cup
6. Sprinkle tops of muffins with cinnamon-sugar mixture.
7. Bake until puffed and golden brown and a wooden pick or skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean - 25-30 minutes.
8. Cool in pan on a rack for about 5 minutes and then transfer muffins from pan to rack and cool.

My Evaluation:
These are awesome. So yummy, so fall-ish. I would definitely make these again. :)

1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

(1) Heat oven to 400-degrees. In large bowl, combine 1-1/2 cups sugar and butter; beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs; blend well. Add flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt; mix well.

(2) In small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in sugar-cinnamon mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

(3) Bake at 400-degrees for 8-10 minutes, or until set. Immediately remove from cookie sheets.
I found that baking the cookies for 9 minutes was just about perfect. At least in our oven. :)

1-1/2 cups raisins
2 eggs
2 tablespoons water
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup butter
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
1-1/3 cups brown sugar, packed
2 cups flour
1-1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2-1/8 teaspoon baking powder
3-3/4 cups oatmeal

(1) Cover raisins with warm water and soak for 10 minutes. Drain thoroughly and set aside.

(2) Combine eggs, water, vanilla, butter and sugars in mixing bowl. Sift together flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Add to egg mixture and beat at low speed 2-3 minutes or until smooth. Add oatmeal and raisins, and mix until blended. Chill. (I chilled overnight, but probably did not need to leave it that long)

(3) Roll into balls about 1" diameter and place on baking pan. Flatten to about 1/4".

(4) Bake at 375-degrees for 10-12 minutes.

One of my very favorite parts of summer is the fair. Of course, with the fair means the dawning of the end of summer/fall, but it is still one of my favorite parts of the season we call Summer.


My mom and I both love to enter things in the fair. At least one of us usually enters baked goods, and I have entered photography once or twice. I did not have my act together to get any photography entered this year, but I did go on a baking spree last weekend so I would have some baked goods to enter.


I will share pictures from the fair later, but for now let me share what I entered. 

Yep, that is three batches of tasty cookies. We still have some, because, well, it takes a bit of time to eat through 3 batches of cookies when you don't eat very many at a time. I made three different kinds of cookies: Peanut Butter, Oatmeal and Snickerdoodles.


I will post the recipes in three separate posts, along with their results. Stay tuned!