Cinnamon Sugar Coated Mini Pumpkin Muffins

Fall is seriously my favorite time of year....the weather gets cooler making it easier to do more outside, the trees start changing color and out come the warm up your soul foods; soups, stews, baked dishes and delicious baked goods. One of foods that I get super excited about come Fall is the pumpkin...ah who am I kidding....I love me some pumpkin all year round. Fall just allows me to use it more often!

I love cutting, roasting and pureeing our pumpkins after Halloween each year. Even though it is quite a time consuming process it is totally worth it to package it up in freezer bags. Then I have fresh pumpkin to use in whatever we'd like throughout the year to come!! Soups, pies, cookies, muffins, beer...the list goes on and on!! Yummy!!

Thought I'd share with you all one of my favorite pumpkin muffin recipes...super easy and tasty tasty! When you make them mini they are almost like mini baked pumpkin doughnut holes...except healthier!!

                       mmmmmm!

 Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Muffins

Preheat oven to 350F

3 Eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp Vanilla
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup fresh pureed pumpkin or canned
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup quick oats
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice

3-5 Tbsp cinnamon sugar (for coating)

Directions:
Mix together Eggs, Oil, Sugar, Vanilla & Pumpkin together in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl mix together Salt, Baking Powder, Flour, Quick Oats & Pumpkin Spice. Once dry ingredients have been combined slowly mix them into the wet ingredients until fully combined but don't over mix.
Spoon mixture into well oiled mini muffin tins. Bake for approx. 12 min or until cake tester comes out clean. Allow to cool in pans for 3-5 min before running a knife around the edges and popping them out. Put them into a gallon zip lock bag with cinnamon sugar. I put 12 in at at time and gentle toss to coat. Add additional cinnamon sugar if needed as you work through coating the muffins.
Cool on a drying rack.
*Makes approx. 48 mini muffins. These freeze wonderfully and are great to pop out of the freezer and into a lunch bag! Recipe adapted from King Arthur.

Sweet Potato Swiss Chard and Smoked Turkey Sausage Pie

I'd had this post ready to publish this past week and poof...it vanished on me. Ugh. With life as we know it around here lately I just didn't have the time to re-write it until now. Being blessed with a huge box of CSA produce is awesome...but with all the produce showing up at one time it can present some havoc in my fridge and with overload my brain with what I want to do with it all! This past week we were blessed with among a ton of other veggies a large bundle of swiss chard. Normally I go the easy but delicious route of sautéing it with some fresh minced garlic, olive oil and a dash of vinegar once it's wilted. Lately though I've been on a kick of making things that can be served hot or cold...as the weather warms up is so nice to have the option. For this dish the initial inspiration came from Martha Stewart's Swiss Chard Pie and the rest from my brain. The result...mmmmm!! You be the judge and give it a go yourself.

Let me know how it goes!!

Sweet Potato Swiss Chard & Smoked Turkey Sausage Pie

*makes one large pie

Ingredients

pie crust

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup olive oil

1/2 cup cold water

3/4 tsp coarse salt

1 egg yolk & 1 tsp water, mixed for basting onto top crust

pie filling

1 sweet potato, chopped in 1/2 inch cubes

1/2 red onion, chopped in 1/2 inch cubes

salt & pepper

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 Tbsp olive oil (to toss together for roasting)

4 cloves garlic minced or 2 tsp minced garlic

1 lg bunch of swiss chard = 5-6 cups, stems diced & leaves torn

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3 Tbsp all purpose flour

1 lb smoked turkey sausage, diced or crumbled

Directions

pie crust

In a bowl or mixer combine flour, olive oil, cold water, and coarse salt. Stir first with a fork to combine and then knead by hand on lightly floured surface, or with kneading attachment for around 1 minute. Cover dough with damp towel or plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. 

pie filling

In a medium sized bowl mix your chopped sweet potato & red onion together with a generous dash or two of salt (I use kosher) & pepper, along with your red pepper flakes, onion powder and garlic powder. Drizzle olive oil over and then mix well. Lay out on parchment covered baking sheet and roast at 425F for 15-20 minutes stirring midway. Once finished let cool slightly and then place in bowl to mix with other ingredients. Turn oven down to 400F.

Heat a large, high sided, skillet over medium heat and then put your chopped turkey sausage and diced stems of swiss chard. Saute until chard begins to soften. Add in leaves and cook, stirring often, until leaves are wilted. Add to bowl where potato onion mixture is. Fold mixture together. Add parmesan and 3 Tbsp flour. Gently mix to combine. Place in pie crust when ready.

to assemble & bake

Spray deep dish pie pan/round cake pan (8in wide x 2in deep) with PAM or oil. Separate dough into two pieces; 2/3rd and 1/3 respectively. Roll out 2/3rd of the dough on a floured surface and then press into pie pan. Put filling on top and then take remaining dough, roll it out and then use it to cover the top of the filling. Press edges together and then baste the top of the pie with your egg yolk water mixture. Make sure to keep off edges of pie pan or it will burn! Take a knife and make small slits across the top of the pie. Bake 40 to 45 minutes at 400F until top is golden brown. Enjoy hot, cold or at room temperature! 

*If baking from frozen bake for 1 1/2 hrs...starting in cold oven.

Wheat Germ Flax Banana Muffins

Bananas. Mmmmmm. As much as we love and use them in their freshest state I'd have to say that I purposely buy the ones that are a little extra ripe at the grocery store whenever I can. One, because they are usually much much cheaper, and two because then they are already ready for me to use for baking or to freeze for smoothies!!

For healthy snacks for my family and friends I am always trying to come up with different types of tasty and as healthy as possible treats. These muffins are a great go to snack. They are awesome when they come out of the oven but they also freeze amazingly well...I put them in little ziplock bags once they are cooled and straight into the freezer. That way you can pull them out one or two at a time and let them thaw on the counter for 10 or so minutes, or pop them into the microwave for 30 seconds or so & they are as moist and delicious as they were to start with! I am always tossing one or two into my husband's lunch bag in the morning before he goes to work. By the time he's ready for one they are thawed and at at just the perfect temperature to enjoy! Give them a try and see what you think!

Recipe
preheat to 400F - makes approximately 16 muffins or 46 mini (mini muffins are not just for kids!!)

1/2 cup Quick Oats
1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 Tbsp Baking Soda
3/4 tsp Salt
1/2 cup Wheat Germ
1/4 cup Milled Ground Flax
1/2 cup to 3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Milk (I use Fat Free)
2 Eggs
3 Bananas, Mashed
1/3 Cup Vegetable or Olive Oil - can also substitute applesauce or plain yogurt
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional) - I like walnuts in mine!

Directions
Preheat your oven to 400F.
Mix dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl and set aside. Put sugar, eggs, oil, vanilla and your mashed bananas into your mixing bowl or large bowl. Add in your dry ingredients until mixture is well combined. Stir in chopped nuts if using.

Spray or oil your baking pans and then scoop in your batter. I've found that the baking times I've listed below work for me in my oven. The best way to know if your muffins/loaves are done is to check them with a tester - if it comes back clean, or to gently press on the top middle of them - if they bounce back once pressed in they are done! Once finished allow them to cool for a few minutes in the pan you baked them in and then move them to a cooling rack to finish cooling!

Mini muffins - 10 to 12 minutes
Regular sized muffins - 15 to 20 minutes
Mini loaves - 30 to 40 minutes
Bread loaf pan - 50 minutes to 1 hr