This pumpkin dessert was liked a little more by my family compared to the previous scones or cupcakes/muffins. Thank god because I didn't want to finish the entire bundt myself, even though I halved the recipe (which is why it looks a little funny and short). I really liked the texture of the cake and was glad I omitted the apples. As nice as apples in desserts sound, I find that they add sogginess, which eventually leads to questions like 'eww, why is this cake raw?' and me replying, 'it's not raw, it's apples'. Since there was already so much pumpkin puree in this, I decided that any more moisture would scare my family away. I also used dried instead of fresh cranberries to keep the wetness down. Overall, I really enjoyed this cake, which would have surprised me a year ago when I wasn't exactly open to the idea of pumpkin in desserts... I blame the pumpkin pie!
Thanks to Britin of The Nitty Britty for choosing this recipe!
I really liked the creamy texture that the pumpkin added to these biscuits. Even my dad told me he liked these. I thought I was actually making progress with changing my family's mind about pumpkin until he had another one and realized that he was just starving before. O well, pumpkin just isn't for this family. I have to admit that I wasn't crazy about the taste of these either (or my embarrassing flour spots). Maybe it would have been better with the sweet potato, but I had some leftover pumpkin from the pumpkin patch cupcakes that I wanted to finish up.
Thanks to Erin of Prudence Pennywise for choosing this week's recipe! Don't forget to visit the TWD Blogroll. 
Everyone in my family hates pumpkin except for me. It also doesn't help that these look really ugly! Since I wasn't going to get any help from anyone, I skipped the frosting. It wasn't easy eating all of these myself even though I quartered the recipe. Pacing myself at 2 to 3 a day, I eventually finished them. I'm making this sound like hard work... which it was especially after day 2, but when they were all gone I actually missed them. I doubt I'll be making another batch soon though!
Thanks to Kim of What the Whisk for choosing this recipe!
There was still some leftover pumpkin puree left in the freezer, but instead of making yet another batch of pumpkin muffins, I wanted to try something new. By something new, I was going to make the muffin recipe in a loaf pan, except add something better.. peanut butter. I love peanut butter so much I would like to think it goes with everything, but I guess there are times when well... it doesn't. I hate to admit it, but this is one of those times. There was just way too much competition going on with the pumpkin and the peanut butter, I don't even know what I was tasting! The best part about using peanut butter was I could totally eliminate the butter and use just two tablespoons of oil. Occasionaly, I see other bloggers use just one or two tablespoons of oil and always wondered how that would turn out. I mean, it's hard enough sometimes trying to get full fat desserts to work, think about how much harder it must be to do low fat baking! Since I had all that peanut butter going in, technically it wasn't low fat, but I guess I have to start somewhere.
The quick bread ended up being something totally different from what I usually make. It was actually the first time I branched out from a recipe and changed things up a bit. I also skipped the whole mixer thing and folded everything by hand. Too bad no one in my family liked the flavour combination, but I thought it was still good. The best part was I didn't end up with something overmixed considering I went mixer-less.. hmm.. I guess those folding skills are improving! Maybe I should've thrown in some chocolate chips, since everything seems to taste better with chocolate! If you're still into regular pumpkin baked goods, you should definitely tryout this recipe from CI. Just replace the peanut butter and oil with 8 tablespoons of melted butter.
I still can't find my camera charger and I think I'm going to go crazy if I have to continue taking pictures with my phone!
Adapted from Cook's Illustrated Pumpkin Nut Bread
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups pumpkin, mashed (or 1 15-ounce can pumpkin)
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons oil
1 cup peanut butter
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 F
1. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt in a bowl
2. Whisk peanut butter, oil, eggs, sugar in a bowl
3. Mix pumpkin puree with wet ingredients
4. Combine dry ingredients with wet being careful not to overmix
5. Pour batter in 9 x 5 inch loaf pan
6. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out with a few crumbs attached
7. Cool in pan for 10 minutes and then transfer to wire rack
I can't believe it's been almost two weeks since my last post, since I've been checking other super cool blogs and since I've last baked!! I missed Tuesday, so I guess Thursday will count as my TWD. It has definitely been a crazy two weeks with test after test and assignment after assignment. The year always starts off slow and then bam! you're hit with a million things to do and wishing for just one more hour... then I would be able cram a whole new chapter in... haha. I've pretty much been loading up my brain for each test and then letting it all out after to make room for the next round of stuff. Today, I ended my day with my 6-9pm lab after having finished 4 tests and 3 assigments since last Thursday and even though I didn't get home until 10, I just had to bake. Nothing could stop me, not even a very sleep deprived brain and body. Other than chocolate chip cookies, I couldn't think of anything easier to whip up. Maybe it's been a little too long, but something did not turn out right with my chocolate chip cookies, the dough was definitely stiffer than usual.. where did all the liquid go? I only poured 3/4 cups of melted butter with the flour, surely it didn't all get absorbed! Anyway.. maybe I'll save the rest for a chocolate chip cookie post, back to the pumpkin muffins!!
I actually made these on the Friday before the real TWD so technically I haven't been 2 weeks without baking, but it sure feels like it. I've never had pumpkin in any dessert other than pumpkin pie and honestly, I've never been able to eat more than a bite of pumpkin pie without feeling a little (actually a lot) grossed out. To be fair, those pies were storebought and I'm sure nothing beats homemade.. as with practically every baked good. As usual, I cut down the recipe to half except when it came to adding the pumpkin, I totally forgot and added the full amount! I guess I'll never know what these are supposed to really taste like unless I made them again and based on my experience with these, I don't think I should ever bake with pumpkin again. These were incrediably addicting, espeically with the blend of spices that let the pumpkin flavour come through. These have definitely climbed up the to top of my ranks for muffins, but I should probably try out the original recipe for a real test.
When I first got into baking, muffins were definitely one of the first things I wanted to try. Maybe it was those cute muffin liners or the ease with which those food network chefs make folding 'look' (not true for me.. I'm scared of folding!). I can't tell you how many muffins went into the trash before I almost wanted to quit altogether and forget about muffins. Then there was the whole debate about what is a muffin. Are they just a cupcake in disguise or really something healthier and breakfasty type? I used to be obsessed with reading recipes and looking at the different ratios of liquid to flour to fat and it actually killed me whenever I found muffin recipes that were really just cupcake recipes with a few blueberries thrown in. It's kind of the same thing I have with the whole bundt cake, pound cake issue. Sometimes I get so overly caught up with little details it literally takes me forever to decide on what to bake... I know.. how crazy! That's why I have TWD to help me decide every week.
These were actually the first muffins I made using the creaming method and is definitely how I'm making all my muffins from now on. The whole 'is it a muffin, it is a cupcake' issue may not be totally resolved, but I'm definitely leaning towards towards the light and fluffy style over the dense kind. Plus, who doesn't like watching the beautiful butter-sugar-egg emulsion! These were actually still a little dense, with double the amount of pumpkin that went in, but there was also a fluffy quality to it. Actually, they were kind of creamy in a melt in your mouth kind of way with a super tender crumb.. a little unexpected but I loved it! I wasn't too sure about raisins, but many TWDers mentioned that they really enjoyed it so I added half raisins and half craisins. When I cut a muffin in half I couldn't believe my eyes.. was there a flour pocket in the middle!! No, it was just flour stuck to the raisins I premixed with the flour to avoid folding altogether with my never gentle technique. phew!
Thanks to Kelly of Sounding of my Barbaric Gulp for choosing this recipe, which can be found on her blog and in Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From my Home to Yours. Don't forget to checkout the TWD Blogroll!
