Pumpkins Muffins

Source: Libby's

Time: 20 minutes prep - 20-30 minutes cooking

Yield: 30 muffins

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour

2.5 cups white sugar

2 t baking soda

1.5 t salt

1 T plus 2 t pumpkin pie spice*

1 can (15 oz) Libby's Pure Pumpkin

4 Large eggs

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 cup applesauce (or vegetable oil)

Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Paper-line or grease 30 muffin cups.

COMBINE flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Combine sugar, pumpkin, eggs, oil and juice in large mixer bowl; beat until just blended. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture; stir just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling 3/4 full.

BAKE for 25 to 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Store muffins in covered container or resealable plastic bags.

*I didn't have pumpkin pie spice, so I made my own using this recipe:

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
big pinch of cardamom (or you can substitute mace)
Blend all spices together, working out any lumps that might occur.

Verdict:

These were super yummy! Just enough pumpkin flavor and the homemade pumpkin pie spice was perfect. 

The recipe makes 30 regular muffins, or 24 regular muffins and 12 mini muffins. 

Nutrition (per regular muffin & using applesauce): Cals - 122; Carbs - 27g; Fat - 1g; Prot - 2g; Fiber - 1g

Stuffed Peppers

Prep Time: <15 minutes
Cook Time: 20-25 minutes

Ingredients: 

4 peppers - green, red or yellow
1 lb ground meat - turkey or beef (this time i used turkey)
1-2 cups cooked rice - i used leftover rice
14.5oz can diced tomatoes with basil & oregano
shredded cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat overn to 375. Cut the tops off peppers and remove the seeds. Place in dish, cover with saran wrap and microwave for about 3-4 minutes until crisp, tender.

2. Meanwhile, brown meat. Add rice and tomatoes. Season with italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir until warm throughout.

3. Spoon meat mixture into peppers about half way full. Srpinkle in some cheese. Fill the rest of the way up and top with more cheese. I say, the more cheese you can fit in those suckers the better!

4. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Verdict: 
This was pretty good. I feel like it was missing something, but i'm not sure what. I'm going to scour some other stuffed pepper recipes online and see what I can add to give it a little more flavor. Maybe pasta sauce? Any ideas?

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

Source: Six Sister's Stuff

Time: 1.5 hours

This is my first dessert to make it on the website! I don't bake much so I don't make a lot of desserts. But since this one took me so long to make I thought I'd add it on the blog. Although I'm not sure if I'll actually make it again. Not because it wasn't good, but because it wasn't chocolate!

Ingredients:

Crust:

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 cup Smart Balance Buttery Spread Original Flavor, softened (could be substituted with butter or margarine) 

Cheesecake Filling:

3 (8 ounce) packages fat free cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup, divided

3 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Apples:

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Streusel Topping:

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup quick cooking oats

1/2 cup Smart Balance Buttery Spread Original Flavor, softened (could be substituted with butter or margarine)

Caramel Topping:

1 cup Kraft caramels

1/4 cup heavy cream

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a mixing bowl, combine flour and brown sugar.  Mix in Smart BalanceButtery Spread with a fork until mixture forms crumbs.  Press crumb mixture into a 9x13 pan, lined with foil and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. 

In a large mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese  and 1 cup sugar until smooth.  Stir in eggs and vanilla.  Pour cream cheese mixture over warm crust.

In a separate bowl, mix together chopped apples, 1/4 cup sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Spread mixture over your cream cheese layer.

In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, oats and Smart Balance Buttery Spread.  Mix until crumbs form and sprinkle over apples.  Bake for 50-55 minutes or until filling is set.  Melt caramels and heavy cream in a microwavable bowl in 30 second increments, stirring each time, until smooth.  Drizzle melted caramel over your cheesecake and let cool.

Verdict: 

Other people enjoyed this dessert. I thought it was just ok. But i'm not a great judge of desserts that are not chocolate. To me, any dessert worth the calories has chocolate in it and this does not. I was looking to make a more "fall" dessert and this fit the bill. But it would have been so much better if it were chocolate!