PIE WEEK: PUMPKIN CARAMEL PIE

Trust me when I tell you this Pumpkin Caramel Pie is like no other pumpkin pie you've ever had. It's basically classic pumpkin pie's hipster-goth-rebel cousin. This pie has attitude. It's moody and edgy. And it might be a little bit of a bad ass. 

The caramel adds depth and fanciness to the pumpkin, without adding too much sweetness. It melds perfectly into that perfect pumpkin pie texture, too...it's smooth and a little bit custardy. The filling and crust together take the depth of flavor even further, adding a dark, intense (but not overwhelming) chocolatey flavor that complements the pumpkin and caramel in an unexpected but glorious way. 

I'm loving the intensely dark look of the chocolate cookie crust, too. Thank you, black onyx cocoa powder, for that. Your local spice shop and/or amazon are good places to find it...but you can use regular cocoa powder in a pinch, you just won't get the same level of darkness in your cookies/crust. If you want to be a cheater, you can also just do an oreo pie crust here, but it's not the same...if you have time, I promise it's worth it to make your own cookies and crust.

Despite all of it's bad ass-ery, this pie secretly really wants to be a part of your Thanksgiving/Friendsgiving table.

Pumpkin Caramel Pie

recipe adapted from Baking: From My Home To Yours

one chocolate cookie pie crust (recipe below)
--
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup whipping cream
2 TB dark rum (or cider)
2 TB unsalted butter, cubed
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
pinch of allspice
pinch of table salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
--
lightly sweetened whipped cream
cinnamon

Directions:

1. Make sure the rack is in the center of your oven, then preheat the oven to 350F. Place your pie crust on a lined baking sheet.
2. Distribute 1/2 cup sugar evenly in a large, nonstick skillet. Place the skillet over medium-high heat and cook until the sugar melts and starts to color. Don't walk away!
3. Once you see a little color,  swirl the skillet so the sugar colors evenly.
4. Cook sugar, without stirring, until it turns dark, deep amber. The darker the sugar, the deeper the flavor (but don't go so far as to turn it black and burnt). It might bubble and/or foam while it darkens...it's okay, just keep and eye on the color. 
5. Lower the heat to medium, and add the cream into the skillet. Cook, stirring gently but constantly, until the texture evens out.
6. Add rum and butter, stir, and cook until the caramel is smooth.
7. Pour caramel into a heatproof bowl to cool for 15 minutes.
8. In a large bowl, whisk pumpkin vigorously until smooth.
9. Add remaining 1/2 cup sugar, and beat until blended.
10. Whisk in the spices, salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until smooth.
11. Whisk in the cooled caramel.
12. Tap the bowl on the counter a few times to de-bubble the mixture.
13. Pour filling into crust, and bake for 40-50 minutes, until filling is puffed and set. A thin knife should come out clean, or, when you tap the pan, the filling shouldn't really jiggle.
14. Cool pie to room temperature.
15. The pie is great at room temp and cold from the fridge...do what appeals to you most. Serve with a dollop of barely-sweetened whipped cream with a sprinkle of cinnamon.
16. Store leftovers in the fridge, covered. 

Chocolate Cookie Pie Crust

1 1/2 cups (6 oz) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used a combo of black onyx and regular dutch processed cocoas)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 sticks (12 TB or 6oz) unsalted butter, at room temp
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
--
1 3/4 cups cookie crumbs
5 TB unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

1. Make chocolate cookies: In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy.
2. Add syrup, egg, and vanilla. Mix until combined.
3. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
4. Refrigerate dough for 45 min to 1 hour.
5. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment.
6. Preheat oven to 350F.
7. Roll dough into 1.5-inch balls, and place on lined cookie sheets. Flatten slightly with the palm of your hand.
8. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until puffy.
9. Allow cookies to cool completely before using.
10. Assemble pie crust: In the bowl of your food processor, blitz cookies to make crumbs.
11. Put 1 3/4 cups cookie crumbs on a lined cookie sheet, and bake at 325F for 8 minutes, tossing halfway through. This will help dry them out a bit.
12. Add toasted crumbs to a medium bowl. 
13. Melt 5 TB unsalted butter. 
14. Add melted butter, one TB at a time, to your toasted cookie crumbs. Use your hands or a small rubber spatula to mix each TB of butter into your crumbs. Stop adding butter when your crumbs are the texture of wet sand. If you accidentally add too much butter, add some more cookie crumbs to dry it out.
15. Firmly press crumbs into pie tin/pan. 
16. Freeze crust for 20 minutes.
17. Bake at 350F for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool, until you're ready to add your filling.

BACON CHEDDAR MUFFINS

I had intended to throw a few delicious recipes your way over the last two weeks, but man oh man work has been just batshit crazy and frustrating.  I know, I know…excuses, excuses. But for reals…I won’t bore you with the details, just know that by the time I get home each night I’m exhausted and burnt out and blogging is the last thing I want to do because I don’t want to half-ass it. I really envy anyone who gets to blog as their full-time job. I know it has it’s own set of unique challenges, but at least you get to pour your time and energy into something you (hopefully) love.

Okay, one more complaint…is anyone else having one hell of a time getting used to daylight savings? It’s getting dark at like 4:15pm here, so by 7pm, I feel like it’s 11pm and I’m ready to go to bed. It’s ridiculous and it makes me feel super old lady-ish.

Oh! I do have a fun little announcement! Somebody start playing a herald trumpet or something so I feel official…

Next week is PIE WEEK!

I’ll be sharing 5 pie recipes with you over the course of next week, starting on Monday. Because it’s pie season, and because you should probably start thinking about what you’re bringing to all of those Thanksgiving/Friendsgiving/Christmas celebrations you’ll be invited to.

Alright, back to the breakfast muffins. They come from the Huckleberry cookbook – ok, wait, hang on…have we talked about this book yet? It’s AMAZING. It’s one of those rare cookbooks where you end up reading through it like a book instead of hopping around checking out whichever recipes sound interesting. It’s more than a collection of recipes; not only are the photos beautiful and the recipes really solid (well, at least the ones I’ve tried have all been A+), you really get a sense of what it might be like to work with Zoe in the kitchen at Huckleberry. I think it might be the best new cookbook I’ve gotten this year.

On a related side note: Zoe did a book signing in Chicago a couple of weeks ago and I had the chance to attend – she was wonderfully kind and just really…human. I was geeking out and a little nervous to talk to her – if you’ve read Huckleberry, you can tell she’s a total badass in the kitchen – but she seemed genuinely friendly and rad. She had Brandon and I give her some Chicago restaurant recommendations, and we also got to meet her baby, Tallulah. Adorable. I'd show you a picture, but I look like a crazed maniac...too embarrassing. 

These muffins are everything you’ve ever wanted in a savory breakfast muffin…satisfying, hearty, and flavorful. They’re full of bacon and cheese and herbs…I mean, you can’t go wrong there, can you? There’s also some cornmeal and rye flour involved, which adds another level of awesome to the flavor and texture of the muffins. And, to round everything out, there’s a bit of maple syrup too. Maple syrup and bacon are besties, right?

I have a feeling these guys won’t save particularly well (not that you’ll have any leftover, anyway), so either make them the day you intend to eat them, or make the batter the night before you want them and store it in the fridge, and then scoop and bake the next morning.

Bacon Cheddar Muffins

recipe, adapted slightly, from Huckleberry

makes 12-15 muffins

6 TB unsalted butter, cubed and @ room temp
2 TB sugar
1 ½ tsp kosher salt
3 eggs
¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 scant cup yellow cornmeal
 6 TB rye flour (if you don’t have rye, sub whole wheat or more AP flour)
1 ½ TB baking powder
1/3 cup canola, vegetable, or corn oil
4 TB maple syrup (use the good stuff…definitely no fake “pancake syrup”)
1 cup + 2 TB low-fat buttermilk
½ cup + ¼ cup grated cheddar cheese, divided
4 TB + 2 TB grated parmesan cheese, divided
12 slices cooked bacon, coarsely chopped
1 TB bacon fat, cooled
¼ cup chives and parsley, finely chopped
chopped rosemary for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400F. Line the cups of your muffin pan with paper liners (or not, your call).
2. In your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar, and salt for 2 minutes, until fluffy.
3. Add eggs one at a time, making sure to fully incorporate each before adding the next one.
4. Add the AP flour, cornmeal, rye flour, and baking powder, and mix until combined.
5. Add the oil, maple syrup and buttermilk, and mix until combined. Make sure to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl to make sure all ingredients are incorporated evenly.
6. Stir in ½ cup grated cheddar, 4 TB parmesan, and 2/3 of the bacon.
7. This is where you’ll stop and refrigerate if you’re not cooking these immediately.
8. When you’re ready to bake, divide the batter among the muffin cups. I find an ice cream scoop particularly helpful here.
9. Sprinkle remaining cheddar, parmesan, and bacon over each muffin.
10. Bake for about 15 minutes until nicely browned. Garnish with chopped rosemary.
11. Eat!

One dough, three ways: #2 Maple-Bacon Cinnamon Rolls

So remember last week when I told you there are other things you can do with all that bread dough? Versatility is good, especially if you, like me, don't really need three loaves of white bread hanging around. This option is crazy easy, and you can prep everything the night before, and then just take them out of the fridge about an hour before you want to bake them up. It's a pretty kick-ass weekend breakfast. They do save pretty well, too, at least for a day or two. 

One tip for you -- you'll see in my pics that I cut the dough into 16 rolls, but I'd actually recommend going for 12 slightly larger rolls instead. Then they won't come out all wonky and stretched looking like mine did.

For the complete dough recipe, take a look at last week's post.

Maple-Bacon Cinnamon Rolls

1 portion dough (by 1 portion, I mean 1 loaf-size portion, not the full recipe)
6 pieces of bacon, cooked, and crumbled/chopped
3 TB unsalted butter, melted
5 TB grade B maple syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. At the point where you split the bread dough into three portions after it has risen, take one portion and roll it out to a rectangle approximately 12" x 18".
2. Brush dough with melted butter, then with maple syrup. Then sprinkle on the bacon, brown sugar, and cinnamon so it's evenly distributed.
3. Starting with the short end of the rectangle, roll your dough tightly into a log.
4. Using a sharp knife or a bench scraper, cut the dough into 12 even slices.
5. Place slices in a buttered 9x13 baking dish, leaving room in between each slice.
6. Cover with plastic wrap, and place in the fridge over night.
7. Take the uncooked rolls out of the fridge one hour before you intend to bake them.
8. Preheat your oven to 350F.
9. Bake rolls for about 30 minutes, until golden. An instant read thermometer should read about 190F when they're done.
10. Let cool for at least 10 minutes in the pan before serving. Drizzle/top with your favorite icing or frosting recipe, if desired.

buttermilk pancakes

I've been a total slacker for the last few weeks --I have a few posts backed up and ready to go, but between learning more about photo editing and considering changing up the overall blog look and web-hosting situation around here, I've only managed to post once a week for the past few weeks. I'll do better in the coming weeks! I promise.

Do you ever just crave pancakes? Every so often, usually at some weird time of day (hello, 9pm pancake craving!), I just want a warm stack of pancakes. It just happens. I can't explain it. Sometimes, a girl just needs some freakin' pancakes.

This recipe is so simple, you barely even need to plan ahead. This makes it ideal for those weirdo pancake cravings or spur of the moment weekend breakfasts.  No buttermilk? No problem! Add 1 to 2TB lemon juice to a cup of milk (I prefer to use 2 TB for the additional tang-factor), and let it sit for about 10 minutes. Boom. Makeshift buttermilk.  No whole wheat flour? Use just all-purpose. No sour cream? Use yogurt. These pancakes are ridiculously tasty with some good ol' maple syrup, but they also pair well with a number of other toppings like fresh fruits, compote, curd, nuts, cinnamon, jam, honey, etc. You could even turn these guys into a "pigs in a blanket" type breakfast situation. Or dinner. Because breakfast for dinner (BRINNER!) is where its at.

As written below, this recipe makes enough for two people. It doubles easily if you need to cook for a bigger crowd. As you can see, I took the maple syrup, fresh bananas and cinnamon route for my accoutrements, but use what you like!

Buttermilk Pancakes

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 TB sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 TB sour cream
1 egg
1 1/2 TB melted butter, cooled a bit

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 200F (or, even lower if your oven will allow it). Place a heat-proof cooling rack over a cookie sheet in the oven. This is where your pancakes will hang out and keep warm, if necessary.
2. In a large bowl, combine your dry ingredients (flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt). Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, add buttermilk, sour cream, and egg. Whisk to combine. Add butter, and whisk again.
4. Create a well in the center of your dry ingredients, and pour the buttermilk mixture into the well. Stir together until just combined. It will be lumpy, and you may see a few small streaks of flour -- that's okay! Just don't overmix it...you'll regret it. Let your batter sit for 10 minutes before cooking.
5. Place your griddle or skillet over medium heat. Brush griddle or skillet with a bit of canola or vegetable oil (non-stick spray is okay too, but not preferred).
6. Using ¼ cup measure, portion batter into hot pan (I used an ice cream scoop...WAY easier.)
7. Cook until edges are set, first side is golden brown, and bubbles on surface are just beginning to break, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a wide spatula, flip pancakes and continue cooking until second side is golden brown, about 1 to 2 minutes longer.
8. Keep cooked pancakes in your preheated oven (see step 1) until ready to serve, though serving immediately is obviously better.

hamantaschen

Did you watch the Oscars? I like watching the Oscars and Emmys (but generally hate the Grammys). I know the awards shows are always unfortunately long, and pretty boring during some parts, and there are always lots of screw ups because...live television, but it's kinda fun to see what everyone is wearing, what outlandish and/or political stuff people talk about in their speeches, and see people actually having some personality other than the last character they played. I actually thought this was one of the better Oscars in recent memory. The whole "let's have an offensive comedian host" thing was getting old, and I think Ellen fit the bill pretty well.

And call me a jerk, but I still cannot stop laughing about the whole Travolta mispronunciation situation and subsequent reactions. It's hilarious.

Anyway...for the past few years, I've noticed a slew of recipes/photos of these little triangle cookies floating around the interwebs during March. Considering I hadn't the slightest clue what they were, I figured I'd do a little research and test them out. Enter: hamantaschen. Hamantaschen, or Haman's pockets, are apparently a staple of the Jewish holiday Purim. There's obviously a lot of meaning and history behind Purim, but from what I gather, there is also much feasting involved.  I like feasting. Since I'm no expert on Purim, you should do your own research to learn more. Start here.

Hamantaschen remind me of rugelach in a lot of ways, but the dough is heartier and the cookies are obviously larger. The dough is delicious (uh, hello...butter and cream cheese?) and not too sweet, while also taking enough of a back seat to let whatever filling you choose be the star of the show. And they pack up nicely, which is good because you probably shouldn't eat them all yourself. But you totally can if you want to. I won't judge you. It's Fat Tuesday, so you have the perfect excuse.

You can pretty much fill these with whatever you'd like. Jams work quite well, but you could use any number of other things, too. I chose apricot jam for one variety, nutella and cinnamon for the second, and almond-brown sugar-maple for the third.  For the almond filling, all I did was toast up some raw almonds, pulse them in the food processor, and stir in small amounts of  grade B maple syrup, brown sugar, and a pinch of salt until the flavor fit what I was looking for. No exact science there. Make sure you use the egg wash to help pinch/seal the folds. If you neglect to do so, they will pretty much just open back up while they're in the oven and ooze jam all over your pan.

Hamantaschen

recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen

for the dough:
8 TB unsalted butter, softened
3 oz cream cheese at room temperature
4 TB sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla paste (extract is fine, too)
1 1/3 cups plus 2 TB flour
1/4 tsp salt

additional ingredients:
jam, nut mixture, nutella, or whatever you plan to use for the filling
1 egg, beaten with 1 TB water (for the egg wash)

Directions:

1. In your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
2. Add sugar and mix for one minute longer, then scrape down the bowl again.
3. Add the egg, vanilla paste/extract, and salt, mixing until combined. Again, scrape down the bowl.
4. Add the flour. The mixture should come together and be a tad sticky. If it feels too wet, add an additional tablespoon of flour.
5. Form dough into a disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour.
6. Preheat oven to 350°F and line two sheet pans with parchment.
7. To form the hamantaschen: roll out the dough on a well-floured surface until it is about 1/4-inch thick. Using a round cookie cutter (3 inches worked perfectly for me), cut the dough into circles. Spoon a teaspoon of your filling in the center. Dip your finger in the egg wash, and moisten the edge of the dough circle. Fold the dough in from three sides, firmly pinching the corners as you go. You may need to dab a little egg wash here or there to ensure that your folds stick.  Leave the filling exposed in the center.
8. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
9. Cool completely. You do not want that lava-hot jam in your mouth. Or maybe you do, but let me be your common sense and tell you that it's not worth it to burn your tongue on one cookie, because then you won't be able to taste the rest!

tiny maple pecan sandies

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday season! :)

These didn't quite make it up in time for all those festive holiday recipe posts, but they're still worth your while. Toasted pecans and maple syrup help give them a wintry, warm taste that is a great companion to your morning/afternoon/evening tea or coffee. Best of all, they're TINY. Which means you can eat a few without feeling like you've ruined the age-old new year's resolution of not eating junk food. Although, if you ask me, things made from scratch with real, pronounceable ingredients are hardly junk food. Besides, didn't somebody somewhere sometime once say that if you don't treat yourself once in a while, you're twice as likely to "cheat" on any diet/exercise plan?  Treat yo self.

In other news, it hasn't stopped snowing in three days. Oh, and on Monday, the expected HIGH for the day is -8. Yeah.

Maple Pecan Sandies

recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Makes just shy of 12 dozen, one-inch square cookies

1 cup (about 110 grams) pecans
2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour
1 cup (225 grams or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup (80 grams) confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp (10 ml) vanilla extract
1 TB grade-B maple syrup
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 TB (25 grams) turbinado (raw) sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Spread the nuts out in one layer on a baking sheet and bake them, stirring occasionally, until they are well browned, 10 to 13 minutes (they will smell toasted and nutty). Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool.
3. In a food processor, grind the nuts with 1/4 cup of the flour. Set aside.
4. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until creamy and smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Add the vanilla and maple syrup and beat well.
5. Sift together the remaining 1 3/4 cups of flour, the salt, and the baking powder, and add it to the dough, mixing until just combined. Stir in the nut mixture.
6. Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 3 hours.
7. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Roll the dough between two sheets of wax or parchment paper to 3/16 inch thick (a rectangle approximately 10 x 14 inches).
8. Using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 1-inch squares. If your dough starts getting to soft or sticky to work with, stick it in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes to firm it up.
9. Place cookies 1 inch apart on cookie sheets lined with parchment.
10. Poke each cookie a couple of times with the back end of a wooden skewer (don't stab all the way through the cookie, though) and then sprinkle the cookies with the turbinado sugar.
11. Bake until pale golden all over, about 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
12. Makes about 125 one-square-inch cookies.