Truffle Brownie Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites

Thanksgiving is around the corner, and I can honestly say, I am still a little obsessed with pumpkin.  I cannot wait for pumpkin pie, I am making my pumpkin soup as I write this, and I am thinking about attempting some sort of pumpkin macaroon (have lots of egg whites on hand).

My Thanksgiving menu is already set and organized and I am not planning on adding to it.  However, my kids are off from school this week and later today, we are meeting friends for a hike.  Our plan is to go out for lunch after the hike, yet I knew everyone is going to end up back at our house to play for a bit.  I wanted to have some snacks on hand.  I whipped up these truffle brownie pumpkin cheesecake bites as I had some left over pumpkin puree in the fridge.  Rather than making them in a 9x9" pan, I opted to make individuals in my silicone baking muffin pans.  These are going to be the perfect compliment to a big bowl of pomegranate seeds and a white bean dip with roasted pita chips.  Maybe, we will skip lunch all together and simply come home for the snacks!

Truffle Brownie + Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites

yield: 28 mini bites

ingredients:

brownies:

4 oz. unsweetened chocolate

1 stick of butter, cubed

2 Tbls. unsweetened cocoa

1 Tbls. espresso powder

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. salt

3 eggs

1 cup flour

cheesecake

8 oz. cream cheese

1 egg

1/3 cup sugar

2 Tbls. flour

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

instructions:

• preheat oven to 350*

for the brownie layer:

• melt chocolate, butter, cocoa, and espresso powder in a bowl over simmering water.

• remove bowl from the heat and add the sugar, vanilla, and salt.  add the egg and mix until smooth.

• fold in the flour.

• using a small ice cream scoop, scoop batter into individual muffin tins. set aside while you make the cheesecake

for the cheesecake layer:

• in the bowl of a standing mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth.

• add the sugar and combine

• add the egg and the vanilla and mix to combine

• mix in the remaining ingredients until fully incorporated.

• using the same ice cream scooper(cleaned, of course), scoop over brownie mixture and fill muffin cups almost to the top.

• using a toothpick or small skewer swirl the cheesecake mixture slightly to form a pattern with the brownie mixture.

• bake 20-25 minutes, rotating pans back to front mid through.  brownie bites are done when the top of the cheesecake feels slightly firm to the touch.

• let cool on a wire rack.  once cool, stick in the fridge for about 45 minutes.  once totally firm, pop the brownie bites out of the muffin cups and enjoy!!

Itsy Bitsy Doughnuts

I purchased these mini muffin tins a few months back.  I have been dying to make some little doughnuts, but for some reason just haven't had the time.  With all my meal planning (cooking most nights), three kids going here there and everywhere and all the back to school stuff, I barely have time to focus on the day to day.

Halloween is always a really fun holiday in our house.  For the past 9-10 years we have had a neighborhood party. The party, for me, is just an excuse to decorate, create fun and creative food, get everyone in one place, and keep  my kids close to home.  This year, each of my kids want to invite just a few kids over for dinner(prior to trick-or-treating) and although they are going to gather tons of "junk" as they venture into the neighborhood, I wanted something sweet and festive on the table.

Isaac and I experimented with a baked doughnut recipe I found on one of my favorite blogs, Sprinkle Bakes. Hers were so cute and the recipe seemed easy enough.  As I was making the dough, it reminded me of a pancake or waffle dough.  There is no yeast involved and all can be done in one mixing bowl.  My kind of Sunday morning activity.

All my kids fell in love with these doughnuts!  Isaac, my savory, loving, chip eating, curly headed monster could not stop eating them.  Generally, when I make something new, he takes one bite and says, "it's just okay".  Hence, these he ate proudly!

Vanilla Bean Baby Doughnuts
adapted from here
yield: 4-5 dozen

ingredients:
doughnuts
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 Tbls. unsalted butter, melted
seeds from half of a vanilla bean

glaze
1 cup confectioner's sugar, sifted
1 Tbls. whole organic milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
food coloring of your choice

instructions:
doughnuts:
• preheat oven to 425*.  spray mini doughnut pans with cooking spray.
• in a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
• add the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, vanilla seeds, and melted butter.
• mix just to combine.  don't over mix
• using a piping bag and medium size tip, fill doughnut trays, 1/2 way full.
• bake 5-8 minutes or until top of the doughnuts spring back when touched.
• let cool in pan 4-5 minutes before removing.
glaze
• in a small bowl, stir together sugar, milk, and vanilla.  you may need to add more
sugar, depending upon the thickness you desire.  add food coloring and mix until
color is uniform.
• use immediately.  sprinkle with nonpareils, or jimmies.

Mini Zucchini-Pecan Cakes

I am thinking of many ways to use up all the zucchini that I currently have on hand.  I had bought some at the farmers market and then my sister-in-law brought me a few beautiful zucchini's from her garden.  I have made a vegetable tian (layered potatoes, Roma tomatoes, + zucchini, over caramelized onions, baked and topped with Gruyere ), zucchini feta fritters, and now these wonderful, bite-size cakes.  I feel the secret to the success of these cakes was the olive oil!

The original recipe called for a cake pan.  Yet, I needed something that one could grab and go.  I baked this recipe off in my mini bundt pans.  Glad I did!  The cake was light, sweet, savory and utterly delicious!

Zucchini-Pecan Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
adapted from Bon Apettit Magaizne
yield: 22 mini bundts

ingredients:
cake
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. coarse salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
3/4 cup olive oil ( not extra virgin )
1 cup sucanat ( or light brown sugar )
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups grated zucchini (8 oz)
3/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted

cream cheese frosting
8 oz. full fat cream cheese, room temperature
3 Tbls. unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

instructions:
for the cake
• preheat oven to 350*.  Brush two mini bundt pans (12 bundt capacity) with melted, unsalted butter.  set aside
• whisk flour, baking powder, coarse salt, cinnamon, and ginger.
• in another bowl, whisk oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla, mix to blend.
• fold in the flour mixture
• fold in the zucchini and pecans.
• fill up bundt pans a little more than 1/2 way full.  place bundt pans on a baking sheet
• bake cakes until tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 25-30 minutes.
• cool completely on wire racks.  turn cakes out onto a platter and set aside
for the frosting:
• using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter until combined.  add remaining ingredients and beat until thick ( you may need more sugar).
• pipe a dollop on each cake.
• can be made a day ahead ( I made the cakes the day before and frosted the day of ).  cover and chill in fridge.

Mini Apple Crisps

We are on our way to some friends house for dinner and I wanted to bring desserts for both the grown ups and the kids. I had recently bought these cute little cup liners at Surfas and really wanted to use them. I thought about making little bread puddings. Then I remembered that I had all these apples that I had bought at the farmers market. I decided to go with mini apple crisps. I was excited to use my little liners.

I turned toward the Tartine cookbook and she had an easy crisp recipe. I prepared the topping and then put in the fridge. I peeled and cored the apples and then started filling the cup liners.

All looked good. The topping was really easy to work with. The directions said to pat the topping into a flat, pancake type shape. In hindsight, I should have just crumbled it over the top of the apples. When I took the crisps out of the oven, they looked a little messy. I don't like messy looking food. They only looked messy because the juice from the apples and the butter from the topping kind of leaked out all over the baking sheet.

I brought them to our friends regardless. No one seemed to notice the mess that I was obsessing over. The only comments I received were positive, with one party goer asking for seconds!

Ingredients

Filling

• 3 lbs. assorted apples
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 Tbsp. lemon juice
• zest from one lemon
• 1/8 tsp. salt

Topping

• 1 cup unsalted butter, cold
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp. cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350*. If making one big crisp, butter bottom of a 9"x 13" baking dish.

2. Core, peel and slice the apples. In another bowl, combine sugar, lemon juice, zest and salt. Add to apples and either spread in large pan or divide among the individual cups.

3. To make the topping, place sugar and butter in a mixing bowl. Use the whisk attachment on medium speed and beat until smooth. Add flour, cinnamon & salt and mix until a smooth dough forms.

4. Top crisps with dough and lay on top of apples.

5. Bake large pan for about 1 1/2 hours. If making individual, check after 20 minutes. If not done, keep checking every 5-7 minutes until the apples start to bubble.

6. Can be served at room temp or cold.

Top with ice cream and everyone will be happy!