Cream Cheese Filled Pumpkin Muffins

This weekend I had a hankering for some pumpkin cheesecake muffins, so I set out to make the perfect fall treat. My high expectations for the first recipe were sadly not met. However, I knew this idea had a ton of potential, so I found a promising new muffin recipe, combined it with my all-time favorite streusel, and crossed my fingers. Some fall magic happened, and I could barely stop myself from eating a second muffin after the first!

The muffins are fairly moist, well spiced, sweet on top, and have a little tang from the cream cheese to balance it out. The tang from the cream cheese plus the sweetness from the cinnamon honey butter are especially good together.

And now excuse me while I nibble a warm muffin and enjoy the first snow of the year.

Cream Cheese Filled Pumpkin Muffins with Cinnamon Honey Butter

Muffins
12 Tbs (3/4 cup) salted butter, melted
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs, room temperature
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup milk
2 1/2 cups flour (can replace a little bit with whole wheat flour)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or 1/4 tsp cloves, 1/2 tsp allspice, 1/4 tsp nutmeg)
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Streusel
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
4 Tbs cold salted butter, cubed
4 oz cream cheese, cut into 16 cubes*

Cinnamon Honey Butter
4 Tbs salted butter, at room temperature
2 Tbs honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line muffin tins with 16-20 paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the butter, brown sugar, and vanilla. Add the eggs, and mix. Add pumpkin and milk; beat until smooth and creamy. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Mix until just combined; do not over-mix.
3. Make the streusel. Combine the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Add the butter and crumble with your fingers.
4. Divide the batter among the prepared tins. Push 1 cube of cream cheese into each muffin. Sprinkle on the streusel, pressing into the tops of the muffins a little bit. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
5. Make the cinnamon butter. In a small bowl, combine the butter, honey, and cinnamon.
6. Serve smeared with cinnamon butter.

*Cream cheese can be doubled if you like a lot of cream cheese. If you want more of a cheesecake filling, mix together 6 oz room temp cream cheese, 1 egg yolk, 1/2 tsp vanilla, and 3 Tbs sugar. I would recommend sticking to the plain cream cheese if you do the cinnamon honey butter, otherwise it will be overwhelmingly sweet.

Muffin and butter recipe from: https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/pumpkin-coffee-cake-muffins/

French Onion Soup: The Master Recipe

It's been awhile since I've posted, and life has taken a few turns...

I'm living in New York on my own now, and my favorite part is getting to cook all the time (gotta eat, after all!). To make it even better, my parents surprised me with an Instant Pot, which I've been wanting. It's opened up a whole new world of cooking to me!

The Instant Pot was a little intimidating at first--I imagined hitting the wrong button and the pot exploding from the pressure. But luckily, it's designed better than that (thank you modern technology). Ever since I got it, I've been playing with some new recipes, especially ones that are also cheap and small batch.

Last week I looked at the giant bag of onions in my fridge and knew that it was use them or lose them--I couldn't wait any longer. Not many recipes use up onions like good old French onion soup, so  out came the knife, the onions, and the tears. A few hours later...soup!

I call this recipe the master recipe because it's is based on a bunch of recipes I've seen--it combines them into one set of guidelines so that you can make French Onion Soup based on how you personally like it, and the ingredients and time you have. There are directions for a simple version, but of course, the more time and ingredients you put into it, the better it will taste. Note that fully caramelized onions, beef broth, worcestershire sauce, and gruyere cheese are the most traditional options. Honestly though, it's hard to go wrong as long as you top it with a generous amount of toast and cheese at the end!


French Onion Soup
Serves: 4

Caramelized Onions:
2 lb. sliced onions (yellow, red, sweet, or vidalia)
2 cloves garlic
1 Tbs. butter

Broth:
Salt and pepper, to taste
4 cups water, beef broth, or chicken broth
4-6 slices French or artisan bread, toasted
3/4 cup shredded cheese (gruyere, swiss, mozzarella, provolone, gouda, jarlsberg, emmental, comté)

Optional additions for flavor:
1 bay leaf (step 2)
Sprig of fresh thyme (step 2)
1 - 2 Tbs dry sherry, dry white wine, or red wine (step 3)
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce (step 4)
Red pepper flakes (step 4)

Stovetop directions:
1. Melt butter in large pot. Add onions, garlic, bay leaf, and thyme. Cook for 10 minutes.
2. Stir onions. Leave 10 minutes, then stir again.
3. Cook onions for 40 more minutes, stirring every 20 minutes. If onions start to stick to pan, add a little water or the wine.
4. When onions are finished caramelizing, add water/broth, salt, pepper, and optional additions.
5. Boil; reduce heat. Simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
6. Remove bay leaf and thyme. Ladle soup into bowls and top with toast and cheese.


Instant Pot Modifications:
Step 1-3: On Sauté mode, melt butter, then caramelize onions for 10 minutes. Add wine, if using, and sauté for 1-2 minutes, stirring.
Step 4-5: Add remaining ingredients and optional additions; pressure cook for 20 minutes on high; natural release (takes about 15 minutes).


Notes:
*If you are short on time: Cover onions and cook on stovetop for 10 minutes until they are tender. After adding broth, bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
*Remember, the longer the onions are cooked, the longer the soup simmers, and the more flavorings you add, the better it will taste.
*Beef broth tastes best, but water or chicken broth are fine as well. Water is only recommended to use if you are fully caramelizing the onions, otherwise flavor will be majorly lacking.

Peppermint Pretzel Marshmallow Fudge

I'm sure you already know that I'm a chocoholic. The richer the chocolate, the better. But until now, I've never made fudge...in fact, I rarely get the chance to eat it! *gasp*
When I see fudge in shops—you know, those giant blocks of homemade fudge in all kinds of flavors—my eyes get wide and I hang around, hoping for a sample.
When I see fudge at parties, I go straight for it, ignoring any casualties which may be an effect of my extreme focus on that fudge.

But now I have made my very own, very chocolatey, very Christmasy fudge. It's good. So good that I cut it into unusually small pieces so that I can eat two (or more) pieces with less guilt.

This fudge is perfect for Christmas. And yes, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking "Maddie—isn't Christmas over?"

Yes, yes it is. But you see, I made this fudge on Christmas Eve. Then I had to wait all the way until Christmas Day to take pictures and eat it (torture), and since then, I haven't had time to write about it. I've had cats to feed, games to play, babies to babysit...you get the picture.
But so what? It's still December, so I can still justify eating and blogging about this oh-so-yummy fudge. Plus—peppermint is always a good thing, right? Yes? Then make this fudge!

As you can probably tell from the pictures and the name (yes, I know it's a bit of a mouthful, but no ingredient here should be understated), this fudge has peppermint, pretzels, and marshmallows in it.
The peppermint pieces are what make this fudge perfect for Christmas. The sweet little chunks pair perfectly with the chocolate, complimenting the chocolate's richness with its bright flavor—the two were made to be together.
The pretzels bring a crunchiness that balances out the smoothness of the chocolate and the ooey-gooeyness of the marshmallows, and a saltiness that calms the intense burst of sugar from (again) the marshmallows and the chocolate.
The marshmallows take this fudge over the top. Not only are they sprinkled throughout the fudge, but they are METLED INTO IT. So yeah, the marshmallows make the fudge extra sweet and extra good, reminding me of hot chocolate (another winter thing that I am in love with); marshmallows are the essential gooey factor.

One more thing—I think that you will be happy to know that there is not one, but two peppermint-pretzel-marshmallow layers. Yum.


Peppermint Pretzel Marshmallow Fudge
Recipe from: http://joythebaker.com/2014/12/peppermint-pretzel-marshmallow-fudge/

Garlic Parmesan Kale Chips

Today, it's -12ºF, feels like -36ºF. Just in case you're wondering how us midwesterners are faring. Luckily, school is cancelled, so I get to stay home and play in the kitchen.

The other day I bought some kale, planning on eating it in salads. When I looked in the fridge, I didn't like my dressing options, so I ended up coating the leaves in strawberry jam to take away the bitterness. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad tasting--but it did kinda defeat the point of kale. Today, I decided to experiment with the rest of the kale. It turned out great, so I now present to you...garlic parmesan kale chips!

As these were baking, everyone (I'm currently staying with a friend at her parents' house) wondered what the nice smell was. But when I pulled kale chips out of the oven, Emmie was not happy that it was just a flavored "bush." But it's a healthy bush, I reminded her! That did not help.

In the end, I'm the only one that liked the chips. But honestly, what's not to like? They're lightly crispy, quite garlicky, and very healthy. I literally ate half the pan before I had to force myself to put the rest in a box for later!

So, you'll just have to decide yourself. Are you team nasty bush or tasty bush?

Garlic Parmesan Kale Chips

1 bunch of kale
Olive oil
Garlic powder
Salt
Pepper

Fresh or dried parmesan, grated

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a jelly roll pan with tin foil.
Wash, dry, and de-stem the kale; rip into 1-inch sized pieces. Pour a little olive oil over the kale, and mix with hands until all of the kale is lightly coated. Do not drench.
Spread kale evenly in one layer over the pan. Sprinkle on garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste. If using fresh parmesan, sprinkle it on now. If using dried parmesan, sprinkle on after removing from oven.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, until slightly crispy. Do not let brown.