Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

As mentioned in my previous post, I have a fridge full of cranberries right now. Being from Cape Cod,  I have a special love for the cranberry. When I was little, my parents sometimes took my sister and I to "Cranberry World." It was basically just a museum with dioramas of cranberry bogs and free juice samples. I know it sounds kind of lame, but it was clearly successful in its attempt to turn small children into ravenous consumers of the cranberry (it was owned by Ocean Spray, after all).

Anyways, I felt like making some muffins with my excess cranberries. I'd seen recipes for pumpkin cranberry muffins, but none were quite what I wanted, so I adapted this one to suit the muffin-vision dancing in my head. I swapped vanilla yogurt for half of the oil, and used my lovely fresh cranberries instead of the dried ones. I didn't have any of the ground ginger that it called for, so I left it out. I didn't feel like putting the pecans in either, but I might use them next time. And finally, for a sweet crunch, I sprinkled the tops of the muffins with some turbinado sugar before baking. These came out exactly like I wanted them to: soft and moist with tons of tangy cranberries.

Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins
Adapted from Bettycrocker.com

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
2 eggs
1 cup coarsely chopped fresh cranberries
turbinado sugar, for sprinkling

Directions:
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray muffin cups with cooking spray or line with paper baking cups.

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Stir in pumpkin, oil, yogurt, and eggs until just moistened. Fold in cranberries. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, then sprinkle each with some turbinado sugar.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean. Remove muffins from pan to cooling rack. Serve warm.

Makes 12 muffins.

Download a printable recipe.

Pumpkin Whoopee Pies

About a year ago, John and I took a little road trip to Lancaster County, PA (aka "Amish Country"). One of my fondest memories of the trip is the giant box of whoopee pies that we bought (the Amish people sure have a gift for making baked goods... how they do it without the Food Network or the interwebs is a mystery to me). We bought all different flavors... your classic chocolate, chocolate peanut butter (my personal favorite), red velvet, and pumpkin. Check out our whoopee pie bounty:

So when I came across this recipe on the Cooks Illustrated web site, I knew I had to try it. Since it's the time of year for all things pumpkin, I thought this would be an appropriate dessert. Plus, we were planning to take them over to Joe and Brooke's (John's brother and sister-in-law) for dinner, and Brooke is a pumpkin connoisseur (and she gave these two thumbs up!).

Although I might make a few changes next time, I thought these came out pretty well for my first whoopee pie attempt (you can pretty much bet on the second attempt being chocolate peanut butter). For starters, I'll make extra frosting next time... this recipe left me with a few cookies unfrosted (tragic, no?). I firmly believe that you can never have too much frosting. The recipe tells you to flatten each cookie (prior to baking) so that it's a half inch thick. I wasn't overly careful about doing that since I didn't anticipate how much the cookies would puff up when baked. I certainly wouldn't do anything to change the flavors, though.


Cookies:
1     (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
2     large eggs
3/4     cup vegetable oil
2     cups granulated sugar
2     teaspoons vanilla extract
2     teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2     teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
4     cups all-purpose flour
4     teaspoons baking powder
2     teaspoons baking soda
1     teaspoon table salt

Filling:
8     tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), softened but still cool
4     ounces cream cheese (1/2 package), at room temperature
3/4     cup Marshmallow Fluff (3 1/2 ounces)
1/4     teaspoon table salt
1     teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4     cups confectioners' sugar , sifted

Instructions:
1. For the cookies: Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large (18 by 12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper (I used silicone baking mats sprayed with some cooking spray).
  
2. Stir pumpkin, eggs, oil, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in large bowl until well blended. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in medium bowl. Stir dry ingredients into pumpkin mixture until well incorporated.
 
3. Using small ice cream scoop (#30 is the perfect size) or tablespoon measure, drop 2 tablespoons of dough on prepared baking sheet. (You should fit nine scoops of dough on each sheet.) Spread dough into 2-inch rounds about 1/2 inch thick and spaced 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies are just set and bottoms are lightly browned, 10 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheets from front to back and top to bottom halfway through baking. Slide cookies, still on parchment, to cooling racks. Cool baking sheets, line with fresh parchment paper, and repeat with remaining dough.

4. For the filling: With electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed until no lumps remain, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula. Add Marshmallow Fluff and beat at medium speed until incorporated, about 60 seconds. Beat in salt and vanilla until well blended, about 30 seconds. Scrape down bowl. Reduce speed to low and gradually add confectioners’ sugar, beating until smooth, about 1 minute.

 

5. Spread 2 tablespoons filling on center of flat side of one cookie. Place flat side of second cookie on filling and press cookies together to bring filling to edges. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling. (Cookies can be refrigerated in airtight container for up to 4 days).

Makes about 18 whoopee pies.

And just for fun, here's a picture of John and I pretending to be Amish...




Download a printable recipe here!
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