Pumpkin Spice Biscotti

October 11, 2014 by Mackenzie

So… I quit my job. And it’s been GREAT! I can’t believe what I’ve been missing. I started working at Nordstrom exactly a year ago – and I loved it. The job pays well and it was a fun distraction from the stress of school. But when I started back up again this school year, I started to lose my mind. I was stretched so thin with 19.5 credits of classes, writing my thesis, working as a Teaching Assistant and working at Nordstrom. And then trying to enjoy my senior year and hang out with friends. And then I missed a whole week of class while I was in New York at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting (all my pictures are posted here! So many famous people!) I was so stressed all the time, barely slept and was sacrificing valuable job-searching time as well.

Two weeks ago I finally decided to call it quits. I was sad to leave my co-workers, worried about no longer having a paycheck (still am!), and bummed that I was losing my discount 😉 but after last weekend of freedom and looking forward to many more – I am SO glad I quit. I’ve caught up on schoolwork, worked on my thesis, am blogging, went to the grocery store… I mean, I’m finally doing life stuff! It feels so good.

So in the spirit of celebrating… I baked biscotti! I had a little leftover pumpkin after making these Pumpkin Millet Muffins last week and for some reason, pumpkin biscotti just wouldn’t leave my mind! So – I set to work last night and made these Pumpkin Spice Biscotti. Oh my goodness, they are absolutely amazing. I used some of the [amazon text=Pumpkin Spice Oil&asin=http://www.amazon.com/Lorann-Oils-Pumpkin-Emulsion-4oz/dp/B00BR25W9E] that I got from LorAnn and that you can get on Amazon (see this post about Earl Grey Tea Shortbread for another use for LorAnn Oils!) and gosh, they turned out good! I dipped them in white chocolate (that I had brought back from Madagascar!) and now have a delicious plate of treats!

Pumpkin Spice Biscotti

Recipe Type: Cookie, Dessert

Author: Mackenzie

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Total time: 1 hour 5 mins

Serves: 16

Ingredients

1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin spice emulsion (optional but highly recommended!)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon cloves
white chocolate for dipping

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the pumpkin, butter, eggs, vanilla, and pumpkin spice emulsion. Beat until combined.
In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients: flours, sugars, baking powder, salt, and spices. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir to combine.
Divide dough in two and on a floured surface, roll each half into a 9x3inch (roughly) log. Place both logs on a cookie sheet fitted with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until edges are golden brown.
Let cool for 15 minutes and drop oven temperature to 300 degrees. When logs are cool, use a serrated knife to cut them into one inch strips. Turn pieces on their side and return to baking sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes until dry and crisp. Remove from sheet and let cool on a wire rack.
Once cool, melt white chocolate in a double boiler. Dip biscotti in melted chocolate and return to wire rack to harden.

Pumpkin Gingerbread with Pumpkin Spice Glaze

September 20, 2014 by Mackenzie

Guess who is headed to New York today??? EEEEK!

I’m volunteering at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting – and absolutely cannot wait! (See this post that I wrote a few weeks ago for all the details!) I can’t wait to see who I may get to meet, to connect with other inspiring young adults, and hang out with Obama and the Clintons 😉 Plus, I’m never going to complain about taking a week off of school and work! Although that did make this last week quite horrendous… And I don’t even want to think about what will happen when I get back. But for now, I’m jumping on the plane and jetting off to NYC!

Before I leave though, I have to share with you this amazing pumpkin bread recipe. I’m not sure how I had time to make it but Thursday afternoon arrived, I finished my classes for the week (and for the next ten days really!), and I decided I just really, really needed a baking break 🙂 I also had yet to bake with pumpkin this year – so I was ready to officially usher in fall.

This recipe is from my great-grandmother although I added my own spin with the pumpkin spice glaze. My grandma gave me my great-grandmother’s recipe card several years ago and I have been making this bread each fall since!

When Libby came home, she walked in the door and said “What have you been making? Please tell me it’s pumpkin bread!” She said each year, her mom would surprise her and her siblings with pumpkin bread one crisp fall day and that always signaled that fall was here! Well Libby, here you go!

Pumpkin Gingerbread with Pumpkin Spice Glaze

Recipe Type: Bread, Fall, Breakfast, Dessert

Author: Mackenzie

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 1 hour 10 mins

Total time: 1 hour 30 mins

Serves: 1 loaf

Recip from my Great Grandma Mildred

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup pumpkin
1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup (or more if necessary) powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons milk
2 drops pumpkin spice extract (or add some of the spices above!)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, beat together the sugar, oil and eggs until light in color, about 2 minutes. Beat in pumpkin.
In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and spices. Alternately add the dry ingredients and water into the pumpkin mixture, maxing in between additions. Do not overbeat.
Pour batter into greased loaf pan and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pans for ten minutes and then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.
In a small bowl, stir together the powdered sugar, milk and pumpkin spice extract. Drizzle over the bread and allow to set.

French Apple Tart

January 15, 2014 by Mackenzie

Not only was this tart beautiful with its graceful layers of apple slices, but it was sweet, without being overly sweet and left me perfectly satisfied. Don’t be daunted by it’s look – it really is quite simple to prepare and you’ll amaze any guests you may have!

French Apple Tart
Recipe from Food Network
Makes one 10×14 inch tart, serving 10-12

Ingredients:
Pastry:
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter, diced
1/2 cup ice water
Apple Topping:
4 Granny Smith apples
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold, unsalted butter, diced small
1/2 cup apricot jelly or warm, sieved (run it through a strainer) apricot jam
2 tablespoons water

Directions:
1. Pastry: In a food processor, pulse together the flour, salt and sugar. Add the butter and pulse until mixture is crumbly and the butter is the size of peas. Pour the ice water down the feed tube while pulsing, and continue pulsing until the mixture just starts to come together. Remove the dough and, on a floured cutting board, knead it into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

3. On a floured surface, roll the dough into a 10×14 inch rectangle. Trim the edges so you get a neat rectangle. Carefully roll the dough over your arm or the rolling pin and transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Place in the refrigerator while you prepare the apples.

4. Peel the apples. If you have a corer, remove the cores from the apples. If you don’t, slice the apples in half and carefully remove the cores. Slice the apples crosswise in 1/4-inch-thick slices! Take the pastry out of the fridge and, starting in the middle with a diagonal line from the corners, place the apples in an overlapping pattern (see photo). Continue outward, getting slices all the way to the ends of the pastry on all sides (I got creative and cut pieces to fit the small parts at the ends of the rows. Sprinkle the whole tart with 1/2 cup of sugar and dot with the butter.

5. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until the apples and pastry are golden brown. Rotate the pan while cooking if necessary, and poke down any bubbles that form. When the tart is done, heat the apricot jelly with the water and brush the entire tart (pastry and apples) completely with the jelly mixture. Don’t be afraid to use it all, it helps to seal the apples and keep them soft.

6. Serve warm or at room temperature. It’s even better with a scoop of ice cream and some caramel sauce drizzled over it!

Let me know what you think if you try it!

Pumpkin Millet Muffins

November 4, 2013 by Mackenzie

Halloween may be over, but cooking with pumpkin is most definitely not! I couldn’t possibly wait a whole year to post these because they are mouth-wateringly delicious!

I love these muffins for two reasons. 1) they are exceptionally moist, which is a characteristic I value highly in my muffins! And 2) the addition of the millet gives these muffins a unique texture that I love. In case you’ve never had millet, it is a grain that has a slight crunch to it, even when fully cooked. I’ve never had it in baked goods so was very curious to try it here and I loved the complexity it added! I’ll definitely be trying out millet in some of my other baked goods recipes.

And no, these do not ascribe to my clean eating/real foods lifestyle that I try to live by. But I am completely okay with an occasional treat 🙂 And luckily, I live in a building full of college students who love to eat the fruits of my baking endeavors!

Pumpkin Millet Muffins
Recipe from Whole Foods Market
Makes 14 muffins

Ingredients:
1/2 cup millet
1 egg
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whole milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place paper liners in a muffin pan.

2. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add millet and toast until golden brown, stirring occasionally. You’ll hear the millet begin to pop after 3-4 minutes and that’s when it’s toasted. Remove from heat and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together egg, sour cream, milk, melted butter, pumpkin, sugar and brown sugar. In a separate bowl, add all the dry ingredients, (flours, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, spices and cooled millet) and stir to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing until just combined.

4. Spoon batter into muffin tins, filling cups almost to the top. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into middle of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. They are delicious warm!!!

Mackenzie

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