Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

This school year I've been trying to always have muffins in the freezer to warm up for a quick breakfast for the kids or pack in lunches.  Many weeks I end up making 4 dozen of these pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.  They taste great, and I'm glad they have some whole wheat in them.  

I don't actually measure the Greek yogurt.  I just eye-ball it and scoop some out of my big container.  The muffins have always turned out.  Also, the directions say to mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl, but I often just stir the sugars into the flour mixture, then add each of the wet ingredients on top of the dry and stir together the top layer of wet ingredients, then dig down to the bottom of the bowl to combine the two layers.  Is this being lazy or efficient?  All I know is it speeds up my muffin-making chore a bit.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Makes 24 muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

6 ounces plain Greek yogurt 

3 eggs

15 oz canned pumpkin

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray muffin tins with nonstick spray.  

2. To a large mixing bowl, add all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Stir to combine.

3. In a medium mixing bowl, add brown sugar (breaking up any clumps), granulated sugar, yogurt, eggs, pumpkin and canola oil.  Stir or whisk to combine.  

4. Add wet ingredients to try and stir until just combined.  Add chocolate chips and stir.

5. Divide into 24 muffin cups and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in a muffins comes out clean.

Source: adapted from www.ourbestbites.com 

Classic Chili

This is nothing fancy, just my go-to classic chili recipe I've been making for years.  Use the two cans of black beans if you like your chili thicker (less soupy).  I love having this chili with my favorite corn muffins.

Classic Chili

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced

1/2 pound ground turkey

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 tablespoons cumin

1 tablespoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 1/2 cups beef broth

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1-2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

Optional toppings:

Grated cheddar cheese

Diced avocado

Sour cream or plain Greek yogurt

Directions:

1. Put olive oil in a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat.  Add onion and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Add ground turkey and salt/pepper.  Break turkey apart while cooking and stirring until no longer pink.  

3. Add chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and tomato paste.  Stir until well combined.  Add beef broth, kidney beans, black beans and tomato sauce.  Stir.  Bring to a simmer and turn heat to low.  Simmer 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Add toppings as desired.

Source: adapted from www.thewholesomedish.com

Brownie Frosting

This frosting is a bit untraditional because it starts with melted butter.  I think it makes for an especially creamy, decadent frosting.  After it's been chilled, it almost reminds me a little of a dense mousse.

Brownie Frosting

Yield: a thick layer of frosting for an 8x8 pan

Ingredients:

1/2 cup salted butter

1/2 cup cocoa powder

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla 

4-6 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Directions:

1. In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter in the microwave.

2. Add the cocoa powder and use an electric mixer to combine thoroughly.

3. Add 1 cup powdered sugar, the vanilla and heavy whipping cream, as needed to help everything mix together.  Beat thoroughly.

4. Add one more cup powdered sugar and heavy whipping cream as needed.  Beat 3-4 minutes, until frosting noticeably lightens in color.  If frosting is too thick, add more cream.

5. Spread on completely cooled brownies.  This frosting is good chilled.

 Source: adapted from www.cookiesfordays.com

Peanut Butter Chocolate M&M cookies

 

While I love a good chocolate chip cookie, I seem to find myself opting for a version that includes peanut butter more often than not.  These cookies are dressed up fancy by adding peanut M&Ms and roasted peanuts to the tops.  I like to bake 10 cookies per sheet if making a typical medium-sized cookie.  But my favorite way to bake them is as big, bakery-style cookies.  I do four to a sheet and they are thick and delicious.  

I like to cut the large size in half before freezing them so we can pull out half to eat as a serving (which actually equals about the size of a regular cookie, but I love the thickness of the large cookie).

Here is a size comparison.  I like to refrigerate the dough before baking them to help ensure they bake up thick.  I portion the dough out into dough balls of the desired size, place them on a cookie sheet, cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate about 24 hours.  Lots of people might say the best way to eat a cookie is when it's still warm from the oven, but I like these best when they've been frozen and are still cold.  I take one out of the freezer and put it in a ziploc bag to thaw for a few minutes (probably less than 5 minutes) and enjoy one of my favorite cookies!

Peanut Butter Chocolate M&M Cookies

Makes 28-30 medium-sized cookies or 14-15 very large bakery-sized cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup salted butter, very slightly softened, but still quite cold

1 cup creamy peanut butter (I like natural peanut butter)

1 1/2 cups light or dark brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (more if using unsalted butter)

2 1/2 cups (300 g) all-purpose flour

2 1/2 cups chocolate chips (I like to use the larger Ghirardelli 60% bittersweet chocolate chips and give about half of them a rough chop to get a variety of sizes of chocolate pieces in the cookies)

Additional chocolate chips for placing on tops of cookies

Peanut M&Ms (for placing on top)

Roasted peanuts (I like the big roasted, salted Virginia peanuts I can find at my local Costco)

Directions:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixture, beat butter until creamy.  Add the peanut butter and beat until well combined.

2. Add in both sugars and beat until light and fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl as needed, about 3-4 minutes.

3. Add eggs, egg yolk and vanilla and mix until well combined.

4. Add baking soda, baking powder and salt and mix until combined.  Add flour and mix until about halfway incorporated.  Add the chopped chocolate chips and whole chocolate chips and mix until just combined.

5. Portion out dough into desired size onto a silicone mat or parchment-lined baking sheet.  (I like to make medium-sized cookies about 2.25 oz. each and large cookies about 4 oz. each.)  No need to leave room for cookies to spread as they will just be chilled at this point.  Press peanut M&MS, peanuts and additional chocolate chips on top of each cookie as desired.  These toppings can be placed quite close together as the cookies will later spread during baking.  Cover baking sheet tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate dough balls for about 24 hours.

6. After chilling, preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place cookies 10 to a sheet for medium-sized cookies or 4 to a sheet for extra large cookies.  Medium cookies bake for about 12 minutes, large cookies bake for about 15 minutes.  Pull the cookies out when you start to see the first hint of browning around the edges (or even just before).  Immediately after removing from oven use the back of a spoon to push in the sides of each cookie slightly to create an even circle and make the cookie edges a little thicker.  If any cookies look sparse, press additional chocolate chips or M&Ms on top.  Allow to cool completely on cookie sheet.  

7. To freeze cookies: after cookies have cooled completely, (cut large cookies in half if desired) and either place the baking sheet in the freezer or carefully transfer cookies to plates in a single layer and freeze cookies for about 15 minutes.  (Uncovered is fine.)  Transfer cookies to freezer bags.  Before enjoying a cookie from the freezer allow it to sit at room temperature for a few minutes to slightly thaw.

If you don't want to bake all the cookies in the same day, you can transfer the dough balls to a ziploc bag and refrigerate for up to a total of 72 hours from the time you mixed up the dough, or they can be frozen in a freezer bag.  They will need an extra bit of time in the oven if baking frozen dough.

Source: adapted from bakerbynature.com

Crispy Chicken Fajita Wraps

If you have some cooked chicken on hand, these are so quick and very tasty.  If you want to add a little crispy cheese layer to one or both sides of the wrap, it's a fun addition, but totally optional.

Crispy Chicken Fajita Wraps

Makes 4 wraps

Ingredients:

4 large flour tortillas

2 red bell peppers, seeds removed and sliced thinly

1 small red or yellow onion, thinly sliced

Olive oil

1-2 cups shredded white cheddar cheese

1-2 cups cooked, chopped chicken (rotisserie chicken works great)

Cooking spray

Extra white or yellow shredded cheddar, if desired

1-2 avocados

Salt

Sour cream or plain Greek yogurt

Directions:

1. Heat a skillet over medium heat.  Add a teaspoon or so of olive oil to a skillet.  Add peppers and onions to the skillet, and don't stir for a minute or two to let them char a bit.  Stir and saute peppers and onions until tender.  Remove from heat.

2. Heat a griddle (or clean skillet) over medium heat.  Place tortillas on the griddle and add desired amount of chicken, sauteed peppers, onions and cheese to each tortilla.  Fold up to create a flat wrap.  Spray one side lightly with cooking spray.  Turn over, spray over side.  Cook on both sides until brown and crispy.  If you want a crispy cheese layer on the outside, put a tablespoon or so of cheese directly on the griddle next to the wrap.  Let the cheese sizzle for a few seconds, then move wrap on the cheese.  Cook for another minute or so.  Remove from heat.

3. Smash avocados and mix in desired amount of salt.  Top wraps with smashed avocado and/or sour cream/plain Greek yogurt.

Source: inspired by melskitchencafe.com

Chicken-Stuffed Poblano Peppers

I love these flavorful (and healthy!) stuffed Mexican peppers.  They are too spicy for everyone else in my family, but luckily Mexican ingredients are so easily adaptable that they can make nachos or soft-shell tacos out of the Mexican fixings used in this meal.  If you have leftover pinto beans, you can make refried beans while the peppers cook for a delicious side.

Chicken-Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Makes 1 serving

Ingredients:

1 large poblano pepper

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/4 cup chopped tomato

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 cup cooked, shredded chicken

1/4 cup pinto or black beans, drained

1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with oil.

2. Rinse and dry the poblano pepper.  Cut a thin slice off the top and cut the pepper in half.  Remove seeds and core.  

3. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Add tomatoes, onion, garlic, salt, oregano and cumin.  Cook, stirring often, about 5-7 minutes.  Off heat, stir in chicken, beans, and 1/4 cup cheese.  

4. Stuff the mixture into the pepper halves, packing lightly so it doesn't fall out.  Top with remaining cheddar cheese.

5. Bake about 30 minutes, until peppers are soft (and possibly charred in places).  Remove from oven, and turn oven to broil.  Place pan about 6 inches below heating element and broil for 1-2 minutes, until cheese gets brown spots.  Let rest 5 minutes before serving.  

Source: adapted from healthyrecipesblogs.com

French Onion Dip Sandwiches

This is a tasty alternative to burgers for a hot sandwich.  The toasty bun, caramelized onion, melty cheese, and beef combo are made even better when dipped in the French Onion soup-flavored sauce.  I've adapted the measurements for just two sandwiches.

French Onion Dip Sandwiches

Makes 2 sandwiches

Ingredients:
1/2 of a French baguette

1/2 pound (or less, depending on how much meat you like in your sandwich) deli roast beef, thinly sliced

1/2 tablespoon butter

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 large yellow onion, sliced thinly

Dash salt

Dash black pepper

Dash crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon white wine vinegar

1 cup beef stock or broth

1/4 teaspoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon cold water

Sliced or grated white cheddar cheese, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.  

2. In a small skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add thyme and onions, stir well.  Cook, stirring occasionally, for 20-25 minutes, until soft and golden in color.  Add water to the pan and/or turn down the heat if the onions seem to be browning too quickly instead of slowly caramelizing.

3. Stir in the salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes.  Cook for 1-2 minutes, then stir in the white wine vinegar.

4. Add the beef broth or stock.  Increase heat to medium-high.  Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.  

5. Mix the cornstarch with the cold water to form a slurry.  Add it to the onion mixture.  Cook for another minute or two, stirring occasionally, until the dipping sauce thickens a bit.  Remove the onions from the liquid using a fork or slotted spoon.  Divide the dipping sauce into two ramekins.

6. Slice the baguette into 2 sandwich portions of desired size.  Slice each piece in half, only cutting 3/4 of the way through the bread (so one side is still attached together, like a hot dog bun).  Put each baguette piece on a piece of large foil.  Assemble sandwiches by putting desired amount of roast beef on each baguette piece, top the beef with cheese, then finally with the caramelized onions.  

7. Wrap each sandwich in foil, place on a baking sheet, and bake for 5 minutes.  Serve immediately with dipping sauce.

Source: adapted from bakerbynature.com