Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins

After carving pumpkins yesterday and baking the seeds afterward, I wanted to continue my pumpkin trend. I knew I had pumpkin puree in the cabinet, but wasn't wanting just the usual pumpkin bread. I needed something sweet. At the time, I was watching one of my favorite shows, Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, and Guy was making donuts with the chef. So what did I do after wanting both pumpkin and donuts? Googled "Pumpkin Doughnuts." I came across Martha Stewart's Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins recipe and had to make them. I tweaked them to what I wanted, but the same concept none-the-less. Like Martha Stewart stated, "These muffins capture the essence of doughnuts with their cake-like interior and sugar-coated exterior." Who wouldn't want to make them after wording like this? Best part about these is that you can individually freeze them. So a perfect and easy breakfast that's already made! All you have to do is heat them up and add the glaze! Helllllllloooo Fall!!! 

Here is what you will need for the muffins. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Add and mix all your dry ingredients in a bowl.

Add and mix your wet ingredients in a separate bowl. In another separate bowl, whisk your eggs and butter together. 

Start to add your wet and dry ingredients to the butter and eggs bowl. It's a lot easier to put in a little of each at a time while mixing. 

Once your batter is mixed, distribute evenly into a greased cupcake pan. Cook for 30 minutes. They will make about 16 muffins.

While letting cool, melt butter into a bowl. Add sugar and cinnamon into another bowl. Dip your muffins into the butter and then the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Enjoy!

Recipe:

Ingredients

3 cups of flour

1 1/2 sticks of butter

2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of baking soda

1 teaspoon of salt

2 tablespoons of pumpkin pie spice

1/4 cup of milk

1/4 cup of vanilla greek yogurt

1 1/4 cup of pumpkin puree (from a 15 oz. can)

3/4 cup of light brown sugar

2 eggs

Glaze: 1/2 stick of melted butter, 1/4 cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease your cupcake pan.
2. Mix your dry ingredients into a bowl. 
3. Mix your wet ingredients, excluding butter and eggs, into another bowl.
4. Whisk together eggs and butter in a separate bowl.
5. Start to add your wet and dry ingredients to the butter and eggs bowl. Alternate mixing in wet and dry ingredients to the butter and eggs. 
6. Once completely mixed, add to the cupcake pan filling a third to half way full. Cook for 30 minutes.
7. In two bowls, melt butter in one and combine cinnamon and sugar in the other. After the muffins have cooked, dip into the butter and then the cinnamon and sugar mixture.

Crock-Pot Jambalaya

With high temperatures only reaching the low 50s this weekend, I thought we could use something to warm us up. 50 degree temperatures may seem warm to my Chicago friends, but after a week of temperatures in the 90s, this was quite a cool down.

Here is what you will need. This may seem a bit much for the recipe, but I was making a bigger batch.

Dump everything but the shrimp and the rice into the Crock-Pot. Cook on low for 8 hours. 

Take some of the juices from your Crock-Pot to save to make your rice.

Here is what is looks like with half the time surpassed. 

With about 45 minutes to an hour left, cook your rice with the juices rather than water according to the box. You can also choose to cook the rice in the Crock-Pot, but I feel its safer to add at the end.

With about 15 minutes left, take out the bay leaves and add the shrimp.

Stir in your rice that you have cooked. You can let it sit and cook with the mixture for several more minutes or serve right away.

Cornbread is a great side to this dish.

Recipe:

Ingredients

2 pounds of medium shrimp, tail off

2 pounds of chicken, cut into bite sized cubes

1 pound of andouille sausage, sliced and halved

4 cups of instant rice

2 cups of reduced sodium chicken broth

2 (28 ounce) cans of diced tomatoes

2 medium onions, chopped

2 stalks of celery, diced

2 green bell peppers, diced

2-3 jalapeno peppers, diced (leave seeds)

1 1/2 tablespoons of creole seasoning

1 1/2 tablespoons of oregano

1 tablespoon of hot sauce

3-4 bay leaves

1 teaspoon of thyme

2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Add everything to your Crock-Pot but the rice and shrimp. Save some of the juice to use for your rice. Cook on low for 8 hours.
2. With about 45 minutes left, use juice you saved and make your rice with it instead of water. Follow directions according to box.
3. Remove the bay leaves and add shrimp with 15 minutes left. 
4. Once the 8 hours is up, stir in the rice and serve.