PUMPKIN STREUSEL MINI-MUFFINS

September is here and that means pumpkins. I know what you are thinking...pumpkins are for October and November, but how many of you have already enjoyed a PSL - hot, iced, or blended? 

The patrons visiting the Cafe at PWUMC are really excited about seeing pumpkin anything. This past Sunday Cafe Treats Baker Cindy, brought these awesome looking Pumpkin Streusel Mini-Muffins. OMG! They could have come from a bakery; they were perfect! Cindy did a great job! 

It was hard to eat just one. (In fact, I know one person took a second one after eating the first one.) If you don't want to make mini-muffins, you can make larger ones and bake for about 20 minutes.

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PUMPKIN STREUSEL MINI-MUFFINS

1-1/2   cups flour

1         teaspoon cinnamon

1         teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1         teaspoon baking powder

1/2      teaspoon baking soda

1/4      teaspoon salt

1/3      cup oil

1/2     cup brown sugar, packed

1/4     cup sugar

2        large eggs

2        teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4     cup sour cream

1        cup pure pumpkin

*     *     *     *     *

Streusel Topping:

1/2     cup flour

1/4     cup brown sugar

1/4    cup sugar

1       teaspoon cinnamon

1/4    cup unsalted butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line mini-muffin tins with paper cup liners. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well combined.

In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, brown sugar, sugar, eggs, vanilla, sour cream, and pumpkin puree until smooth.

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, whisking until no lumps remain.

Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared muffin pan. (A tablespoon sized cookie scoop works great for this.)

Prepare the streusel topping by combining the dry ingredients in a small bowl. Stir in the melted butter until the mixture forms crumbles.

Sprinkle or crumble the streusel mix over each mini-muffin making sure the top is evenly covered.

Bake in the oven until the center springs back when lightly touched, check at 12 minutes.

GF, SF - OAT FLOUR CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Going to the dentist has never been on my Love to Do List. When I was little, my mother would stay in the room with me and my dentist. (I was four when I first started going to Dr. Grumbles. I stuck with him through college.) I always thought when I was little that she stayed there the whole time, but when I was older she admitted to me that she would leave and go sit down eventually. 

Later when Wayne and I lived in Biloxi, MS, I would wear headphones and have music blaring in my ears so I didn't have to hear the scraping noise, etc. Even later when we lived in Ventura, CA, I took my Walkman and listened to my CDs. The Eagles and Phil Collins (Just another day in Paradise - you got that wrong) got me through dental appointments with Dr. Namikas and Karen, his dental hygienist. Karen thought if she didn't scrape for an hour, she wasn't doing a good job.

Then we moved to Kansas City, MO and I decided I was grown up enough that I would try without anything. Brave? Right, but it worked. I liked the hygienist Linda and she didn't think you had to scrape for an hour. 

The office eventually changed ownership and Dr. Graue is awesome and his staff has grown immensely. Dee, the receptionist, and Sandy, his assistant haven't changed the whole 16 years I have been going to the practice and they always greet me with a smile and it feels like family. I have never brought my music in to listen to to distract me, but I hold my hands in my lap and pretend it is Jesus holding my hand. That helps me relax especially during the little bit of scraping, etc.

After I started my blog, I started bringing a treat for the staff to share each time I came. I jokingly told them it was a bribe so they were be kind to me and not hurt me. I always tried to bring something not too sweet, afterall, I am taking it to a dentist office, but over the last year or so, Dr. G. has added hygienists who require gluten-free or sugar-free. Of course I wouldn't take something that only a few could enjoy so my collection of recipes is changing somewhat. It really isn't that big of a deal, because I also like to have a GF and/or SF options for the Cafe Treats at church.

As I expected hearing that I had brought GF-SF Chocolate Chip Cookie was very well received in the office. As soon as Chelsea, my hygienist finished cleaning/polishing my teeth, she left to go eat a cookie. She came back while Dr. G. was examining my teeth and said if she had been wearing a mask, she would have thought she was eating a Chips-a-Hoy cookie. That's a pretty high recommendation, I think. 

They don't look like a Toll House cookie, but they are really good and I am sure I will be making them again for us. When I do, I will probably make my own oat flour by grinding up old fashioned oats since I don't have to have gluten-free. (FYI - oats are naturally gluten-free, but only oats that say GF have been processed on equipment limited for GF products.)

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GF, SF - OAT FLOUR CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

2-1/2   cups oat flour

1         teaspoon cornstarch

1/2      teaspoon baking soda

1/4      teaspoon salt

1/2      cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

3/4      cup light brown sugar (Sweet Complete Brown)

1/4      cup sugar (stevia)

1         large egg, room temperature

2         teaspoons vanilla extract

1         cup no-sugar-added chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, combine the oat flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt with a whisk. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugars for 3 minutes on medium speed. (If necessary, stop and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.)

Combine the egg and vanilla and

add to creamed mixture.

Beat until smooth and well combined.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and

mix just until combined.

Fold in the chocolate chips.

Scoop 1 tablespoon of dough using a cookie scoop (press in if necessary). Form into a ball if necessary when you release it from the scoop and place 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet. Flatten with your fingers.

Bake for 8 to 9 minutes until edges are set.

Cool for 3 minutes on the pan before removing them to a wire rack to cool. 

Store in an airtight container.

 

LEMON CREAM CHEESE BARS

I recently wrote about surprises I had had and here I am talking about surprises again and so soon, too. I am blessed is all I can say.

I was a little concerned that we wouldn't have a nice variety to offer in the Cafe at PWUMC yesterday because only a few volunteers had signed up. Then around dinner time Saturday night I received a text from Friend Jean who was scheduled to bring a treat, letting me know about "treats" and who made them that they had left in the staff kitchen behind the cafe. (The Miracle Ringers, the church's handbell choir had met to polish the bells and had brought a sack lunch plus treats. The leftover treats they donated to the Cafe Treats.) What a surprise! Thank you Miracle Ringers!

 

There were so many treats, I filled the entire counter. Of course, our patrons loved everything, especially the number of choices. One of the ministers came by and saw these bars and asked if that was cream cheese. When I told him, it was, it was overjoyed. I made sure I put one aside for me because I knew they wouldn't last long.

With just a hint of lemon and the smooth taste of cream cheese topped off with the interesting taste that the crescent dinner roll gives it, it is a surprise when you bite into it. And who doesn't like surprises. 
 

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LEMON CREAM CHEESE BARS

2     (8 oz) packages of refrigerated crescent rolls

2     (8 oz) packages cream cheese at room temperature

1/2   cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed

1/2   cup sugar

1      tablespoons of lemon zest

2      tablespoons butter, melted

3      tablespoons sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 13 - inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

Press one of the cans of crescent rolls in the bottom of the dish making sure to cover the entire bottom and keep the perforated edges together.

Bake for 5 - 8 minutes or until it is light brown. Remove and cool on rack.

Beat the cream cheese just a bit and add the 1/2 cup of sugar.

Blend in the lemon juice and lemon zest. Mixture should be smooth.

Spread the mixture on the baked crescent rolls.

Roll the remaining crescent roll over the top and stretch to the edges and seal.

Brush across the top with the melted butter.

Sprinkle with the 3 tablespoons of sugar

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool.

Refrigerate for about an hour.

Slice into bars and serve.

Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

AMISH CINNAMON BREAD

 

I love surprises! Especially when I'm not expecting them --- but then I guess it isn't a surprise if I'm expecting it. 

So are you smiling now or just shaking your head?  I hope you are smiling. That was my intent --- to give you something to smile about today.

I was certainly smiling Sunday morning when I saw Friend Jeri walking toward the Cafe (at PWUMC) with a plate in-hand and then handing it to me. I was immediately overtaken with the smell of cinnamon.

I placed the slices on one of trays I use in the Cafe for the Cafe Treats and set it up on the counter. Within minutes a young man came up to see what we had to offer and said, "I smell cinnamon. Oh, good." as he helped himself to a slice. That made me smile again.

I saw Jeri later and asked her if it were a recipe or a box mix and she said it was a recipe. She said it was so easy and made two loaves so she kept one and brought me slices from the other loaf. I asked her to send me the recipe and she offered to bring some more the next time she made it. That made me a smile again. 

When Jeri sent me the recipe later Sunday afternoon, I thanked her and told her I had really appreciated her contribution as not enough people had volunteered to bring something. She then offered to bring something on a fairly regular basis. That really made me smile when I read that. So now we have another Cafe Treats Baker and more awesome recipes to share here.

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AMISH CINNAMON BREAD

1     cup butter, softened

2     cups  sugar

2     eggs

2     cups buttermilk or 2 cup milk plus 2 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice

4     cups flour

2     teaspoons baking soda

*    *    *    *

Cinnamon/sugar mixture:

2/3  cups sugar

2     teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two loaf pans. Set aside.

Cream together the butter, sugar, and eggs.

Add buttermilk, flour, and baking soda.

Put 1/2 of the batter or a little less into the two loaf pans (1/4 in each).

In a separate bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle 3/4 of the mixture on top of the batter in each pan.

Add the remaining batter evenly to the pans; sprinkle the last of the cinnamon/sugar mixture on top.

Swirl with a knife through the pans. (Jeri swirled a lot with the knife to avoid and pockets of the dry cinnamon/sugar mixture.)

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool in the pans for 20 minutes removing from the pans.

STIR-N-DROP SUGAR COOKIES

Last week I shared with you a recipe for Old-Time Cinnamon Jumbles that Cafe Treats Baker Dorene had made and brought for the Cafe at Platte Woods United Methodist Church. She also made some awesome Sugar Cookies that looks like the recipe came from the same old cookbook. I couldn't wait to share the recipe for them with you this week.

Any recipe I find for a stir-n-drop sugar cookies, I am interested in it. It has been a long time since I rolled out cookie dough and then used a cookie cutter, decorative or just a circle. I know I should. I have several cute cookie cutters that I have bought and never use. I promise I will use them sometime before the end of the year and then you can read about it here. Okay? Until then you can just try out this recipe for stir-n-drop ones.

I like the way Dorene dusted them with powdered sugar. It was a nice finished touch to the cookies.

 

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DORENE'S STIR-N-DROP SUGAR COOKIES

2     eggs

2/3  cup oil

2     teaspoons vanilla

1     teaspoon grated lemon rind

3/4  cup sugar

2     cups sifted flour (sift flour before measuring*)

2     teaspoons baking powder

1/2  teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Beat until well blended with a fork, the eggs in a large mixing bowl.

Add the oil, vanilla, and lemon rind and stir to mix well.

Blend into the mixture the sugar.

Sift together the sifted flour, baking powder, and salt. (*First sift an amount of flour out and then measure out 2 cups.) Add to the mixture and stir until dough forms.

Drop by teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. (Personal note: I always use parchment paper for easier cleanup.)

Flatten each dollop with a glass, that you have greased and pressed in sugar.

Bake until a delicate brown, about 6 minutes. Remove immediately from the cookie sheet.

(Dorene dusted the baked cookies with powdered sugar which made them so pretty.)