Glazed Spice-Cake Donut Muffins

I love spice cake.  I love donuts.  I love muffins.  Why not combine them all?  This recipe does not result in your typical Krispy Kreme, fried donut...although the glaze is quite similar.  The texture is more of a cake donut consistency, with a wonderful, spiced flavor.  They are the perfect thing to have in the morning with a warm, cup of coffee...so comforting, and very suitable for dunking.  They also keep well for a couple days (for best taste, no more than three), and who doesn't love leftovers? Another thing I love about this recipe is that there are so many options on how to prepare the batter.  You can bake them: into mini muffins (just reduce baking time), on parchment paper or greased baking sheet to create muffin top cookies, into one, large pan to create a snack cake/quick bread, in a donut pan, and/or you can frost them with cream cheese icing.  However, I absolutely adore this recipe the way it is - no alterations necessary.  

Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients:

For the muffins:

• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
• 3 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly

For the Glaze:

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup confectioners' sugar; sifted

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons hot water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium muffin pan with cooking spray, or line with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, mix sugar, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and flour. Whisk buttermilk, eggs, maple syrup, and butter in a separate medium bowl until just combined, and stir into the dry ingredients. Do NOT over mix. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan, about 3/4 of the way full.
3. Bake 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown.  Let rest for at least 5 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack.
4. For glaze, combine melted butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla, and hot water in a medium bowl.  Whisk until smooth.  When muffins have cooled slightly, dip the muffin crown into the glaze.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Applesauce Cookies with Caramel Frosting

Ohhh these were so, so yummy.  I seriously lost count of how many I ate within a few hours of making them. I took these to my friends lake house, and everyone gobbled them up even when we were stuffed from dinner.  The cookies themselves are super soft and fluffy and seem just like muffin tops.  They taste like a spice cake with a touch of apple....very comforting and delicious.  Then you get the wonderful, rich, decadent, smooth, dreamy, melt-in-your-mouth, caramel frosting.  The frosting definitely takes these cookies to the next level.  It's like you're biting into a heavenly cloud of perfect deliciousness.   I first spotted these cookies a few weeks ago on Pinterest, and had been dying to make them but we never had heavy cream in the house.  So when we finally did have heavy cream, I knew their time had come.


Recipe credit to Chef In Training.

Cinnamon-Apple Glazed Cookies

These aren't just any cookies.  They're cookie craaaaaackkk.  They are absolutely incredible...SO [full of flavor]. These are most incredible fresh from the oven, and warm so that all the delicious cinnamon sugary vanilla glaze drizzles off the cookie and melts in your mouth.  These are my whole family's new favorite cookie.  I love the apple, nutty, cinnamon flavors combined in this magnificent little cookie.  Just my mom, dad, and I nearly finished an entire batch.  And the cookie dough is super amazing as well (I was eating it by the spoonful). But this is one of the rare times where the cookie (especially warm from the oven) tastes even better than the cookie dough.  These are so soft and cake like and just pure cookie perfection.  And don't forget to make the glaze! It truly makes the cookie.

Yield: about 3 dozen

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
• 1.5 cups apples - peeled, cored and finely diced
• 1/4 cup grated apple
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 tablespoons milk
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

1. Beat shortening, butter and brown sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and blend thoroughly.
2. Stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.
3. Stir half the dry ingredients into creamed mixture. Stir in nuts, apple chunks, and grated apple, then stir in remaining half of dry ingredients and milk. Mix well.
4. Drop from tablespoon 1 1/2 inches apart onto lightly greased baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Remove cookies to racks and while still warm, spread with glaze.
5. To make Glaze: Combine powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, and enough milk to make glaze of spreading consistency. Beat until smooth. Spread on warm cookies.

Crustless Apple Pie

Yield: 1 9-inch pie

I don't know about you guys, but I'm not a big fan of the classic, flaky pie crust.  I don't think it really does anything.  Whenever I have apple pie, I typically just eat the apple filling and avoid the crust.  Crust to me is like crunchy, baked - nothing.  Soooo I decided to create a crustless apple pie.  Genius, right?  The thing is there is kind of a crust...but it's sweet and baked on top, like a cinnamon-sugar cookie.  The sugar you toss the apples in prevents them from browning while you make the crust by trapping the juice in.  And some of the crust ingredients melt into the apples as they bake, and all the flavors just flow together perfectly.  And the almond extract - oh.my.goodness.  It gives it a hint of incredible almond flavor that makes this pie outstanding and so much better than any other apple pie.  I served this with vanilla bean ice cream and whipped cream.  This dessert didn't last a day in my house.  And that's saying a lot...since it's just my mom, dad and I.

Ingredients:

• 5 large apples, or 6-7 small-medium apples - peeled, cored and sliced
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon cloves
• 3/4 cup salted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 egg

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Toss apples with 1 tablespoon of sugar, and pour them into a pie plate. Thoroughly mix together 1 cup of sugar with the flour, cinnamon, butter, and egg. Spread this evenly over the top of the pie.
3. Bake in preheated oven until the apples have cooked and the topping is golden brown, about 40 to 45 minutes.

Whole Wheat Ginger Snaps

These cookies are perfect in every way.  But I - unfortunately - did not come up with the recipe.  I found them on Allrecipe here.  I definitely recommend cooking them JUST until they crack for a super soft, moist cookie.  I don't understand why people like hard, crunchy cookies....soft is a billion times better!  The whole wheat flour and molasses give these such a rich, flavorful flavor.  And rolling the dough in sugar gives them a delightful, sugary coating.  I've never had a cookie with as much flavor than these...they're spicy and rich and oh-so-delicious.  The day after I made them, I took the last two cookies I had left over and made them into a sandwich with a big spoonful of Nutella slathered in between and took it to school.  Sorry I don't have a picture of it...I ate it before I had a chance. You have no idea how happy that cookie sandwich made me...I was seriously freaking out because of how good it was.  My friends were like..."what the heck?"  You'll just have to try it yourself if you don't believe me. (;

Favorite Gingerbread

  

Gingerbread...it's really not all that great, right? I mean c'mon, who has ever had a really good gingerbread?  Everybody knows that gingerbread cookies are the least tasty of all types of cookies.  And most gingerbread loaves are kind of dry and just average tasting.  Even the one at Starbucks isn't that good. 

That is what I thought before I made this gingerbread cake.

Now whenever I think of gingerbread, I think of this recipe.  It is the best gingerbread I have ever tasted.  Way better than Starbucks.  My dad and I ate nearly the entire loaf in one sitting - while putting chocolate sauce, ice cream, and whipped cream on the slices (oh yeah, we were stuffed).  It's so moist and full of flavor with spices.  I definitely recommend having it warm with these toppings, but it is delicious plain too.  It's also heavenly chilled or room temperature with cream cheese frosting.  I was planning on having a slice with orange cream cheese frosting once it cooled, but there wasn't enough left to make it for!  This is perfect with a cup of coffee in the morning as well.  And it makes great gifts during the holiday season.  This is everyone's holiday favorite...even the busy cooks (like me!) because it's so easy to make.

Yield: one 9-inch cake or one large loaf

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 egg
• 1 cup molasses
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup hot water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch square pan or a loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the egg, and then the molasses.
3. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Blend into the creamed mixture. Stir in the hot water. Pour into the prepared pan.
4. Bake 40-50 minutes in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature.

White Chocolate Pumpkin Cookies

This past Halloween, my family didn't have time to carve pumpkins, so I decided to use them to cook with instead.  This was the first year that I had ever used fresh pumpkin.  I heard from a lot of people that fresh pumpkin really does make a big difference in recipes, but I never bothered to try it....until this year that is.  This was the first recipe I made using fresh pumpkin, adapted from a Taste of Home Cookie Cookbook I have, and they turned out sooo delicious!!! These are probably my #1 favorite cookie recipe.  They are the most irresistible cookies I've ever eaten...it's seriously impossible to have just one.  The cookie dough is incredible also.  They remind me of pumpkin pie, but ten times better because they have chunks of white chocolate, crunchy pecans, and a melt-in-your-mouth glaze.  They're so moist and taste to-die-for even after the first day.  I brought these to a huge cross country banquet and they were one of the few desserts that were completely eaten.  All my friends asked for the recipe.  It's because of these cookies that they declared me the "master chef".  I even got an award to prove it.

Yield: about 4 1/2 dozen

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup fresh pumpkin  (canned is fine too)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice or ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 package white chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 
  BROWN SUGAR FROSTING:
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1-1/2 to 2 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions:

• 1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and pumpkin. 
• 2. Combine dry ingredients; gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in chips and pecans.
• 3. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 12-14 minutes or until firm. Remove to wire racks to cool.
• 4. For frosting, combine brown sugar and butter in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil; cook over medium heat for 1 minute or until slightly thickened. Cool for 10 minutes. Add milk; beat until smooth. Beat in enough confectioners' sugar to reach desired consistency. Spread over cooled cookies.