Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffies

Y es, more cookies. I promise I'm going to quit soon. I made these a month ago, when I first moved out. They were the first thing I baked in my new kitchen.

The day I moved out, I took an orange, a few granola bars, and a can of pumpkin with me. I'm not sure why... I think I was scared I wouldn't have food to eat. But why the can of pumpkin? It didn't make sense.

Maybe subconsciously I was thinking about baking these cookies. Muffins.
Muffin cookies.
Muffies.

These are a pumpkin muffin and a chocolate chip cookie's love children.

Eric loves pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. So I told him I would bake him some if he moved in with me. And that's how I sealed the deal.

I'm just kidding, of course. He really liked these. Or at least that's what he told me. I liked them too. Spicy, buttery, sugary, chocolatey... what's not to love?



I'm planning out some future projects and posts for this blog and I'm very excited! I'm going to have some good stuff in May and June, I think. Eric and I are going to New York City in a month! Also, check back this Friday or Saturday for a special little post.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffies (By Me)
Printable Recipe

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup pumpkin puree
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat cookie sheets with cooking spray.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger. In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together butter, brown sugar, and sugar until creamy - about 1-2 minutes. Beat in vanilla, egg and pumpkin until well combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually beat in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips until combined.

Place heaping tablespoons full of dough onto cookie sheets, placing an inch apart. Lightly wet hands and flatten cookies slightly, to a 1/4-inch thickness. Bake 10-12 minutes or until light golden and set. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes 2 dozen muffies

Maple-Pumpkin Granola

There are things that I regret in my lifetime. Things that I wish I could go back in time and change. I wonder... how would my life be different now?

What if... what if, when I was a kid, I hadn't stolen from the grocery store? What if I had resisted that urge to eat sugar wafer cookies from the bin? What if I left the walnuts alone and hadn't stuck them in my pocket? I wouldn't have gotten scolded.

Or, that one time when I was youngin', what if I hadn't eaten so many Cheddar Bay Biscuits and popcorn shrimp at Red Lobster? I wouldn't have had to lie down in the booth and clutch my stomach.

There was this time in fifth grade, when I was painting my nails on the kitchen table, and spilled nail polish remover. If I had painted them in my room, I wouldn't have ruined the brand new kitchen table that my parents bought.

More recently, what if I hadn't worn those super slippery socks on Wednesday night? I wouldn't have slipped on the stairs and spilled coffee and pastries everywhere. I wouldn't have drenched my only pair of warm, fuzzy pants, and had to clean up the mess for twenty minutes.

The giant 2 lb. bag of gummy bears seemed like SUCH a good idea the other night. My thinking: "I love gummy bears! That's not too many at all!" What was I thinking? Gummy bears aren't that good. And they make you sick after eating twenty of them. If I hadn't bought that bag of gummy bears, I'd still like gummy bears. And I wouldn't be stuck with a 1 3/4 lb. bag of gummy bears.

BUT. The greatest regret in my life was my choice to watch an episode of Jersey Shore. Because now I'm hooked. BEST SHOW EVER! ;) I know who's getting the Emmy this year!

What's going to happen this Thursday on the two hour-episode? We know the gang goes to Atlantic City, but what other shenanigans will happen? Will Sammi Sweetheart and Ronnie have another fallout? Will the Situation avoid the grenades? Will Snooki get punched in the face, yet again? Ooooh. Can't wait.



I really don't feel like talking about granola, even though this granola was really good, and I LOVE granola. Just not in the mood. I created this granola recipe, because I was frustrated at how expensive granola can be in the stores. It's so much cheaper to make it at home, and you can control what goes into it - including fat and sugar.

This granola is low fat, and is made with pumpkin puree, brown sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, vanilla, oats, pecans and raisins, and I threw in some chopped up dried apples and figs, too. You could add whatever nuts, spices, or dried fruit you had on hand.

Maple-Pumpkin Granola (By Me)
Printable Recipe

1/3 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup Grape Nuts
1/3 cup finely chopped pecans
1/2 cup raisins
1/3 cup finely chopped dried apples
1/3 cup finely chopped dried figs, dates, or plums

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Coat a large cookie sheet with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together, pumpkin, brown sugar, maple syrup, butter, cinnamon, vanilla and salt until combined; stir in oats, Grape Nuts and pecans until combined. Spread onto cookie sheet.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, or until golden brown and slightly crisp. Remove from oven and stir in raisins, apple and figs, and cool.

Healthy Snack Biscotti

Part of me wants to continue on with the indulgent dessert and baked goods recipes, but I know a lot of people are trying to eat better right now. So for the month of January, I will be making and posting healthier recipes. But that's where it ends, because Valentine's Day will be coming up. ;)

I haven't shared any of my new year's resolutions with you yet. I've really thought about some of them this past week. So here are some personal goals of mine for 2010:

-Read more books!
-Work on more recipe contests.
-Work on my blog, blog photography and increase traffic.
-Go fly fishing with Eric!
-Make some life changes.
-I have some business venture ideas. Ooohh...
-Work on creating baking segments for Sugar Plum.
-Run a race. A short one... ha. I've never even considered this before. Or just run and workout more.

What's one of your resolutions?

I consider myself a pretty healthy person... I work out every day, and I eat a balanced diet, but I do have a weakness for desserts (obviously). I absolutely love them. I'm one of those people that have to have dessert every day! I try to keep the portions small and not overindulge. A lot of you wonder if I eat all of the desserts I make, or what happens to them. Well, I will taste everything I make, but I really can't be wolfing down a whole cake or a batch of cookies every week, so I usually give the dessert away, or bring them into work, etc. Sometimes I will freeze things for later consumption. Sadly I end up throwing away a lot of treats.

This is one cookie I don't mind hanging on to a while: Healthy Snack Biscotti. They last for a week or two, and I don't feel guilty about eating them. They're good for a quick snack, a pre-workout energy boost, or a late night treat.



White whole wheat flour is mixed with spices, oats, Grape Nuts, dried cranberries, almonds and dark chocolate chips. The dry ingredients are mixed into a combination of pumpkin, egg, molasses and honey, until a stiff dough is formed. The dough is formed into a log, baked, sliced, and baked again. No added fat or sugar! How do you like that?

Healthy Snack Biscotti (Recipe by Me)
Printable Recipe

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup Grape Nuts
3/4 teaspoon ground sea salt
1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1/4 cup finely chopped almonds (or pecans, walnuts), toasted
1/2 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
1 large egg
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons honey

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a cookie sheet with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg; whisk in oats, Grape Nuts and salt until combined. Whisk in cranberries, almonds and chocolate chips until combined.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together egg, pumpkin, molasses and honey until combined. Stir in dry ingredients until well combined. Divide dough and shape into two (8 x 3–inch) logs on cookie sheet.

Bake for 30 minutes; cool 5 minutes before transferring logs to wire racks to cool an additional 20 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and cut rolls diagonally into 1/2-inch thick slices. Place, cut sides down, on baking sheet. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees; bake 10 minutes. Turn cookies over; bake an additional 10 minutes (cookies will be slightly soft in center but will harden as they cool). Remove from baking sheet; cool completely on wire racks.

Thanksgiving Dessert Blogging Part 3 & Maple-Vanilla Bean Pumpkin Pie

9:00 PM. We are mere hours from the biggest food holiday of the year, people. Are you ready? Is everything prepped and baked?

Does anyone eat breakfast on Thanksgiving? I didn't think so... I never have. You have to make room for all of the deliciousness coming your way. I considered even fasting today. But then I got hungry and had some pizza.

At this point I have pecan and pumpkin pies baked, and I'm getting ready to bake some cookies. I'm trying to get up and get back in the kitchen.

Other things that are prepped and ready to go: Sweet potatoes, cranberry salad, rolls, green bean casserole, and mashed potatoes will be prepared tomorrow.

Stuffing/Dressing. My favorite! Oh, how I love sage.


I love herbs. I've got the good stuff right here, yo. I'll hook you up.


And the turkey is brining. Oh.. my.. The after-picture of the bird is always much better than the before-picture. Poor little turkey. It's cold and salty in there. Sadly, um, the turkey isn't my favorite part of the meal. I prefer the sides. :)


I baked a traditional pumpkin pie, but added a little bit of maple syrup and vanilla bean to compliment the flavors. Also, I whipped the egg whites and folded them into the filling to create a lighter pie.




And of course you have to add spices! I'm not Ina Garten; I like to use freshly grated nutmeg. Ohhh snap. That was a little joke I made that only Ina fans would get. ...And I've officially become even dorkier than I already am.


I'll probably do a little update tomorrow, but maybe not.
Hope you have a happy Thanksgiving!

Maple-Vanilla Bean Pumpkin Pie (Recipe be Me)
Printable Recipe

3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 a vanilla bean, seeds scraped out
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 (9-inch) unbaked pie crust

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks until well combined. Whisk in pumpkin, evaporated milk, brown sugar, maple syrup, vanilla bean seeds, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg, until well combined. Beat egg whites in a clean, large mixing bowl, using a mixer on high speed, until stiff peaks form - about 2 minutes. Fold egg whites into pumpkin mixture. Pour filling into pie crust.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake an additional 50-55 minutes, or until set.

Makes 8 servings