Quick (and delicious) Stuffing

I don't know about you, but this cool weather creeped up on me out of nowhere! It makes me want to stay in my footy pajamas all day and eat comfort foods!

Last night, I threw together a fall inspired meal that came together in around 45 minutes. In the morning, I had set out turkey tenderloins and all day I thought about how good stuffing would taste with the turkey! After a quick stop at Whole Foods, I had all I needed to get started on the stuffing.

One of my favorite things about stuffing is you can add so many different ingredients to change up the flavor - sausage, apples, nuts... Just about anything goes! I decided to add apples, dried cranberries and pecans to mine and it was delicious! It paired nicely with the turkey and some leftover Brussels sprouts. Yum! I can't wait to have some leftovers for lunch!


Apple Cranberry Pecan Stuffing

1 medium onion, diced
1 medium apple, diced
2 T butter (use unsalted if you have it. If not, go easy on the salt)
Olive oil
1 bag of stuffing mix (or the equivalent of stale, cubed bread)
1 - 2 cups of broth (veggie or chicken, preferably low sodium)
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup pecans
Salt and pepper, to taste
Poultry seasoning (I used Bell's)

Preheat oven to 400. Spray a casserole dish with nonstick spray and set aside.

Place a skillet over medium heat. Add oil and 1 tablespoon of butter. Once the butter is melted, add the onions. Cook until soft, about five minutes. Add the apples and cook for a few minutes. Celery would be great in here too (celery and onions are my go to veggies for stuffing) but I forgot to buy it! Add salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning to taste. Add the bread to the pan and combine with the apple and onion mixture. Turn off the heat. Pour about 1/2 a cup of broth over the mixture and stir to combine. Continue adding broth until the bread has absorbed it but the mixture isn't too mushy*. Taste and add more seasoning if needed.

Put the mixture in the prepared casserole dish and dot with the remaining butter. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and continue to cook until the top has browned, about 10 minutes. Another great way to cook these is to spray a cupcake tin (or two) with nonstick spray and fill each cavity with stuffing. Bake for about 20 minutes and you have single servings of stuffing. They're great for freezing! Plus, most of the stuffing is crispy from being in the tins and that's the best part!

Enjoy!

* I like to have an extra bag of stuffing bread on hand in case I go a little heavy on the broth. If you do, simply add more bread to absorb the extra broth.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Icing

Hi there! I can't believe it is mid-October and I haven't posted any pumpkin recipes! I found the recipe for these cupcakes on Pinterest and have wanted to make them for weeks! I decided I'd make them this weekend because the weather was particularly cool and it just felt right to smell something pumpkin-y baking in the oven! The house smelled wonderful!

I ended up doubling the recipe so there would be enough for my coworkers (and for me to keep a few with enough to go around the office!). I made a couple changes such as replacing half of the flour with whole wheat pastry flour. I also used half butternut squash and half pumpkin. I didn't do this on purpose! I thought I had left over pumpkin in the fridge, but it ended up being squash. Whoops! They still tasted fantastic! The combination of the spicy pumpkin cake and the sweetness of the maple in the frosting was spot on. I also drizzled half with a gingerbread spread from Williams Sonoma (So. Good.) - It really added a nice, warm flavor.

I recommend you make these soon! If your office is anything like mine, they'll be gone within minutes! The recipe can be found here.

Cabernet Cranberry Sauce

Autumn is in full swing and so is my baking and cooking!  Pumpkin and apples seem to get all the attention in the fall when it comes to baking, but there is one flavor I feel gets overlooked - Cranberry!  Cranberry is a crisp, tart flavor which I really enjoy.  It pairs very well with both pumpkin and apple too!  I found a bag of cranberries when I was cleaning out my freezer today and decided to make a batch of cranberry sauce.

As I was gathering the necessary ingredients for the cranberry sauce, I spotted an opened bottle of cabernet sauvignon on my counter.  I had made a bourbon cranberry sauce last year and I thought the cabernet would add a nice flavor - I was right!  Also, if you're a fan of whole berry cranberry sauce, then this is the one for you.

Cabernet Cranberry Sauce

1 12 oz bag of cranberries, fresh or frozen
1 cup sugar
Scant 1 cup water
A couple glugs of cabernet sauvignon (about 1/4 cup)
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Zest from lemon (about 4 - 5 big pieces)

Add all the ingredients to a medium saucepan and cook on medium until the berries begin to pop and the liquid begins to boil.  Continue to boil for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Let cool completely before serving.  I left the zest in while the sauce cooled and I'll just remove the pieces as I serve it.  The sauce will thicken as it cools.  Please note, this is not a jellied cranberry sauce, so this will not set completely.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Hi there!  It's know it's been a while since I've posted.  I've been busy baking and cooking up a storm using the delicious flavors of fall as inspiration - Pumpkin snickerdoodles, cabernet cranberry sauce and roast pork loin with harvest veggies.  What's that link you ask?  Oh, it's my newest blog - running foodie.  I created a blog that incorporates my love for food and fitness.  Don't worry!  I'll still whip up indulgent decadent dishes like my chocolate peppermint cake and blue cheese stuffed buffalo turkey burgers but I am also trying out healthier versions of my favorite recipes.  I thought I would write about the healthier options on running foodie while keeping the more indulgent recipes here.

Now onto more important things - Cookies!

I remember when I was younger, my sister Emily and I decided to start a cookie company - Auntie Em's Cookies.  We specialized in snickerdoodles - Yummy little buttery bites with spicy hints cinnamon and sugar.  I think we were able to get a few orders, but if memory serves my correctly, my mom ended up baking the cookies and Emily and I still ended up keeping the proceeds!  I thought of our little adventure when I discovered this recipe on Annie's Eats.

These pumpkin delights are a nice twist on the standard snickerdoodle.  The pumpkin taste is not overpowering which is why I think I like them.  I am a big fan of pumpkin, but I was pleasantly surprised to find the pumpkin flavor so subtle.  This is an easy recipe to follow and many of you may already have all the ingredients on hand.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Yield: about 3-4 dozen cookies
Ingredients:
For the cookies:
3¾ cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
¾ cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the coating:
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground ginger
Dash of allspice

Directions:
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Whisk to blend and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.  Blend in the pumpkin puree.  Beat in the egg and vanilla until incorporated.  With the mixer on low speed add in the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated.  Cover and chill the dough for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.  Combine the sugar and spices for the coating in a bowl and mix to blend.  Scoop the dough (about 2½ tablespoons) and roll into a ball.  Coat the dough ball in the sugar-spice mixture and place on the prepared baking sheet.  Repeat with the remaining dough to fill the sheets, spacing the dough balls 2-3 inches apart.  Dip the bottom of a flat, heavy-bottomed drinking glass in water, then in the sugar-spice mixture, and use the bottom to flatten the dough balls slightly.  Recoat the bottom of the glass in the sugar-spice mixture as needed.

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until just set and baked through.  Let cool on the baking sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Repeat with the remaining dough.  Store in an airtight container.

ENJOY!