Baked Pumpkin Donut Holes

I am not a huge donut eater, but I do have a weakness for pumpkin donuts. Krispy Kreme makes a delicious pumpkin spice cake donut, but it obviously contains eggs. It is also seasonal, so what is a girl supposed to do when she is craving pumpkin spice donuts in the spring.  I decided I would make my own donuts.

When came across this recipe, I loved the idea of using a mini muffin tin to create donut "holes".  I also liked that these were baked and not fried - not just because of the health factor, but mainly because of the mess factor. I loathe cleaning up oil splatter all over the stove top and counter. These turned out so well they were gone within a day! We did manage to save enough to sneak some into The Princess's granddad who was in the hospital at the time (because everyone needs some contraband in the hospital to help them feel at home!).

Baked Pumpkin Spice Donut Holes

For the Donuts:
2 cups wonder flour*

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp allspice

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

1/4 cup sucanat

1 Tbsp ground flax seed mixed with 3 Tbsp water (or 1 egg)

1/2 cup non-dairy milk

For the Coating:**

1/2 cup raw sugar

2 Tbsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F. Spray a 24-cup mini muffin tin with baking spray and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves.

In a separate large bowl, whisk together oil, sucanat, ground flax mixed with water, vanilla, pumpkin and milk until smooth. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just combined.

Divide batter evenly among mini muffin cups. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

While the muffins bake, combine raw sugar and cinnamon in another bowl. Remove muffins from oven when finished and allow to cool for 2 minutes. Roll each muffin in cinnamon sugar to coat. Serve muffins warm or at room temperature - if there are any left  to serve!

*If you choose to use all-purpose flour in place of the wonder flour, cut the amount to 1 3/4 cups.

**The original recipe called for dipping the donut holes in melted butter before rolling them in the cinnamon sugar mixture. I tried mine both ways to see if there was much difference. I tasted a small difference (because I knew the difference) but nobody else could tell. I say save the mess and the calories and avoid that step.

Recipe Adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

Jana

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"Healthier" Pie crust

Is it suddenly winter at anyone else's house? We went from wonderful warm and sunny weather one day to a blizzard the next day that came with a foot of snow and a 40 degree drop in temperature. Talk about a shock to the system!

 Trust me, this literally is one afternoon to the next! 

On a side note,  look how nice the grass is coming in.

But, it is starting to feel more like the holidays with the layer of snow on the ground. The Princess has requested we listen to Christmas music, so I obliged her. But, we don't want to jump too fast to Christmas without paying some attention to Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I love getting together with family to enjoy each other's company and discuss our blessings and the many things we have to be grateful for. And I have much to be grateful for this year! I also love Thanksgiving because it means PIE. Is anyone else a pie lover? There is nothing better after a yummy turkey dinner than a big old piece of pie covered in whipped cream. Yes, calories, fat and sugar, but that is ok on a holiday, right? I do believe that everyone gets the chance to splurge, but I also believe we can splurge without completely falling off the boat.

This year, I decided to create a "healthier" pie crust. Most pie crust recipes call for all-purpose flour and shortening. We all know that all-purpose flour has very little, if any, nutrients. Shortening is made by hydrogenating liquid vegetable oil. While most shortening no longer contains trans fat, I am still leery of eating anything that has been hydrogenated.  Now, don't confuse the word "healthier' with the word "healthy". I doubt this pie crust would ever be considered a health food. But at least we will remain on the boat. This recipe is also diary, nut and egg free.

Here are some other tips to keep your Thanksgiving pie from knocking you clean off the boat:
* Cut down the sugar in your recipe. I generally always cut at least 1/4 of the sugar out, sometimes
    even half. If you are planning on eating your pie ala mode, you won't miss the extra sugar in the pie.
* Substitute stevia in your pie recipes in place of sugar. Since most fruit pie recipes don't need the sugar
   for anything but to make it taste sweet, this is an easy substitution. I do not like pumpkin pie (gasp!
   yes, you read that correctly) or pecan pie.  I have never made either in my life. Using stevia works in
    fruit pie recipes, try it out in other types of pie recipes at your own risk.
* These tips even work for your whipping cream. Buy real cream and use less sugar (or stevia) when
   whipping it for a "healthier" whipped cream.

Now, the recipe.

"Healthier" Pie Crust

1 1/4 cups wonder flour (whole wheat flour could be substituted, but would result in a slightly denser
                                        crust)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup coconut oil (at room temperature - you want it to be the consistency of shortening)

4-5 Tbsp. cold water

I found this recipe works best in my food processor. If you don't have a food processor, you can cut the coconut oil into the flour with a pastry blender (or 2 knives)

Place flour, salt and coconut oil in the food processor. Blend until coconut oil is cut throughout the flour and the mixture resembles crumbs.

Begin adding water  and processing (or stirring). Add little bits of water until your dough forms a nice round ball.

Roll out your dough. I like to roll mine out on waxed paper because that makes the transfer to the pie plate easier. Do whatever works best for you.

Place your dough in your pie dish and shape it into the dish. Here is where you can make your edges all fancy (if you know how to do that - which I have not mastered yet).

This recipe makes one 9" pie crust. If you are making a pie with a bottom and a top crust, you will need to double the recipe. 

I LOVE apple pie, so that is what I made. I tried out this Sweet Molasses Apple Pie recipe (because it had molasses and I also LOVE molasses) and it was delicious! I obviously used my own crust recipe and cut the sugar WAY down and didn't add the raisins (because to me, raisins and pie don't go together). Use your favorite pie recipe and enjoy!

Jana

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Fall Pumpkins

Here is your advance warning... this is a craft post. But since it is so easy, even for non-crafters, I thought it would be fun to post. Who doesn't like an extra way to dress up your home for fall?

I am not a pumpkin carver. I find it too messy and time-consuming for what it is worth. My husband always carves one big pumpkin for the kids to enjoy and for the seeds. We also let each kids pick out a small pumpkin. For these pumpkins, we either paint them or use pumpkin push pins (plastic pieces you can poke into the pumpkin to make a face). So, when Halloween is over, we are left with a few pumpkins that are still in fine condition and can be used as decorations. Usually I just leave them on the porch as plain old pumpkins. This year, I decided to do something a bit more fancy with my "leftover" pumpkins.

I simply took different colors of tulle (it is super cheap at Walmart) and wrapped my pumpkins in them.  I used some yellow, goldish brown and red, but you can use whatever colors you want. I tied the tulle at the top with some ribbon. I cut the top of the tulle to even it up a bit, but you can leave it however you want. (As a side note... I love using tulle to wrap around birthday presents instead of ribbon because it is so fun to poof - and it can also look a little masculine when wrapping presents for The Brother's friends) I used an assortment of ribbon that I had on hand for the "bows". You can get as fancy and creative as you want. Or keep it simple if you are not crafty or don't have hours to spend trying to create the perfect bow. These could even be made to use for Halloween by adding some fake spiders or other Halloweeny stuff.

Happy Fall!

On the buffet in our living room

On the piano - which has absolutely no natural light so this picture is terrible!

Jana

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Pumpkin Snickerdoodles (and they're egg-less)

Happy Election Day! I hope we all let our voices be heard today by voting.

Since we haven't had enough treats with Halloween being just last week, I thought it was a good time to post some cookies. Fall, Halloween and Thanksgiving are the perfect time to bust out the pumpkin recipes (although I think it is ok to cook with pumpkin year-round, if I can find it).  I just love the combination of pumpkin with all the yummy spices... cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger and allspice. Not only do they make the house smell heavenly while baking, they taste so delicious!!

This recipe combines all the fall yumminess (you know pumpkin and all the above-mentioned spices) with a classic favorite - snickerdoodles. It doesn't get any better than this, I promise!

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

For the cookies:
2 cups wonderflour

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. aluminum-free baking powder

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup raw sugar

1/4 cup sucanat

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

1 Tbsp. ground flax mixed with 3 Tbsp. water

2 tsp. vanilla

For the coating:
1/2 cup raw sugar

1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

In a medium bowl, combine flours, 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, about 2-3 minutes. Blend in pumpkin puree. Beat in the ground flax mixed with water and vanilla until incorporated. With the mixer on low speed add in the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray baking sheet with non-stick spray or cover with silicone baking mat. Combine sugar and spices for coating in a small bowl and mix to blend. Scoop the dough (I like to use a small cookie scoop) and roll into a ball. Coat the dough ball in the sugar-spice mixture and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough to fill the sheets, spacing dough 2-3 inches apart. Press on dough balls slightly to flatten (I use the bottom of a small bowl so they are evenly "smooshed".

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until just set and baked through. Let cookies cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transfering to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Recipe adapted from Annie Eats

Jana

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Egg-less Zucchini Spice Bread

Fall is the time of year when there always seems to be an abundance of zucchini - especially if you grow your own garden. While I am always looking for new ideas to use up my zucchini, there is always the favorite. Zucchini bread. I am also a lover of spice bread - meaning cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg - those kind of spices. So, why not blend the 2 together!

I had a recipe from years back that we used to make, but it calls for 3 eggs and oodles (and oodles and oodles) of sugar. While it tasted great, it was definitely a "treat" and not something to be eaten for breakfast. Obviously I needed a version without eggs and I wanted one that was a bit healthier. This is what I came up with after combining and changing a number of other recipes. It is equally as delicious, but also more filling and worthy of breakfast. Or lunch. Or why not dinner?

Egg-less Zucchini Spice Bread

2/3 cup turbinado (or raw) sugar

2/3 cup sucanat

1 cup coconut oil (or butter. Or even half coconut oil and half butter)

2/3 cup no-sugar added applesauce

1 Tbsp. ground flax mixed with 3 Tbsp. water (or 1 egg)

2 cups grated zucchini

3 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 1/2 cups wonder flour (or other whole grain flour, like spelt or kamut)

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. baking powder

3 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (optional - for a special occasion)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Spray loaf pan (or muffin tins) with non-stick spray.

Combine sugars, oil, applesauce and flax mixed with water in a large bowl. Beat until well blended. Add the grated zucchini and vanilla and mix well. In another bowl, sift together the dry ingredients.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 325 degrees F for 45-55 minutes (for loaf) or 20-25 minutes (for muffins).

These are super yummy served with homemade Apricot Jam or Raspberry Apricot Jam.

Yes, we love muffins more than "loaves" at our house!

Jana

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