Let the fall baking commence! You can’t celebrate fall without some pumpkin in your life! Am I right? These chocolate chip pumpkin mini loaves have all the flavors you love about fall combined into each little mini loaf—pumpkin, mini chocolate chips, pecans, and bursts of cinnamon and nutmeg. And with the addition of applesauce in this recipe these little loaves are super moist.
As I thought about making pumpkin bread, I remember that I had bought this mini loaf pan and couldn’t resist not using it. I love anything mini so, naturally I knew I had to use this new pan of mine! Because mini foods = happiness! đ Does mini food make anyone else’s heart flutter with happiness? I love how these mini loaves are easily shareable with family, friends, and coworkers. And they also make great holiday treats to pack up individually.
The best part of this recipe is that it is easy and simple. All you need is 2 bowls, a hand mixer, a mini loaf pan, and an oven. I hope I just made your holiday baking one step easier with this simple and delicious recipe.
Okay, so I’m a chronic recipe hoarder thanks to Pinterest and Instagram, but when I saw this “Salted Brown Butter Crispy Treats” posted by Smitten Kitchen it was enough to motivate me to action. I love Smitten Kitchen and have absolute trust in all of her recipes. So when I needed a quick treat for a Halloween party last night I made a quick adaptation to turn these amazing little guys into a festive party treat!
Brown Butter and Sea Salt Rice Crispy Treat Pumpkins
2016-10-31 15:19:27
Makes about 18 pumpkins (varies based on cookie cutter)
6 cups crispy rice cereal (about half a 12-ounce box)
Buttercream frosting to decorate
Food coloring
Parchment paper
Pumpkin cookie cutter (or any shape you want)
Instructions
In a large pot, melt butter over medium-low heat. It will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty. Stir frequently, scraping up any bits from the bottom as you do. Donât take your eyes off the pot as while you may be impatient for it to start browning, the period between the time the butter begins to take on color and the point where it burns is often less than a minute.
As soon as the butter takes on a nutty color, turn the heat off and stir in the marshmallows. The residual heat from the melted butter should be enough to melt them, but if it is not, turn it back on low until the marshmallows are smooth. Add food coloring to turn the marshmallow magic orange (gel food coloring gives a more vibrant color) and stir well.
Remove the pot from the stove and stir in the salt and cereal together.
Quickly spread onto a piece of waxed or parchment paper.
Spray your hands with non-stick cooking spray (or oil) so the marshmallow concoction won't stick to your hands and then press marshmallow/crisp rice mixture to about 1/2 to 3/4 of inch in thickness.
Then using a cookie cutter, cut out shapes and allow mixture to cool.
While cooling make your frosting. Make 3/4 of the frosting black and 1/4 of the frosting green with your food coloring. Then transfer each color into a Ziploc bag for piping.
Cut a small hole in the corner of the Ziploc bag and begin piping faces on the pumpkins.
Sweet Lemon Made http://sweetlemonmade.com/
The brown butter and sea salt in these little guys will make you come back for more and more. Not to mention everyone will love you and ask you for this recipe. Thanks, Deb (SmittenKitchen)!
This was one of those meals that fell together as I was raiding my fridge in search of quick, non-cereal dinner option. I had been out of town on a week-long East coast road trip and was too busy (read: lazy) to go to the grocery store to replenish my barren refrigerator, and eating out again was the last thing I wanted to do. You know how it is, after a road trip sometimes you just want âreal food,â that is cooked in a house, and has to be eaten with a fork. Itâs only natural after a week of trail mix, apples, donuts, Swedish Fish, and Coke, right?
So as I stared deeply into the refrigerator, noticing all of the things that I probably should have thrown away prior to said trip, I saw some Trader Joeâs ravioli perched on top of a two week old birthday cake. Seeing this as a solid start to my meal I grabbed it and noticed that it was a fancier version of ravioli than I typically buy. This was a lemon ricotta flavor. Intrigued and excited about this new flavor I began to think about what I could pair with it. Obviously you canât go dump regular old tomato sauce on the delicate flavors of a lemon and ricotta, so the jar of pasta sauce was out. Next I thought about making a light cream sauce, but quickly realized I had no cream or milk in the fridge. Bah! And then out of the corner of my eye I saw my little ole basil plant sitting in the living room. I moved it into the living room so it could get more sun and have a fighting chance at survival in this âblack thumbâ household. And you know what? It was still alive! (Largely in part due to the graciousness of my awesome roommate that watered it for me while I was out of town, so thanks Em).
The little grocery store basil plant was actually flourishing and needed to be harvested. Perfect! Lemon and basil are a perfect combo. I decided to keep the sauce light so the light, fresh flavors of the basil and lemon could shine through and used a little garlic olive oil (side note: are you using flavored olive oils?? If not, do it! They are game changers, for sure), sea salt, cracked pepper, and some Pecorino Romano cheese that I had laying in the fridge. Pecorino is a hard sheepâs cheese with a great salty flavor. Iâm a sucker for the fancy cheese station at any grocery store and love trying new flavors and types of cheeses. One thing that is awesome about buying those little fancy blocks (as opposed to the generic pre-shredded cheeses) is that they seriously last forever. Obviously it depends on the cheese, but Iâve had this Pecorino Romano block for over 6 months and itâs still flavorful and mold-free. Just sayin⊠Also, the Pioneer Woman says to never buy pre-shredded cheese. Always buy the block and shred it yourself. Your taste buds will thank you, I promise.
Ok, so moral of the story isâŠ
Randomness and creativity pay off in the kitchen
Flavored olive oilsâgo try âem
Fancy cheese last forever and can snazz up any plain-jane meal
When it comes to cheese buy the block and shred yourself
Enough chatter, let me give you the deets for this super simple, super easy, super quick meal.
1 package (or two if youâve got a large crew) of Trader Joeâs Lemon Ricotta Ravioli
1-2 grilled chicken breasts, sliced or shredded (if youâre looking to add a little more substance to the meal, I didnât this time)
4- 5 fresh basil leaves, cut into long, thin strips
2 teaspoons garlic olive oil
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil (you can do all garlic olive oil if you want a real punch of flavor)
1/3 cup Pecorino Romano cheese (or parmesan, mozzarella, whatever you like), use shavings or grated ( I prefer larger pieces of cheese so that you get a nice bite of flavor)
Salt and cracked pepper, to taste
Instructions
Bring pot of salted water to boiling. Once water is boiling add ravioli from package, keeping the heat high enough to allow a rolling boil to continue.
Cook pasta for 3-4 minutes until al dente. Keep your eyes on the prize here and donât get distracted. Three minutes is not enough time to multi-task and do something else, I promise. Mushy ravioli is THE WORST. The pasta will get soggy, it will tear easily, and before you know it the delicious filling is bursting out and you have goulash instead of ravioli. And letâs be real, nobody wants to eat that.
Once pasta is cooked, place in colander, drain and shake off excess water, and place in serving bowl.
Add the three teaspoons of olive oil and gently stir until ravioli is well coated. Depending on preference you may want to add a little more or a little less. Just follow your heart on this one. You want the pasta to be lightly coated so it doesnât stick together and so it has some great flavor from the garlic olive oil.
Add cut or shredded chicken (if desired). Note: If you decide to add chicken you will likely need to use a little more olive to coat the chicken as well.
Add cheese, basil, and lightly toss with ravioli to mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Note: if you are using a salty hard cheese like a pecorino or a parmesan you will likely need less salt than if you use a mozzarella.
2. Marinated tomato peach salad with herb butter toast I love mixing sweet with savory and this marinated peach and tomato salad with buttered toast is a simple, end of summer meal. Make sure to grab a nice crusty Italian loaf and your taste buds will be singing. You could even chop the tomatoes and peaches a little smaller and create a tomato/peach bruschetta.
3. Grilled peach, brie, basil sandwich I donât know what it is about brie, but Iâm drawn to it. I might as well create an entire Pinterest board it. Anytime thereâs a recipe that calls for brie I pin it. Itâs something about the creaminess that is magical and itâs distinct, yet subtle flavor. It can stand alone or be paired with other fixins. Itâs just the bomb. So when I saw this recipe for peaches, brie, and basil I let out an audible, âYessss!â Then when I saw the recipe was from Two Peas and Their Pod I was even more excited because Maria and Josh never let me down. So get fancy and make this âgrown up grilled cheese.â Treat yo self.
4. Bacon-wrapped grilled peaches with balsamic glaze Excuse me, duh, why didnât I think of this? When is wrapping something in bacon a bad idea? HmmâŠ.never. I canât actually think of something that was wrapped in bacon that I didnât like. So naturally sweet peaches and salty bacon are a fantastic combo. I havenât tried this one yet, but Iâm itching to. So if you beat me to it let me know how amazing it is, okay?
5. Peach Galette with Honey Vanilla Pistachio Brittle and Cardamom Rose Whipped Cream I mean, whoa. Peaches, pistachios, cardamom, and rose whipped cream!!!! Talk about an all-star cast of ingredients wrapped up in a flakey pastry carb. Holla! Iâm a sucker for interesting combinations and complex flavor profiles. They just speak to my inner adventurer and creative. If this were on a menu at a restaurant hands down I would order it. But since this is a recipe on a Pinterest board I have only yet stared at it longingly. I mean who has rose water laying around? But if youâre like me and you like having a few of these fancy ideas laying around for the perfect dinner party or fancy gathering, this guy needs to be added to the list.
6. Peach Caprese Salad You donât need more than a picture to figure out this simple recipe. Peaches + Mozzarella + Basil + Balsamic = Caprese Perfection.
7. Pavlova with roasted peaches, blackberries, and mascarpone I ate this last night and it was amazing. In fact, I ate two of these last night. It was so good. The pavlova was not as intimidating to create as you may think and the mascarpone cream middle was heavenly. I could have stopped there, but then we added the roasted peaches and blackberry sauce and my taste buds began to chirp a sweet summer tune. Mmmm. It was a perfect combination of sweet and creamy. We made just a couple adaptations to the recipe by not smashing the blackberries (we left them whole), we cooked the blackberry sauce until it was an extra thick syrup, and we garnished with some fresh basil to balance some sweetness and enhance the awesomeness. And it worked. This was a crowd favorite for sure.
8. Peach blueberry pie Not all recipes or food blogs are created equal. This is true. But Joy the Baker has been winning my trust over the years and is now one of my go-to spots for sweet treats and desserts. So when this recipe for Peach and Blueberry Pie was recommended by a friend I knew I had to try it. And you should too.
9. Almond-crisped peaches Simple, easy, tasty, and from Smitten Kitchen. Need I say more?
10. Peach Crisp with Maple Cream Sauce Whenever I need a solid, tried-and-true, classic, crowd-pleasing, recipe for something I always turn to The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drumond. Iâm sure youâre also a fan of her ability to turn classic recipes into mouthwatering home-runs. Sheâs got skills. And this iconic American peach crisp recipe is no different. She creates a classic peach crisp to perfection and jazzes it up with a maple cream sauce. Itâs the perfect transition dessert from Summer to Fall.
