Broccoli Cheddar Pockets

I found these on a whim last week while desperately searching for something new and easy to try for dinner. We grabbed ingredients on the way home (thank you, premade bread dough), and within an hour were pulling these out of the oven. A few bites later, Dan the Man declared these broccoli-cheddar pockets had made it to his top ten list of favorite meals.

Of course if you had time you could certainly make your own dough from scratch, but I was pleased with these results. We brainstormed future fillings like pepperoni and mozzarella, ham and cheddar, or spinach and feta.

Based on a recipe from LaurasSweetSpot.com.

Ingredients (makes 8 pockets)

• 3-4 small broccoli crowns, chopped into small pieces (about 4 cups)
• 8 oz grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 4 Tbsp sour cream
• small handful fresh chives, chopped
• Vegetable oil, for brushing (vegetable oil spray works fine too)
• All-purpose flour, for dusting
• 2 (11-ounce) tubes refrigerated French bread dough
• 1 large egg

Directions

1. Bring a saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the broccoli and cook 1 minute. Drain and rinse under cold water until cool; pat very dry. 
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Brush or spray baking sheet with vegetable oil.
3. Mix broccoli, cheddar, sour cream, and chives in a bowl until combined. Squeeze the mixture together to compact it.
4. Use a little bit of flour to lightly dust your work surface.
5. Cut each tube of dough into four pieces. Roll each piece out and fill with broccoli mixture. Fold and secure each pocket, then place seam-side down on the baking sheet.(Check out these excellent step-by-step photos if you have never made these before!)
6. Beat egg in a small bowl. Add 1 Tbsp water and mix well.
7. Brush each pocket with egg wash. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Pretzel Dogs

As I described to the boy working at my local grocery store's checkout line, this week is "epic dinner week" in our household. You are seeing the results of Day 1.

I tried taking a shortcut on the pretzel dough, which was a total disaster. My bread machine came with a recipe for pretzel dough, but it turned out extremely dry and looked like a science experiment gone horribly wrong.

I went back to the drawing board and used a more traditional dough recipe as suggested in the blog What Megan's Making. Thanks to my stand mixer, it was a lot less work than I anticipated and the dough came out perfectly.

I recommend making these the day you are planning on eating them, although the dough could be made ahead of time and kept in the fridge in a Ziploc bag.


Ingredients (this can easily be made vegetarian)

• 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 - 115 degrees Fahrenheit)
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 package (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour (all-purpose flour would work if you don't have bread flour)
• package of 10 all-beef franks (regular sized, not the longer bun-length style) (for vegetarian alternative, use vegetarian hot dogs!)

• vegetable oil spray (not needed if you have a Silpat baking mat)
• water
• 2/3 cup baking soda OR 2 Tbsp malt diastatic powder
• 1 egg white, whisked until bubbly/foamy
• more kosher salt, for topping

Directions (if using stand mixer)

1. Set up your stand mixer with the dough hook.
2. In the bowl for your stand mixer, combine water, sugar, and yeast. Let sit for 3-5 minutes until mixture begins to foam.
3. Add salt, melted butter, and 3 cups of the flour. Mix on medium speed, adding the 4th cup of flour slowly and letting the flour incorporate into the mixture. If needed, add the final 1/2 cup of flour. You are looking for the dough to be a little sticky but not wet and gooey. Another indication that you have a good ratio of flour to moisture is that the dough has collected around the dough hook in a cohesive ball. 
4. Place dough in a new, clean, lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 1 hour.

Once dough has risen...

1. Place a large stockpot of water, about 2/3 full, on the stove. Add baking soda (or, if using, malt diastatic powder) to water and bring to a boil.
2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
3. Prepare cookie sheet by either spraying with vegetable oil OR placing a Silpat baking mat on the cookie sheet.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll out pretzel dough until it is a large rectangle about 1/2-inch thick. Cut into 10 thin strips. (If you have extra dough, you can use them to make regular pretzels)
5. Wrap each strip around a hot dog, pinching at both beginning and end to seal them. I like them with the ends showing, but you can completely encase the hot dog with dough if you desire.
6. Once water is boiling, turn down to medium heat. Drop 5 of the pretzel dogs in and let them cook for about 30 seconds - they should be floating.
7. Remove pretzel dogs with slotted spoon and place on baking sheet. Repeat with the final 5 pretzel dogs.
8. Brush each one with egg white and sprinkle salt on top.
9. Bake for 15-20 minutes (checking frequently starting at the 12 minute mark) until golden brown. Remove and let cool about 10 minutes.
10. Enjoy with mustard, cheese sauce, or any other desired toppings.

Sweet Potato Bread

I love dessert breads. They are a little less sugary tasting than cookies but just as satisfying to me. If you’ve tried my Honey Banana Bread, you may recognize this recipe – it is an adaptation.

For a different texture, try frying a slice of this in butter – it gets crispy and warm and delicious. It makes a great breakfast snack

Ingredients

• 6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) salted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups grated raw sweet potato (one medium-large potato will do)
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease loaf pan well, especially the bottom. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar.
4. Add eggs, vanilla, and sweet potato. Mix until incorporated.
5. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.
6. While stirring sweet potato mixture, slowly add flour mixture until all is incorporated.
7. Pour batter into loan pan.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes.
9. Remove immediately from pan and let cool completely before cutting.

Rhubarb Crisp

Crisp, crumble, cobbler: what's in a name?

For this dessert, I didn't want to fuss with a pie crust, but did want some oats involved. My trouble revolved around what to search for: which name included oats? Luckily, I found a helpful article on Gourmet.com that articulates the differences. The answer: crisp is the American name for a fruit dessert with a crumbly topping that often includes oats. (Crumble is its British equivalent.) Upon finding this information, I was able to get to work.


I hope you enjoy what I consider to be a perfect spring dessert: the tartness of rhubarb is scaled down during the baking process (and the addition of sugar, of course). The result is a somewhat messy but sweet crisp with only a bit of bite.

Recipe adapted from Simply Recipes.

Filling Ingredients

• 5 1/2 cups rhubarb, cut into 1/4" slices
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger

Topping Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup oats
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter, cut into small pieces
• more cinnamon for dusting

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Mix filling ingredients together (rhubarb, sugar, flour, vanilla, and spices). Pour filling into 13x9 dish.
3. In another bowl, mix topping ingredients (flour, oats, and butter). Using your fingers, squish the butter into the flour/oats until it is spread throughout.
4. Pour oat mixture on top of rhubarb filling. Sprinkle a little cinnamon on top.
5. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

Cinnamon Chip Cookies

First things first - the winner of my first blogiversary giveaway (a jar of homemade blackberry jam), who was chosen randomly, is Kate, who said about her favorite homemade item: "I love love love anything with peanut butter. I have kind of a problem with it. Hi, my name is Kate and I'm a peanut butterholic." Kate, I will be contacting you via e-mail for your info!

On to the deliciousness...

Cinnamon chips, unlike chocolate chips, don't really taste great on their own. But after baking in a hot oven and melting a little, they become one of my favorite additions to a cookie. They're more like cinnamon sugar really, and since they're so tiny they help create a cookie that much resembles snickerdoodles in flavor. I was able to find my bag of cinnamon chips at a local independent grocery store that sells bulk products. You may be able to find some at a food co-op or specialty baking store if they're not at your regular grocery store.

The trick with these, and any cookie, is when you remove them from the oven. To get a crunchier cookie, wait until the edges of each cookie have just browned. For a chewier cookie, check on them as the minimum time gets close. Remove them as soon as they look firm, regardless of their color. They will continue to cook for another minute or two out of the oven until they cool completely.

Recipe adapted from The Cookie Book by Nancy Baggett.

Ingredients (makes 25-30 cookies)

• 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, at room temperature (not melted)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 lb cinnamon chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine butter, sugar, and brown sugar.
3. Add vanilla and eggs.
4. In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking soda.
5. While stirring / mixing sugar mixture, slowly add flour mixture until completely incorporated.
6. Add cinnamon chips and stir well.
7. Grease two cookie sheets.
8. Place dough balls the size of golf balls onto cookie sheet, spacing them about 2" apart.
9. Bake, one tray at a time, at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
10. Remove from oven and place cookies on a cooling rack for at least five minutes.

Honey Banana Bread

One of my friends has an allergy to cane sugar, prompting me to develop a dessert recipe that didn't heavily rely on sweetness for its flavor. No cane sugar means no granulated sugar, no brown sugar, and no molasses. Sure, there are artificial sweeteners like Splenda, which contains xylitol, or natural ones like agave nectar. I wanted a sweetener that was natural but also probably already in people's pantries. 

Honey has a lower glycemic index than sugar, which is good for those concerned with high blood sugar. If you buy local honey, you are also ingesting nectar from the plants and flowers in your region, thus helping your body to be less sensitive to allergens. (Just be careful to buy real, unprocessed honey and not a product diluted with other ingredients. Check out this article for more information.)

Ingredients

• 6 Tbsp butter (3/4 stick), softened but not melted
• 3 bananas, very ripe, mashed
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In large mixing bowl, mix together butter and bananas with electric or stand mixer (medium or speed #4 using whisk attachment). 
3. With mixer on, pour in honey, vanilla, and egg. Mix for about 1 minute.
4. Add flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Mix for another 1-2 minutes, until batter looks smooth and creamy.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes.
6. Let cool on cooling rack for 10 minutes, then remove bread from pan and let cool for another 30 minutes before cutting.

Comments

Baking with honey was pretty easy. It required reducing the amount of liquid in the other ingredients (i.e. using fewer eggs and less vanilla) and using significantly less honey than was required for the amount of sugar in my original recipe. 

The color of the bread was what most impressed me at first. It came out of the oven a beautiful golden brown color, with a smooth crust.

As for the flavor, I really couldn't tell that there was anything different about it - the banana flavor was pronounced but not overbearing, just the way I like banana bread. Tasted great without butter but would be great with it. Even with the reduction in liquid, the amount in the honey made up the difference so the bread was the perfect texture.

Blueberry Almond Muffins

I have a huge weakness for berries! All the berries at the local open market are looking gorgeous and are on sale before their two-week vacation so I scooped up a quart of blueberries and have finally been able to test out this recipe, an adaptation from  Fruit: Recipes for Lunch, Brunch, Desserts And More. I always buy more fruit than a recipe calls for because of my, ahem, need to test berries for freshness.

Ingredients (makes about 18 cupcake-sized muffins)

• 1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour (unbleached)
• 1 3/4 c. almonds, ground finely in food processor (equals about 1 1/2 c. ground)
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. ginger
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1 c. buttermilk (see note below)
• 1 egg
• 4 Tbsp. butter, softened (1/2 stick)
• 2 c. fresh blueberries (about 1 pint)
• cupcake papers/liners

 Note: Rather than buying buttermilk, you can pour 1 tsp. lemon juice into a liquid measuring cup and fill to the 1-cup line with milk. Let stand for five minutes, and use as buttermilk in this recipe.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In large mixing bowl, combine flour, almonds, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Mix well, then add sugar.
3. In a smaller mixing bowl, combine buttermilk, egg, and butter. Beat or mix together thoroughly.
4. Add liquid mixture to flour mixture and stir well.
5. Gently fold in blueberries. 
6. Spoon mixture into cupcake liners until about 3/4 full. 
7. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
8. Let cool for at least 5 minutes before enjoying.

Comments

While baking, these looked like little blueberry volcanoes! I loved the subtle texture from the ground up almonds and the sweet of the blueberry topped with a pat of butter.

Two cups will definitely maximize the blueberry experience, but it is important to note that more blueberries mean less batter, keeping your muffins from getting too tall. If you choose to reduce the blueberries to 1 1/2 cups you might get a more traditional textured muffin. You could also completely replace the berries with any other small berries of your choice. My brother-in-law is encouraging me to try these again with raspberries.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I think the most beautiful, classic cookie ever invented was the one involving oatmeal. I loved oatmeal raisin cookies as a kid, and upgraded my favorite when I began making my own oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. My favorite kind of chips to use are Nestle's white "Swirled" morsels, or what I like to call zebra chips. Each chip was a twist of milk chocolate and white chocolate. They are hard to find but apparently are still made. If you ever find them in the store, be sure to try this recipe using them!

Anytime you use oats in baking, be sure to use real "old fashioned" oats. This means they are not instant, partially cooked (like "quick oats"), or cut in a way to reduce cooking time. You want them to take the full amount of time to cook so they can absorb the proper amount of liquid and leave you with a cookie, rather than a blob. 

I've made this recipe so many times I don't really remember where it came from, but if I had to guess I would probably say that this is my own twist on a recipe found in the The All-American Cookie Book.

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 bag chocolate chips, or chips of your choice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Lightly grease two cookie sheets.
3. In a large bowl, mix butter, sugar, and brown sugar until blended.
4. Add vanilla and eggs and mix.
5. In a medium bowl, mix flour and baking soda.
6. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture. Stir well.
7. Add oats. Stir well.
8. Add chocolate chips. Stir well.
9. Roll into golf ball sized balls and place on cookie sheet.
10. Bake 9-12 minutes at 375 degrees. Centers should be slightly soft when taken out of oven.
11. Let cool on rack for at least 5 minutes before eating or packing into containers.

Comments

The trick with baking these is removing them at the perfect time so you get soft, chewy cookies. I usually remove mine at around 10 minutes when the centers still look gooey but the outsides seem almost browned. I kept them in a sealed tupperware container and even a week or so later they were still very moist. This recipe makes about 30-40 cookies at the size specified.

Dill and Sour Cream Rolls

Being Italian, I think that I have a natural inclination toward carbohydrates. Ask my husband, whose family's house we were at for the holiday season. By mid-week I was desperate for pasta, chips, even dry toast. So for an addition to the New Year's Day dinner, I made dill and sour cream rolls. Making bread in general can be a pain if your house is too cold or things aren't the right temperature - in this recipe you'll notice several ingredients are marked a specific temperature (lukewarm, cooled, at room temperature...) - these notes are important, as temperature can affect the outcome of the rolls, how long they will take to rise, and how they will taste when done. I found the recipe for these delicious rolls over at Coconut & Lime - I made a few changes to the ingredients, which are reflected in my version of the recipe below.
Ingredients

• 1/4 cup lukewarm water
• 1 package active dry yeast (which measures in at 1/4 oz)
• 3/4 cup sour cream, at room temperature (I bought the smallest container of sour cream available and let it sit out while preparing other things)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
• 2 Tbsp dillweed (dried dill)
• 1/2 Tbsp sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp salt
• 3 1/4 cups flour (I used unbleached bread flour)
• 2 eggs (1 for dough, 1 for brushing)
• butter for greasing the pan
  

Directions

1. Place water in the largest mixing bowl you have. Sprinkle the yeast in, mix, and let stand for 5-10 minutes.
2. Add sour cream, melted butter, dillweed, sugar, and salt. Mix well.
3. Add flour, about 1 cup at a time, mixing well as you go. (C&L recommends adding a splash of milk if the dough is too dry.) As you need to, transfer dough to table and continue kneading until all flour is incorporated and dough is barely sticky.
   
4. Grease the bowl with butter and return dough to bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean dish towel and put bowl in a warm, dry spot to rise until dough doubles in size. (My dough took about 1.5 hours)
5. Grease a 13x9 pan with butter.
   
6. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Place each roll in the pan, cover with plastic wrap or a clean dish towel and allow rolls to double in size. (This took my dough another hour or so)
7. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
   
8. Beat the other egg and brush it over each roll.
9. Bake rolls for 15-20 minutes, turning the pan 180 degrees in the oven after about 10 minutes.

Comments
Warm out of the oven, these rolls were delicious. However, it wasn't until we were eating the precious leftovers later as a snack that we were able to taste the flavors, specifically the dill. The true test of a good roll, according to my brothers, is if you are able to enjoy the roll free of any dressings, including butter or jam. These passed the test.

Cardamon Spice Cookies with Chocolate Glaze

Cardamom is a lesser known member of the ginger family, and is fantastic in cooking as well as baking. These cookies are in the style of icebox cookies, which are rolled up into a log, refrigerated, and sliced into thin discs. I suggest preparing the dough the night before you wish to bake.

The recipe is great plain, but also consider them paired with the chocolate glaze recipe that follows. Chocolate must be melted slowly to prevent the fat from separating itself (hence the low heat).

This recipe was adapted from Mary Engelbreit's Cookies Cookbook.


Cookie Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla

Cookie Directions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and cardamom.
2. In a larger bowl, beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer or stand mixer (on medium speed) until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla. Turn the mixer to low speed and gradually beat in the flour mixture.
3. On a floured surface, form the dough into a 14-inch log and wrap in waxed or parchment paper. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, then unwrap and reroll to refine shape. Return to fridge for at least 3 hours, or overnight.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
5. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1/4=inch slice and place about 1 inch apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until golden. Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

Glaze Ingredients

• 6 oz chocolate (I used 3 oz. bittersweet chocolate and 3 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips)
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil (or another flavorless oil)

Glaze Directions

1. In a small saucepan, melt half the chocolate over low heat. Remove from the heat and add the remaining chocolate and the oil, stirring occasionally, until smooth.
   
2. Scrape into a small bowl and dip each cookie halfway into the chocolate and place on a wire rack until chocolate sets.

Comments
These baked up crunchy, and paired well with a cup of tea. Cardamom cookies are great for someone who wants a twist on a traditional gingerbread cookie, or perhaps doesn't want as intense a spice flavor as gingerbread provides.

Carrot Cake Cookies with Lemon Glaze

This recipe was my birthday cake this year! Rather than making myself a cake, I opted for these cookies. My friends were gracious enough to grate the carrots by hand, but injuries occurred, so if you are intimidated by sharp objects, I suggest buying pre-grated carrots.

The lemon glaze really makes these cookies, so don't skimp! Also, don't be worried if these seem too "healthy" - if it's a testament to how tasty these cookies were, they disappeared within 30 minutes at the party.

The only photo I have of these cookies is this one of me blowing out the candle on it, so I apologize for not having a close up of the beauty of these tasty little desserts.

Cookie Ingredients

• 2 cups flour (if you've got it, make this using 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour)
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup grated carrot
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 5 Tbsp milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup maple syrup

Glaze Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• juice from 1 lemon
• zest from 1 lemon
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease a cookie sheet.
   
3. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, carrot, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
4. With a mixer, or by hand using a spatula, beat in egg, milk, oil, and syrup until just blended.
5. Drop small blobs of dough (about 1/8 cupfuls), about 2 inches apart, onto a greased cookie sheet.
6. Bake 10 minutes or until just starting to brown. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
7. While cookies are baking, whisk together glaze ingredients in small bowl. Add a Tbsp or two more powdered sugar if you desire a thicker, more frosting-like glaze.
8. Once cookies have cooled, spread glaze on top of each cookie and let set.

Comments
These were light and a little chewy, so it wasn't hard to eat more than one. The lemon glaze really brightens up the flavor - I wouldn't recommend them without it.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Simple Vanilla Glaze

This marks the beginning of my excursion into the world of food blogging. I hope to provide you with a look into my kitchen as I experiment with from-scratch recipes in cooking and baking.

Tonight's recipe comes to you in the form of pumpkin cupcakes, from Martha Stewart Online. Here is a link to the original recipe, and below I share my alterations on that recipe.



I primarily purchase salted butter, as we use it on bread, and I have never had a problem using it in baking, as long as I take care to omit any salt that is added to the recipe. The recipe below reflects that, as well as my love for allspice.

CUPCAKE RECIPE:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, melted and cooled
• 4 eggs
• 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cupcake pans with paper liners.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and all spices. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together both sugars, butter, and eggs. (I used my KitchenAid stand mixer at Speed 2 for about 1 minute.)
4. Slowly add the flour mixture, mixing until smooth.
5. Add the pumpkin puree. Beat at medium speed until smooth and almost fluffy. (KitchenAid Speed 4)
6. Fill each paper liner about half-full.
7. Bake for about 25 minutes.
8. Remove from cupcake pan and let cool completely.

GLAZE RECIPE

• 1 to 1-1/2 cups confectionary sugar
• milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
  

1. Pour about confectionery sugar in a bowl. Whisk in a small amount of milk to thin out the sugar.
2. Add vanilla. Whisk until blended. Consistency should be thin but not watery.
3. To glaze the cupcakes, dip them into the bowl of glaze and let the excess drip off.
4. For a finish, sprinkle with confectionery sugar.

COMMENTS

The cupcakes are a lot like pumpkin muffins - very moist with a mellow flavor. My workup of the recipe produced 27 cupcakes, much more than the 18 suggested by Martha. They would also pair well with cream cheese frosting if you were looking for something more substantial than a thin glaze. I could probably eat a hundred of them.

Happy autumn!