Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting

These cupcakes are a perfect treat for moving into fall.

I saw the cupcake recipe while rummaging through i am baker's blog and thought
it sounded delicious (it is), so kudos to her.

I don't remember what she used for frosting, but I thought it would 
be perfect with one that is rich and cinnamon-y.

Huge hit!

Linked with Weekend Potluck and Foodie Friday.

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Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting

1 1/2 cups Flour

2/3 cups Cocoa

2 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 cup Vanilla Yogurt

1 cup Canned Pumpkin

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

3/4 cups Butter, softened

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

1 1/2 cups Granulated Sugar

4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 325*

Prepare cupcake pan with your fun and festive liners. 

In mixer, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Add in eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated.

In a medium bowl, sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together, set aside.

Stir yogurt, pumpkin, and vanilla extract together in a small bowl. Reduce mixer speed to low and alternately beat in the flour and yogurt mixtures in thirds, starting and ending with flour.

Bake for 18-25 minutes, depending on your oven. Remove once toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, or center springs back when touched.

CINNAMON BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

1/2 cup butter, softened 
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed 
1/2 tsp cinnamon 
2 1/2-3 cups powdered sugar 
1 tsp vanilla
2-3 tbsp of heavy cream (or half and half)

Beat butter, brown sugar, vanilla and cinnamon until fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar, a little at a time, alternating with cream; beating until desired consistency. 

I wanted to share my thoughts on the frosting. Here's the deal.

It tasted wonderful, but....personally, I did not like the slightly gritty texture that the

brown sugar gave it.

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad, and no one else said anything about it,

but I would have preferred it perfectly smooth.

So, I was talking to my sister Leah about it, and she had a great idea.

Instead of brown sugar, just use all powdered sugar and add about a tablespoon of molasses, then adjust your cream accordingly.

If you don't have molasses, go ahead and try it with the brown sugar, or it would still be good with just powdered sugar. The real star is the cinnamon.

Goat Cheese and Orange Stuffed Endive

This is the first time I've had endive. LOVED IT!

I don't know if it was because of what it was stuffed with or what, 

I just know I must eat it again soon.

My sister just had a birthday so I planned a menu of hors d'oeuvres to serve at the party, and these endives where on the list. Maybe even the hit of the food table.

So good in fact, we are going to add them to our Christmas Eve menu. 

Maybe throw some pomegranate seeds around the plate to make it christmassy.

I didn't get close ups of the food (duh), but I wanted to share a few of the recipes anyway.

Along with the endive we had Cranberry Glazed Meatballs and Parmesan Crusted Crab Cake Bites with Chive Aioli. It was all awesome. The recipes for those will post soon.

This recipe is all over the internet, so I can't really give you the source. 

I did use store bought praline pecans instead of the honey walnuts, and I also doubled 

the balsamic vinegar orange reduction with a extra (little)bit of honey. 

The combined flavor of it all was over-the-top deliciousness.

Linked with Weekend Potluck and Foodie Friday. 

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Goat Cheese and Orange Stuffed Endive

1/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

2 tablespoons honey, divided

Cooking spray

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons orange juice

16 Belgian endive leaves (3-4 small heads)

1/3 cup (1 1/2 ounces) crumbled goat cheese

16 small orange sections (about 2 navel oranges)

1 tablespoon minced fresh chives

1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine walnuts and 1 tablespoon honey; spread on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes, stirring after 5 minutes.

Combine 1 tablespoon honey, vinegar, and orange juice in a small saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil over high heat, and cook until reduced to 3 tablespoons (about 5 minutes).

Fill each endive leaf with 1 orange section. Top each section with 1 teaspoon cheese and 1 teaspoon walnuts; arrange on a plate. Drizzle the vinegar mixture evenly over leaves, and sprinkle evenly with chives and pepper.

Swiss Cheeseburger with Chipotle Mustard Mayo

I had the most delicious cheeseburger last night.

Nothing overly involved, but with all the "tasty notes".

The burger was grilled with salt, pepper and a dash of Worcestershire sauce, then a nice slice of baby swiss cheese melted on top.

I served it on a toasted onion bun (wanted ciabatta bread but couldn't find any) with my favorite go-to burger slaw. It's a little sweet and a little sour. You can find the recipe here.

 Added a slice or two of onion and some dill pickles, then

for the star of the show, I spread some Chipotle Mustard Mayo on the top bun.

And there you have it......AWESOMENESS!

Linked with Weekend Potluck and Foodie Friday.

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Chipotle Mustard Mayonnaise

1/4 cup mayo
2 tbsp course grain mustard
1 tsp lime juice
1 tsp honey
1 tsp chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (*chipotle puree)
Salt and Pepper

*As for the chipotle puree, I always have a covered glass dish in the fridge with a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce that I puree up in my food processor. ALWAYS...I use it all the time.

Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Chunky Red Herb Sauce

What an awesome, delicious, light and easy summer/anytime meal we had last night.

There's really not a lot to it, but the simplicity and fresh herbs really hit the mark.

The chunky red sauce has fresh basil and parsley, along with a few dried herbs, then served over some oven roasted spaghetti squash. The hubby liked his with just a sprinkling of fresh Parmesan, but I added some sauteed garlic shrimp on top of mine.

Very yummy!

Linked with Weekend Potluck and Foodie Friday.

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Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Chunky Red Herb Sauce

1 spaghetti squash, roasted
2 tbsp olive oil, divided use
1/2 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
15oz petite diced tomatoes
1/4 tsp salt and pepper
Pinch of red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 cup fresh basil, chiffonade or chopped
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
Freshly grated parmesan

Heat the oven to 400*.

Cut squash in half and clean out seeds and membrane. Drizzle with 1 tbsp of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place cut side up on a baking sheet and bake 40 minutes or until tender. Cool; remove strands with a fork and keep warm.

While squash bakes, heat up the remaining oil in a medium size sauce pan. Add onion and saute until it starts to turn translucent. Add garlic and continue to cook 1-2 more minutes. Add tomatoes, Italian seasoning, thyme, salt and pepper, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Simmer for 10-15 minutes; add fresh basil and parsley and continue to simmer for 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning if desired. Keep warm.

Serve tomato sauce over squash with fresh grated Parmesan cheese and more fresh parsley.

For the shrimp: I just used some thawed, peeled and deveined large shrimp, which I sprinkled with Old Bay seasoning, a pinch of salt and pepper, then let hang out in the fridge for a few minutes.

Heat a pat of butter and a couple of tsp of oil in a small skillet. Add shrimp and cook 1-2 minutes on the first side, turn and cook another couple of minutes along with 2 cloves of chopped garlic, then sprinkle with parsley.

Baked Parmesan Chicken with Ratatouille

I really liked the combination of this Parmesan chicken with the ratatouille sauce.

It's easy to make, the chicken is crispy (and baked), and the sauce is healthy, fresh and light. Oh, and you get to enjoy gooey melted fresh mozzarella. I mean really, what's not to like.

Linked with Weekend Potluck.

Baked Parmesan Chicken with Ratatouille

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

Pinch red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 squash, chopped

1 zucchini, chopped

1 bay leaf

1 tsp red wine vinegar

15oz crushed tomatoes

2 roma tomatoes, chopped

4 chicken breast, boneless and skinless

2 tbsp butter

Salt and Pepper

Oregano

3/4 cup panko

3/4 cup fresh grated parmesan

4oz fresh mozzarella

Heat oil in a large skillet; add onion and cook until it starts to soften. Add garlic, pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Saute 1-2 minutes; add squash, zucchini and bay leaf and continue to sauté for another 2-3 minutes. Stir in red wine vinegar and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until thickened.

Heat oven to 450*.

While sauce cooks, melt butter, set aside. In another bowl, stir together panko and parmesan cheese. Season chicken breasts on both sides with salt, pepper and oregano; dip in melted butter, then into panko mixture pressing coating into chicken. Put the chicken on a rack set over a baking sheet, spray with a quick burst of cooking spray and put the sheet in the middle of the oven. Bake until the chicken is golden and cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes. Place a slice of fresh mozzarella on top of each chicken breast and place under the broiler until hot and bubbly. Serve with sauce on top.