Pumpkin Krispies

Pumpkin Rice Krispies

I found these through a facebook friend and knew right away this was what Jake was going to bring to his Halloween party at school.  Who doesn't love rice krispies?? Who doesn't love anything with a cute pumpkin face?? I'm hoping the kids at school feel the same way!

These were so incredibly easy to make.  In the time it took me to boil pasta for our dinner tonight I was already done melting the marshmallows and shaping each pumpkin.  I also love that Jake is already at that age where he can help in the kitchen.  We had fun getting these together .. although his major contribution was stealing marshmallows! Then begging for more "krispie batter".  Rice krispies before dinner? I don't see why not!

Ingredients
6 cups rice krispies
1 bag large marshmallows
1/2 stick butter, put into pieces
Non-Stick Spray
Red Food Coloring
Yellow Food Coloring
Pretzel Sticks
Green Frosting
Black Frosting

1. Melt butter and marshmallows in a microwave safe bowl for 45 seconds on high.  Stir.  Repeat cooking on high and stirring until marshmallows are melted.
2. Add approx. 8 drops of yellow food coloring and 4 drops of red food coloring to marshmallow mixture.  Stir well.  Adjust color until you come up with the perfect orange.
3. Spray your hands with Pam non-stick spray and roll each pumpkin into a 2-3 tablespoon ball (more or less for your liking).  I also sprayed a 24 mini-muffin pan and placed each ball into that to cool.  Try to work quickly before the rice krispies start to harden.
4. Cut the pretzel sticks into 2 pieces and place in the center of each pumpkin (for the stem).
5. Allow to cool and harden for at least 30 - 60 minutes. Resist your husband from eating to many during the cooling processes (AHEM!).
6. Decorate with green frosting around the stem to resemble the leaves of the pumpkin and black frosting to create fun and silly faces.  I used Wilton Sparkle Gel for the green and black frosting.
7. I put in the fridge for 60 minutes for the frosting to harden, but take out in time to come back to room temperature before eating.

Enjoy! Happy Halloween from Hungry Hungry Jacob!!

Our Pumpkin Patch

Bran Raisin Muffins

Don't knock the bran muffins till you try them! They are a huge hit for breakfast with Jacob and such a quick, easy breakfast or snack in his lunch (and mine!).  One muffin will fill you up for the morning.  My original recipe had 1/3 cup molasses for the sweetener, but it needed to just be a tad sweeter.  The molasses did give it an excellent flavor, so next time I’ll follow the instructions below for a sweeter muffin.

Dry Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup course bran flakes

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 cup raisins

Wet Ingredients

1/4 cup sugar, or to taste

1/3 cup molasses

2 eggs

1 cup milk

3 tablespoons melted butter

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 400°F. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin with Pam Cooking Spray for Baking.

2. Mix together the dry ingredients in a bowl. Beat together the wet ingredients another bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into it. Using a large spoon or rubber spatula, combine the ingredients swiftly, stirring and folding rather than beating and stopping as soon as all the dry ingredients are moistened. The batter should be lumpy, not smooth, and thick but quite moist; add a little more milk or other liquid if necessary.

3. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins, filling them about two-thirds full and handling the batter as little as possible. (If you prefer bigger muffins, fill 8 cups almost to the top; pour 1/4 cup water into the empty cups.) Bake for about 20 -25 or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before taking them out of the tin.

Spiced Pumpkin Muffins

Tis the season! Well, not really since this October Sunday is current 85 DEGREES outside.  I refuse to let the warm weather take me out of the fall / baking mode.

Trader Joe's now has their Organic Pumpkin Puree's available, so muffins/breads immeditaely popped into my mind.  Such and easy thing to pack in a toddler lunch box for a nice healthy snack.

Recipe Note:  Your house will smell AMAZING when these cook (even on a hot October day!)

Spiced Pumpkin Muffins

INGREDIENTS:
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp allspice
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
3/4cups sugar
1/4 cup honey (alternatively you can just use 1.25 cups sugar)

Topping:
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp sugar


DIRECTIONS:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven toe 350F. Spray muffin tin with Pam Cooking Spray for Baking.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger and allspice in a small bowl.

Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, 3/4 cups sugar, and honey in a large bowl until smooth, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined.

For topping: Stir together cinnamon and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in another bowl.

Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about 3/4 full), then sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake until puffed and golden brown and a wooden pick or skewer inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes, then transfer muffins from pan to rack and cool to warm or room temperature.