MSC Pumpkin-Brown Butter Cupcakes and a Giveaway

It's been a long time since I've participated in my Martha Stewart Cupcake Club. I've been wanting to jump in again and what better way than to host a cupcake. If you are fellow Cupcake lover, welcome to our blog!

Okay, I think by now you've figured out how much we love pumpkin. When flipping through my MSC book these have caught my eye on a few occasions. If you've ever been to The Old Spaghetti Factory then you may have tried their Brown Butter Spaghetti with Mizithra Cheese. I love that stuff. It is no where near healthy but the nutty flavor of the browned butter and the Salty Cheese is a delicious combo. With this recipe your mixing browned butter with pumpkin. I knew it would be a hit.

Browned butter is pretty much burnt butter. It's easy to do but needs a watchful eye. It can get too dark pretty quickly and needs to be poured off when done into a bowl to stop the cooking. Even the smell makes me happy. The cupcakes turned out moist and not overly dense as some of Martha's cupcakes tend to do. I thought it had a nice crumb and a wonderful pumpkin spice flavor. These are topped off with a Brown-Butter icing. Mmmmm, this icing is rich and so yummy. I may have had a spoonful.

Anyway, if you need a new tasty Fall recipe, give these a try. They really were simple to toss together. The longest part being browning the butter. It is well worth it though! Happy Friday!

Brown Butter Icing

I searched Martha's website for the Pumpkin Brown Butter Cupcakes and couldn't find it. Darn it. I try hard to give credit where credit is due and not type out copy righted recipes. If you really want this recipe, email me and I'll see what I can do. Or you can buy this cookbook HERE.

Edited to Add: A fellow blogger found the recip HERE. The only difference is the cupcakes have an extra 1/2 cup sugar. Just add it with the brown sugar. Yay! So glad you have the recipe!

And to celebrate the Fall season we are doing a fun giveaway!!  Our friend Tori is sponsering this giveaway for a fun scentsy warmer and scent!!

I absolutely love Love LOVE all my warmers and scents.  Makes my house smell so yummy and cozy!  And what is more fitting than this cute Pumpkin warmer?!

And to go with it this awesome scent!

Yummy!!

You have 3 chances to win this fun giveaway.  All you have to do is #1 become a follower of our blog, and leave a comment.  If you already are a follower then leave us a comment and just say, "HEY!"  #2  Like our facebook page and leave us a comment saying that you 'Like' us.  And #3, share with your friends and family about our blog and this fun giveaway.  I'm thinking once we get to 200 followers we will do another fun giveaway!!

If you want to order some of the fun stuff from Scentsy, head on over to Tori's page and order away!  Seriously, I have never been happier with a product!  I use it every single day.  Love all the variety of smells!!  Go HERE to order.

Mini Pumpkin Pies

I love Bakerella. If you've seen a cakepop than you have been influenced by Bakerella. She is kindof the leading gal in the CakePop arena. And if you've ever had a cake ball then you know that they are pretty much amazing.

I've been following Bakerella for a few years now and have loved all of her creations. Fall 2009 she did mini Pumpkin Pies and I loved them. I had completely forgotten about them until in comes Pinterest. Thank goodness for Pinterest. It reminds me of all the beautiful and delicious creations I yearn to make...someday. :) Well, lucky for these little guys, someday had come.

You can find her Pumpkin Pie Bites post here. I pretty much followed her directions to a T. Although, I used the Libby's Pumpkin Pie recipe which I think is perfect and my mother in laws crust recipe, which I think is perfect too. I happened to have the exact same cookie cutter she had so they were a cinch to make. You could easily use a round cookie cutter and add your own stem or not. They turned out adorable and were a hit. These are perfect for a Fall get together. Your friends will love them!

Yeah, I took that bite. Look at that flakey crust! Yum!

Delicious!

Have a Great Thursday!

Pumpkin Pumpkin Pumpkin

Since I was canning pickled beets all day yesterday, I didn't have much time to do anything else.  So today I decided to a post on all the pumpkin yumminess that Monica and I have made over the past year.  If you've tried any of them let us know what you thought.  My favorite has to be the pumpkin roll and the pancakes.  YUM! 

Pumpkin Roll

 Pumpkin Cheesecake

Pumpkin Cupcakes

 Pumpkin Pancakes

Pumpkin Patch Cupcakes

 

So there you have it.  They are all awesome, so you wouldn't go wrong trying any of them.  Hope you are having a great week so far.  Now it is time for me to go clean the beet juice off my kitchen and get caught up on the rest of the To Do list.  :o)  

Menu Monday

Does your week ever go as planned?  Mine doesn't.  I told myself I would cook every single night this week, and I didn't.  :o)  I can't help it when the sweet husband orders pizza one night and then we go to a birthday party another night.  It's ok with me though.  I think all of us need a break from the kitchen every now and then. 

Now this week, I am gonna try to cook every night!  Ha ha!  Not.  Fall is in the air.  Jason went out early this morning to go find his deer and then leaving this weekend to find his elk.  Have I ever mentioned how much I hate hunting season?  O'well...pretty soon the snow will be falling and i'll have him all to myself.  YAY!

Here's my menu for the week.

Monday
Ham and Potato Soup with Rolls

Tuesday
Baked Ziti

Wednesday
Chicken Enchiladas

Thursday
Ham, Bacon and Ranch Wraps

Friday
Mac and Cheese and Hotdogs

Saturday
Probably take the kiddies to the Drive In.  Mmmmm...Patty Melt, Fries, and an Iron port, PLEASE!  :o)

Sunday
Whole Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

On the agenda this week-get those breakfast burritoes made,  (Yeah, I didn't do them last week.) Can some pickled beets, crochet some more, bake up some bread for the week, and LAUNDRY!  Have a great week!!!

Monica's Menu
I don't know what she's talking about. My week goes as planned every week. No bumps in the road just smooth sailing here. Yeah right! My house has been a mess since Abi was born. I just keep telling myself, "take it one day at a time". Occasionally life gets crazy and I end up getting Happy Meals for the kiddos. Not ideal, but I'm hoping six other home cooked meals is not too bad. So we try again this week. Here is my menu!

Monday
French Dip Sandwiches

Tuesday
Blackened Chicken with Fettucini Alfredo

Wednesday
Homemade Pizza

Thursday
Crockpot Salsa Chicken

Friday
Sloppy Joes

Saturday
Homemade Baked Chicken Strips and Oven Fries

Sunday
Ranch Chicken

Have a great week!

Special K Peanut Butter Cookies

These were yummy and quick to throw together.  Just what I wanted!!  The kids love them too, so this will be something I make often.  And it's got Special K in it, so it must be healthy, right?!  Does it count on the Special K diet?!  Hmmmm...:o)

1 c. sugar
1 c. white corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
1 1/3 c. peanut butter
4 c. Special K cereal

In a 2 quart microwave safe bowl combine sugar, corn syrup, vanilla and salt and microwave on high for 4 minutes or until it comes to a boil and dissolves all the sugar.  Stir in peanut butter and then cereal.  Spoon mixture onto parchment paper and let it cool before you eat it...if you can wait that long.  Pretty dang good!!

Source-Allrecipes

Have a great weekend!  Stay warm..or cool.  :o)  It is so chilly here!  I love it!  Perfect weather for all my favorite foods.  Bye!!!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I had the pleasure of opening my very first can of pumpkin this season. Why does that make me so happy? Aw, I just love Fall. LOVE it. I'm sure you all have your own Pumpkin Chocolate Chipe Cookie recipe, but I thought I'd share my go to. They are easy to whip up and sooooo tasty. :)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup pumpkin
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until they are light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla, and pumpkin. Mix well. In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients minus the chocolate chips. Gradually mix the flour mixture into the creamed sugar mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop dough using a spoon or your handy dandy cookie scoop onto cookie sheets. Bake for 12-15 minutes until they are light brown. Cool. Enjoy!!!!!

Menu Monday

Monica's Menu Okay, I'm just coming out of two incredibly busy weeks. Phew. Here is my menu for the week. :)

Monday
Tacos (These are Maggie's favorite and she has requested them again.)

Tuesday
Chicken and Black Bean Green Enchilada Rice Bake (Say that three times fast!)
This recipe is from the Picky Palate

Wednesday
Tofu Stirfry (Again)

Crockpot Thursday
White Chicken Chili

Friday
Baked Penne

Saturday
French Dips

Sunday
Porkchops with Scalloped Potatoes


Erica's Menu
My days haven't been too terrible busy, but I've just been in this lazy funk that I need to snap out of.  Hopefully today will be the day!  :o)  Here's my menu for the week...

Monday
Hamburger Gravy over toast (I still haven't made it!)

Tuesday
Chicken strips and oven fries  (HA!  Another one I haven't made yet!)

Wednesday
Grilled Ham and Cheese with Tomato soup 

Thursday
Crockpot Chili

Friday
Chicken Enchiladas

Saturday
Tacos

Sunday
Ham and Potato Soup with Homemade Wheat Rolls

Aslo on the agenda is to finish some crafts/gifts that i've started, and make some breakfast burritos to freeze so my husband and daughter have something quick to grab in the morning.  Guess I better get busy...