Christina's Pumpkin Pancakes

from Our Best Bites

I made this without the whipped cream because I felt like that was way too much sugar for first thing in the morning, but I think it would be great for a brunch or dessert or something. 

3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cups whole wheat flour
4 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
3/4 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons coconut or olive oil
2 eggs
2/3 cup pumpkin puree

Cream Cheese Whipped Cream
4 ounces cream cheese (low fat is fine, no fat free)
4 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup whipping cream (heavy or regular) whipped until medium peaks form

Maple syrup for serving

Instructions

Prepare whipped cream by beating cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth and creamy.  Take 1/2 of the whipped cream (that you already whipped) and beat it in until smooth.  Add the rest of the whipped cream and use a spatula to gently fold in (do not beat).  Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.   

Prepare pancakes.  Whisk together flours, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger.  Make sure to break up any clumps of brown sugar.  In a separate bowl, whisk together buttermilk, vanilla, oil, eggs and pumpkin.  Combine wet ingredients with dry and gently combine until mixed.  Do not overmix.

Heat a nonstick griddle to medium heat.  When hot, use butter or nonstick spray to coat the pan.  Drop 1/4 cup pancake batter to form each pancake and cook until edges set (if you wait until they bubble, it might be just a bit too long).  Flip pancakes and cook remaining side.

Serve warm pancakes with a dollop of cream cheese topping and a drizzle of maple syrup.

Makes 12-14 large pancakes.

Christina's Ranch Dressing

adapted from Our Best Bites

1C mayonnaise
2/3 C buttermilk 

1 TBSP dried chives

2 t parsley  

1/2 t seasoned salt 

1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t onion powder

1/4 t black pepper

1/4 t dill

1/4 t dry mustard

Mix it all together and let it sit. Can use a combination of Greek yogurt or regular yogurt and mayo. Can also add canola oil to thin. 

Tomatillo-Ranch Salad Dressing

adapted from Our Best Bites

1 Cup Buttermilk

1 Cup Mayo

1 Pckg. Dry Buttermilk Ranch dressing mix

2 Tomatillos (husked)

2 Jalapenos

½ Bunch cilantro

Juice from ½ Fresh Lime

1 Clove Garlic

Puree all ingredients in blender for 30 seconds.  Refrigerate until chilled.

Christina's Red Velvet Cake with Beets

from Sophistimom


2 large beets (enough for at least 1 1/2 cups puree)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (juice of one lemon--if your lemon yields slightly too little juice, don't add more!)
1 cup coconut oil (chilled)
1 cup buttermilk
2 2/3 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsps baking powder
1 1/2 tsps kosher salt
4 TBSPS natural (not dark or dutch processed) cocoa powder


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place beets in a small baking dish and add a 1/2 cup of water. Cover with parchment paper and foil, and roast until quite tender, about 60-90 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
2. Butter 3 8 inch cake pans (I used 2 9-inch pans and then made some cupcakes with the extra batter). Cut out parchment paper circles and place in the bottoms of the pans. Butter the parchment paper and dust with flour. Set aside. Peel the beets and cut into large chunks. Place in a food processor (or a very good blender) with the lemon juice, and pulse until smooth and pureed.
3. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together coconut milk and sugar. Add in eggs, one at a time, mixing well until each is incorporated. Mix in vanilla. Set in refrigerator to chill.
4. While ingredients are mixing, whisk together four, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder in a separate bowl. Slowly add flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Measure out 1 1/2 cups of the beet puree mixture, and fold into the cake batter. Divide the batter evenly between the cake pans. Tap pans on the counter to remove any air bubbles.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. Invert cakes onto cooling racks, and allow to cool completely. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate or freeze until ready to frost.

Cream Cheese Frosting
2 packages cream cheese, at room temperature
2 sticks (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 pound (4 cups) confectioner’s (powdered) sugar
2-3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon pure almond extract

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Switch to the whisk attachment, and mix until smooth and slightly fluffy.

Christina's Pumpkin Waffles

adapted from Smitten Kitchen


2½ cups all-purpose flour ( or 1 1/2 C white and 1 C whole wheat flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 TBSP pumpkin pie spice (or 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ginger and 1/4 tsp cloves)
4 large eggs, separated
2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted

Preheat waffle iron.

In a mixing bowl with a whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites until they hold soft peaks.

Sift together flour, brown sugar, baking powder and soda, salt, and spices.

Whisk egg yolks in a large bowl with buttermilk, pumpkin, and butter until smooth. Whisk in dry ingredients just until smooth. Fold egg whites gently into the waffle batter, until just combined.

Cook on waffle iron according to manufacturer instructions. Serve with cinnamon syrup.

Christina's Pumpkin Donuts with Spiced Sugar

from Baking Bites

My father-in-law said these were the best donuts he's has in years.

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1 cup sugar

3 tbsp butter, softened

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp buttermilk

1 cup cooked, mashed pumpkin (canned is ok)

Canola oil (for deep-frying)

Spiced Sugar

1 cups sugar

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp ground cloves

dash ground nutmeg

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add in vanilla, buttermilk and pumpkin. Gently stir in flour mixture until fully incorporated. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight if desired. That way you can have donuts first thing in the morning with minimal fuss!

Working with 1/3 of the dough at a time, press the chilled dough out, on a lightly floured surface, to about 1/2 inch thickness. Cut into donuts using donut cutter or roll it all into small donut holes. Repeat until all the dough is used. You may reroll the scraps. You should end up with about 24 donuts and 24 holes.

In a large sauce pan, heat 2-3 inches of oil to 365F/185C. Make a thick stack of paper towels to drain the donuts on. Fry the donuts until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Monitor the temperature to make sure it remains constant. Remove dough to drain and cool thoroughly on paper towels.

In bowl, whisk together sugar and spices. Coat donuts and donut holes in sugar mixture. Eat while warm. 

Christina's Spicy Cabbage and Tomatoes

from Fun Foods on a Budget

1 small head cabbage, shredded
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup butter or bacon fat
3 tbsp. water
2 tbsp. butter or bacon fat
2 tbsp. flour
1 cup diced canned tomatoes
1 tbsp. sugar, or to taste
2 tbsp. sour cream
Salt & freshly ground pepper
Several sprinkles of red pepper flakes

Saute the onion in a large frying pan until tender. Add the cabbage and water and cook, uncovered, for about 15 minutes or until the cabbage is tender but still slightly crisp.

In another pan, melt the butter or bacon fat. Add the flour, stir to blend, and add the tomatoes and sugar. Cook until the sauce thickens. Add the sour cream and season to taste with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes

Combine the sauce with the cabbage and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes to blend the flavors.

Christina's Raspberry Buttermilk Cake

from Smitten Kitchen

1 cup (130 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick (56 grams) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup (146 grams) plus 1 1/2 tablespoons (22 grams) sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (optional)
1 large (57 grams) egg
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 cup fresh raspberries (about 5 oz)

Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. In a larger bowl, beat butter and 2/3 cup (146 grams) sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about two minutes, then beat in vanilla and zest, if using. Add egg and beat well.

At low speed, mix in flour mixture in three batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined.Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter raspberries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons (22 grams) sugar.

Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10 to 15 minutes more. Invert onto a plate.

Christina's Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits

from Café Johnsonia

2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 cup shortening (I use butter flavored Crisco)
3/4 cup buttermilk

Heat oven to 425 degrees F.

In large bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in shortening until crumbly.

Stir in buttermilk just until moistened. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth (1 min.). Roll out dough to 3/4-inch thickness. Cut into 8 biscuits; place 1-inch apart on cookie sheet.

Bake for 10 to 14 minutes or until lightly browned.

Christina's Pumpkin Apple Soup

from What I Made for Dinner

3-4 slices bacon
About 1 dozen fresh sage leaves
2 shallots, minced
1 honeycrisp apple, peeled, grated
1 can pumpkin puree
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup buttermilk
salt & pepper

Fry bacon in large cast iron pot. Set aside and drain most of fat. Crisp sage leaves in remaining bacon fat. Add shallots and apple and cook until soft. Add pumpkin puree, chicken stock, and buttermilk. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, finely chop bacon to garnish soup.

Christina's Whole Wheat Apple Muffins

from Smitten Kitchen

1 cup (4 ounces) whole wheat flour
1 cup (4 1/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup (8 ounces) buttermilk or yogurt
2 large apples, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Grease and flour an 18 cup muffin tin and set aside.

Mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, and set aside. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and add the granulated sugar and 1/4 cup of the brown sugar. Beat until fluffy. Add the egg and mix well; stop once to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Mix in the buttermilk gently. (If you over-mix, the buttermilk will cause the mixture to curdle.) Stir in the dry ingredients and fold in the apple chunks.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, sprinkling the remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar on top. Bake for 10 minutes, turn the heat down to 400°F, and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool the muffins for 5 minutes in the tin, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.