Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

I had some leftover pumpkin pie filling from making pumpkin chocolate chip muffins last week... I had the urge to bake tonight, and this is what came of it ;)

CUPCAKES:

Makes about 24 cupcakes

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

3 eggs

3/4 cup milk

1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree or pie filling

FROSTING:

1 recipe Wilton class buttercream (substitute softened butter for the shortening, and add enough liquid to achieve desired consistency)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare muffin tins with oil or paper liners. 

2. Sift flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, clove, allspice, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together (or stir together with a fork ;). Set aside.

3. Beat oil and both kinds of sugar together with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, incorporating each egg before adding the next. Add pumpkin.

4. Alternate adding the flour mixture with adding the milk (part flour-mix, part milk, part flour-mix, etc...). Scoop batter into prepared muffin tins.

5. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

Comments: There is a great story behind tonight's cupcakes. After they had come out of the oven, we got a knock on our apartment door. We opened it to a good-looking young man who had been playing with friends out in the sand volleyball court. He told us that the guys outside could smell my cupcakes from all the way out there at the volleyball court! He offered to come back later and help me frost them... and after he left, I submitted to my roommates that I should cook with spices more often!

But no, these were great. Nice and spicy, which was tamed nicely by the vanilla frosting. Boy and roomie approved :)

Credit: 

Cupcakes: This is kind of complicated... the original recipe is from user Javaru off allrecipes.com, although the recipe above varies significantly in some important ways. I decided to use many of the suggestions of the user Gwenith Lammers, who included her modifications in a rating/review after the original recipe. I also switched up the order and manner of steps involving mixing towards the end, based on what I've done with cupcake recipes out of Martha Stewart's cupcake book.

Frosting: Wilton , but the butter was my doing, as I am nearly out of shortening :)

Crock Pot Hawaiian BBQ Chicken

I found this originally on Pinterest and have been wanting to try it for a little while now... and I'm glad I did!


Makes 6-8 servings

4-6 boneless chicken breasts, frozen
1 bottle Archer Farms Hawaiian Style Barbecue Sauce (from Target)
1 20 oz can pineapple chunks, drained
1/2 cup cornstarch
Water
5 drops Tabasco sauce (optional)
6-8 servings instant white or brown rice

1. Place chicken breasts in crock pot. Pour bottle of BBQ sauce over chicken, then add the pineapple.

2. Close up crock pot and cook on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 4-6 hours. I assembled the dish before I got ready for Church this morning, and it was done when I got home!

3. Begin preparing rice. I used instant, but if you plan ahead you can definitely use non-instant :)

4. The original recipe didn't call for this, but I saw when I came home that the liquid in the pot was more, um, liquidy than I personally wanted :P  I wanted to eat this over rice (like in the blog post) and have the sauce sit more on the rice rather than penetrate it, so I thickened it by stirring in a cornstarch/water mixture until the liquid's consistency more resembled a thin gravy. I also added some Tabasco sauce (also not in the original recipe) for a little extra kick (those who know me well will not be surprised by this ;).

5. Serve crock pot mixture over prepared rice and dig in!

Comments: Hooooo-wee! This was amazing. I had some small reservations about this dish initially (sweet and savory together doesn't always work for me) but I began craving it one night and had been intending to make it at some point... and wow! The flavor was lovely, the chicken was perfect, and it made my little apartment smell awesome. I will definitely make this again and gladly recommend it to you, my friends!

Credit: The Ellis' of Six Sisters' Stuff blog. I originally found the link through someone else's repin on Pinterest. Click here for the link to the original recipe and post.