Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Brown Sugar-Pecan Streusel

 I am so happy that fall is here! I want to spend more time in the kitchen when the cooler weather arrives, and I always love trying new pumpkin and apple recipes to add to my recipe collection . I must admit that I've struggled with cooking and blogging the last few months since I had surgery, but fall is my favorite time to experiment in the kitchen. This Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Brown Sugar-Pecan Streusel is delicious and was a real treat for my husband and I. We both love pumpkin so there's nothing bad to say about this recipe. This cake is not as heavy and moist as my pumpkin bread, because it uses butter instead of oil. The streusel is so yummy with the toasted pecans and made this cake such a treat with a steaming mug of coffee! I also love the size of the cake; it's made in a 9 inch springform pan so it's not too huge for a small group. It was perfect for us. Here's the recipe.

Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Brown Sugar-Pecan Streusel
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma
(The only thing I changed in the recipe was the spice amounts.)

Ingredients:
For the streusel;
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
1 cup chopped pecans, lightly toasted (Spread pecans on baking sheet; toast   at 325 for 5 minutes. Cool before adding to streusel.)

For the batter:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/2 cup sour cream

For the glaze:
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
about 2-3 teaspoons of milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9 inch springform pan.

To make the streusel, combine the flour, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon in a bowl. Add the butter; use a pastry cutter to cut in the butter until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Or you may use  a food processor. Stir in the pecans. Set aside.

For batter; in a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. In another bowl, beat together the butter and sugar, until combined. beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the pumpkin and sour cream and mix. Stir in the dry ingredients. Batter is very thick.

Spread half the batter in the prepared springform pan. Sprinkle half of the streusel over the batter. Dollop the remaining batter over the streusel and spread over the streusel as best you can. (This was the hardest part of the recipe for me as the batter does not want to spread well. but it turns out delicious anyway.) Top with the remaining streusel. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake come out clean, about 50-55 minutes. Place pan on a wire cooling rack for 15 minutes. Remove the sides of the pan from the cake and slide cake onto rack to finish cooling.

To glaze, whisk together the confectioners sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth. Place cake on serving platter. Drizzle glaze over cake. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Apple Pie with Crumb Topping

Cinnamon, how I love thee, especially in a homemade Cinnamon Apple Pie with a Crumb topping! My house smelled so delicious with the fragrance of apples and cinnamon while this yummy pie baked. I made this pie for Thanksgiving and then made it again last week because it is just so good, and because I forgot to take pictures of it earlier. The things we do for pictures! I've made variations of this Cinnamon Apple Pie with Crumb Topping for several years, but this last time I decided to use some oatmeal in the crumb topping. It was delicious, but not much more than just using flour. I love making a pie like this because I only need to make a bottom crust. I'm not a perfect pie crust maker, but the crust did turn out nice and flaky this time. You could use refrigerated pie crust, if desired, or a frozen deep-dish crust from your supermarket.

Peeling and slicing the apples consumes most of the time it takes to get this pie ready to bake. After you toss all the apples and filling ingredients together, you place the filling in the pie crust. While you don't have to arrange the apples, you do need to make sure there are no air pockets or gaps among the apples. Press them down slightly to fit, but heaping them up higher in the middle of the pie.

Then after mixing the topping together, it is just sprinkled over the apples. It may seem like there is too much topping, but use it all. It cooks down into a thin, buttery, crisp layer on top.

Let the pie cool, if you can, and then enjoy the fruits of your labor. Serve with a scoop of ice cream or some whipped cream if desired. I hope you enjoy.

Cinnamon Apple Pie with Crumb Topping
Adapted from here
I used a 10 inch pie plate for this pie with apples piled high. I like to mix tart and sweet apples in my pie, so I used about half Granny Smiths(tart), and half Galas(sweet). Golden delicious or other baking apples of your choice are fine. If you use all tart apples, you may need more sugar in the filling.
Purchased pie crust can be used if preferred. If using a frozen crust, buy deep-dish.

Crust: (my recipe)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) chilled, unsalted butter
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) chilled shortening
3-4 tablespoons ice water

Filling:
7-71/2 cups of sliced apples. I used half Granny Smiths, and half Galas.
1/2 cup, plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon-I used Saigon cinnamon, but regular will work fine
a squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Topping:
1 cup all purpose flour- (or use 1/2 c. flour and 1/2 cup oatmeal)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes

Preparation:
For crust:
In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt. Add butter and shortening and use a pastry blender to cut them into the flour. Mix until it looks like a coarse meal, with butter being no larger than small peas. Drizzle ice water over the mixture; stir with a fork until moist clups form. Add more water if dough is too dry. Gather dough into a ball and flatten into a disk.Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
Place rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Roll dough on lightly floured surface to about a 12 inch round. Transfer to a pie plate. Press dough into pan; trim overhang to 1/2 inch.. Turn edge under and crimp. Place crust in the fridge while preparing the filling.

For Filling:
Peel and core apples.Slice thin, about 1/4 inch. Sprinkle with a squeeze or two of fresh lemon juice. Drizzle with butter. Mix the flour, sugar and cinnamon in the apples. Set aside and mix the topping.

For Topping:
Mix flour, salt, sugars and cinnamon in a food processor. Pulse a couple of times. Add chilled, cubed butter and pulse until mixture looks like sand.

To assemble  and bake the pie:
Toss the filling to redistribute the juices. Transfer the filling to the crust, mounding higher in the center of pie. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the pie. Bake pie at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, then REDUCE the temperature to 350. If pie browns too much, lay a piece of foil over the pie. Bake for another 40 minutes or more, until the top is golden, the filling is bubbling thickly at the edges, and a paring knife inserted in the center of the pie goes easily through the apples. It could take as long as 1 hour and 20 minutes to fully bake. When done, remove from oven and cool. Enjoy!

Peach Cobbler

 Peaches are in season here now and I just can't resist a good peach cobbler. If you don't want to take time to make a pie, a cobbler is the way to go. The peaches in this cobbler are fragrant with cinnamon, and the delicious topping is almost scone like. The crisp topping is tender and buttery and a perfect crust for this dessert, plus it smells fabulous while baking.

 This Peach Cobbler is best the day it is made. After it comes out of the oven, let it cool until it is just warm, and the crust will be nice and crisp and buttery. If there are leftovers the next day, the crust softens, just like other cobblers. It is still delicious though, especially with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt. I adapted this recipe from Tyler Florence, but I left out the alcohol, and I cut out some of the butter of his recipe. We didn't miss it at all. It's such a delicious summer dessert so I hope you'll give it a try.

Peach Cobbler
Adapted from Tyler Florence
Notes: You could also use frozen, sliced peaches that have been thawed. Also, you can sub half and half or milk for the heavy cream; the topping will be less rich, but will still taste great.
This cobbler can also be made in a 10 inch cast iron skillet, although, I have not tried it.

Ingredients for filling:
about 3 - 3 1/2 pounds of fresh peaches, peeled and sliced  (6-8 cups)
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

Ingredients for topping:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick, (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
3/4 cup heavy cream
cinnamon and sugar for sprinkling on top, if desired

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine the sliced peaches, sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch; set aside.
2. In another bowl, mix the flour, salt, and baking soda together. Cut the butter into small pieces and cut into the flour with a pastry blender until the mixture looks like small crumbs. Pour the cream into the flour mixture and mix until the dough just comes together. Don't over-work the dough; this is like a very rich biscuit or scone dough.
3. Melt the 1 tablespoon of butter in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add the peach mixture and cook until heated through for about 5 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a 2 quart baking dish. Drop the dough by tablespoons full over the warm peaches. There will be gaps, but the topping spreads and puffs up as it bakes. Brush the top of the dough with a little heavy cream and then sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, if desired.
4. Bake in the oven, on a baking sheet until the cobbler is browned and the fruit is bubbly, about 40-45 minutes. (The filling will bubble over the edge of the pan.) Serve warm with ice cream. So yummy!

Note: If you have a fruit peeler that will peel the delicate skins of peaches, you are all set. But if not here's what you do. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Fill a large bowl with cold water and ice so you can cool down the peaches. When the water is boiling, drop the peaches in the boiling water and boil just for 45-50 seconds. Quickly lift the peaches out of the water and place them in ice water to stop the cooking. Leave them until they are cooled down. Remove peaches from water and they will now peel easily with a paring knife.

Simply Sinful Cinnamon Muffins (Or, Heavenly Cinnamon Muffins, I Say)

 If you love the taste and fragrance of cinnamon, you will adore these  fantastic Cinnamon Muffins. The house smells amazing as these tender , fragrant muffins bake. Really, these are some of the best muffins I have ever had, and my husband who is not as excited about muffins as I am, has devoured them, singing their praises with each bite! I've made them a couple of times so far, and gave some of this batch away as soon as they were out of the oven. I find them addictive and hard to resist, so better some of them are at my son's house.

 The downside to these  Cinnamon Muffins is that I use 4 bowls to mix these up. One bowl for the topping, one for the filling, and two for the batter. But they are worth it once you take a bite. There is a pocket of moist, rich cinnamon filling, plus cinnamon chips are mixed in the batter for even more flavor. I added more cinnamon to the nutty streusel topping too. The recipe states that you can add a confectioners sugar glaze to the top of the muffins, and truly it does dress them up, but it's is not needed at all. I did half with a glaze and the others without. Both ways are delicious. I hope all you cinnamon lovers out there will give these Sinful Cinnamon Muffins a try. They won't disappoint.

Simply Sinful Cinnamon Muffins
Slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour
Note: This recipe is supposed to make 12 muffins, but I made 15 this time. When I first made these, the batter spread out over the pan and I lost some of my filling. So making 15 instead works for me.

Topping:
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans- walnuts or almonds are good too
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons soft butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
In a bowl, mix all ingredients together until crumbly. Set aside.

Filling:
3 tablespoons soft butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon- I used Saigon Cinnamon
Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix well. Add 1 teaspoon of water if needed to get it creamed together. It will be thick, like brownie batter.

Batter:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
3/4 cup milk
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup cinnamon chips- I used Hershey's- you can substitute butterscotch chips instead, if desired

Preheat oven to 4oo degrees F. Line 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake papers, or grease it. (I used 15 muffin cups.)
1. In a large bowl, whisk the melted butter, milk and eggs together. In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients, including the cinnamon chips. Add the dry mixture to the liquid, and stir until just combined.
2. Divide half the batter among the muffins cups. Dollop about 2 teaspoons of cinnamon filling onto each muffin. (IF you make 15 muffins, you'll use about 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon filling). Top with the remaining batter. Sprinkle with crumbly topping. Press it in lightly.
3. Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes, until they are golden brown. Remove from the oven, but wait 5 minutes before transferring them from the pan to a rack to cool.  Enjoy!