But England does not celebrate pumpkin everything like the U.S. I can’t find pumpkin spice in the grocery store so I make my own instead. A few weeks ago I had a craving for a pumpkin spice latte. Ryan and I decided to trek over to Starbucks to find out if it had arrived. Mind you, in the U.S. you’d never have to guess because every Starbucks window would be plastered with orange writing and pumpkin pictures. On the way to Starbucks we passed at least four proper coffee shops and a few other places that also sold coffee, but my heart was set on a PSL. We got there, and we were nervous, but they had it! It was advertised with only one small picture and a line item on the menu. How are the people of England supposed to know about pumpkin mania with such little advertising?

To get my true pumpkin fix, I hit the kitchen. I found this recipe for a pumpkin swiss roll on Pinterest and I was excited, but nervous to try it out. To make the beautiful swirl you have to bake then roll up a cake. Roll up a cake?! What if I break it? The key is, as soon as it comes out of the oven, you roll up the cake (without the filling) while it is hot. The cake won’t be so hot as to burn you, but I recommend using gloves or an oven mitt to make it easier. Then, wait for the cake to  be completely cool. It’s hard to be patient (and Ryan and I weren’t entirely patient), but if the cake is hot it will melt your filling and you don’t want that.

This cake is a great treat for any old day, but I also think it can be pretty enough to bring to a party or to your Thanksgiving feasts. The swirl of cream cheese looks just beautiful when cut. And you might not believe me, but this is actually easy to make. Any level of baker can make this recipe, I know it. Most importantly, this roll is incredible delicious. Ryan and I ate this whole roll in about two and a half days and have been talking about making another one ever since. As you can see, we still haven’t gotten our pumpkin fix yet.

I hope you enjoy the new recipe format below. I like this a lot because it looks more streamlined and easy to read. If you like to print recipes, you can finally do that. If you bring your computer into the kitchen, like I do, then you don’t have to scroll as much and won’t get dirty fingers on the keyboard. The only drawback is that I can’t post pictures alongside the steps, but for difficult or strange techniques I’ll still post those pictures above the recipe.

Now enough talk. Get your pumpkin on! Recipe by Sweet Anna’s.

Messy level: This is a three spoon recipe, but just barely. I’m giving it three spoons because you need two bowls for the cake, one for the frosting, and then you still have to sprinkle powdered sugar everywhere. Also, if you over fill the inside you’ll have a cream cheese burst (like I did) at the end of the cake.

Pumpkin Rolls with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Filling

 

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Ingredients

• for the cake:
• ¼ cup powdered sugar (for dusting the towel)
• ¾ cup flour
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ⅔ cup pumpkin purée
• for the filling:
• 8oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 6 tbsp butter, softened (if you don't let it soften you will have butter chunks in your filling)
• 1½ cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 375º/190º.
2. Line a 10x15" jelly roll pan with parchment paper. (a pan with edges all around, you have to have this pan) Then grease the parchment paper.
3. Somewhere on your counter, spread out a clean kitchen towel or piece of parchment paper, and sprinkle that with powdered sugar.
4. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice & salt.
5. In a large bowl, beat eggs, vanilla & sugar until thick & creamy.
6. Add in the pumpkin and mix to combine.
7. Stir in the flour mixture.
8. Pour the batter onto the prepared pan. Spread the batter evenly.
9. Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until the top of the cake springs back when touched. Stay on the side of slightly under cooked, if you over cook it then cake will be too dry and won't roll.
10. Immediately loosen the edges of the cake and turn it out onto the sugared towel/parchment. Peel off the parchment paper.
11. Roll up the cake & towel together fairly tightly, starting with a narrow end.
12. Cool completely on a wire rack.
13. Now start on the filling. In another medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter & vanilla until smooth.
14. Carefully unroll the cooled cake (removing the towel) and spread the cream cheese filling evenly over the cake, coming to about 1″ away from the edges. If you go all the way to the edge, you will have filling oozing out the end.
15. Carefully reroll the cake, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour.
16. Before serving cut a little slice off of each end so the roll has a smooth look. Then dust the top with powdered sugar.

3.2.2802

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First,  if there is a way I can put more vegetables in my food, I will do it. I know people who are anti-hiding vegetable – but not me. I’m always trying to find a way to get more veggies in my diet. I like green smoothies and the zucchini chocolate chip cookies from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and I like today’s muffins. When I saw a picture called “spinach Popeye muffins” on Pinterest, I knew it was something I had to try. I mean, make me strong like Popeye and they taste good? Yes please. Try not to be put off by the green muffins. They are fun looking and taste like banana bread. 

Second, this is the first baking recipe I have ever significantly altered! When I read the original recipe, I wanted to decrease the sugar and make it a bit healthier. But, I wasn’t really sure how to do it because I know baking is a science and messing it can lead to bad results. Then I read this article from the Harvard School of Public Health and decided, “what the heck, let’s try it.” So I decreased the sugar by a 1/3, I substituted some brown sugar for the white, and I used low-fat yogurt instead of whole milk. I had no idea how it was going to come out. Luckily it came out SO TASTY!!! The muffins don’t really rise though and the muffin is a bit sticky in texture – both of which I think are a result of my meddling.  Still they tasted amazing and I’m sure with a little more meddling, I could fix those issues. But in summation, Ryan and I ate 7 about as soon as they came out of the oven.

Which leads me to my third and final point. While I was baking I was video chatting with my family and I showed them these muffins. There were skeptical and asked Ryan and I to eat one on camera. Anyway, we told them the muffins were sweet and tasted like banana bread. And the best part is they promised if I posted the recipe they would try it. So, here it is guys.

If you’re off put by green spinach-banana muffins, I’ll post a regular banana bread recipe next week.

Adapted from The Green Forks.

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup canola oil

3/4 non-fat Greek yogurt

1 6oz bag of baby spinach

2-3 mashed ripe bananas

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Ingredients:

1. Preheat oven to 350° and line the muffin pan with paper liners.

2. Whisk together the flours, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.

3. Place the oil, yogurt, and spinach in a blender. Blend on high until pureed. You might have to do this in batched (I did because my blender is weak).

4. Add the banana and vanilla to the blender and blend until just mixed.

5. Pour pureed mixture into the dry ingredients. Fold together with a rubber spatula until combined.

6. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until  toothpick poked in the center comes out clean.

7. Let cool (if you can wait!)

8. Try it!!

Messy level: This recipe is a three spoon recipe, although if you have a nice blender maybe fewer spoons. I tried to put all the spinach, yogurt, and oil in the blender at once and all I was doing was overheating the blender. I then took it out and did things in batches, which meant using another bowl. And of course it’s me, so I got green drops of batter all over the counter. Overall, not too messy, just gotta be careful.

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The one ingredient I was unfamiliar with was the honeycomb. Is this something that exists in the US? What I found is that honeycomb is a toffee-like with a rigid but also a little bit light and airy. It was actually really yummy. The flavor reminded me of a Werther’s Original and the texture was a little like a graham cracker. The honeycomb adds a really nice crunch to the pie. Here the honeycomb is made from golden syrup, which I is another thing I hadn’t heard of before. If you’re going to make this at home, substitute corn syrup for the golden syrup.

There are two great things about this recipe. One it’s delicious. Two, it’s so easy! There is so little work and if you really don’t like cooking you can use store bought ingredients. Instead of making your own crust, buy graham cracker crust. Instead of making honeycomb, you can buy it at the store in the baking aisle (at least you can here in London). Or if you can crush up graham crackers or Werther’s Originals to get something sort of similar.

This recipe is beautiful and delicious treat. And if anyone deserves dessert, it’s me and Ryan. This weekend we went to Odiham in Hampshire. We went to see Odiham Castle, we walked along a canal, we saw baby ducks, we saw horses, and gorgeous old brick homes. We walked through lush grassy woods, we got caught in the rain, and we strolled along the high street. We walked at least seven miles. It was gorgeous, wonderful, and exhausting. We earned dessert.

Adapted from BBC Good Food.

Ingredients:

Honeycomb-

1 cup/200g of sugar

5 tbsp golden syrup

2 tsp baking soda

Everything else-

1 1/4 cup/250g graham crackers or caramel flavored cookies

3 oz butter

6 tbsp butter, melted (might not need all of it)

1 3/4 cup raspberries

500g/18 oz vanilla ice cream (you might not need it all)

Directions:

1. Start by making the honeycomb. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix the sugar and golden syrup in wide saucepan. It won’t mix neatly, it will be a little chunky in places. Place over medium heat and leave until dissolved and bubbling. The magazine says don’t be tempted to stir because otherwise the sugar will crystallize.  As the mixture heats, the liquid will start to thin, spread, and become homogeneous.

2. Once the sugar is dissolved, turn up the heat and let it bubble for 1 minute.

3. Add the baking soda and stir. It will bubble up quickly so be careful!

4. Pour on the prepared baking sheet and leave for 20 minutes until cool and firm.

5. Now for the pie! In a food processor (or with ziplock bag and a rolling pin) smash up the cookies until they are crumbs. Add in the melted butter and mix until well combined. You want a wet sandy mix.

6. Pour the crumbs into a pie plate. Press them crumbs into the plate with a spoon. Press until really firm! Chill for 30 minutes.

7. Remove the ice cream from the freezer. Let it sit out for 10-15 minutes. You want it to be soft enough you can stir it around, but not so soft it is soupy.

8. Once the ice cream is ready, get a large bowl. Mix together the ice cream and most of raspberries. Leave a handful of raspberries on the side. While you’re stirring, try to smash up some of the raspberries. It will make a beautiful juicy swirl.

9. Smash up half the honeycomb into little pieces. Add it to the ice cream. Mix until you have a beautiful ripply ice cream swirl.

10. Remove the crust from the fridge. Add in the ice cream mixture and smooth the edges.

11. Top the ice cream with the reserved raspberries and some shards for honeycomb. You won’t use all the honeycomb, leave the rest for a snack later!

12. Freeze for 4 hours or until frozen solid.

13. When you’re ready to eat it, let it soften just a tiny beat so it is easier to cut. Serve and enjoy!

Messy level: This is a two spoon recipe. Putting together the pie is really easy and barely messy. It is just making the crust that is messy. The honeycomb is the messy part because it is sticky, bubbles up, and then cools quickly. If you make the honeycomb yourself put the saucepan in the sink to soak IMMEDIATELY. It will be so much harder to clean if you don’t do that!

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Meanwhile, back here in Virginia, the one thing I have made were these cookies. The recipe comes from the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook and was recommended to me by my aunt. These cookies are colorful and festive and I made them for my friend to celebrate that she got a new job. I had been wanting to make these, but it’s taken awhile because the recipe is a bit labor intensive and requires some obscure ingredients. For real, I had to order some ingredients online. This cookie is a labor of love. But, sugary sweet, happy, and worth it.

They are a bit like snicker doodles,which the author, Christina Tosi, says is because of the cream of tartar. In the book, Tosi also wrote that she wanted to create boxed Funfetti cake in a cookie. And I think she nailed it. The cookie is so sweet, indulgent, and so cheerful. Yes, I did just say a cookie could be cheerful. I love the colorful sprinkles – it makes them the perfect celebration cookie.

As I said this recipe is from the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook. This recipe requires a two step process – first you make “crumb” and then you make the cookie dough. Neither step is super challenging, but I thought you should be forewarned. If you get intimidated, just remember how wonderful and pretty sprinkles are and then you’ll be able to keep going.

Ingredients

Crumb:

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 tbsp brown sugar

3/8 cup cake flour (45 grams)

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1 tbsp rainbow sprinkles

1/8 cup grapeseed oil

1/2 tbsp Clear Vanilla Extract (clear or imitation extract is apparently important, makes it taste more like box Funfetti cake)

Cookie Dough:

16 tbsp butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 tbsp glucose

2 eggs

2 tsp clear vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups of flour

2/3 cup milk powder

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 rainbow sprinkles

cake crumb recipe

Directions:

1. First we’re making the crumb. Preheat the oven to 300°.

2. Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment on low speed, mix together the sugars, flour, baking powder, salt, and sprinkles.

3. Add the oil and vanilla. Mix again until evenly mixed and small clusters start to form.

4. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Pour the clusters onto the parchment paper. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Break them up occasionally as they cook. The crumbs should still be a bit moist when you take them out of the oven – they will dry out as they cool.

5. Let them cool completely before using them in the cookie dough. (I waited 1 hour)

6. Take the butter out of the fridge. You can let it come to room temperature while you wait for the crumb to cool.

7. Ok, now start on the cookies. In the stand mixer (which you’ve cleaned out from before), combine the butter, sugar, and glucose. Beat on medium-high for 2 minutes.

8. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat for 7-8 minutes. (Tosi says this is the key to her cookies being great – the butter is so fluffy and creamy this way).

9. Reduce the mixer speed to low. Add the flour, milk powder, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, and rainbow sprinkles. Mix until the dough just comes together, no more than 1 minute. You do not want to over mix.

10. Add the crumbs and mix in for 30 seconds.

11. Line a cookie sheet with parchment. Portion out the dough into large-ish balls (about 2-3 tbsp). Flatten the tops a bit with your fingers. Cover tightly with plastic wrap.

12. Put the cookies in the fridge for 1 hour, or up to 1 week.

13. When you’re ready to bake, heat the oven to 350°.

14. Arrange the cookies about 3 inches apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

15. Bake for 13-18 minutes. They are ready when the edges start to be gold and the center of the cookie is starting to get color. They will seem soft, but they harden as you let them cool.

16. Let cool before serving. Then share them with friends and feel happy!

Messy level: 3 spoons. To make this cookie, you are basically making two recipes and that means a lot of dishes and a lot of chances for flour to fly. Glucose is really sticky and messy, eggs are drippy, and butter is greasy. It’s not the worst mess you’ll ever make but there’s potential. Give yourself time and try to be organized and it won’t be so messy!

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This weekend Ryan was in his friend Tommy’s wedding in Atlanta. We left on Thursday and stayed overnight with our friends who live in North Carolina.  They just moved into a beautiful new house with the most amazing kitchen. (To digress a bit, their kitchen is truly a dream kitchen with a huge fridge, two ovens, and a beautiful gigantic island. I wish I had taken pictures).  Anyway, it was wonderful to see them, their new home, and to catch up. We parted and I was so sad to leave them. I asked Ryan if when we come back if we could be their neighbors (and so I could have an awesome kitchen too).

Ryan and his oldest friends. The groom is second from the right.

Then we drove on to Atlanta for the wedding and spent the weekend with Ryan’s childhood friends and their girlfriends. It was such a blast hanging out, overdosing on sugary soda at the World of Coke, dancing, and spending time together. They are like family, we spend a week with them every summer at the beach, and it doesn’t matter if we do nothing or something we always have a good time.  And again Ryan and I thought, “why don’t we live closer to them? Let’s be their neighbors.” Sigh. All the people we are going to miss when we move.

So Saturday night after the wedding, I went to bed a bit weepy thinking, “tomorrow is the day things change.” Ryan and I drove straight back to Virginia (10 surprisingly non-painful hours), hung out in the apartment for a bit, and then I drove him to the airport. After such a long travel weekend, Ryan flew to London. He probably needed a cookie himself.

I drove home sad and feeling bad that I wasn’t going with him yet. Then I watched Walking Dead  by myself and after that normal apartment noises started to sound scary. I was feeling tired from the travel, blue about moving away from friends, and stressed about all the packing and prep still to be done.

Me and Ryan in bubbles at the World of Coke

But then I woke up this morning with a snow day, which eased my stress because I had time to clean and pack. The best part though was that I got to talk to Ryan. He looked really happy and in good spirits. He showed me around our flat (tiny but very cute). And it all became real – in a great way. The adventure has begun!! It’s real, exciting, wonderful and I had tons of energy to start packing. I know the nerves and worries will come back, but I’m super excited for my flight in a few days.

So you see, cookies were a must. These cookies are really delicious. I adapted this recipe from the one on the back of the Tollhouse chocolate chip bag. I love these cookies because they are the right amount of chewy and firm. In the oven, the cookies spread a bit but still hold a little height which I think makes for a great bite. They are sweet, tasty, and addicting. So what’s going on in your life? Try to find a way to work some cookies into your day.

Ingredients

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp kosher salt (I did not use table salt)

1 cup of butter (softened)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 brown sugar (I used light)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 12oz package of chocolate chips

Directions:

1. 20-30 minutes before you want to get baking, take the butter out of the fridge and leave it on your counter. Come back to it in 20-30 minutes.

2. Preheat the oven to 375°.

3. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt.

4. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar for 2 minutes on medium speed. This is going to make the butter really light and fluffy like whipped cream. You might think this is a long time, but I really like what the fluffy butter does to the cookies.

4. Add in the vanilla and mix until incorporated.

5. Add the eggs, one at a time. Don’t add the second one in, until the first is already mixed in. Beat until both are well mixed.

6. Gradually pour the flour mixture into the butter/egg/sugar mixture. I did this in four batches. Pour a bit, mix until that bit is 70% incorporated, then repeat.

7.  Mix in the chocolate chips.

8. Make balls of dough that are about 1.5-2 tablespoon in size. Drop on a cookie sheet and flatten the top just a bit.

9. Bake for 8-10 minutes (I did 8 minutes). You want the cookies to be golden and just a bit brown. Look how many cookies this recipe makes! It’s almost 4 dozen.

10. Dip in milk and be really happy.

Messy Level: One spoon. Cookies are so easy because you only need two bowls and one cookie sheet.

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These pretzels are billowy soft, buttery, with just a touch of salt. They really taste like the pretzels you get at the mall (in the good, indulgent sort of way). What’s great is that this recipe doesn’t take too long (as far as making bread goes), the technique isn’t too difficult, and you’ll already have practically all the ingredients you need in your kitchen.

So here’s the final recipe in my pretzel series. This recipe is easy to double, but as written here you’ll be able to make six 3-4″ soft pretzels. I’ve adapted this recipe from the one here on allrecipes.com.

Ingredients:

2 tsp active dry yeast

1/2 tsp white sugar

5 oz water (5/8 cup of water) – should be warm at about 100°

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup white sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp vegetable oil

1/4 cup baking soda

2 cups hot water

1 tbsp butter

kosher salt (for sprinkling)

Directions:

1. Make sure your 5oz of water is warm. I turned the faucet on high heat and then used a cooking thermometer to check the temperature. Microwave it hotter if you need to.

2. Dissolve the yeast and 1/2 tsp of sugar in the warm water. Let sit for 10  minutes. It will start to look kind of creamy and it will smell strongly of bread.

3. In a large bowl, mix the flour, 1/4 cup of sugar and salt.

4. Create a hole in the middle of your flour mixture. Pour in the vegetable oil and the dissolved yeast. Mix until it forms into a dough. If the dough is too dry add a few tsps of water to help it mix together.

5. Knead the dough for 7-8 minutes. You can do this by hand, but I recommend an electric mixer with a dough hook.

6. Lightly butter a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with butter. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour.

7. Preheat oven to 425°. In a shallow bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water. (I turned the faucet as hot as I could and used that to dissolve the baking soda) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease it with cooking spray.

8. When the dough risen, put it on a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into six pieces. Roll each piece into  18″-24″ rope.

9. Take the two ends of your rope and bring them to the middle and cross them. (It will look like an upside-down awareness ribbon)

10. Twist the ends one more time.

11. Fold the twist over and press it onto the bottom circle part, so you get the traditional pretzel shape.

12. Dip the pretzel into the baking soda water. Place on the baking sheet.

13. Bake for 8 minutes, or until golden brown.

14. Melt the butter. Brush it on to of the baked pretzels. Sprinkle the salt to your liking.

15. Let cool enough so they’re easy to handle, but so they’re still warm to taste. EAT THEM.

Messy Level: When I’ve done this in the past I’ve made an epic mess with the pretzel prep and baking soda dip. What I did this time to alleviate the mess was set up an organized system. I had the floured work surface, then immediately to the right the baking soda water, then immediately to the right of that the baking pan, and then after that a kitchen towel. That way I wasn’t dripping baking soda everywhere and I had a place to wipe my hands as soon as I finished each pretzel. I’m going to give this a two spoon rating.

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