Autumn Harvest Recipes

Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins

-Heather Brown

Filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Muffins:
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon each nutmeg, allspice and cloves
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin (not pie filling)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray top of a muffin tin with cooking spray and line the 12 cups with liners.

Prepare filling. Beat together cream cheese and sugar, then stir in egg and vanilla. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, thoroughly stir together flour, both sugars, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and spices.

In another mixing bowl, blend oil, egg, pumpkin and vanilla. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and stir until combined.

Fill muffin cups about 1/3 of the way full with pumpkin mixture. Spoon cream cheese mixture over pumpkin, dividing evenly between all 12 cups. Spoon a drop of pumpkin batter on top of cream cheese. Pumpkin batter will be thick and will not cover entire top, so the appearance will be similar to a bulls eye.

Bake for 23-25 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

Apple Dumplings

2 Granny Smith apples
2 cans crescent rolls
2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla
cinnamon
1 small can Mountain Dew

Peel and core apples. Cut apples into 8 slices each. Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll. Place in a 9 x 13 buttered pan. Melt butter, then add sugar and barely stir. Add vanilla, stir, and pour over apples. Pour Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve with ice cream, and spoon some of the sweet sauces from the pan over the top.

Apple-Pecan Sticky Buns

-Christina Sorenson

Makes: 9 Prep: 45 min Bake: 40 min

2 tart apples, such as granny smith-peeled, cored and sliced ¼ inch thick

1 ¼ cups plus 1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar

1 ½ sticks (6 oz.) butter, softened

2 cups flour

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup chopped pecans

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons honey

1. Preheat oven to 400. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan. Place the apples, 1 tablespoon brown sugar and 1 tablespoon butter on a parchment paper lined baking sheet; toss to coat. Cover loosely with aluminum foil and roast until tender, 15 min. Lower the oven temperature to 350.

2. Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, blend the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and ¼ teaspoon salt at low speed. Add 5 tablespoons butter and mix until crumbly. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs with ½ cup cream, then mix into the dry ingredients.

3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to form a 9-inch rectangle. In a small bowl, mix ½ cup brown sugar, the pecans and cinnamon. Cut up 2 tablespoons butter and dot the dough. Sprinkle the brown sugar mixture on top and cover evenly with the roasted apples. Roll up the dough, jelly-roll style, and cut crosswise into 9 slices; place the slices cut side down in the prepared baking pan. Bake until golden, 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.

4. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, bring the remaining 4 tablespoons butter, ¾ cup brown sugar, ½ cup heavy cream, ½ teaspoon salt and the honey to a boil, stirring. Whisk until reduced, about 2 minutes. Let cool slightly. Drizzle the sauce over the warm buns.

Zucchini Bread (served as muffins at the gathering)

-Jenna Turley

3 Eggs

1 C. Oil

2 C. Sugar {I use Turbinado raw sugar cane, half white, half brown}

2 C. Zucchini { 2 Large}

1 T. Pure Vanilla

1 C. White Flour

1 1/2 C. Wheat Flour

1/4 C. Milled Flax Seed

1/4 C. Unprocessed Coarse Bran

1 t. Salt

1 t. Baking Soda

1/2 t. Baking Powder

1 T. Cinnamon

1/2 t. Nutmeg

Mix all ingredients together. No need to over stir.

Optional: Chopped walnuts, shredded or puree carrots or apples.

Also, if your child is picky about seeing "green" in foods, then peel zucchini before shredding, and use brown sugar.

Bake for 350º, for 1 hour in bread pan. For muffins 20-24 minutes. {my oven's kind of junky, so bake at least 20 minutes and then check!}

Fresh Salsa

- Jenn Iverson

½ bushel ripe garden tomatoes (4 gallons of whole tomatoes)

½ tsp. garlic salt

6 onions

3 green peppers

4 carrots

1 celery stalk

1 ½ tsp. cumin

1 ½ tsp. oregano

4 tsp. oil

5 tsp. cider vinegar

½ Tbsp. pepper

2 ½ Tbsp. salt

1 Tbsp. MSG (sold as Accent; I omitted this)

½ green chile pepper

3 ½ jalapeno, seeds removed

2 hot peppers (yellow or red), seeds removed

Put all vegetables through a food processor or blender. Make sure hot peppers are well-blended (for hotter salsa, don’t remove the seeds). Add remaining ingredients and heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 2+ hours. The longer you cook it, the thicker your salsa will be. Ladle into prepared mason jars and bottle according to canner directions for boiling water canning. Process time at sea level is 15 minutes. Yield: 12-16 pints.

Crunchy Caramel Apple Dip

- Jenn Iverson

1 cup brown sugar

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

½ bag Skor or Heath toffee bits (by the chocolate chips in the supermarket – Shaw’s)

Stir brown sugar and cream cheese until smooth. Add toffee bits. Slice apples and dip away!

Essence of Fall

- Ashley Boyer

In a small saucepan add the following:

• 1 orange peel
• 4 cinnamon sticks
• 4 bay leaves
• 15 whole cloves

Cover with water and bring to boil for 15 minutes (watch the water level). Then simmer on low. You can reuse the same potpurri for a few times. Mmm, this smell makes me excited about fall!

Zucchini Bread

- Eliza Fajen

makes 2 loaves

bake time:1 hour oven temp: 325 degrees

* 1 cup oil
* 2 cups sugar
* 3 eggs
* 2 cups grated raw zucchini (takes about 2 nice sized ones)
* 3 cups flour
* 3 tsp. cinnamon
* 1 tsp. baking soda
* 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1. blend oil and sugar well
2. add eggs - one at a time - and grated zucchini
3. sift together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder
4. add sifted ingredients to mixture
5. pour evenly into two greased and floured loaf pans
6. bake at 325 degrees for one hour or until toothpick comes out clean
7. turn pans at half-way point

Pumpkin Squares

- Jenna Mullen

Preheat oven to 350º. Grease a 9x13 pan.

1 package yellow cake mix (save 1 cup for topping)

1/2 cup butter

1 egg

Mix together and then press into the bottom of the pan. I like to soften the butter a little and mash it together with a fork. Then I use my clean fingers to press it in.

2 cups pumpkin

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup evaporated milk

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix the ingredients together and pour over the crust.

1 cup cake mix

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter

Crumble together and sprinkle on top of the filling. Bake for 45 minutes or until set.

Autumn Harvest Recipes

Acorn Squash Bisque

- Jan King

serves 8-10

4 acorn squash

1 large onion, sliced or thickly chopped

2-3 carrots, thickly sliced or a handful of baby carrots

1 cup half and half

2 cans ( or about 28 ounces) chicken stock

2 tsp dried thyme

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp nutmeg

salt & pepper to taste

Cut squash in half. Remove seeds. PLace cut side-down on a large rimmed baking sheet with carrots and onion. Pour 1-2 cups of water in pan to cover about 1 inch of squash. Roast at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes until tender when knife is inserted into squash and carrots.

Allow squash to cool, then scoop out flesh and add to blender with carrots, onion and thyme. Add chicken stock 1 cup at a time and puree until smooth, about 1 minute. You may need to do this in batches.

Return to pan with any remaining chicken stock. Add half and half and slat and pepper to taste. Thin as needed with water or broth. Reheat in the pan (without boiling) or keep warm in a slow cooker.