Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

Posted by: Maggie

Thanks to my love for pumpkin, another key fall flavor has been unfairly neglected here on A Bitchin' Kitchen.  I decided to bake something with apple to help make our quickly growing collection of fall recipes more well rounded.

While browsing through the archives of one of my favorite baking blogs - Visions of Sugar Plum, I came across the recipe for Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Butterscotch cookies, and immediately knew it was the fall recipe I was looking for. 

I was a bit worried about finding dried apples, but I was able to track them down in the baking aisle at Harris Teeter (not with the raisins, or the other dried fruits in produce as I had originally suspected).  Funny story, while at the grocery store picking up ingredients for these cookies, I knocked over an economy sized glass jar of applesauce, broke it, and then ran away from the scene of the crime.  Who does that? It's like I immediately regressed to being a 5 year old and was afraid of telling an employee that I made a mess.  I feel like I should send them a batch of these delicious cookies to apologize.

Here's what you'll need:

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 3/4 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup apple sauce (I used sweetened)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
3/4 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted
3/4 cup butterscotch chips
3/4 cup finely chopped dried apples

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, and then stir in oats.

In a large bowl, beat together butter, brown sugar, and applesauce on medium speed until creamy.  Add in egg and vanilla until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low, and beat in oat mixture.  Stir in pecans, butterscotch, and apples until combined.

Drop heaping teaspoons of dough onto cookie sheets about an inch apart.  Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 1 minute on cookie sheets, and then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. 

*Note - I almost always chill cookie dough for 30 minutes or so before baking, but I found it to be unnecessary with these.  They don't spread much at all, and I ended up rolling the dough into small balls and slightly flattening them to get a nicely shaped cookie. 

Beef Enchiladas

Posted by: Maggie

One of the many great things about having Jeff in my life is that I feel more inclined to make labor intensive or time consuming recipes for dinner.   It never seems quite worth it to cook something that takes longer than 30 minutes when I'm the only one eating it.  Fortunately, Jeff is a willing guinea pig when it comes to my cooking endeavors.  I'm also fortunate that he's patient, since we did not start dinner on Friday until 8:50 since these (worth the wait) enchiladas took Sooooo. Stinkin'. Long.

This recipe comes from the Pioneer Woman's cookbook, which my lovely sister and co-blogger Annie gave to me for Christmas.  You can also find the recipe online here.

It's easy to adjust this recipe to your desired spiciness since it calls for canned green chilies and red sauce, both of which are usually available in mild, medium, or hot.  I used mild stuff, but ended up dousing my portion in Tabasco, so next time I make these I'll probably use spicier ingredients. 

Here's what you'll need:

For the sauce...
1 T canola oil
1 T all-purpose flour
1 can (28 oz) enchilada or Mexican red sauce
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
2 T chopped cilantro

For the meat...
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 whole medium onion, finely diced
2 4 oz. cans diced green chilies
1/2 t salt

For the tortillas... 
10-14 corn tortillas
1/2 cup canola oil

For assembly...
3 cups grated cheddar
1/2 cup chopped black olives (I left these out because Jeff doesn't like olives, but I think they would be delicious if you use them!)
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (optional, for garnish)

Step #1 – The Sauce
In a large saucepan over medium heat, add oil and flour and whisk together to make a paste, cooking for one minute. Pour in the red sauce, chicken broth, cilantro, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30-45 minutes.

Step #2 – The Meat
Brown the meat with onions in a skillet. Drain off fat. Stir in 2 cans diced green chilies and seasoned salt. Set aside.

Step #3 – Tortillas
Heat canola oil in a small skillet over medium heat. One by one, using tongs, fry tortillas in oil until soft, not crisp – about 30 seconds per side. Remove to a paper—towel lined plate. Repeat until all tortillas have been fried.

Step #4 – Assembly
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour ½ cup red sauce in bottom of baking pan. Spread to even out. Dip each tortilla into red sauce, then remove to work surface. Spoon meat, a little grated cheese, a little black olives (if using), and green onions in the center of tortilla. Roll up and place, seam down, in baking pan. Repeat until pan is filled. Pour extra red sauce over enchiladas. Top with remaining cheddar cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly. If desired, sprinkle cilantro over enchiladas before serving. Serve with sour cream and Mexican rice, and enjoy!

Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Brownies

Posted by: Maggie

Happy October!

It's time for more pumpkin!!! When I mentioned on Tuesday that I have a truckload of pumpkin recipes to get through, I wasn't kidding in the slightest.  I see a lot of recipes for pumpkin cheesecake, and pumpkin brownies, but I wanted a recipe that combined the two.  Unfortunately, I'm not talented enough to make up recipes on my own, so I was happy when I came across exactly what I was looking for on Beantown Baker's blog originally from Cara's Cravings.

I know a lot of people are weirded out by the chocolate/pumpkin combo, but believe me, it's delicious.  Then again, what isn't better with chocolate?  I tried chocolate covered bacon at this restaurant called CoCo Sala back in February, and it was everything I dreamed it would be.


Here's what you'll need:

Brownie Batter
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 T vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 t salt
2 tsp cinnamon

Cheesecake Batter
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
2 T + 2 t all-purpose flour
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 t vanilla extract
2/3 t cinnamon
1/3 t ground ginger*
1/3 t ground cloves*

*Do 1/3 teaspoons even exist? My brain was feeling a tad gelatinous last night from playing flip cup, and rather than try and figure out that situation I just used heaping 1/4 teaspoons...moving on...

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8x8" square metal baking pan.

Beat together melted butter, sugar, and vanilla, then beat in eggs one at a time. Combine dry ingredients and then gradually stir into butter mixture with a wooden spoon. In separate bowl, beat together cheesecake batter ingredients.

Spread about 2/3 of chocolate batter into prepared pan, and spoon cheesecake batter over. Dollop remaining brownie batter over cheesecake batter. Swirl the batters together by running a butter knife back and forth through the pan.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until center is set. Cool completely on wire rack and chill before cutting and serving.