Bready or Not: Pumpkin Nutella Swirl Muffins
Some foods are delicious but not particularly photogenic. These Pumpkin Nutella Swirl Muffins, however, have it all going on.
Chocolate and pumpkin are a fantastic pairing. Nutella works so well here, creating a shiny chocolatey cap to these bright orange muffins.
The texture of these is magnificent: cakey and fresh, with a light pumpkin taste. Plus Nutella. We can’t forget the Nutella.
Speaking of which… if your Nutella is older or you’re near the bottom of the jar, it can be lumpy and hard to spread. To fix that, put the Nutella in a microwave-safe dish and give it a zap in the microwave.
Trust me, that lumpy Nutella may still be delicious, but you want it to be soft enough to create a beautiful swirl on these muffins!
Modified from The Novice Chef.
Bready or Not: Pumpkin Nutella Swirl Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 Tablespoons milk or almond milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup Nutella or other hazelnut cocoa spread
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line muffin pan with liners and apply nonstick spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In large bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in the egg, vegetable oil, milk, and vanilla extract. Slowly mix in the dry mixture until it is just blended.
- Add the batter to the muffin pan, filling each about 3/4 full. Top each muffin with about a teaspoon of Nutella and use a butter knife to swirl it into the batter.
- Bake muffins for 14-16 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in a center muffin comes out clean.
- Serve warm or at room temperature. Store in a sealed container.
- OM NOM NOM!
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Bready or Not: Chocolate Chip Pecan Pumpkin Pudding Cookies
Every fall, I like to bake goodies using Jell-O’s Pumpkin Spice Pudding. Every fall, I’m frustrated when Walmart doesn’t carry it until later in October, and not for long.
This stuff is like a secret weapon if you love autumn flavors. Pudding mix of any kind creates extra softness and a lovely texture whether you’re making cookies or bundt cake; this version adds delicate pumpkin and spice flavors, plus a lovely shade of orange.
This cookie dough doesn’t need to be chilled. Just whip it together and bake. The resulting cookies are plump, soft, and downright pretty to behold. Oh yeah–another advantage of using pudding mix is that the cookies stay soft and fresh for upward of a week.
Other Bready or Not recipes featuring both pumpkin flavor and pudding mix:
– Pumpkin Pudding Snickerdoodle Cookies (pumpkin spice mix)
– Pumpkin and Pudding Mix Pound Cake (vanilla pudding mix)
Modified from Boys Ahoy.
Bready or Not: Chocolate Chip Pecan Pumpkin Pudding Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks, room temperature
- 3/4 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 3.4 oz Jell-O Instant Pumpkin Spice Pudding 1 box
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup pecans chopped
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips or semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
- Combine flour and baking soda in a small bowl; set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together butter and both sugars. Beat in pudding mix until blended, followed by the eggs and vanilla extract.
- Add the flour mixture. Stir in pecans and chocolate chips until just combined.
- Using a cookie dough scooper, place dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 -10 minutes. Let cookies cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet before moving to a cooking rack. Store in air-tight container. Makes two dozen.
- OM NOM NOM!
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Bready or Not: Pumpkin Cheesecake Sopapillas
These Pumpkin Cheesecake Sopapillas are super-easy to make. You use crescent dough roll for the top and bottom! This comes together in minutes.
You get to work some churromancy here as well. Once you have your pumpkin bars assembled, you pour melted butter over everything. You create LAKES OF BUTTER. Then to make it healthier, you top that with more cinnamon and sugar.
As it cools, the butter is absorbed, and that cinnamon-sugar forms an amazing crust on top.
The dish is fast to assemble, but it does need a few hours to cool down on the counter and then chill in the fridge. After, that, though…! All you need to do to serve this up is zap a piece in the microwave. Top that with some pecans and honey, and you have your own seasonally-appropriate sopapilla.
Eat it for breakfast. Snack. Dessert. Whatever. There’s pumpkin in this and it’s October. This could be dinner, if you so desire. Embrace the season! Get out the stretchy pants!
Modified from Willowbird Baking. Originally shared on the Holy Taco Church.
Bready or Not: Pumpkin Cheesecake Sopapillas
Ingredients
Bars
- 2 cans crescent rolls any brand
- 16 oz cream cheese 2 boxes, room temperature
- 16 oz pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
Topping:
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Highly Advised Extras:
- honey
- toasted pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350 degrees F. Line a 9x13 inch baking dish with foil and apply nonstick spray. Unroll one can of crescent roll dough--keeping it as a single piece--and lay it in the dish. Pressing it out to cover the bottom and pinch seams together.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the softened cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the pumpkin puree, vanilla extract, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice. Spread the pumpkin mixture over the crescent roll dough in the pan.
- Stretch out plastic wrap on a large cutting board. Use this surface to lay out the other can of crescent roll dough. Stretch it out and pinch together the seams. That done, use the board to flip the dough on top of the pumpkin layer.
- Next is the topping. In a small bowl, stir together the 1/2 cup sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Pour the melted butter over the crescent dough top layer. Sprinkle the sugar mix all over the top.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let the bars cool completely at room temperature before placing them in the fridge to set for a few hours or overnight.
- Cut the sopapillas into bars. They are best served warm, after a 20-30 second zap in the microwave, and topped with some pecans and drizzled honey.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Ginger Pumpkin Braided Bread
Bready or Not is full-out bready this week with a recipe that produces two gorgeous braided loaves of pumpkin bread!
This recipe from King Arthur Flour and was featured in their mailed catalog a while back. Like so many of their recipes, it’s an absolute winner.
The pumpkin puree doesn’t make this bread tacky, even as dough. It incorporates well and adds light taste and vivid color. Diced candied ginger and raisins create variations in texture. The spices play well with everything. Actually, you should make this bread just to smell it as it bakes.
The slices are divine, whether or not you add butter. It would also be delicious in something like bread pudding. YUM.
Plus, it’s just plain pretty.
Modified from King Arthur Flour.
Bready or Not: Ginger Pumpkin Braided Bread
Ingredients
- 4 1/2 cups bread flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 Tablespoon instant yeast
- 1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree 1 can
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter half stick, melted
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- 1/3 cup diced candied ginger
- butter to brush on bread
Instructions
- In the large bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, spices, sugar, ginger, salt, and yeast.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the pumpkin, eggs and melted butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Continue to stir until the dough begins to come away from the sides of the bowl. Knead the dough for 2 minutes; let it rest for 15 minutes. Knead for an additional 5 to 7 minutes, or until it's smooth. Add the raisins and candied ginger, and continue kneading just until they're incorporated.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap, and set it aside to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until about doubled.
- Lightly grease a surface and turn out the dough onto it. Divide the dough in half, then divide each half into three pieces. Roll each piece into a 10-inch log.
- Place three logs together on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Braid them together, making sure to pinch together the ends or tuck them underneath. Repeat the process with the other three logs on another baking sheet. Lightly cover them with plastic wrap and let them rise another hour. They should be puffy, not necessarily doubled in size.
- Bake the loaves in a preheated 375-degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until lightly browned. A cake tester inserted in the center should come out clean. Brush butter over the loaves to give them a nice shine.
- Let the braids cool on a wire rack. Serve them warm or at room temperature. Loaves can also be frozen for later enjoyment.
- OM NOM NOM!
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Bready or Not: Triple Chocolate Pumpkin Cake
Triple Chocolate Pumpkin Cake created something of a sensation at my husband’s work. Imagine profanity-laden joyful proclamations about this being the best cake ever.
The thing that surprised me most about their feedback was that they didn’t even realize there was pumpkin in the cake. It was all about the chocolate and the sheer moistness of the cake itself.
Well, the secret to that tender crumb: canned pumpkin puree. Ta-da!
The chocolate IS the star here. I mean, there’s a reason the name starts with “triple chocolate.” You have cocoa and chocolate chips in the cake, and a chocolate glaze that is also topped with chocolate chips.
Does that mean this should really be called a “quadruple chocolate pumpkin cake?” Dang it. I’m a writer. Don’t expect me to do math.
Modified from A Dash of Sanity.
Bready or Not: Triple Chocolate Pumpkin Cake
Ingredients
To Coat Pan
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 Tablespoon cocoa sifted
Cake
- 2 cups white sugar
- 3/4 cup oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 eggs room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup cocoa sifted
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup milk almondmilk works
- 15 ounces pumpkin puree
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips
Glaze
- 3 Tablespoons butter diced
- 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips or semi-sweet
- 1 Tablespoon light corn syrup
- 2 Tablespoons mini chocolate chips for topping
Instructions
- Prepare the bundt pan. In the microwave, melt the tablespoon of butter. Stir in the tablespoon of sifted cocoa to make a paste. Use a pastry brush to completely coat the inside of the pan. Set aside.
- Preheat oven at 325-degrees. In a large bowl, mix together sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and eggs.
- In a separate bowl combine flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, sifted cocoa, and cinnamon. Gradually add the flour mix to the sugar mix.
- Mix in the milk and pumpkin puree. Once everything is just combined, stir in the chocolate chips. Pour thick batter into the ready bundt pan.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until it passes the toothpick test.
- Set pan on rack for about ten minutes and remove pan by upending the cake onto the rack. Let it completely cool.
- Once the cake is cool, make the glaze. In a small microwave-safe bowl, place the butter, chocolate chips, and corn syrup. Heat for 30 seconds or so and stir thoroughly, then briefly heat again if needed to finish melting.
- Use a spoon to drizzle the glaze onto the cake, spreading it around as needed. Sprinkle mini chocolate chips on top to finish it off. Set in fridge to set for several hours or overnight--chocolate cakes are better after a day (if you can restrain yourself that long)!
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Pumpkin Spice Chip Cookies
When life gives you a good sale on seasonal pumpkin spice chips, you create your own recipe in which to use those chips.
At least, that’s what I do, because my mind is weird like that.
Tollhouse Pumpkin Spice Chips are mildly spicy and smooth. They work really well with this ultra-smooth dough, that includes melted white chocolate mixed right in. I borrowed that foundation of the recipe from my White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookie recipe.
These cookies gain enough crisp to be solid, but they are still chewy. The chopped pecans (or whatever nut you want to throw in) add nice flavor, but more than that, they add texture. They cut the sweetness some.
If you see these special chips on sale at Target or elsewhere, grab’em! You now have the perfect recipe to use them in.
Bready or Not: Pumpkin Spice Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 2/3 cup white sugar
- 11 Tablespoons unsalted butter , room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 bag pumpkin spice chips
- 1 cup pecans chopped, or walnuts or other nuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325-degrees. Place 1 cup of white chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on 50% power in short increments, 20-30 seconds, and stop to stir between passes until the chips blend smoothly. Be careful--white chocolate can burn fast! Set aside to cool.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the sugar, butter, vanilla, and eggs until they're creamy. Mix in the melted chips. Stir in flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Add the pumpkin spice chips and the pecans.
- Use a cookie scoop or tablespoon to place dough in rounded lumps on cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges begin to turn very light golden brown. Cool on the sheet for several minutes, then move to a rack to cool.
- ON NOM NOM!
