Reindeer Feed

Christmas time is here! It has snowed in Utah and Portland is... sunny? I'm not complaining :) This recipe was found on Pinterest and it is yummy for Christmas! Who doesn't love a good Chex mix treat?

Reindeer Feed

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6 cups Rice Chex or Chocolate Chex cereal
1 bag (12 oz.) white vanilla baking chips (or white almond bark/candy coating)
⅓ cup coarsely crushed peppermint candy canes

Line cookie sheet with foil or waxed paper.

Place cereal in large bowl.

In microwavable bowl, microwave white vanilla baking chips uncovered on high about 1 minute 30 seconds, stirring every 30 seconds, until chips can be stirred smooth. Stir in half the crushed peppermint candy.

Pour over cereal; toss to evenly coat. Spread mixture in single layer on cookie sheet. Immediately sprinkle with remaining candy. Let stand until set, about 20 minutes. Gently break up coated cereal. Store in airtight container.

Enjoy!

Oreo Truffles

My recipe of the week is not a main dish, though these are so addicting that they can become the main dish if you're not careful. I just whipped up a mint batch of these for my Relief Society cookie exchange going on tonight and I know they'll be a hit.

Because it's the holidays (and because I think I like it better than the regular version), I have included the mint variation. Happy holiday baking!

Oreo Truffles

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1 (8 oz) package cream cheese
1 (16 oz) package Oreo cookies
12 oz. chocolate of your choice (white candy chocolate recommended)

Finely crush Oreo cookies and reserve ¼ cup.

Mix cream cheese and crushed Oreo cookies until well blended. Let mixture sit in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Shape mixture into small balls and put back in fridge for 1 hour or freezer for ½ hour. Can keep in fridge or freezer longer if desired. (I’ll let mine sit in the freezer overnight)

Coat balls in melted chocolate and sprinkle with reserved ¼ cup crumbs to garnish. Refrigerate until firm. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator.

Mint Oreo Truffle variation:
Because the Mint Oreo cookies have more creme filling than regular Oreos, either use less cream cheese (6 oz. or so), or remove the creme filling from 10 cookies when finely crushing. Dip in melted semi-sweet chocolate chips with a little oil to make the chocolate smoother. Garnish by drizzling with melted green mint chips.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Photo from The Non Pareil Baker, whom I originally found the recipe pinned to :)

Here's a recipe I found on Pinterest. After all my Thanksgiving pumpkin foods I made last week, I had just enough pumpkin for this muffin recipe. I just have to say that when I made these, I was STARVING, and starving people don't always make rational decisions or wait patiently. This recipe calls for the cream cheese goodness to be in the freezer for 2 hours. Like I was gonna wait 2 hours to alleviate starvation. So I did what any starving irrational person would do and I stuck the whole bowl of the stuff in the freezer (no spreading it out nicely to make a cream cheese log), and it was only in there there for as long as it took me to make the muffin and crumb topping mixture. And it turned out JUST FINE. I have no idea why you'd need to freeze it for that long. And since I didn't roll it out into a log formation, I just used 2 spoons to top the muffin batter with it, like scooping cookie dough with 2 spoons type scooping action.

I think theses turned out fantastic and I would make them the same way I did when I was starving, only double the cream cheese amount. I was hoping they would be like pumpkin cake roll and they kinda were, but not very cream cheesy and I like cream cheesy :) Try it out for yourself, let me know if you freeze the cream cheese part and if there are any perks to doing it that way :)

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

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Muffins:
1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Filling:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Crumb topping:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Make the filling by combining the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl and stirring until smooth. Scrape the mixture out onto a piece of plastic wrap at least 12 inches long. Form the mixture into a 12-inch log, wrap tightly, and freeze for at least two hours.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.

Make the crumb topping by using a fork to combine the flour, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and melted butter in a small bowl.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, thoroughly combine the sugar, canned pumpkin, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and stir gently with a spatula just until completely combined.

Remove the cream cheese filling from the freezer and cut it into 12 one-inch pieces. Divide the muffin batter evenly among the muffin cups. Press one piece of the cream cheese filling into the center of each muffin, then sprinkle each muffin with about one tablespoon of the crumb topping. Gently press the topping into the batter to ensure that it sticks.

Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center muffin comes out clean. Cool muffins in the pan for about five minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in the refrigerator.

Makes about 12 muffins.

Enjoy!