thanksgiving

Applesauce Muffins

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It’s snowing here in Chicago and I must admit, I’m listening to Christmas music as I bake these! Why not, right?! I just love this time of year. It makes me so happy! I decided to make these muffins for an after school snack. Also, if we all like them, I’ll make them again next week because we are going on a road trip to Mississippi for Thanksgiving. Yes, it will be a looong drive, but it will be nice to see and spend time with my father-in-law. We haven’t been to visit him since Liam was 2 so it’ll be great to make more memories and this time Liam will remember it 🙂

These muffins are super easy to make and you can easily double the recipe if you are having a big party. Or, you can even freeze them! But the recipe here makes 24 mini muffins or 12 regular. So, go put some tunes on, preheat your ovens and let’s get baking!

What you will need:

Muffin tin sprayed with non-stick spray

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temp
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup unsweetened applesauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and spices. Set aside. In another bowl, beat together the butter and sugar. Add in egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Beat in applesauce. Slowly stir in flour mixture until just combined. Fill muffin tin a little over halfway and bake for 10 minutes if using a mini pan, or 18-22 if using a regular sized pan.  Allow to cool slightly before taking muffins out and cooling on a wire rack.

Enjoy! Store covered at room temp.

Easy Peasy Pumpkin Pie

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving with friends and family! I definitely did and of course ate way too much. But oh well! Last year I made pumpkin pie from scratch. And I mean, everything! From the pumpkin filling to the crust, nothing was pre-made. Too. Much. Stress! So, this year, I just wanted to have fun and make sure I had a good night’s sleep before my Thanksgiving morning pie making! This crust from Pillsbury is my life right now…

I will be purchasing this all the time! My local Target has it so, expect to see more pie recipes in the future. Pie crust is hard, people. If you haven’t tried it, skip it. It’ll just take a couple years off your life. So here we go… easy peasy pumpkin pie…

What you will need:

One 9 inch pie plate (glass is best)
Baking sheet (for any spills and easy in/out of the oven)
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
2 eggs
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 box rolled pie crust (I used Pillsbury like the one pictured)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit. Unroll and press pie crust into pie plate (directions should be on the package). Create a decorative edge however you like. Here is what I did…

Place pie on a baking sheet and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs and spice. Pour into prepared pie crust. Bake for 45-55 minutes. The crust will be brown and pie will be set. Let cool completely before slicing and serving. Enjoy!

Our dessert table! Everything was delicious 🙂

For the mini pies, I used the same ingredients, and the same dough, just used a 4 inch circle cookie cutter and cut out little dough circles to press inside a mini muffin tin. Bake at same temperature for about 35-40 minutes.