fall baking starts....now!

Just a quick entry tonight. I had another rough day alone with the kiddos, so I'm only blogging for the sake of the September Blog-a-Thon. (And yes, another rough day, ugh! Kieran's most likely teething and/or going through his "4 month" sleep regression - he's 3.5 months adjusted, so that would make sense, right? And Maia's apparently going through some super-defiant 2.5 year old stage thing, where it appears she has lost ALL listening skills she once had and we're butting heads like crazy. Blah, whatever.)

Anyways, I want to share with y'all an amazing recipe. I looove to bake (my red Kitchenaid mixer that I got as a wedding present last year? I can't live without it!) And my favorite baking season is not Christmas-time, it's fall - mmm, pumpkin cookies with glaze frosting, pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread pudding...those are just a few of my favorite pumpkin recipes. I really could eat pumpkin anything all year round. And don't even get me started on my favorite apple goodies, or all the new ones I want to try to make this year (like pumpkin scones!) But back to the recipe: I had these at my bridal shower last year and they are phenomenal: light, fluffy and the perfect amount of pumpkin, plus the cream cheese frosting is SO delish. The cinnamon really takes the standard cream cheese frosting a step further.

Martha Stewart's Pumpkin Cupcake recipe + Cinnamon Cream Cheese frosting

The cupcakes, from Martha:

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree

Directions (yields 18 cupcakes)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together, brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Add dry ingredients, and whisk until smooth. Whisk in pumpkin puree.
3. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about halfway. Bake until tops spring back when touched, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pans once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

The frosting, from food.com:

Ingredients (yields frosting for 20-24 cupcakes)

• 1 (8 ounce) packages reduced-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
• 4 tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar and cinnamon.
2. Frost cake or cupcakes and let frosting "set" for 20 minutes on counter or in the fridge.

Hope you enjoy them! These will be just one of many fall goodies I'll be preparing in the upcoming fall months. I also plan on busting out my bread machine (it's been awhile!) and I'll share some of my favorite bread recipes, too.