I should just become a baker.

The Pumpkin Muffins are seriously heaven in your mouth. Even though the recipe was almost impossible to follow, they turned out delicious. I've never baked from a recipe with that many ingredients before. But they turned out good! This recipe showed me exactly why I chose baking as my flow. I was so beyond focused when I was baking this dessert. In the end, they turned out great! Too bad Coach Stone wasn't here the day I baked...

Baking Day 2: Pumpkin Muffins

Pumpkin and Cream Cheese Muffins with Pecan Streusel

Yield: 12 muffins
Prep Time: 15 minutes (active), 2 hours (inactive)
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

For the Cream Cheese Filling:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
½ cup powdered sugar
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
For the Streusel:
½ cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup pecans, roughly chopped
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the Muffins:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
5 ounces (½ cup + 2 tablespoons) vegetable oil
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Make the cream cheese filling: For the Cream Cheese Filling: In a medium bowl, stir together the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Add the vanilla, and stir to combine. Form the mixture into a 12-inch log on a piece of plastic wrap, wrap it, and freeze it for at least two hours.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners; set aside.
3. Make the Pecan Streusel: In a medium bowl, use a fork to combine the flour, sugar, pecans, butter, and cinnamon. Set aside.
4. Whisk together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
5. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, pumpkin, eggs, oil, and vanilla.
6. Pour the pumpkin mixture over the dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula to gently combine the batter, mixing just until the dry ingredients are moistened.
7. Remove the cream cheese from the freezer, and divide it into 12 1-inch slices.
8. Scoop a small amount of batter into the muffin cups. Place 1 slice of the cream cheese log right in the center of each cup, then fill with the remaining batter.
9. Sprinkle the pecan streusel on top of each muffin. Press on the streusel lightly to make sure it adheres to the batter.
10. Bake until golden, about 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, and then remove muffins to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Let them come to room temperature before serving, or warm briefly in the microwave to take the chill off.

Success!

This is the finished project of my first flow project, Chocolate Chip Pound Cake. It is from scratch and not from a box and proved to be easier than you would think. It didn't take long at all and came out perfect! I was really concentrated when I was going through the ingredients and recipe and in doing this it made me realize that that's what finding your flow is. Can't wait to share with my classmates! 

Hopefully Coach Stone will approve of my baking! Ha! 

Baking Day 1: Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

My mom has always been an inspiration to me and so last night we were talking about how she always grew up cooking with my grandma. She said that they always use to bake together and would even create new recipes with trial and error tasting sessions. After she was done talking about this, I asked her about some of the very first recipes that they created together and she told me about their very first one....chocolate chip pound cake. So in my attempt to keep family recipes alive, I'm going to make that as my first baking experience for my flow project. Stay tuned for how it goes tonight!

Flow project!

Hey guys! I'm finding my flow for psychology and chose to blog about baking. To find your flow means to be fully immersed in something that you enjoy doing. I enjoy cooking but haven't baked as much so i'm going to learn lots of new recipes. My goal is to bake at least one thing every week. Stay tuned!