Pumpkin Chip Mini Muffins

A box of spice cake mix has been lurking in my pantry for a while now.  Unfortunately, I can't remember why I bought it!  So off I went to Allrecipes.com.  I saw a recipe for pumpkin chip mini muffins that sounded good.  Friends of mine from college raved about their pumpkin chip cookie recipe, but the comments I read on other recipes that used the cake mix for cookies, said they were very cake like and not the greatest.  So I decided to stick with the muffins.  Glad I did.  They turned out yummy!

 

Pumpkin Chip Mini Muffins

1 box spice cake mix
1 - 15 oz can pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Mix spice cake mix, pumpkin and egg until well mixed.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Line mini muffin pan with paper liners or spray lightly with cooking spray.  Scoop in a tablespoon of muffin mix into mini muffin pans.  Bake for approximately 15 minutes. Test with a toothpick.

Yield: 36 mini muffins

Apple Fritter Cake

I don't like to post a lot of dessert recipes, but it's been bugging me that I haven't been posting ANY recipes lately . . . SO dessert recipe it is.  Well, I guess I could say it's a breakfast recipe.  It was breakfast for the college class this week!  It received rave reviews, so I'll share it.

Since this blogger does such a great job showing and describing the steps, I'll just link you to the recipe.

Apple Fritter Cake

As always, I have a comment or two.  This cake batter is VERY thick and difficult to spread.  I added another 1/2 cup of applesauce to make it a little more spreadable.  (I was in a hurry, so maybe I did something wrong.  You can try as written, and when you get to the "spreading" part, you can make your own decision.)  Also, make the glaze thick or possibly add a layer of glaze, let it set and add another layer.

Monterey Ranch Baked Chicken

Have you ever seen those packages in the dairy section of the store that have shredded cheese on one side and seasoned bread crumbs on the other?  I had a couple coupons, so I tried them.  We really enjoyed the flavor the seasoning and cheese gave the chicken.  (And I may or may not have tried the cheddar jack & bacon on pork chops.  I had planned to use it on chicken, but how can you go wrong with pork on pork!?!)  They are pricey if you don't have a coupon, and I hated throwing away the unused portion.

 

A couple week's ago, I came across this recipe on Pinterest that used bread crumbs, seasoning and cheese.  What made me like it even more was it was homemade, less expensive, made-to-your-desired portion -- perfect!  Not to mention, my family devoured it!

 

 

Monterey Ranch Baked Chicken

 

1 cup dry bread crumbs

1 cup finely shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 (1 oz) pkg ranch dressing mix

1/2 cup milk

6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Combine the bread crumbs, Monterey Jack cheese, and ranch dressing mix in a large bowl; set aside.

3. Pour the milk into another bowl, then dip the chicken breasts into the milk. Gently press the chicken into the bread crumb mixture. Arrange the chicken in a 9x13-inch baking dish.

4. Bake the chicken breasts in the preheated oven until no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, 40 to 45 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F.

 

Recipe source: Allrecipes.  Photo source: Bing -- This picture looked closest to the real thing since I didn't take a picture.