Homemade English Muffins

English muffins have been a regular part of my eating habits since I was in university.  Usually they are served up with two egg yolks on them, but with my love of carbohydrates, you never know when I might pop one of those savory doughy muffins slathered in butter in my mouth.  Then I saw this, and thought, what a wonderful idea.  I could make my own. 

I decided to go with this recipe by Alton Brown, it supposedly makes the best English muffins around, just full of nooks and crannies.  I had to modify it a bit, I don't exactly have a griddle, but I made it work.  The recipe was super simple, and I can't wait to use them for eggs benedict!

Buttermilk Pumpkin Pancakes

For the first time in my adult life, I was up earlier then anyone else in the house (ie: boyfriend, roommate, and puppy), and I conveniently had all the makings for buttermilk pumpkin pancakes.  I took to the internet and found a great recipe by one of my fave food bloggers, The Pioneer Woman.  I love trying new recipes, and The Pioneer Woman has some of the best and easiest to follow recipes that I've used.

Now that I'm starting to understand baking a bit better, it takes me no time to whip up simple recipes like pancakes.  And they were a hit with the "family," even the dog loved them (and she's the most picky eater in the group)!  I used a little bit of left over cinnamon butter on them, and they were sweet enough to not even need syrup.  Paired with some coffee, they were the perfect Saturday morning breakfast recipe!*  A great way to say hello to the fall!

Canned pumpkin is one of my must-haves for my fall pantry!

Voila! The perfect fall breakfast!

*I'd love to find a vegan way to do these pancakes, so if you have any suggestions, please send them my way!

Glazed Doughnuts

Being unemployed gives me far too much time to myself.  And as much as I would love to sit and watch awful tv all day while job hunting, I would just feel so unproductive.  So instead, I've taken to baking again.

Yesterday, I took the afternoon and (with the help of my roommate) whipped up some homemade glazed doughnuts.  Using this recipe, it took me far longer than I would have thought.  I haven't worked with bread doughs too much, so I'm always a little unsure when it comes to letting something rise and just how long that takes.  The glaze was a super easy recipe from Alton Brown, and I loved it because you could add any flavouring you want to make it a flavoured glaze.

The finished product was a great fresh doughnut, with a super sweet glaze.  I can't wait to take this recipe and experiment with different flavours and toppings!

Buttermilk Pancakes and Sweet Cinnamon Butter

A while ago, my roommate and I tried some amazing sweet cinnamon butter from Ronnybrook farms at our local market, and we haven't stopped thinking and talking about it ever since.

But, in true DIY fashion, I decided to try to make butter myself.  Surprisingly, it was super simple.  I simply took some heavy cream, a mason jar, and a marble, put it all together and shook it like crazy.  About 20 minutes later, I had butter!  Who knew it was so easy?!

But one of the best parts of doing this was that I had leftover buttermilk to use for pancakes.  Now, I didn't have a ton of buttermilk, so my pancake yield was small, but they made delicious fluffy pancakes that went amazing with the sweet cinnamon butter.

It'll be difficult to ever go back to regular butter now!  I think my next project will be roasted garlic butter.

Vegan Pumpkin Cupcakes

Lately, I've been eating mostly vegan.  Now, I'll spare you all the gruesome details as to why I made this "crazy" choice, but part of the reason is that I wanted to have the opportunity to experiment with vegan cooking and baking.

So last night, I decided that I would welcome my love of fall with these vegan pumpkin cupcakes.  I used a  modified versions of this recipe, and then topped them with a vegan cream cheese cinnamon frosting.  I added some crystallized ginger on top.  So far, they are eliciting great responses!

The heat in our house made the frosting a little bit melty last night, but after popping them in the fridge they got much better!

Sorry that the pictures aren't great, I'm still learning to use my new camera!