worddrobe: September 2012

So I went home to study today before Steven and I do some fun stuff with friends tonight. And when I say "went home to study," I really mean "went home to study but really ended up baking, drinking tea, and listening to Fiona Apple with all the windows open because its 65 degrees outside." Somehow, I think living in such a beautiful place and having access to a full sized kitchen (as opposed to dorm life...bleh) might negatively impact my concentration. 2 reasons why:

I mean...IT'S FREAKING GORGEOUS OUTSIDE! Studying outside-an definite option. Riding my bike/walking/just sitting outside-a more likely & appealing option. I know the snow will keep me inside once it comes, though (might I just say that I CANNOT WAIT FOR SNOW).
I'm doing homework for Math 112. That's basically college algebra. Might I just say, as gracefully and non-whiney as possible...I intentionally took a statistics class last semester at Trinity in order to complete my Math credit FOR GOOD. However, UW Madison apparently don't count statistics as math credit. Might I just...if statistics is not math...what is? And not that I mind easy classes (even though this math is an all online class, which makes it really complicated), but I took Calculus in high school...can that not place me out of this agony, por favor?!?

Anyway...the good part of the distraction:

PUMPKIN.

Just...let's pause here to praise Jesus that it is just about AUTUMN and that means PUMPKIN EVERYTHING for my household!!!!

The way I made this recipe, with pumpkin instead of butter and whole-wheat flour instead of white flour, makes this recipe REALLY low-fat and healthier than the original recipe...basically the only source of fat is from the egg yolks. And the best part: you wouldn't even know it unless I told you! I kept with the 9x13 in baking pan because I like the "blondie" type of dessert, but this ended up more like a cake or bread, which is more than OK by my standards. If I would have done 1/2 butter and 1/2 pumpkin or something like that, maybe it would have come out more "blondie-like" than this. But just trust me: this will rock your Autumnal socks off. NOM & ENJOY!

Here's the original recipe!

And here's my revised version (only a few changes):
Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Blondies/Bread/Cake

2 2/3 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup pure pumpkin (about 1/2 of a can of pumpkin)
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 Tablespoon vanilla
2 Tablespoons white sugar
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and beat until well blended.
4. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.
5. In a small bowl, combine the white sugar and cinnamon.
6. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the batter in the baking pan.
7. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until the surface springs back when gently pressed. Remove from oven and let cool slightly. (Or, if you're me, eat the second they come out...). While still warm, cut into squares with a sharp knife.
8. Depending on if you want to keep these low-fat or not (I did the next step to 1/2 of the batter so I could have a really rich pumpkin dessert on my hands...), you can heat up about 1/4 cup of butter or margarine with 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Heat it for 30 secs in the microwave then, after poking some holes into the bread, pour the mixture over the bread, especially into the little cracks. I guess I would recommend doing this BEFORE you bake it, but I didn't think about it until after, and it still tastes like heaven.