Pumpkin Blondies with Chocolate Ganache

Happy Halloween week from me and these very easy pumpkin blondies! Halloween will probably very different for a lot of people this year, along with everything else in our lives in 2020, but for us, things will be very much the same. I’m not very big on Halloween. I think I’ve mentioned that before here on the blog, but I just have never really gotten into costumes, I don’t like spooky things, and I’m not really a candy person. I do, however, love celebrating Dia De Los Muertos, and I especially like to spend my Halloween’s watching Coco and eating tacos in my living room.

This is Tahini’s first Halloween and a few weeks ago we spontaneously purchased a very cute little dinosaur hat for him for $5 at Target. Unfortunately, his head was a little too big for it, so we returned it without a plan for any other puppy costume. But that Target Dollar Spot, guys. It gets me every time. They had a little puppy referee t-shirt that said “rufferee” for only $3 so obviously we had to get it. It too is a bit snug on the little guy, but he’s a little champ and Martin spent an hour letting out the sleeves so he would be more comfortable in it. So I guess this Halloween, Tahini will be dressed as a cute little rufferee as we eat our tacos and watch Coco.

All of that to say, here’s a very simple, one-bowl (ish) pumpkin blondie recipe for all of you. There are no herbs or unique spices, no ancient grains or alternative flour, just good ‘ole pumpkin and chocolate. You probably have everything on hand and these little guys can be whipped up in about 15 minutes, a perfect Halloween weekend recipe for when you run out of the good candy.

Pumpkin Blondies with Chocolate Ganache

makes 1 8x8” pan

Ingredients 

1 2/3 cup (220 g) all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 cup (113 g) unsalted butter

1 1/4 cup (270) brown sugar

3/4 cup (200 g) pumpkin puree

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 oz dark chocolate, chopped

3 oz heavy cream

Procedure: 

1. Preheat oven to 350° F and line a 8x8” baking dish with parchment paper. Set aside.

2. Place butter in a small saucepan and set over medium heat. Cook, swirling occasionally for 6-7 minutes, until butter is foamy and fragrant and dotted with little amber specks. Remove from heat and immediately transfer to a medium mixing bowl. Set aside to cool slightly.

3. When the butter has cooled a bit, whisk in the brown sugar, followed by the vanilla and pumpkin puree until the mixture is smooth and homogenous.

4. Whisk in flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt, stirring just until everything is combined and no dry streaks remain. Smooth the batter into the prepared pan.

5. Meanwhile, place chocolate in a small bowl and heat cream in a small saucepan until just beginning to bubble around the edges (about 180°F). Immediately pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate, jostle slightly to settle it, and let sit for 3-4 minutes.

6. After 3-4 minutes, begin whisking the cream and the chocolate together, starting in the center of the bowl and working your way outward until you have a smooth, glossy ganache. Drizzle ganache over the top of the blondie batter and swirl with a knife or skewer. (I only used about half of the ganache, you can store the leftovers in the fridge for about a week and use for drizzling on ice cream or swirling into brownies.)

7. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the edges of the blondies are golden and begin to pull away from the edges of the pan and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool completely (I prefer to let them spend a night in the fridge), and then cut into squares.

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Sweet Potato and Rye Coffee Cake

The very best buttermilk coffee cake recipe, filled with sweet potatoes and fall spices, topped with a ginger crumble topping and drizzled with a browned butter glaze.

Guys, this sweet potato and rye coffee cake is SO GOOD. I often have a never ending list in my mind (and jotted down in sticky notebooks or on loose pieces of paper) of recipes that I want to develop. Sometimes they come from a photo I saw or a meal I ate, other times they just pop into my head seemingly out of nowhere. As I create content, I try to move through this list, and sometimes, a recipe idea will hang out on my list for months, while other times, I head to the kitchen and make it immediately. Which is really not fair to those long-standing little guys, like ricotta donuts, that have been hanging out on my to-do list since March, but such is life. Anyway, this sweet potato coffee cake was in the latter category. One day a couple of weeks ago, the idea popped into my head and I made it the next day. It was perfect the first time. I jotted down notes, photographed it, sent the leftovers with my husband to work and set out on the next project. But then my husband came home and some of his co-workers loved this cake so much that they wanted to special order one. So I made another. Then they special ordered another one. So I made it again. And again. Now over the last three weeks, it feels like this is the only cake I’ve baked. If that’s not a glowing review for this cake, I don’t know what is. Go make it today so I don’t have to anymore!

about the coffee cake

This is a creaming method cake, that uses solid fat (butter) so that it has a light, fluffy consistency, but, there’s a little bit of a secret weapon in the form of buttermilk. Buttermilk provides fat and moisture while also tenderizing the cake, making it ultra-moist and a little dense (like an oil-based cake). That means that this final cake is BOTH light and dense, fluffy and moist. It’s everything to everyone and I love it. The addition of rye flour gives a bit of a nutty, tangy flavor, but you could easily use 100% all-purpose flour if that’s what you had on hand. Spelt would also be a fun addition if you were feeling experimental.

I like to roast my sweet potatoes the day before so they have time to cool completely before I peel and mash them (see notes below the recipe), just make sure that everything is room temperature before mixing. This cake is a little sensitive and has a tendency to curdle up a bit if any ingredient is even a little bit too cold. If your batter does curdle, especially after adding the eggs and the sweet potato, all is not lost, just add a little of your dry ingredients. The starches will help bind everything back together.

And don’t forget the browned butter glaze, the real MVP of this whole thing. You’ll want to eat it with a spoon and I will not judge you one bit if you do.

Yield

one 9x13" cake, 12-16 servings

Author

Anna Ramiz

Prep time

30 Min

Cook time

1 Hour

Total time

1 H & 30 M

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Sweet Potato and Rye Coffee Cake

The very best buttermilk coffee cake recipe, filled with sweet potatoes and fall spices, topped with a ginger crumble topping and drizzled with a browned butter glaze.

Ingredients

for the ginger crumble

• 1/2 cup (65 g) rye flour
• 3/4 cup (75 g) rolled oats
• 1/2 cup (100 g) brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2” piece of fresh ginger, grated (or 1/2 tsp ground ginger)
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, softened

for the cake

• 1 1/2 cup (190 g) all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup (100 g) rye flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 3/4 cup (170 g) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup (220 g) granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup (100 g) brown sugar
• 3 eggs, at room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup (150 g) sweet potato, cooked and mashed*
• 1 cup (242 g) buttermilk, at room temperature

for the browned butter glaze

• 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter
• 1 1/2-2 cups powdered sugar
• pinch of salt
• about 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream*

Instructions

to make the crumb

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and salt.
2. Add butter and work together using your fingers until butter is completely mixed in and no dry spots remain. Place the crumble in the refrigerator to chill while you make the rest of the cake.

to make the cake

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line a 9x13” baking dish with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, making sure to scrape down the sides and ensure all butter chunks are mixed in.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together flour, rye flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, and ginger. Set aside.
4. With the mixer on low speed, add eggs one at a time, mixing each completely before adding the next. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then add mashed sweet potato and vanilla extract. Mix on low-medium speed for 1-2 minutes more, until everything is combined and homogenous.
5. With the mixer on low-speed, add 1/3 of the dry ingredients, followed by half of the buttermilk. When the buttermilk has mixed in, add another 1/3 of the dry ingredients, followed by the remaining half of buttermilk, then the remaining 1/3 of the dry ingredients. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then mix one more minute. Remove bowl from mixer and use a rubber spatula to gently fold the batter a few more times, ensuring that the batter is smooth and homogenous and everything is well combined.
6. Pour batter into prepared baking dish and use an offset spatula to smooth into an even layer. Remove crumble from refrigerator and sprinkle evenly over the top of the cake.
7. Bake for 45-50 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake. Let cool completely in the pan while you make the glaze.

to make the glaze

1. Place butter in a small saucepan set over medium heat and cook for 6-7 minutes, swirling occasionally, until butter is foamy and fragrant and small amber flecks appear on the bottom of the pan.
2. Quickly remove the butter from the heat and pour into a heatproof bowl. Immediately whisk in powdered sugar, salt, and heavy cream, adding more heavy cream if needed to achieve your desired consistency. Drizzle glaze over coffee cake and let set before slicing.

Notes:

on sweet potatoes: For this recipe, sweet potatoes need to be soft and mashable. I like to poke holes in a whole sweet potato and then roast it in a 400° F oven for 30-40 minutes until soft. I let it cool completely (sometimes even just pop it in the fridge overnight) and then peel it cold.

for the glaze: About 1/4 cup of heavy cream is a very vague measurement and for that I am sorry, but I’ve made this recipe many times and I think I use a slightly different amount every time. I would recommend starting with 3-4 tbsp of heavy cream and adding more if needed to loosen the glaze. If your glaze begins to separate and become oily, just add a little more heavy cream and keep whisking. The fat in the cream should help it emulsify and come back together. If you get a little heavy handed and your glaze is too runny, add a little more powdered sugar- it’s very forgiving!

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Alon Shaya's Pitas

I already have a pita recipe here on the blog. Way back in the day, when I first started blogging, pitas were one of the first breads we started making in culinary school and I was hooked. While that recipe still makes a darn good pita, I’ve spent the last few years trying out a lot of different recipes, tweaking water amounts, and playing around with baking temperatures and this is my go-to. This recipe is lightly adapted from Alon Shaya, whose food I’ve talked about extensively here on the blog because he’s one of my favorites and if you ever find yourself in Denver or New Orleans (where he has restaurants), it is well worth your time to make a stop in one. I first had Alon’s pitas at Safta in Denver, on a frigid night in late November a few years back. The wind was no joke and we holed up at the bar with a bottle of wine to wait in the warmth until it was time to head to the airport for our flight back home. We made good friends with the bar tender and ate labneh cheesecake, but as we sat, plate after plate of warm, charred pita came floating past us, out of the kitchen, to lucky tables all around. After a little while, we finally gave in and I’m telling you, I don’t know if it was the cold or the wine or a little of both, but those were the best pitas I’ve ever had in my whole entire life.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a big wood-burning pizza oven in my tiny duplex kitchen so getting pitas exactly like Safta is a bit more tricky. In his book, Alon recommends turning your oven to broil and heating a baking stone inside for cooking the pitas on. This makes for beautiful pitas, with smoked centers, but I only used this technique a couple of times before my stone shattered in the oven, mid-pita bake. So now, I use a metal baking sheet and crank my oven to 500° F and it does the trick just fine. I also adapted his recipe to make them a one-day affair with no overnight proof in the fridge, but if you have the time, you can always let your dough chill overnight after the first proof, just bring it back to room temperature before moving on to the next steps.

P.S. Tahini sat so patiently next to me the entire time I was photographing these and just look at how cute his little face is!

Alon Shaya’s Pitas

yield: 8 pitas

this recipe is very lightly adapted from Shaya by Alon Shaya

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 tsp active dry yeast

4 1/2 cups (540 g) bread flour, plus more for dusting

1 tbsp olive oil, plus more for the bowl

2 tbsp kosher salt (Diamond Crystal brand is my favorite)

Procedure 

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine water and yeast. Stir gently and let sit for 5 minutes, until cloudy. 

2. Add 4 cups of the flour to the bowl with the yeast and water, along with the olive oil. Mix on low speed for one minute, until flour has begun to incorporate, and then increase the speed to medium. Mix for another minute or two until a dough begins to form. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, remove the dough hook attachment, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let rest for 20 minutes. 

3. After the dough has rested, turn the mixer back on to low speed and gradually add the remaining 1/2 cup of flour along with the salt. Mix on medium speed for about 5 minutes, until the dough begins to pull away from the side of the bowl. Transfer dough to a floured work surface and shape into a ball. 

4. Lightly oil a clean bowl and place dough ball inside. Cover with plastic wrap and let proof at room temperature for about 2 hours, until the dough is swollen and has almost doubled in size. 

5. Once the dough has completed it’s first proof, turn it out onto a floured work surface and divide it into eight equal pieces. Use your hands to roll each piece into a ball and place them on your floured work surface, leaving space between each. Dust the tops with flour, and cover them loosely with plastic wrap. Let proof again for another 2-3 hours, until they are puffy and pillowy. 

6. Preheat the oven to 500° F and place a cookie sheet upside down (so you have a flat surface) in the oven while it preheats.

7. Meanwhile, use a rolling pin to roll each ball into a flat circle, about 6” across. When the oven is hot, carefully place 3-4 pitas (however many fit on your baking sheet) on the surface of the baking sheet and close the door. Watching them the whole time, bake for 2-3 minutes until pitas are puffy and starting to brown. Quickly and carefully, use tongs to remove pitas from the oven. Repeat with the remaining pitas and then enjoy them warm with lots of smooth and swoopy hummus!

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