It's Cold Outside — So Enjoy A Warm Treat

First off, I should say that I have started . I bought a jogging stroller and made it three whole blocks before I started thinking about how sad it would be to drop dead on a sidewalk along Bridgeport Way. I stopped, sighed and did a kind of slow, sad jog the rest of the way.

And making matters worse, my little passenger kept shifting around and giving me this “Why do you keep slowing down?” look. Thanks, kid. Do you think I did that when you were learning to walk?

Anyway, I have gotten a reprieve in the form of snow, which I normally detest (four years in Pullman will do that to a person), but currently I'm not exactly shooing away until I stop limping. Seriously, anyone with common sense knows not to go from sitting on the couch to flat-out running. And anyone who doesn’t know that, well, now you’ve been warned. The next day is like the worst hangover ever – but it is in your legs.

So, because it’s snowing, I am not going outside. And what is there to do on such days, other than fold laundry, which only lasts so long when your small assistant is, well, assisting you by unfolding everything?

When it’s cold outside, nothing sounds better than a nice warm treat.

Oh look, there’s the oven.

I know what you are thinking: baking – and any eating of the finished product – is totally going to help me get ready for a 5K. Riiight. Mindful of the fact that the Oreo/peanut-butter-cup cheesecake that I really want to bake (you know, I earned it after all that running) is not going to do anything except force me to buy stretchier pants, I opted to make something healthy instead: Pioneer Woman’s pumpkin spice muffins with cream-cheese frosting.

Granted, they are more nutritious than they sound – I substitute several of the ingredients to make them less fattening, such as low-fat cream cheese and less sugar than the recipe calls for. They freeze well, and even better, my son loves them – and so do some of his extremely picky friends. Try them -- these muffins are like a 400-degree parental victory.

And now I’m sure that you want to know how to make them yourself. Because they’re so good that you should drop whatever you’re doing and go bake muffins. Take my word for it.

Here is the recipe, straight from Pioneer Woman’s website.

Muffin Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1½ teaspoons cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
• 1 cup (heaping) pumpkin puree
• ½ cup evaporated milk
• 1 whole egg
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla
• ½ cup raisins (optional)

Topping ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Frosting ingredients:

• ¼ cup softened butter
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• ½ pound powdered sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla

Preparation instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously grease 12 muffin tins.

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. Cut in butter with two knives or a pastry blender until it is fully incorporated. In a separate bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, evaporated milk, egg and vanilla. Pour pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture. Add raisins. Fold gently until mixture is just combined.

Pour into a greased muffin pan — batter hardly ever fills all 12 unless you keep it down to half-full. Sprinkle with remaining cinnamon-sugar-nutmeg mixture over the top of each unbaked muffin.

Bake for 25 minutes. Allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes, then remove and allow to cool. Ice with cream-cheese frosting.

To make the frosting, mix all ingredients on high until soft and whipped. Spread onto completely cooled muffins, or place into a large pastry bag with a large star tip and go crazy! Store in the fridge, as icing will soften at room temperature.

Told you they sound good.

And in other kitchen-related news, earlier today, I ran across a recipe for homemade “snow cream.”

My son isn’t old enough to appreciate it yet, but for parents with children old enough to help, head out to the backyard and fill a mixing bowl with three cups worth of clean, powdered snow. Put them in the freezer until the snow hardens.

Once it is sufficiently firm, mix the snow with two tablespoons of milk, a quarter cup of sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Mix, sample and add more sugar and vanilla as desired.

What could be cooler than homemade ice cream?

Back to my own kitchen, it turns out that I am in good company. Several of my snowed-in friends are also baking this afternoon. One of them made cowboy cookies from a mix we got as favors at a birthday party a couple of weeks ago. Hmm … perhaps I should fire up the oven again.

After all, did you know that oatmeal is recommended as a breakfast for marathon runners?