Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made these with and without chocolate chips (you can see the withouts on the back of the plate). They were pretty good, and gave off a great aroma in the kitchen. Really felt like fall even though it was 70-80 degrees in October!

The cookies were a little too cake like for me, but that's just personal preference. Again, no sifting, and the canned pumpkin is enough for 2 batches of cookies. So, if you want to use the whole can, you'll need to double the recipe.

I got the recipe from Melissa (mrslolo) on Bakespace.

CHOCOLATE CHIP PUMPKIN COOKIES

2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 c. canned pumpkin
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. chocolate or peanut butter chips

Grease a cookie sheet.
Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and nutmeg.
In mixer, beat butter for 30 seconds.
Add brown sugar and beat until fluffy.
Add egg, pumpkin and vanilla.
Add dry ingredients, beat until well mixed.
Stir in chocolate chips (dough soft).

Bake at 375 for 8 to 10 minutes. Makes 48 cookies.

Sunday Morning Cupcakes

I found this recipe on How To Eat A Cupcake (Love that site!), and had to try it - French Toast Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese frosting.

The cream cheese frosting was a little too sweet for me, and I think I messed it up (see Perfect Cream Cheese Frosting link below - I think I overbeat my frosting.) For my second batch of cupcakes, I grated about a half cup of apple in mix, which added a sweet and tart kick when you got a bite with apple.


Recipe from Julie Hasson's 125 Best Cupcake Recipes.
NOTES from how to eat a cupcake: I got 14 cupcakes out of this recipe. I couldn't really taste the maple so I'll probably add 1/2 or 1 teaspoon more next time. Also, some chopped pecans in the frosting might be delicious!

French Toast Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and then cooled
2 eggs
1 tsp maple extract
1/2 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 350'F and line baking pan with paper liners.

2. Mix together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together butter, sugar and eggs until smooth. Make sure the butter is cool or you’ll have scrambled eggs.

4. Whisk in maple extract and then alternate between whisking in flour mixture and milk. Make three additions of flour mix and two of milk. Beat until smooth.

5. Scoop batter into prepared pan and bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown and tops spring back when lightly touched.

6. Cool the cupcakes on a rack for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely.


Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

FrostingMakes 3 cups
1 package (8 ounces) reduced fat cream cheese, at room temperature
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, at room temperature
3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Place the cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl.
Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until combined, 30 seconds.
Stop the machine.
Add the con­fectioners' sugar, a little at a time, blend­ing with the mixer on low speed until the sugar is well incorporated, 1 minute.
Add the cinnamon, then increase the mixer speed to medium and blend the frost­ing until fluffy, 1 minute more.


Perfect Cream Cheese Frosting

Catching up!

I've done some baking in the past few weeks, but no posting! So, I'm playing a little catch up today.

I attempted my first filled anything. I made "Peanut Butter Filled Dreams," which are my husband's new favorite cookies. You wrap the cookie dough around the filling before baking, so the filling part wasn't too bad.

In the future, I will try sticking the dough in the fridge while making the filling. It was much easier to work with when given the chance to sit - the more it was handled, the sticker the dough got, and was a little harder to work with. I also did not sift, as I have yet to buy a sifter. But it still worked :)

The recipe came from Lynn (heartsfire) on Bakespace
Peanut Butter Filled Dreams

Cookies:
1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter - softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 large egg
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Filling:
3/4 cup powdered sugar (sift before measuring)
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons granulated sugar for pressing


1. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder and baking soda to combine; set aside.

2. Using an electric mixer or stand mixer, beat butter, the 1/2 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar and 1/4 cup peanut butter until combined, scraping sides of bowl occassionally.

3. Beat in egg, milk and vanilla until combined.

4. Spoon in as much of the dry flour mixture as you can into the liquid. It will get thick. Stir in remaining flour mixture with a wooden spoon.

5. Shape dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. You should have a total of 32. Set aside.

6. For peanut butter filling, in a medium bowl stir together powdered sugar and the 1/2 cup peanut butter until smooth. Shape mixture into 3/4 inch balls. You should have 32.

7. On a work surface, slightly flatten each chocolate ball and top with a peanut butter ball. Work the chocolate dough over the filling and make sure peanut butter is completely covered. Roll dough into balls.

8. Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Using a small juice glass or jelly jar, dip in sugar and then lightly flatten cookies. A tip is to first tap the cookie with glass to get it a bit sticky - then dip in sugar - then lightly flatten just a touch bit more. You want them a bit plump so don't flatten as you would a peanut butter cookie. These cookies will spread a little as they bake.

9. Bake at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes or until just set and suface is slightly cracked. Allow to cool for a few minutes on sheet before transferring to wire rack.

Birthday Cupcakes

I made cupcakes for my friends birthday this weekend, and made and dyed the icing for them too! They came out really well, a lot better than my last from scratch cake attempt a few years ago. I brought some into work, and they were a hit, but of course, free food always is.

My favorite part, after using a ziplock bag for a pastry bag, Jared told me if I'm serious about baking, I should get a real pastry bag. He's being so supportive :)


Recipe is from "How To Eat A Cupcake" on Bakespace:


Amy Sedaris Tattletail's Vanilla Cupcakes With Vanilla Buttercream Frosting Recipe Directions & History Blogged at howtoeatacupcake.blogspot.com
The recipe was written by Amy Sedaris and can be found on her website amysedarisrocks.com.

1 ½ sticks of unsalted butter
1 ¾ cups of sugar

Beat well, then add:
Add 2 large eggs
2 Teaspoons of pure vanilla
½ teaspoon of salt
2 ½ teaspoons of baking powder
2 ½ cups of flour
1 ¼ cups of milk

Beat well, fill cups, and bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes. You should get 24.

Frosting:
1 stick of unsalted butter
1 box of Domino confectionary sugar
¼ cup half-and-half
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla

Whip for a while, color if you want.

Getting back to baking!!

I used to love to bake when I was little. Mostly mixes, but my family relied on my apple pie at least twice a year (I still get yelled at if I don't bring one home for the holidays!). I got all these awesome pans and stuff for the wedding, and almost 2 years later, never used them. Jared finally got fed up and threatened me with throwing them away!

So, it's back to baking for me. My first attempt was a Bailey's Cheesecake for a coworkers birthday. It was a huge hit, and my first cheesecake :) Next on the list is cupcakes for a friends bday, which will be the first time I'm making them, and the frosting, from scratch. I'll post recipes and how that went after the weekend!