Pumpkinlicious with Brown Butter Frosting

Just when I thought I was completely over the pumpkin and cinnamon flavors of October and November; BAM, it hit me.  I had a craving for these amazing, pillowy soft cookies that transform pumpkin pie into portable treats.

I’ve been making them since 2008. I highly recommend them. D, Z, A & R recommend them too. So do all the people we have shared them with.

Here is our young master cookie baker in 2009. He looks happy doesn’t he? It’s definitely the smell of the brown butter frosting he’s working on. 

They start out as just pumpkin cookies, then once the brown butter frosting is added, they take you to a whole new realm.

Enough said. Try them out for yourself. 

Martha recommends using a pastry bag. I don’t. I speed up the process skipping the pastry bag and dropping the cookies on the pan with a cookie scoop. 

Here you go!

Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Icing

Martha Stewart Living, October 2004   Yield Makes about 6 dozen

Ingredients

• For the Cookies

  • 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (14 ounces)
  • 3/4 cup evaporated milk
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• For the Icing

  • 4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
  • 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon evaporated milk
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Make cookies: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a medium bowl; set aside.
2. Put butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low. Add pumpkin, evaporated milk, and vanilla; mix until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add flour mixture; mix until combined.
3. Transfer 1 1/2 cups batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip (such as Ateco #806). Pipe 1 1/2-inch rounds onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until tops spring back, about 12 minutes. Cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool completely.
4. Make icing: Put confectioners' sugar in a large bowl; set aside. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, swirling pan occasionally, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Immediately add butter to confectioners' sugar, scraping any browned bits from sides and bottom of pan. Add evaporated milk and vanilla; stir until smooth. Spread about 1 teaspoon icing onto each cookie. If icing stiffens, stir in more evaporated milk, a little at a time

 

The up and coming cookie bakers of 2012.

BEWARE: these bakers are bringing the ninja back into baking.

Three cheers for pumpkin!

red rover red rover send a new kitchen right over

when taking photos of events in my house I always tried to avoid the kitchen.  to me it was the black hole of our home. everything else was painted and updated, except for the kitchen.

this is what we moved into almost 4 years ago.

oh, the double oven scares you? i was skeptical of it at first too, especially the burners which were always moving from side to side as i cooked. and yes, double oven not a microwave/oven combo.  they stopped making those long before i entered junior high.. i worked that baby so hard with the hope that it would die on us. a perfect excuse for spending money on a new one.  never happened.

the original kitchen was good to us, but updating it has always been on our mind, just not in our budget.  in January we teased ourselves by actually planning and pricing it out.  one thing led to another and now here we are sitting pretty in a bright and shiny kitchen.

thank you jose, and to my husband who also speaks some pretty good Española…and to my father-in-law who so kindly painted the kitchen with me on his vacation.

the burch cabinets are amazing. (still working on adding the handles. details. details).  the space is incredible. there is enough room for empty shelves and a work space for my laptop and papers. wowza!

a favorite: a 9 inch deep stainless steel sink (minus the dishes).  it's big enough to bath my babies in until they are entering school.  okay, maybe not, but I can wash a highchair tray without having a stream of water rushing out over the sides.

the air freely moves between the two rooms.  it’s just delicious to the eyes!

so come on over and enjoy it with us!

 

snowman cookies

Here is a sweet recommendation for all my snowed in Seattle friends!

 

Chocolate Crackle Cookies

(or as we now call them, snowman cookies)

recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

1 bag chocolate chips, half semi sweet, half milk chocolate

1 1/4 c flour**

1/2 c cocoa powder

2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

8 T (1 stick) butter, at room temperature

1 1/3 c. brown sugar, firmly packed

2 large eggs

1 t. vanilla extract

1/3 c milk

1 c. granulated sugar, for rolling

1 c. powdered sugar, for rolling

(I coat them in a lot of powdered sugar, they turn out prettier that way)

** I added a little more flour since it is pretty runny - but remember you are chilling the dough so it can be a bit runny**

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Melt chocolate chips over medium low heat, careful to not burn. Let cool. In a separate bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. In your mixer beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beat until well combined. Add melted chocolate to dough, combine. Alternate adding milk and dry ingredients until just combined.

Divide dough and wrap in plastic. Chill in refrigerator until firm, about 2 hours. Remove dough, roll into 1 inch balls and dust in bowl of granulated sugar, and then powdered sugar. Place on silpat-lined cookie sheet. Bake about 12 minutes until cookies have flattened and sugar cracks.

They are best eaten with hot cocoa after a good snow day!

Enjoy.

ginger goodness

 

{this is a repost from 11/14/10, i just pulled a batch out of the oven. yum.}

my friend recommended i make these little circles of goodness.

they were gone seconds after coming out of the oven.

i could practically eat a whole batch by myself.

to think something could be so delicious and not be laced with chocolate?

you must try them for yourself.

ginger cookies

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup crisco

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/4 cup molasses

2 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

preheat oven to 375 degrees. cream butter, shortening, and sugar. add remaining ingredients. roll dough into balls and coat with coarse sugar (a must!). bake for about 8 to 9 minutes.

ginger goodness

my friend recommended i make these little circles of goodness. 

they were gone seconds after coming out of the oven.

i didn’t share them, i ate them too quickly to do that.

to think something could be so delicious and not be laced with chocolate.

you must try them for yourself.

ginger cookies

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup crisco

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/4 cup molasses

2 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

preheat oven to 375 degrees. cream butter, shortening, and sugar. add remaining ingredients. roll dough into balls and coat with coarse sugar (a must!). bake for about 9 minutes.

{may} be sweet.

fresh squeezed key lime’s make this sweet dish irresistible.

every bite explodes with flavor.

this was my first time making key lime pie, you too can find the recipe here!

think globally. eat locally.

 

We traveled across the globe to explore China’s culture, history, art and food 6 years ago.  

Fortunately my brother and his wife were hospitable enough to guide us on our adventures

or consequently we would have found ourselves lost in Tibet.

Memories include gorging on crispy Beijing (Peking) duck,

walking the Great Wall,

crisscrossing the haunting expanses of Tiananmen Square, 

and freely exploring the splendors of the Forbidden City. 

Once we were away from the city hiking majestic Huangshan, also known as the

Yellow Mountains we found the most interesting ‘meals on the go’.

Chinese pork buns were steamed in big pots on the corner of the road. Think hotdog stand in NYC, but not as clean.   My poor mom experienced food poisoning and enjoyed the 2 days in Huangshan on the porcelain thrown while we hiked the incredible mountains. :(

Food can hurt or it can love.

For me the food was pain-free and delicious, like the amazing green beans and noodles my brother’s Help made us.  Although I could have done without the pieces of pork with the hair still attached to the skin.  Besides that the original peanut smoothie is a stand out in my memory. So tasty!

The color and smell of authentic Chinese food accelerated my interest in

cooking international cuisine. 

Since we are not the type to spend a fortune on eating out and we do not live abroad,

I challenge myself to

think globally and eat locally

(from my kitchen of course!)

Indian Butter Chicken, Thai Curry, Sweet and Sour Chicken and Pot Stickers

are among my favorite dishes to prepare from scratch. 

Still looking for an Indian Vegetable Samosa recipe to try, any suggestions?

We recently visited Italy!

Yummy focaccia bread with dipping oil was the perfect side to homemade lasagna. 

(I add meat into mine).

Going into it I thought it would be easy,

but the challenge came when my leg was held up in the air making a safety barrier between two rowdy boys while holding another grumpy and hungry toddler on my hip.

It is typical around my house at 5:00pm

Something to remember: the dough sits overnight before adding the

aromic feta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, rosemary, thyme and garlic filling.

Only after that is it ready to bake.

So planning ahead is essential.

A slice of goodness.

Day 1:  Focaccia bread, lasagna,  green beans and oranges.

Day 2: Thinly sliced and toasted focaccia bread with turkey, avocado, tomato and pepper jack cheese.

(Focaccia recipe from this man.)

If you REALLY want the recipe I can type it out.

Bon appétit!

so sweet

it was a SWEET day in our house today.

my waistline is growing just looking at the pictures.

Cookie Fest 2009

Our journey began when we wanted to know what the best chocolate chip cookie recipe was. Our passion for eating cookies combined with viewing the recently released Julie and Julia sparked the need to have a cookie bake off.

Chocolate chip cookies are nothing more than flour, eggs, sugar, leavening agents, salt, and chocolate. Who knew that they could all taste completely different.

The night included:

10 bakers

28 different cookie

3 cookie categories: classic chocolate chip, the ultimate chocolate chip plus and specialty.

10 winners, because we all were able to taste every single cookie!

The day began early.

View Full Album

The cookies went under cover.

Flowers were the theme for the night. Labeling helped us judge and focus on the taste, texture, appearance of the cookie and after taste, not the baker. (I apologize for spelling Jasmine wrong, sugar eats brains).

The judging was intense.

View Full Album

It all came down to the final votes.

In the chocolate chip cookie category:

First Place Winner

Megan Bean

Thick & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 18 large cookies.

• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly (1 1/2 sticks)
• 1 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1-2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

Either by hand or with electric mixer, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Mix in egg, yolk, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients; mix until just combined. Stir in chips.

Form scant 1/4 cup dough into ball. Holding dough ball using fingertips of both hands, pull into two equal halves. Rotate halves ninety degrees and, with jagged surfaces exposed, join halves together at their base, again forming a single cookie, being careful not to smooth dough’s uneven surface. Place formed dough onto parchment paper-lined cookie sheets.

Bake, reversing cookie sheets’ positions halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes. Cool cookies on cookie sheets.

*********

Really close to being First Place Winner

Tami Bean

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from New York Times and Jacques Torres

Time: 45 minutes (for 1 6-cookie batch), plus at least 24 hours’ chilling

• 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour
• 1 2/3 cups bread flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content
• Sea salt.

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.

Dessert backwards spells stressed. So when you feel it coming get baking!

It was a SWEET night ladies!

in love

my husband and i met in the spring of 1999.

the tree blossoms, bright blooming flowers and sun breaks through the clouds

remind me of our first moments together.

it was the first time i fell in love.

10 months later he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him

on top of the mountains in utah. or, rather, he proposed

and i might have been too excited with plans for us to actually say yes, but he got the idea and we called our families with the good news.

dating in the springtime and the ensuing swoon is a great way to fall in love.

being it my first spring in washington d.c. i have fallen in love again.
in love with springtime.

the dark seattle winter days seemed to never lift until june.

here, much like in utah, it is like all of the children's storybooks describe spring.

a few light showers and lots of sun breaks.

heavy jackets are packed away.

t-shirts, sunglasses, and flip flops are pulled out of the back of the closet.

can a sunny springtime make a move across country away from

family and people i love worth it?
do i even have to tell you what i think?

it can never replace the comfort of sitting at mom's counter in the kitchen talking while she makes dinner,
or watching my little boys walk through the garden with grandpa,

or laughing with you over a board game,
but the sunny spring weather does make me happy.

i'm in love...

with the cherry blossoms.

creating memories.


taking pictures.

our nations capital.

with these boys.

with his laughter.

picnics downtown.

with this house

with these stinky blossoms

that were put in an arrangement on my kitchen table.

the stink of them scared off the pesky ants

we have been trying to get rid of.

with his words.

he says, "mama"

a preview of the cherry blossom festival.
keep a bucket near by, you may get motion sickness watching it.

i am also in love with these
peanut butter cookies.

peanut butter cookies

adapted from the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

the brilliance of these cookies is that they have included

two different formats for peanuts–three if you use chunky peanut butter.

they’re crisp on the outside, and almost cakey on the inside.

bake a batch and then hide the results in the furthest and most forgettable reaches of your kitchen. you’ll thank me later.

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup peanut butter at room temperature (smooth is what we used, but I am pretty sure they use chunky at the bakery)

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup peanut butter chips

1/2 cup chocolate chips

for sprinkling: 1 tablespoon sugar, regular or superfine
preheat oven to 350 degrees.

in a large bowl, combine the flour, the baking soda, the baking powder, and the salt. Set aside.

in a large bowl, beat the butter and the peanut butter together until fluffy. add the sugars and beat until smooth. add the egg and mix well. Add the milk and the vanilla extract. add the flour mixture and beat thoroughly. stir in the peanut butter and chocolate chips. place sprinkling sugar — the remaining tablespoon — on a plate.

drop by rounded teaspoonfuls into the sugar, then onto ungreased cookie sheets, leaving several inches between for expansion. using a fork, lightly indent with a crisss-cross pattern (I used the back of a small offset spatula to keep it smooth on top), but do not overly flatten cookies.

bake for 10 to 12 minutes. do not overbake. cookies may appear to be underdone, but they are not.

cool the cookies on the sheets for 1 minute, then remove to a rack to cool completely.

what are you in love with this spring?

what's cookin'?

for me, it is usually a dessert!

(whole wheat cinnamon rolls)

on a normal day i talk to my husband late in the afternoon and our conversation usually leads to dinner. "gosh, i am starving" he explains, "because I worked through lunch today. are there any plans for dinner?"

my typical response is, "yes, i have made something delicious!"

then i continue, "today the kids and i made tasty double chocolate chip cookies. i wanted to try that new pie crust, so we also have an apple pie. i was thinking it would be fun to eat whole wheat cinnamon rolls for breakfast tomorrow so i am making the dough for those right now.

as for dinner, i don't have plans, unless you want cookies, pie or cinnamon roll dough."

(yummy apple pie)

i LOVE baking!

i LOVE eating what is baked!

here are the recipes you all requested:

Pumpkin Pecan Swirl Bread

(i usually make this in the bread machine on the dough cycle
for convenience, but the Bosch or kitchen aid also work).

for a 2lb loaf set on the 'dough cycle'
Pumpkin Pecan Swirl Bread

2/3 cup milk
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
4 tbls butter or marg.
4 cups bread flour
(i am known to sneak in 1-2 tbls of wheat germ to give it a healthy punch)
¼ cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp ginger
½ tsp cloves
1 ¼ tsp dry active yeast

After 5 minutes of mixing add:

1 cup chopped pecans

if you make it in a kitchen aid or bosch mix with a dough hook for 5 minutes, add nuts then mix for another 5 minutes. let rest for10 minutes and mix again for 2 minutes. then let dough rest for an hour.

divide into rolls for dinner and let rise
or for dessert roll out and spread:

1 stick of melted margarine
2 cups brown sugar with 1/4 cup cinnamon mixture over top.

let rise in loaf pan or cup into spiral rolls.

let rise.

350 for 12-15 minutes (rolls) or 20-25 (loaf)

serve with cream cheese spread:

beat together 6 ounces of cream cheese, 1/4 cup softened butter, and 1 tsp vanilla until light and fluffy.
then add 1 1/4 cup sifted powdered sugar.

cover and chill until ready to serve.

Whole Wheat Garlic Basil Pizza Dough

you can file this one under 'fast and easy' (tee-hee)

when it is 3:30pm and i begin to panic that nothing is planned for dinner...pizza comes to mind. no, don't order it, make it! if you have a bread maker it is a life saver and makes the process so much smoother.

here is the bread machine recipe for a 2lb loaf of my famous, oh so delicious dough:

1 1/3 cups water
3 tbls olive oil
1 cup whole wheat bread flour (optional, you can substitute it for white flour)
3 cups bread flour
1 tbls fresh chopped basil (dry works too)
½ tsp dry oregano (optional)
1 tbls wheat germ (optional)
1 tbls minced garlic (or 4 cloves pressed)
2 tbls sugar
1 tsp salt
1 ½ tsp active dry yeast

set on ‘pizza’ or ‘dough’ cycle and it is ready in 1 hour.

i also use the pizza dough recipe when making calzones.
there are some like my sister-in-law, stephanie, who belittle my tasty calzones by calling them hot pockets. hot pocket, hot smocket!

Toppings for pizza:

Once it is rolled out to your preference top with a few squirts of bbq sauce and pizza sauce (I just use prego). spread until even on dough.

Suggested order of toppings:

1 cup shredded chicken (you can use pepperoni, but i don't always have it on hand).
½ shredded mozzarella
pieces of bacon or bacon bits
1/2 bell pepper (green, red or yellow)
fresh basil
mushrooms (optional)
olives (optional)
1 cup shredded monterrey jack cheese
½ cup shredded mozzarella
½ cup shredded parmesan

bake 375 for 20-25 minutes

if you don't have a bread machine, better homes and garden cookbook pg 336 has a good pizza recipe. just add the ingredients like garlic, sugar, basil and oregano when you add the dry ingredients.

i usually let the kids make there own

when we are not starving to eat right away.

spray cooking spray on foil

cut a chunk of dough off

let the kids roll it to desired thickness

cover with toppings

bake 375 for 10 minutes

bon appetite!

what do you bake?

i would LOVE to try it.