Awesome pumpkin cookies

So, I've already made these 3 times now. They are awesome and Mike loves them. Most recently, he entered us into his work's Christmas cookie bake-off and he wanted me to make these. I found the recipe on Picky Palate's blog. The first time I made them, I followed her recipe exactly but it made a ton of cookies so this time I basically halved the recipe. Here is what I did.

Pumpkin Cookies

Source: Picky Palate

1 box spice cake mix

1 15oz can pumpkin

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla (I added)

Preheat oven to 350. Place cake mix, pumpkin, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla in a mixer and mix until well combined. With a cookie scoop, scoop onto a parchment or silpat lined cookie sheet. Bake @ 350 degrees F. for 11-13 minutes or until cooked through (9-11 mins works best for me). Let cool completely.

For the frosting, here is what I did:

1 jar of vanilla frosting

4 oz softened cream cheese (light)

1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon

Mix all together and spread on cookies. Yum!

Big Brownie Cookies

Enough said, really! Need I say more? I think we should just get to the recipe for these because really they are simple and they are ridiculously good. Do yourself a favor and try these...got it?

Big Brownie Cookies

Source: Just Baking

1 (19.5 to 21.5-ounce size) box fudge brownie mix (I used Ghiradelli...yum!)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup oil
3 tablespoons water
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.

Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Stir until all dry ingredients are incorporated, but do not overmix. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto the greased baking sheet. Leave at least 2 inches between cookies as these will spread. (I cooled the dough in the refrigerator before dropping on cookie sheet)

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes (mine were perfect in 9 mins), until cookies appear set and do not look “wet” in the middle. Let cookies sit on baking sheet for 3 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.

*If desired, you can stir in 1 cup of white chocolate, semisweet chocolate, or peanut butter chips; 1 cup of chopped almonds or pecans; or 1 cup of M&MS or Reese’s Pieces before scooping and dropping onto cookie sheet.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

A Whopper of a Cookie!

This week's TWD was certainly different from any cookie I've made before. First, it used Whoppers...I hadn't had one of those in such a long time. For the most part, this recipe came together pretty easily. Chopping the whoppers was the most time-consuming part but it wasn't bad. I chopped mine in 1/2 and I think that worked well. Any smaller and you probably wouldn't have gotten the same crunch in the cookie. These were very good although they turned out a little flatter than I had hoped for. I used semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of the bittersweet chocolate. I want to try one tonight with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Yum!

This week's pick came from Rachel over at Confessions of a Tangerine Tart so make sure you go check out her blog. There you will find the recipe for these candy-licious cookies. And, as always, head over to Tuesdays With Dorie to see all of the other great entries.

July 4th Festivities!

**how cute are these little kiddies?**

For the holiday weekend, my cousin, Amber, her husband, Don and their two little adorable kiddies, Conner and Addison, came down from VA to visit. We picked them up on Friday a.m. and they stayed through yesterday morning. We had a great weekend down at the beach...the weather was perfect! I made a few new things for the weekend... peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, chocolate covered peanut clusters, twice baked potatoes and snickers pie (a weight watchers recipe, which will be in a separate post). Although the potatoes were awesome, I did not get any pics so I'll post that recipe with pics another time. We'll just stick with all of the sweet stuff for now. First up, the peanut clusters as as a welcome gift for Amber & Don (they are her favorite!). And above you can see the beachy gifts I put together for the kids.

Chocolate Covered Peanut Clusters
milk chocolate chips

butterscotch chips

lightly salted peanuts

I didn't measure any of it. I used 1/2 the amount of butterscotch chips as chocolate chips because I knew the butterscotch flavor would be strong enough. I threw them in a bowl and popped them in the microwave for about 30 seconds on high. Then I stirred it up, dumped some peanuts in and a little more until the consistency seemed right. Using a spoon, I plopped little clusters down on wax paper. Let them cool for a few minutes and then put them in the refrigerator to harden. Easy peasy!

Cookie time...

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

source: BakingBlonde's Weblog

1 cup + 2 tbsp peanut butter

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

2 tbsp milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup Peanut Butter chips (I omitted)

1/2 cup Chocolate Chips (I used 1 cup since I didn't use pb chips above)

3/4 cup Sugar (for rolling dough balls, may need more or less)

Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchement paper.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the peanut butter, butter. Once combined beat in the white sugar, and brown sugar until well blended. Beat in the egg, milk, and vanilla. In a large bowl wisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Gently add to creamed mixture and mix until almost combined. Fold in chocolate and peanut butter chips.

Chill dough for at least 15 minutes. Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into balls. Genlty roll the dough balls into sugar and place dough balls on parchment lined baking sheets. Carefully press each ball with fork tines to create a criss-cross pattern.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool on baking sheets for 5-10 minutes until sturdy enough to be transfered to a wire rack to cool completely.

It was all about Desserts!

As I mentioned in the previous post, the baby shower was desserts only. You should have seen the spread...you could easily go into a sugar coma just looking at it all. I'll give you a quick rundown before I tell you what I made....fruit (ok, that's not so bad!), 3 or 4 types of cookies, brownies, candy, baklava, lemon squares, apple cake, chocolate fondue, cheesecake bites, cupcakes, strawberry cake, eclairs....have you had enough yet? I haven't even mentioned the desserts I made. I know, I know...overload!

Let's start with the Grape Salad (hey, it has fruit in it at least...yea, keep telling yourself that). This stuff is 100% deliciousness. No other way to describe it so let's get right to the recipe...you actually have to make it sometime. It's perfect for a brunch (I actually had it for the first time at my friend Ashley's bridal shower brunch)! I got the recipe from her sister but I found the exact one online, so you can go to Recipezaar to see it.

Grape Salad

2 lbs of green grapes
2 lbs of red grapes
8 oz of cream cheese, softened (I used light)

8 oz of sour cream (I used fat free)

1/2 cup of sugar

1 tsp of vanilla

for the topping:

1 cup of brown sugar, packed

1 cup of chopped pecans

Wash and stem grapes. Set aside.

Mix cream cheese, sour cream, sugar and vanilla by hand until well blended.

Stir grapes into mixture and pour into a large serving bowl (I used a trifle/parfait dish).

For topping: mix brown sugar with pecans. Sprinkle over grape mixture until covered. (I put 1/2 of the grape mixture, then 1/2 of the topping and then did another layer like that).

Chill overnight.

Next up is Quaker's Famous Oatmeal Cookies.

They were very easy to make and the dough was so yummy (yes, I tasted it...ok, a few times). The recipe on the oats container said to bake for 12-14 minutes. I baked for about 10-11. They were a little too crispy for my tastes as I prefer my cookies chewy. For 1/2 the batch, I added chocolate chips and those cookies turned out a little better. Overall though, tasty but not chewy and moist enough for me. Anyways, here's the recipe:

Quaker's Famous Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup of packed brown sugar

3/4 cup of vegetable shortening

1/2 cup of granulated sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup of water

1 tsp of vanilla

3 cups of Quaker oats (I used Old Fashioned oats)

1 cup of all-purpose flour

1 tsp of salt (optional)

1/2 tsp of baking soda

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, beat brown sugar, shortening and sugar until creamy. Add egg, water and vanilla; beat well. Add combined oats, flour, salt and baking soda; mix well. (I split the batter in half and added 1/2 cup of chocolate chips to one half of the batter).

Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 12-14 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove to wire rack to cool completely. Makes approx 5 dozen cookies.

More to come in another post....

A very busy Friday

Before heading down the beach for DH's birthday weekend, I had a few things to take care of in the kitchen... because I just had to have foods for all of our friends at the beach. I must have been feeling particularly 'inspired' because I had not one, not two, but three things on my list to make. We'll start with the banana chocolate chip cookies from the blog Annie's Eats. These turned out so great and were really yummy. I followed her recipe exactly because well, frankly, I'm not exactly good with tweaking just yet. These didn't need any changes so it worked out just fine. Here is her recipe:

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temp

1 cup sugar

1 egg, at room temp

1 cup of mashed bananas (about 2 1/2 large bananas) - (I used 2)

1 tsp baking soda

2 cups flour

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 cup chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of an electric mixer (I used a hand mixer), cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg and continue to beat until well incorporated.

In a bowl, mix the mashed bananas and baking soda. Let sit for 2 minutes. The baking soda will react with the acid in the bananas which will in turn give the cookies their lift and rise.

Mix the banana mixture into the butter mixture. Mix together the flour, salt and spices and sift into the butter and banana mixture until just combined.

Fold chocolate chips into the batter. Drop into dollops on baking sheet lined with parchment paper (I just used cooking spray on a cookie sheet). Bake for 11-13 minutes or until nicely golden brown. Let cool on wire racks.

Source: Annie's Eats, originally from Simply Recipes

I just love the way the ooey gooey chocolate looks in this picture above

Next up was oatmeal fudge bars from Blonde Ambition in the Kitchen. I was the most excited about these. The picture on her blog made my mouth water. For the most part, they turned out great. In her blog, you will see that she used a 9x13 pan but the original recipe called for a 10x15 jelly roll pan. I used the jelly roll pan. I think I should have cut the baking time down by a couple mins and checked them. Also, I was a little confused by the 'dollups' on the top of the fudge mixture. I think I did them too big and too far apart. Either way, these tasted really good and I'll definitely make them again. Here is her recipe:

Oatmeal Fudge Bars

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 cups Quaker quick cooking oatmeal
2 cups Semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk (15 oz.)
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts (optional, walnuts or pecans) (I did not use - I meant to actually but forgot)

Preheat oven to 325.
Grease and flour a 10x15 jelly roll pan.
In a large bowl sift together flour, soda and salt. Set aside.
In large mixing bowl, beat together softened butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
Add eggs, one at a time and beat until combined. Add vanilla and mix well.
Slowly add the sifted flour mixture and mix until combined. Stir in oatmeal.
Gently spread 2/3 crust into bottom of prepared pan. Reserve the rest for topping.
Make the filling:
Over Medium-Low heat, melt together chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, 2 tablespoons butter, and salt. Stir until smooth. Remove mixture from heat and stir in vanilla and nuts if using.
Evenly pour filling mixture of crust but keeping filling about a 1/4 inch away from side of pan so it does not stick to side while baking. Evenly dollup top of filling with remaining oat mixture. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until topping is light brown and fudge layer set but not solid. Don't overbake these bars or they can become dry. Cool in pan on rack until set. Can chill to set faster. Keep stored in airtight container either room temp or in fridge.

Lastly, I made a very simple Pasta Salad from my friend, Lani's, blog. The recipe is here. The only thing I left out was the artichoke hearts and I added diced celery. It was a perfect, cool snack for the beach.