Pumpkin Week: Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Hope y'all are enjoying all the pumpkin recipes! Today's recipe stood out to me because it involves a cookie you normally only see at Christmas: Snickerdoodles.

But these are even better than regular snickerdoodles because they have pumpkin in them! I love baking with pumpkin because it gives the cookies a different texture. These were delicious. The pumpkin flavor wasn't super pronounced but you could definitely taste it.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Source: Erin's Food Files

For the cookies:

1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, at room temperature

1.5 cups granulated white sugar

3/4 cup unsweetened pumpkin puree

1 large egg

2 tsp vanilla extrace

3 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

For the rolling sugar:

1/2 cup granulated white sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground allspice

In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the butter until fluffy. Add sugar and pumpkin puree and beat well. Mix in egg and vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl to incorporate all the ingredients.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon. Beat the flour mixture into the liquid mixture a little at a time until just incorporated.

Cover dough with plastic and chill at least an hour, or until dough becomes slightly firm.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350º. Line baking sheets with parchment paper, or spray with nonstick spray. Mix rolling sugar ingredients in a small bowl.

Remove cookie dough from refrigerator. Use a medium cookie scoop or a large spoon to scoop out dough and roll into balls. Use your hands to roll the balls in cinnamon sugar nd make sure they are coated really well. Place 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Use a flat-bottomed glass dipped in sugar and flatten the balls.

Bake at 350º for 10-14 minutes, until they are slightly firm to the touch. Let cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes and then remove them to a wire rack and cool completely. Enjoy!

*Store in an airtight container. These cookies freeze well. Just place them in a freezer zip bag and remove from freezer when the craving hits.

Pumpkin Week: Pumpkin Roll

Sometimes, I don't follow recipes to the exact letter. I make substitutions if I'm missing an ingredient or I add a little sumthin sumthin if I think it will make the recipe even better. And sometimes, like in the case of the Fiery Arrabiata Sauce, I misread tsp as tbsp and almost burn my husband's tongue off. Hey, everyone makes mistakes.

Then, there are nights like last night. I was preparing today's recipe and realized I had neither butter nor wax paper. But, I had pumpkin butter so I subbed that instead. Good idea. It changed the color of the filling but it was still delicious. As for the lack of wax paper, I was too lazy to run to the grocery store for one thing and I decided to make it without wax paper, because, hey, I'm risky like that. Big mistake. My pumpkin roll ended up looking like this:

Just so everyone is clear on what a roll actually looks like, it should have looked like this:

Photo from Fashionably Foodie-check her out, she has some yummy recipes and photos and she can obviously follow directions and make a beautiful pumpkin roll.

I encountered just one problem when removing it from the pan: it cracked in half. I tried pushing the warm insides together with my fingers to seal the crack but it didn't work. I still attempted to roll it but I caused another crack. So I gave up and slathered on the filling and cut myself a slice to reward me for a job done badly.

It was good. It didn't even matter that it wasn't rolled right and the colors weren't perfect. Sometimes different is just fine.

Pumpkin Roll

Source: How Does She

Roll

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup flour

2/3 cup canned pumpkin

3 eggs

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup walnuts, optional

Filling

8 oz cream cheese

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tbsp soft butter (or pumpkin butter)

Preheat oven to 375º. Line a cookie sheet with wax paper and grease well.

Mix first 6 ingredients. Pour onto greased pan and sprinkle with nuts, if desired. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes.

While the bread is baking, you can prepare the filling. Mix all of the filling ingredients together until mixture is smooth.

How Does She has a great photo tutorial of the next step. Basically, you lift the roll from the pan on the wax paper and flip it upside down on a tea towel. Then you roll the tea towel up to form a log. Let the roll cool inside the towel for about 10 minutes. Then, unroll the towel and spread the filling evenly across the roll. If you want to be different, stop right here and enjoy the pumpkiny goodness. If you want yours to be pretty and fit to serve to company, roll it back up. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Week: Pumpkin Spice Latte

Welcome to day 3 of Pumpkin Week! I hope you've been inspired by the Dinner in a pumpkin or that you're craving some Pumpkin Butter. Before we get to todays recipe, I thought I'd share some pictures of us carving our pumpkin.

Living in an apartment complex, not only do you have a miniscule kitchen, but your husband also doesn't get many opportunities to us his drill and other handy tools. When I suggested we break out the drill for our pumpkin, he was all for it. I took a turn drilling a few wholes but mostly left all that heavy duty man stuff up to my manly husband. Because he looks good wielding that drill.

That's right, we used our drill to create a polka dotted pumpkin! Our scary faces aren't that scary and we didn't have enough skills to make some complicated drawing/carving so instead we made it polka dotted. And I love it. It's fun and doesn't seem out of place now that Halloween is over.

Besides carving pumpkins, one of my favorite Fall things is pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks. But daily coffees from Starbucks get expensive so I decided to try a homemade version. It was delicious and super cheap. And just so you know, whipped cream makes things so much better.

Pumpkin Spice Latte

Source: Recipe Girl

1/2 cup whole milk

1 tbsp unsweetened canned pumpkin puree

1 tsp packed light brown sugar

1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup hot brewed, strong coffee

2 tbsp half & half cream

1 tsp granulated white sugar, or more to taste

whipped cream, optional but not really cause whipped cream makes everything better

ground nutmeg

In a microwave-safe glass or bowl, whisk together milk, pumpkin, brown sugar, spice, and vanilla. Microwave for 1-2 minutes. Watch closely and remove from microwave when it gets hot and frothy.

Pour the pumpkin milk into a tall mug or glass. Add hot coffee. Pour in the cream and add a teaspoon of sugar. Stir and taste, adding more sugar, if desired.

Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of nutmeg. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Week: Dinner in a Pumpkin

When you're married to someone in the military, you learn lots of stuff. You learn nothing is ever set in stone until it's already happened. You learn to hurry up and then wait. You learn a whole lotta TLA's and FLA's (that's three letter acronyms and four/five letter acronyms). You learn ranks and other military things. But one of the most important things you learn is that friends can be just like family.

It's an important lesson when you're over 2000 miles from home and your close family members. So you take your friendly family (family friends?) and make the best of being far from home. You make new traditions. Like going to the pumpkin patch when it's 80º outside. Here's a few pictures from the pumpkin patch before you get your next pumpkin recipe!

Clockwise from top left: Some of the best people I know out here and the group that came with us to the pumpkin patch (look closely-the lady tried to crop Stout out from the bottom). Stout feeding goats at the pumpkin farm. The guys get a little crazy when thy are all together-plus DADT was repealed so there's nothing holding them back (kidding). Neil and his bestie, Stout.

Left: Our roomie, Michael, and his girlfriend, Whitney. They are kinda the cutest couple I know. Right: Me, the hubs, and his awkward picture takingness :)

Left: Neil, Jar, and Stout showing off their human totem poll skills and their uber-closeness. Right: Karisa (who gifted me with the pumpkin butter and joined us for a pumpkin dinner) and her husband, Ivan.

The pumpkin patch was almost as awesome as the people we went with. It was Neil and I's second time going to Bates Nut Farm and we were glad to have everyone along with us. While we were there, Karisa suggested doing dinner in a pumpkin so we made a date. On Friday, she and her hubby came over and we wowed the guys with our pumpkin presentation skills.

That's right, dinner was served inside the pumpkin! The pumpkin became the bowl/cooking receptacle and what made it even better was that you could scrape some of the pumpkin off the side and enjoy it with your dinner.

I'm not a mushroom person but this was delicious. You could do all types off things inside these pumpkin bowls (pumpkin chile, anyone?) but I definitely suggest following the recipe below.

Dinner in a Pumpkin

Source: The Mother Huddle

4 small pumpkins or 1 medium pumpkin (use 4 if you want everyone to have their own individual pumpkin bowl)

1.5 lbs ground beef

1 small onion, chopped

2 tbsp oil

1/2 cup celery, chopped

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 can sliced mushrooms

1 small can cream of chicken soup

1-1/2 cups cooked rice

1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained

Preheat oven to 350º. Wash the outer surface of the pumpkins thoroughly. Cut a circle in the top, just like if you were going to carve the pumpkin. Remember to slant the knife so that the lid doesn't fall straight through. Clean out all of the seeds and stringy pulp. Rinse well and set aside.

Heat the oil in a sauce pan. Add ground beef and cook until brown, drain. Add onion and celery and cook until translucent, about 2 minutes. Once, the vegetables are done, add the brown sugar, soy sauce, cream of chicken soup, mushrooms, cooked rice, and water chestnuts. Mix well.

Place the cleaned pumpkins on a cookie sheet. Scoop the mixture into the pumpkin and place the pumpkin top back on. Put the pumpkins into the oven and cook for 1-2 hours. Check after an hour. The cooking time will vary according to size of the pumpkin. Our little ones took just over an hour. You will know it is done when the pumpkin is tender and the mixture is bubbling all the way through.

Serve warm. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Week: Homemade Pumpkin Butter

I'd like to welcome you to Pumpkin Week! Pumpkin is my favorite Fall flavor so I decided to devote a whole week to it on the blog. That's right. 5 days full of pumpkin flavors with some extra pumpkin fun tossed in. I've got appetizers, drinks, dinners, and desserts packed with pumpkin flavor so make sure you check back every day this week for a new one!

The first recipe this week isn't one that I've made, but I can vouch for its deliciousness. Last Friday, we had some friends over for our traditional (can it be called traditional if it was our first but we plan on making a tradition out of it?) pumpkin dinner. Don't worry- that delicious recipe is coming at you tomorrow. Being the sweet person that she is, Karisa brought us a jar of homemade pumpkin butter. Being the pumpkin lover that I am, I couldn't wait too long to try it out.

The hubs and our roomie with the delicious breakfast they cooked. And yes, this is the best picture out of the four I took. I decided the hubster looked better with his eyes closed rather than open with a vacant creepy stare. He hates pictures. It's kind of his only fault.

This past weekend was the perfect lazy weekend. Temperatures actually dropped below 65º and it was rainy! I can't even remember the last time we had rain in San Diego, probably last March. Karisa recommended trying the pumpkin butter with pancakes, toast, or straight from a spoon. I decided to start with pancakes and the boys were all for that. They whipped us up a delicious brunch of pancakes (my hubby's "secret" recipe-he adds cinnamon and vanilla but they taste different each time and they're always delicious), bacon, sausage, and eggs (our roomies recipe added just a hint of cinnamon, and it was good). The pumpkin butter earned a spot amidst all the food on the table.

It was good. So good. As in screw the pancakes and hand me the spoon good. You need to make some of this. Now. You can make the pancakes too but I guarantee you won't be able to resist slipping a spoonful of this butter inside your mouth.

Homemade Pumpkin Butter

Source: Recommended by Karisa, made from Oh She Glows

1 (29 oz) can pumpkin puree

3/4 cup apple juice

1.5 tsp ground giner

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 cup Sucanat (or brown sugar)

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

juice of half a lemon

Combine pumpkin, apple juice, spices, and sugar in a large saucepan and stir well. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until thickened. Cover and stir frequently.

Remove from heat. Adjust spices to taste. Stir in lemon juice and add more to taste. Once cool, pumpkin butter can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge.

Canning is not recommended. This recipe makes enough to fill one large mason jar.

Pumpkin Butterscotch and Chocolate Chip Cookies

We are a one-car household. At least for a few more weeks. So when I don't have school, Neil takes the car and I stay home for the day. Sometimes I get cravings, especially for sweet things. I spent this morning studying for my American Indian Studies class and when I took a break I could not stop craving sweets. We don't buy any junk food so I couldn't find any Oreos hiding in the back of the closet or even a long-forgotten piece of Halloween candy.

The only thing we had in the closet that was even partially sweet was pumpkin and some leftover butterscotch and chocolate chip morsels. I googled "Pumpkin and Butterscotch" and found this recipe from Annie's Eats on the very bottom of the first page. I follow her blog and I can't believe I didn't bookmark this recipe when I saw it. I didn't have the full amount of butterscotch or chocolate chips so I split the batter into thirds and did 1/3 butterscotch, 1/3 chocolate chips, and 1/3 mixed.

The butterscotch and pumpkin cookies were by far my favorite. The mixed ones and the chocolate chip only ones were delicious but there was something about the flavor mix of pumpkin and butterscotch that just did it. And even though pumpkin may be considered out of season, it was a delicious treat to enjoy! Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

2 cups all-purpose flour

1.5 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 large eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup butterscotch chips (or a mixture of butterscotch and chocolate chips)

Preheat the oven to 325º. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper to help keep the bottoms from browning or burning. Ina small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; whisk to blend. In a bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sugar and eggs. Beat on medium-high speed until smooth and light in color, about 1 minute. Blend in the oil, pumpkin puree, and vanilla extract until well combined. With the mixer on a low speed, mix in the dry ingredients until just incorporated. Fold in the butterscotch and/or chocolate chips with a spatula.

Drop mounds of dough onto the baking sheets, spacing them a few inches apart. Bake, rotating the sheet halfway through, until the tops feel set and a toothpick or fork comes out dry, about 14-16 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheets for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Eat right away or store in an airtight container. Enjoy!

Linking up with Sweets for a Saturday!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

So I've been a little absent. My in-laws came out for a visit and then 2 days later my dad came out to visit! We haven't seen them since July so we we're quite excited! I didn't get much blogging done but I sure did a lot of cooking! I'll post the recipes in the next few days but for now I'll leave you with my favorite Fall snack!

Scoop the seeds from the pumpkin and try to separate from pulp. Rinse pumpkin seeds under cold water and pick out all the pulp and seeds. This is easiest to do when it's in a colander.

In a small saucepan, add the seeds to water, about 2 cups to every half cup of seeds. Add a half tablespoon of salt for every cup of water (more if you like your seeds saltier). Bring to a boil. Let simmer for ten minutes and remove from heat and drain.

If you prefer, leave them out overnight to dry out.

Place the pumpkins in a single layer on an oiled baking sheet, stirring to coat. If you prefer, omit the oil and coat with a non-stick cooking spray.

Sprinkle with salt and bake at 325º F until toasted, about 25 minutes. Stirring every 8-10 minutes.

Let cool and store in an airtight container.