Pumpkin Cinnamon Cookies - Finally!

Last post, I tried to tempt you with a little teaser about pumpkin cinnamon cookies.  Did it work?  Like on Law & Order, where the murder victim is just minding her own business, and then bam - cut to crime scene!  Insert Briscoe and Green!  Briscoe wisecrack.  Bum BUM bumbum bumbum bum...

Yeah, I love Law & Order.

Fact:  If you type "Lenny Bris" into the Google search bar, the second search that comes up is "Lenny Briscoe oneliners".  Apparently others share my love of L&O justice.

These cookies need further investigation...

Can you feel the procrastination in the air?  I have my second exam today in a couple hours.  I should be reviewing study guides and taking practice tests.  And I will, but first things first - cookies.  Priorities!

Cuddling cookies

I had some pumpkin left over after making the maple pumpkin muffins, and I wanted to try something different with it.  There is no dearth of pumpkin recipes in the world, but I wasn't looking for pumpkin pie (which accounts for about 98.2% of them in some form or another).  These cookies intrigued me.  The original recipe called for butterscotch chips, but in the store I spotted these cinnamon chips (which I'd forgotten all about until this point) and thought they might do nicely.

They did.  Nicely.  :o)

Distractions = good.

The texture is really more like a little cake top, rather than a cookie.  (Cakies?)  And since pumpkin is a vegetable and these contain no butter, well, it's just  like a side of veggies, right?!

Right?!?

Pumpkin Cinnamon Chip Cookies

(borrowed with endless adoration from Joy the Baker)

2 cups all purpose flour

1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cup pumpkin

1/2 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup cinnamon chips

Bake us, please!

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and soda, cinnamon and salt.  In a medium bowl, beat eggs and sugar until fluffy and light yellow.  (I used a hand mixture for this because it gave me more control over the amount of air I was adding then the stand mixer.)  Add pumpkin, oil and vanilla, beat until combined.  Add the flour mixture and mix until combined.  Stir in the cinnamon chips.

Line your baking sheets with buttered parchment paper.  Drop the batter onto the paper in 1/4 cups (for large cookies) or heaping tablespoons (for smaller cookies).  Bake on the middle rack at 325 for 16 minutes (large cookies) or 12 minutes (small cookies).

OK, OK, study time...

This one goes out to... (Stovetop Lasagna)

...the person in our circle of friends who doesn't eat dessert.  I was all set to post some amazing pumpkin cinnamon cookies that I made for the Phillies game last night.  This person, who shall be called He Who Hates Sweetness, was complaining that I had too many baked goods on my baking blog.  Keep in mind, this is the same person who once said that anyone who eats dessert cannot be taken seriously.  

We don't listen to him too much.  But in this case, I figured that I had a recipe that would make him happy.

Plus, that just means more cookies for the rest of us.

Diana's Famous Stovetop Lasagna

20 mini Italiain style meatballs, quartered

1 green pepper, diced

1 medium onion, diced

3 cups uncooked mafalda or campanelle pasta

1-1/2 cups water

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 jar chunky tomato pasta sauce

1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese or 1/2 cup ricotta cheese (or both, if you prefer)

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

(Note:  This recipe is kind of fun, you can definitely add or subtract whatever your unique tastes are.  I use mini meatballs because that's usually what I have in the freezer, but you can use 1 pound of Italian sausage or 10-12 regular sized meatballs.  Get creative!)

Cook meatballs, onion and peppers with 1-2 tablespoons olive oil, in a 12 inch skillet or 4 quart dutch oven over medium high heat until the meatballs are brown and the veggies are soft.  Add the pasta, water, seasoning and sauce, stir and allow to come to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 10-12 minutes (pasta should be tender).  Stir in the parmesan or ricotta, then remove from heat.  Top with mozzarella cheese, allow to sit for 2-3 minutes, until cheese is melted.  

Follow with dessert.  :o)

I left my heart in San Francisco... (Maple Pumpkin Muffins)

...and thankfully not my luggage!

Hubster and me

We're back from the city by the bay.  It was a blast out there, despite the fact that I got sunburned.  Sunburned!  I thought San Francisco was supposed to foggy!!  Honestly, though, if the only thing I have to whine about is nice weather, you can tell how much fun we had.  I also had something really interesting happen for the first time while we were there.

At the tailgate before the game, we were sitting around the tables eating and drinking.  Someone cracked a joke, and one of the people at my table laughed and started to choke.  This person happened to be sitting beside me, and I immediately leaned over and assisted them while they unstuck the food that was stuck in their throat.  It seemed like a pretty natural reaction, and though I can't take credit for performing any sort of life saving intervention, the person did thank me for keeping her calm and instructing her how  to cough productively.  (Very glamorous, I know.)  

While this was going on, people at the other table came over and starting asking if the person was ok.  In the midst of this, I heard someone from my table tell them, "Don't worry, she's a nurse."

Whoa.

They were talking about me!!  Me!!  A nurse!  People thought I was a nurse!

OK, so even though that's not technically true (I have about 5 months and several gazillion exams to pass first), we do joke around that I'm at least 'half a nurse'.  But these strangers didn't know that.  I had been mistaken for an honest to goodness healthcare professional.

:-D

The little things make me happy.

Little things = Happy

Now that we're back home and it's been rainy and gross for a while, it's definitely time for some fall yumminess.  The day before I left, my clinical group had lunch at Reading Terminal Market.  Some of us got dessert from The Flying Monkey Bakery, which if you're in the Philadelphia area you need to check out.  It's all the way in the back of the market, between the sushi place and the fish counter.  They have the most delicious sugary treats.  I had a maple pumpkin gob with the most amazing cream cheese frosting in the middle.   That was my inspiration.  

However, everyone makes gobs this time of year, and I wanted to do something a little different.  These muffins are the perfect rainy day treat when you want a snack with your tea!

Maple Pumpkin Muffins

(Whatever you do, don't forget the brown sugar in the pumpkin mixture.  No good.  Also, I didn't use cupcake papers because I may or may not have made a first batch sans brown sugar that stuck horribly to the paper.)

4 oz cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons maple flavoring

2 cup flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1-1/2 teaspoon maple flavoring

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

3/4 cup milk

1-1/4 cup pumpkin puree

Beat the cream cheese, 2 tablespoon brown sugar and 2 teaspoons of maple flavoring until well mixed.  Keep in the fridge until you're ready to use.  Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and baking soda.  Mix the remaining brown sugar, maple flavor, eggs, oil, milk and pumpkin until blended.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just incorporated.  Fill 12 greased muffin tins 2/3 with the pumpkin batter.  Drop 1 teaspoon of the chilled cream cheese mixture onto the batter; top with 2 tablespoons pumpkin batter so that the cream cheese is complete covered.  Bake at 400 for 20 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.

Share with your sister for taking good care of your dog while you were gone. 

You might have to share with the dog, too.