Iced Pumpkin Cookies

November 14, 2014 by 4 Comments

Oh, hi! Nice to see you again! So, um, I guess I haven’t posted much recently. I blinked and 11 months just disappeared! Isn’t it funny how that happens?

You know what else is funny? All of the plans I had for life after baby. One of my plans was to continue blogging regularly, maybe even more! After all, now I had a new way to relate to readers. I was going to blog all about the meals I was making, the homemade baby food my baby was going to love to eat, the DIY projects I was going to start, maybe I would even write about the cloth diapers I obsessed over my entire pregnancy, and the way I reorganized my life to fit both new mommy me and old me. Some of my favorite blogs are written by moms! They seem to be able to do it all!

But the truth is… I haven’t quite found the way to reorganize my life to seamlessly fit new mommy me and old me. It’s a work in progress.

The truth is, I make dinner, but not every night. Sometimes the recipes are new but a lot of the time they’re old standbys. And my baby didn’t like homemade baby food (or really any baby food, she preferred baby led weaning). And DIY projects? Ain’t nobody got time for that. And I love cloth diapers. I really, really do. But I went back to work in January and now only use them part time. And blogging? Yikes!

The truth is, I WANT to blog. I do. I just haven’t found that magical place where motivation meets time and energy.

But recently I got a little nudge. The cooking board I am on decided to bring back recipe swaps and I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to see if I can manage to fit in a little old me. I’m happy to say that other than a minor hiccup (where I wrote an entire post and WordPress randomly decided to eat it), I managed!

My assigned blog was Dough See Dough, run by Jenni. To say that I spent a LOT of time scouring her pages for the perfect “back to blogging” recipe is an understatement. So many things caught my eye. These Chinese BBQ Pork Buns. This Turkey & Rice Taco Skillet. These Snickerdoodles… So what would I choose?

Clearly these delicious Iced Pumpkin Cookies won. After all, ’tis the season! And what better way to get back to blogging than with pumpkin?

I think these cookies were really a great choice. I made very few changes, only adding dairy (Jenni’s version was dairy free!) and substituting some white whole wheat flour for all purpose flour. Because doing that makes me feel like I’m making a healthy cookie (just humor me) that I can eat for breakfast (and I have). Hopefully you enjoy them just as much as I have!

 

Iced Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2-3 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare baking sheet by lining with parchment paper or a silpat baking sheet.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl then add the pumpkin puree, egg, and vanilla and mix until well combined. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Using a cookie scoop, place the dough 2 inches apart on a prepared baking sheet. Wet the palm of your hand and gently press down on the tops of the dough mounds to gently flatten and smooth. (Wetting your hand is to keep the super sticky dough from sticking to your hand) Bake for 13-15 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

While the cookies are cooling, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, 2 tablespoons of milk, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Add the additional tablespoon of milk as needed to reach a good drizzling consistency. Drizzle over the cookies and allow to harden a bit before storing.

Jenni notes that the cookies can become too soft if stored in a sealed container. I found that layering the cookies between sheets of parchment paper and placing in a tupperware but not completely sealing the lid was the perfect storage method (though the addition of whole wheat flour may have made them just a touch less “wet” and easier to store).

Adapted from Dough See Dough, originally from Allrecipes

Just because, here is my sweet, energetic, fun, wild, beautiful little TODDLER!! Rocking her pumpkin wear.

Filed Under: Cookies, Dessert, Pumpkin, Thanksgiving, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , ,

Giant Chewy Oatmeal M&M Cookies

December 19, 2013 by 1 Comment

Things have been so quiet around here and I would like to apologize, but since I’ve been spending my time cuddling the world’s cutest baby instead of posting I’m kind of sorry not sorry. One day I hope to be able to better balance baby cuddling time with food blogging time, but until then, can I make it up to you by sharing a picture of the world’s cutest baby?

Are still trying to decide what kind of cookies to leave out for Santa? Can I make a suggestion? How about these Giant Chewy Oatmeal M&M Cookies? They are soft, chewy, giant, with the perfect touch of crunchy M&M chocolate. The oatmeal isn’t overwhelming, but it adds a nice texture to the cookies.

 

Giant Chewy Oatmeal M&M Cookies

Ingredients
1 cup white whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup old fashioned oats
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp milk
1 cup M&M candies, plus a few extra for finishing

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare baking sheet by lining with parchment paper or a silpat baking sheet.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, oats, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl then add the egg, vanilla, and milk and mix until well combined. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Use a spatula to stir in the M&Ms.

Roll a quarter cup of dough into a ball  and place 3 inches apart on a prepared baking sheet. Bake for 9-11 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges.

Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.

Adapted from recipe as seen here, originally found on Apple a Day

 

 

Filed Under: Christmas, Cookies, Dessert, Holiday Treats, Week of Christmas Cookies Tagged With: , , ,

Confetti Cake Batter Cookies

December 8, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Do you know what is no fun at.all. Sick babies. They’re a real bummer. I would know because our sweet 3 month old had her very first cold over Thanksgiving. Poor baby. Then Jesse and I both got colds! It was not the best week at the Sunny Side house. Thankfully we are all feeling much better!

Usually around this time of year I’m posting a week of Christmas cookies. This year it’s been a little harder for me to organize my holiday baking, so I decided not to commit to a full week, instead I’ll just post things as I have time to make them!

These delicious little cookies from Sally’s Baking Addiction popped up on my Facebook feed last week and the timing was perfect. I don’t usually have boxed cake mix but I was going to make something for Thanksgiving that called for it so I bought some. I never got around to making what I had originally planned so there it was, just sitting in the pantry waiting to be made into these cookies.

What’s cool about these cookies is that they taste like a cupcake but have the chewy texture of a cookie. It’s the best of both worlds! Plus, you can use festive sprinkles. Who doesn’t like sprinkles? And this would be a great recipe to make with kids. You don’t even need a standing mixer (though you can totally use one if you want!).

The only change I made from the original recipe is to use less sprinkles. The recipe called for 1 cup of sprinkles and that seemed like a lot. In the end I used closer to 1/3 of a cup and I felt like they were plenty sprinkle-y. Below I’ll use my measurement and you can just add more if you’d like. Also, I used my medium cookie scoop and didn’t smooth it out at all before baking so my cookies look a little rougher than Sally’s, next time I’ll roll them into balls instead of using the scoop.

Confetti Cake Batter Cookies

Ingredients
1 18.25 oz box vanilla/white cake mix
1 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup sprinkles*

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cake mix and baking powder. In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, oil, and vanilla. Add to the dry ingredients and stir well to combine. Add the sprinkles and carefully stir in to the dough.

Place 1-inch rolled balls of dough about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 9 minutes, making sure they do not start to brown! Allow to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Serve with a cold glass of milk.
Source: Sally’s Baking Addiction

 

Filed Under: Christmas, Cookies, Dessert, Holiday Treats, Week of Christmas Cookies Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Ultimate Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

October 31, 2013 by 2 Comments

First, Happy Halloween! Even though our little pumpkin is too young for Trick or Treating (or even having a clue that today is Halloween!), I still couldn’t resist dressing her in spirited gear. I think she looks pretty cute, but I might be a little biased. Second, I have to admit that in this house black and orange are not just colors you wear on October 31st. They are colors we rock all year long in support of our hometown team – the Cincinnati Bengals! Truth be told, when I saw this special bag of chocolate chips at Target the first thing that popped in my head was “Tailgate cookies!” Because who doesn’t like to eat delicious and spirited cookies while watching football? But it just so happened that I used the chocolate chips the day before Halloween, so holiday spirit works too. 🙂

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If you are a fan of Sunny Side Up on Facebook (and why wouldn’t you be ;)), then you may have seen my post yesterday about my entire house smelling like chocolate. These cookies are the reason why my house smelled so delicious. They are called “Ultimate Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies” and the name is pretty much spot on. The cookies are rich with a crispy exterior and melt-in-your mouth fudgy interior. I used a bag of Halloween chips which were half orange-colored white chocolate and half semi-sweet chocolate, but you can use whatever chips you have on hand! All semi-sweet, all white chocolate, a mix of chopped up leftover Halloween candy… If it tastes good with chocolate, chances are it will taste good in these cookies!

 

Ultimate Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 12-ounce package semi-sweet chocolate chips*
3/4 cup butter, softened and divided
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1- 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips of your choice

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a microwave safe bowl, add the chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons of butter. Microwave in 20 second increments, stirring in between, until melted and smooth. Set aside. In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat together the remaining butter and brown sugar, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down bowl in between. Add the melted chocolate and beat to combine. Add the dry ingredients and mix until well combine. Stir in chocolate chips.

Using a medium size cookie scoop, drop 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes then allow to cool on the cookie sheet for a minute before transferring to a cooling rack. Definitely serve with a large glass of cold milk!

Source: Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Cookie Special 2012

 

Filed Under: Chocolate, Cookies, Halloween, Party Food Tagged With: , , , ,