Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I can’t believe November is almost over! I mean seriously, where did the time go?

And with the end of November brings the end of pumpkin baking season, at least in my eyes. The only good thing about pumpkin season being over is that gingerbread and maple season starts. Boy do I love the taste of maple.

But to celebrate the end of pumpkin season I bring you these amazing pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Goodness these things are so addicting!

 

In all honesty these have become one of my favorite pumpkin recipes, this cake being my absolute favorite.

These little gems basically taste like a pie shoved in a cookie, especially if you under-bake it just a tad. They are soft, and kind of chewy in a very good way. And the addition of chocolate chips is just a bonus! Whoever thought of pumpkin and chocolate together was brilliant!

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 50 medium-small cookies
From My Blessed Life

Ingredients
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flours
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup dark brown sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg, room temperature
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
½ cup pumpkin puree
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. In a large bowl, cream together the sugars and butter. Beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until incorporated. Stir in the vanilla and pumpkin puree. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Fold the flour into the pumpkin mixture. Mix until the flour is just incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Use a medium-small cookie scoop to distribute the dough. Bake for about 8 minutes or until the edges are set and the center is still soft. Cool on the pan for about 5 minutes before removing the cookies onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Soft Andes Mint Chip Cookies

Do you remember the days when you would get an Andes mint with your check after eating a meal in a restaurant? I loved getting those little Andes mints, trying to savor as much as I could, even though it was this little tiny rectangle of goodness.

When I saw these Andes mint cookies on Foodgawker I knew I needed to make them at some point. The only thing was I couldn’t find Andes mint chips anywhere! I knew I could probably just buy regular Andes mints and just chop them up, but I’m too lazy for that. Then one day I was at Target and I found them! I quickly grabbed a bag in preparation for making them.

The Andes mint chips were kind of forgotten for a while. I always saw them, but never really thought about them. Until sometime in January when I was having stress problems from school and I needed to do something that didn’t require complicated math.

These cookies are not gooey, but rather soft and fluffy. I know it’s kind of weird to describe a cookie as fluffy, but that’s what the inside of the baked cookies looked light.

The mint is very prominent in these cookies, so if you are an Andes mint fan, bake these right away.

Soft Andes Mint Chip Cookies

Slightly adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction

Makes about 3 ½ dozen

Ingredients

2 ¼ cups (270 g) unbleached all-purpose flour

¾ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. unsweetened natural cocoa powder

1 stick unsalted butter, soft

¾ cup (144 g) dark brown sugar

½ cup (96 g) sugar

1 egg + 1 egg yolk, room temperature

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

 1/3 cup Andes Mint Chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder. Make sure to break up the clumps of cocoa.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together on medium high speed until light and fluffy. Add the whole egg and egg yolk, mixing well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Turn the mixer speed down to low and add 1/3 of the flour mixture. Turn the mixer on medium and beat for 30 seconds. Repeat with half the flour mixture and again with the remaining flour mixture. The dough should be quite thick. Fold the Andes mint chips with a rubber spatula.

Drop tablespoon size pieces of dough onto the cookie sheet, keeping each piece about 2 inches apart. I used a medium-small cookie scoop for this. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until slightly brown around the edges. Cool the cookies on the tray for 2-3 minutes before removing to a cooling rack or into your mouth. 

Peanut Butter and Jelly Shortbread

I’ve been back at my apartment for almost a week now, and let me tell you, it has been bor-ing! Seriously. My roommates didn’t get back until Saturday and I’ve been here since Wednesday afternoon. And since I don’t really know anyone because I’m basically antisocial/shut-in I haven’t gone much anywhere except to get groceries and pick up text books. So because there is no way I’m going to put myself out there, I fill my time with baking.

I went through a few of my cookbooks I brought with me to college to get some ideas on something quick and easy to bake. Then I happened upon these peanut butter and jelly bars in Martha Stewart’s cookie book and I had a hankering for peanut butter and jelly bars.

I looked at a few different recipes other than Martha’s and then I found Peabody’s Peanut Butter and Jelly Shortbread recipe in my “To Bake” list. They looked so good I just had to make them.

These shortbread wedges are really nice. The peanut butter flavor comes in in a subtle way, but it’s very nice. The wedges are crunchy and kind of chewy thanks to the baked jelly on the top. I really liked these with some milk. The pointed edge of the wedge makes it easy to dunk in the glass. The milk makes the shortbread kind of soggy and crumbly, but that’s fine with me.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Shortbread

From Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

Makes one 9-inch round

Ingredients

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

¼ cup (64 g) creamy peanut butter

½ cup (96 g) sugar

¼ tsp. salt

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 ¼ cup (150 g) unbleached all-purpose flour 

1/3 cup (100 g) grape jelly (or jelly of your choice)

Directions

Grease the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray.

Beat the butter and peanut butter together until smooth. Gently pour in the sugar and salt. Cream the mixture until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the vanilla extract. Gently add the flour and mix until completely incorporated. The dough should be soft.

Shape 1/3 of the dough into a thick disk. Place in plastic wrap and freeze until hard, about one hour. Press the remaining dough evenly along the bottom of the greased pan. Spread the jelly on top of the dough, leaving a small border around the edge. Set the pan in the fridge until the dough in the freezer has hardened.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Take the pan out of the fridge and take the dough out of the freezer. Grate the frozen dough over the jelly (chopping or breaking it up works too). Place the pan in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes or until the shortbread has become a golden brown. Cut into wedges and enjoy.   

Hidden Kiss Cookies

It’s New Years Eve. Have you guys made resolutions for next year? Are any of them to be healthier? Stop eating sweets? Spend 5 hours on the treadmill everyday in an effort to shed those holiday pounds? You’re definitely not alone if you aid “yes.” I too have made a “be healthy” resolution: to stop stuffing my face when I’m procrastinating. The thing about having your own room in college has great advantages, but with those advantages comes disadvantages. I can’t tell you how many times I have at in my room eating my stash of granola bars and Goldfish trying to put off homework as much as possible. Well no more… hopefully.

Anyways, here is a recipe that will probably send you running for the hills. Hey, I got you running, that’s a good start for exercising, right? 

These here are Hidden Kiss Cookies. It’s basically a soft-as-ever butter cookie with a Hershey’s Kiss stuffed in the center. These really are the perfect treat. I took some to my friend’s reunion/ugly sweater party before Christmas and not a single cookie was left. Everyone said they were amazing and I felt sort of bad because I didn’t even bring all the cookies, assuming everyone would eat the other sweets everyone brought to the party.

If you aren’t one of those cookie haters that appear at the beginning of the year, please make these cookies. They are darling little things.

Hidden Kiss Cookies

Adapted from Once Upon a Cutting Board

Makes 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

¾ cup powdered sugar

½ a large egg, room temperature (beat egg in a small bowl and measure out half)

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

½ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

24 unwrapped Hershey’s Kisses

2 tbsp. sugar

Directions

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the butter and POWDERED sugar (Yes, you read that right. This recipe uses powdered sugar, not regular granulated sugar). Beat on medium speed until creamy. Add the egg and vanilla extract. Beat until well combined.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Turn the mixer’s speed to low and add the flour mixture in two additions. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition.

Scoop a little less than 1 tbsp. of dough into your hand. Roll the dough into a ball and flatten. Place a single Hershey’s Kiss in the center. Mold the cookie dough around the kiss. Roll the dough between your hands to form a sphere. Repeat with the remaining dough. If the dough is too soft to work with, refrigerate the un-scooped dough for about 10-15 minutes. Refrigerate cookie dough for 10-15 minutes. Keeping the dough chilled will ensure to dough wont fall away from the kiss while baking.

While you wait for the dough to chill, preheat the oven to 350 F.

Place about 2 tbsp. of granulated sugar into a shallow bowl. Gently roll each cookie in the sugar. Place cookie dough on prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake 10-12 minutes. I like my cookies very soft so I baked mine around 9-10 minutes; the cookies were still a little soft when I took them out of the oven.

Cool cookies on the sheet for about 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely. 

Molasses Cookies with Ginger Cream Cheese Filling

I wanted to share this with you on Monday, but after reading so many posts about the victims of Newtown, Connecticut, I didn’t think I could. I was going to make a post saying how my heart goes out to the friends and families of the victims as well as the community of the city, but I couldn’t talk about such tragedy with something happy such as sandwich cookies. I know I’m kind of doing that now, but I feel I should say at least something. So make sure to hug your loved ones just a little longer and harder this holiday season.

I have so many baking ideas for this holiday season, I’m not sure I’m going to be able to do it all. I’ve even bought eggnog (something I have yet to try, but love the smell of so far) and I don’t even have a recipe for anything with eggnog!

One thing that I can cross off my holiday baking list is gingerbread. I did not make traditional gingerbread men; instead I made gingerbread sandwich cookies! These things are truly amazing. I think I had five (or was it six?) the day I made these. I was a bad girl, but they just kept getting better and better!

The cookie is so soft and bakes up super big and puffy! The gingerbread flavor is really out of this world. Last year I made traditional gingerbread men, but I didn’t really like them because the cookies were crunchy, and if you’re new to this blog, you’ll need to know I had flat and crunchy cookies. Flat and crunchy have no purpose when it comes to cookies.

The ginger cream cheese frosting is the most amazing thing ever. I think cream cheese frosting is my favorite frosting ever because it’s never too sweet, like I find buttercream frosting to be. I couldn’t really detect the ginger in the frosting, but you can see the ginger flecks, and that looks real pretty.

These cookies are actually the first sandwich cookie recipe I have made. There is something so calming about sitting in front of a row of cookies and a bowl of frosting.

Molasses Cookies with Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting

From The Pastry Affair

Makes 16 sandwich cookies

Ingredients

Molasses Cookies

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking power

¾ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 tsp. ground ginger

¼ tsp. ground cloves

½ cup dark brown sugar

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature

2 eggs, room temperature

1/3 cup unsulfured molasses

Ginger Cream Cheese Filling

2 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

3 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature

½ tsp. ginger

Pinch of salt

1 cup powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

To make the cookies: Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices in a medium bowl. Set the bowl aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream together the brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until fully incorporated. Pour in the molasses. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed; the mixture will look a little curdled. Decrease the mixer’s speed to low and gradually add 1/3 of the flour mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Repeat until all the flour has been incorporated. Take a medium-small cookie scoop (I used one that’s about 1 ¼-1 ½ inches in diameter) and portion out the dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Space the dough about 2 inches apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes (mine were perfect at 7:55 minutes). Cool the cookies on the tray for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough. Allow the cookies to cool completely before filling.

To make the filling: beat the cream cheese and butter until completely incorporated. Add the ginger and salt. Gradually add the sugar. By that I mean at a tbsp. or two at a time. Powdered sugar is a pain to clean when it flies everywhere. Refrigerate the filling for 5-10 minutes. Pile a tsp. or two onto the flat bottoms of half the cooled cookies. Place the remaining unfrosted cookies on top of the frosting. Keep cookies in the fridge in a sealed container.