Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

These sweet little guys are the perfect treat after a long day at work.  Soft pumpkin cookies with melty chocolate chips. Yum.

I make these with oat flour (oats that have been run through a blender until they are the consistency of flour), but regular all-purpose flour can easily be substituted 1:1.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 1 large egg
• 2 Tbsp brow sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup oat flour
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, honey, and egg with a mixer.  Add in brown sugar.

In another bowl, combine cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and oat flour.

Combine wet and dry ingredients until just combined.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

Chill dough for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Scoop out dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake for 6-8 minutes.

Recipe adapted from Chelsea's Messy Apron

Cookie party!

Everyone knows how much I love cookies, and how much I love Christmas, so it was no surprise when I called up some of my friends for a cookie party before Christmas.

We had too much fun baking, decorating, sipping champagne, and catching up to take many pictures, but it was a perfect evening!

We only made iced and decorated sugar cookies and peanut butter blossoms because we were having too much fun decorating to keep baking!

Chocolate peanut butter cookies

In my opinion, there is no better combination than chocolate and peanut butter.  And I love cake...and cookies...and cake cookies, so these chocolate peanut butter cake mix cookies were a winner.

Directions:

• 1 box Devil's food cake mix
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup peanut butter chips

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line baking sheet with parchment paper for easy cleanup.
Combine first 4 ingredients in a bowl.  You can start with an electric mixer, but be warned it will probably be too thick and sticky to continue at a certain point, so switch to a strong spoon.
Stir in peanut butter chips.
Spoon 2 Tablespoons of dough onto parchment for each cookie.
Bake 12 minutes.  They will be soft - that's the cake part - but they are done after 12 minutes.

Barely adapted from Mix and Match Mama

Coffee mug cookie

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a wicked sweet tooth.  And sometimes it just NEEDS a baked treat, but it doesn't have the patience to wait for me to bake a whole batch of cookies or brownies.  This little guy has come through for me on many occasions, and while it's not a real cookie, it's pretty delicious and does the trick.

Also, it only requires one measuring spoon, which is an awesome bonus!  Plus, I get to use the wonderful latte mugs Papa Rist gave me for Christmas.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons melted butter
• 3 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 4 Tablespoons flour
• 2-3 Tablespoons chocolate chips
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• pinch salt

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a coffee mug.  Microwave for 1 1/2 minutes.


I have been in a peanut butter mood lately, so I like to do half chocolate chips and half peanut butter chips to get all the cravings satisfy.  Add a little vanilla ice cream on top and life is great.

Pink cookies and cupcakes

The week of Valentine's day, the upstairs girls and I all got together for a cupcake decorating party.  I, of course, felt the need to use my fun new cookie cutters and contribute cookies to the party.  We spent the evening drinking pink champagne and decorating with multiple shades of pink frosting while 27 Dresses played in the background. 


Since my knee surgery was less than a week before this, I was unable to put weight on my right leg and was using crutches and countertops to propel myself around the kitchen.  Thanks to this, I had to promise one of the girls that I wouldn't overdo it...so I made cookies from a mix and didn't make gluten-free ones from scratch.


Another hurdle was remembering that I don't own a rolling pin.  Oops.  I forgot that I had borrowed one from the girls upstairs for the Christmas cookies.  Luckily, I have a well-stocked wine cabinet and was clear-headed enough to think of a wine bottle as a useful alternative!

We had a great night with a lot of laughs; including several revolving around my roommate's inability to stop eating the sweet treats.  She would spread frosting on a cupcake, and immediately start eating it.  And she would stop partway through to slather more frosting in the middle of the half-eaten cupcake.

It was a fun way of testing myself in the kitchen with the new knee, a great excuse for all of us to get together on a Monday, and a delicious snack for several days to come.

Lemon drop cookies

I love desserts that start with a cake mix when I'm in a hurry, especially ones that taste delicious and unique; this is definitely one of those recipes!  Not only do these cookies look delightful, but they stay soft and have a wonderful lemony flavor.  Tall Dark and Nerdy is a big fan too!

Ingedients:

• 1 box lemon cake mix
• 1 (8 oz) container Cool Whip
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar (for rolling)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat cool whip, egg, and cake mix together.  Dough will be thick and very sticky.

Drop by teaspoonfuls into a bowl of powdered sugar.  Roll to coat.

Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 10-12 minutes.

Adapted from Tidy Mom

Christmas roll-out cookies

My mom gave me cookie-decorating supplies for Christmas, a gift which I was ordered to open early.  Boy, am I glad I did!  My sister and I had so much fun making and decorating these, and tall, dark, and nerdy, my boys, and my friends had a lot of fun eating them!



Now, I have to admit, I was feeling a little overwhelmed by the idea of making cookies, frosting them, AND decorating them, so we cheated a little and made sugar cookies from a mix (two mixes actually...double batch!), modifying them a little bit to make better roll-out cookies (all it took was adding a little flour).  When I make these again in a few weeks for Forced Affection Day, who knows, I might go all out :)

Steps:

Make cookie dough according to package directions for roll-out cookies.

Roll out on floured surface until 1/4 inch thick.  Cut out shapes using cookie cutters and place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.  Repeat until all dough is used.

Bake at 375 degrees for 5 to 7 minutes or until edges are light golden brown.  Cool 1 minute before removing from cookie sheet.  

Cool completely before decorating.  While cookies are cooling, make frosting.

Decorate, and enjoy!

Pumpkin cookies with maple-caramel frosting

My roommate MB begs me weekly to make these delicious, moist cookies for her again.  They have quickly become a dessert staple for parties and holidays.

Ingredients:
Cookies

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (I prefer dark brown sugar)
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour

Frosting

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar (again, I like dark brown)
• Pinch of salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars.  Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.  Stir in pumpkin.
In a medium bowl, sift together the baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, salt, and flour.  Add to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
Drop by heaping tablespoons onto a lightly greased cookie sheet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes.

While cookies are cooling, make frosting:
In a medium saucepan, combine butter, cream, and brown sugar over medium heat.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture just begins to boil; remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
Allow to cool slightly, then stir in powdered sugar.
Spread frosting over cooled cookies.

Adapted from letsdishrecipes.com