Pumpkin Cornbread

We grew so many pumpkins last year and my husband bottles, froze all of them    I have been trying to come up with some recipes to use all the pumpkin that I have.  We are having a chili cook off on Saturday and so I decided to make pumpkin cornbread.  It is delicious.  I will make another batch for Saturday.

Pumpkin  CORNBREAD

1 c. yellow cornmeal

1 c. all-purpose flour

1 tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

½ t. cardamon

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 c. pumpkin puree

1/2 c. sour cream

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/3 c. oil                                            

2 eggs

1.  Preheat oven to 400° and grease a 9” square baking dish with cooking spray. In a large bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and salt.

2.  In a separate medium bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, sour cream, brown sugar, and melted butter until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Pour over the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

3.  Spread batter in prepared baking dish and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool before slicing into squares.

PUMPKIN SNICKERDOODLE COOKIES

PUMPKIN SNICKERDOODLES

We went to San Francisco for Thanksgiving this year.  We spent a day in China Town and then made our way to Union  Square.  I had never been to Union Square. The skating ring, the huge  decorated Christmas tree.  I loved seeing Macy's Store.  It reminded me of  the movie Miracle on 34th Street.  It was pouring rain and umbrellas everywhere.   I loved it.  I made this cookie for the first time to sent to my son who is in Iraq.  I thought it might let him think of Thanksgiving.  Hopefully it will not be to hard and stale when he gets them.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Ingredients:

·         1/2 cup) salted butter

·         1/4 cup  packed light or dark brown sugar

·         1 cup  granulated sugar, divided

·         1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

·         6 Tablespoons  pumpkin puree

·         1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

·         1/4 teaspoon salt

·         1/4 teaspoon baking powder

·         1/4 teaspoon baking soda

·         2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided

·         1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice¹

·         ¼  - 1/2 cup  chocolate chips   optional

Directions:

1.      SOFTEN the butter in the microwave. In a medium bowl, whisk the butter, brown sugar, and 1/2 cup granulated sugar together until no brown sugar lumps remain. Whisk in the vanilla and pumpkin until smooth. Set aside.

2.       In a large bowl, toss together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together with a large spoon or rubber spatula. The dough will be very soft. Fold in white chocolate chips. They may not stick to the dough because of the melted butter, but do your best to have them evenly dispersed in the dough. Cover the dough and chill for 30 minutes, or up to 3 days². Chilling is mandatory.

3.       Take the dough out of the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

4.       Roll the dough into balls, about 1.5 Tablespoons of dough each. Mix together the remaining 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. Roll each of the dough balls generously in the cinnamon-sugar mixture and arrange on 2 baking sheets. Slightly flatten the dough balls because the cookies will only slightly spread in the oven. The photo above shows what the cookie dough balls should look like before baking.

5.       Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes. The cookies will look very soft and underbaked. Keeping them in the oven for longer may dry them out.  Remove from the oven and press a few more white chocolate chips onto the tops, if desired. If you find that your cookies didn't spread much at all, flatten them out when you take them out of the oven.

6.       Allow the cookies to cool for at least 10 minutes on the cookie sheets before transferring to a wire rack. The longer the cookies cool, the chewier they will be. I let them sit out for at least 1 hour before enjoying. I find that their chewiness and pumpkin flavor is more prominent on day 2.

Make ahead tip: Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week. You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.² Allow to come to room temperature and continue with step 3. Baked cookies freeze well up to three months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well up to three months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw.

Recipe Notes:

1.       Instead of pumpkin pie spice, you can use 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon allspice.

2.       If you are chilling the pumpkin cookie dough for longer than 30 minutes, the cookie dough will likely have to sit on the counter at room temperature for at least 15 minutes before scooping/rolling because it will be quite cold and solid. The amount of time it needs to sit at room temperature depends on how long the dough has chilled. If I chill my cookie dough for around 24 hours, I let it sit at room temperature for about 25 minutes.

original recipe I changed it a bit

Apple Blueberry Pie

Merry Christmas To All.
It has been so long since I have posted.  I was at the store and  I found some huge granny smith apples.They look so good  I got a craving for apple pie.   Philip at  the culinary used to make  a apple pie that had grated lemon rind in it.  It was awesome, so good.  I wanted to make it but did not have any lemons so I decided to use grated orange;  I also had some frozen blue berries, so I decided to make an Apple Blueberry Pie.  I am trying to add more coconut oil to my diet.  I  put half shortening and half coconut oil and it seems to work and taste great.  Here is the recipe for the pie crust  that I used and the filling.  I  remember my grandma so much during Christmas

Pie Crust

•  3/4 c. coconut oil
• 3/4 cup shortening
• 3 cups All-purpose Flour
• 1 whole Egg
• 5 Tablespoons Cold Water
• 1 Tablespoon White Vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Salt

DIRECTIONS

1. In a bowl, mix together the salt and flour.
2. With a pastry blender, cut in cold shortening until the size of peas.
3. In a small cup, beat egg with a fork, add in the vinegar and water; whisk until well blended.
4. Add the water/egg mixture gradually to the flour mixture.
5. Shape into ball.
6. Refrigerate 1 or more hours.
7. Roll out dough, use for 2 (8" pie crust) OR 1 large deep dish pie crusts.

My Grandmother Della Violetta Aiken taught me how to cut the top dough to be fancy and have always made it this way my whole life.  She was such a great cook.   If I have not learned anything else in my life, it is that we need to take advantage of our family and be with them and learn all they know.  Life is so short.

Apple Blueberry Filling

8 to  large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

1 c. Blueberries

• 1  1/4  cup sugar, 
• 1 T Lemon Juice
• 1 1/2  T Grated Orange Rind
• 1  teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 T flour
• 1 T Tapicoa
• 2 tablespoons  butter
• In a large bowl, combine apples, sugar, lemon zest and juice, spices, and flour. Toss well. Spoon apples into pie pan. Dot with butter, and cover with remaining pastry circle. Cut several steam vents across top. Seal by crimping edges as desired. Brush with beaten egg, and sprinkle with additional sugar.
• Bake until crust is brown and juices are bubbling, about 1 hour. Let cool on wire rack before serving.
• 
  

Banana Chocolate Oat Cookies (Bananakies)

This cookie is really good.  It makes a good breakfast food.  I have changed the recipe but put a link for the original recipe.  Rod has got tons of banana's and is going to make these for the children's lunch at school tomorrow.  I was just ahead of him today.  Yum,  I have had to many today.

Healthy Banana Chocolate Oat Cookies

Ingredients
2 cups rolled oats
3 ripe bananas, mashed  (or 2 mashed bananas and 2/3 c. mashed cooked sweet potato's)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon   ( I add 1/2 t. nutmeg and 1/4 t. cloves when I use sweet potato's)
1/3 cup shredded coconut
2/3 cups sliced almonds
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup dark chocolate chips (I like to use some chocolate chips and cinnamon chips)

Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, salt, baking powder, coconut, almonds, and cinnamon together so everything is well combined.

3. In another mixing bowl, combine your wet ingredients – mashed bananas, vanilla extract, and unsweetened apple sauce.

4. Mix together the dry and wet ingredients until well combined. The dough will be a little moist which is what you want.

5. Fold in the chocolate chips. Drop 1/2 tablespoon of dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment (or cooking spray) and cook for 14-16 minutes. Enjoy!

http://www.slenderkitchen.com/banana-chocolate-oat-cookies-bananakies/

Garbanzo Bean Chocolate Chip Cookie

These are such a great cookie and they are healthy for a cookie.   I am going to make another batch today and try adding oatmeal.  I did a batch yesterday and added coconut and that was great. I will let you know how the oatmeal turns out.   They are very filling,  By the time I eat 2 I am stuffed.

Ingredients

• 1¼ cups canned chickpeas, well-rinsed and patted dry with a paper towel
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ cup + 2 tablespoons,  SunButter or almond butter
• 1/3  c. honey 
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• a pinch of salt if your peanut butter doesn't have salt in it
• ½ cup chocolate chips
• optional:    1/3 c, coconut,   1/3 c. oatmel 

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F / . Combine all the ingredients, except for the chocolate chips, in a food processor and process until very smooth. Make sure to scrape the sides and the top to get the little chunks of chickpeas and process again until they're combined.
2. Put in the chocolate chips and stir it if you can, or pulse it once or twice. The mixture will be very thick and sticky.
3. With wet hands, form into 1½" balls. Place onto a Silpat or a piece of parchment paper. If you want them to look more like normal cookies, press down slightly on the balls. They don't do much rising. Bake for about 10 minutes.

Pineapple Muffins

It has been a rainy great day.   Fall is in the air.  These are a great Muffin.  Loved them,  especially right out of the oven.  HAPPY DAY TO ALL!!!!!!!!!!




Pineapple Muffins

1/2 cup  pecans 2 cups  all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 1/3 cup  unsalted butter, room temperature 3/4 cup  granulated white sugar 1 large egg 3/4 cup  plain yogurt 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 -20 oz can crushed pineapple, drained sprinkle the batter in the muffin tin with cinnamon sugar before baking

Pineapple Muffins:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Toast the pecans for 8 minutes, or until lightly browned and fragrant. Set aside to cool aND CHOP   Grease, or spray with a nonstick spray, muffin tins.    In a separate bowl, whisk to combine, the flour, salt, and baking soda.    In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Add the egg and beat until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then beat in the yogurt,  . Add the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated. Fold in the toasted pecans and drained pineapple.    Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins. Sprinkle top with cinnamon sugar.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. (Length of baking time will depend on the size and color of the muffin tins used, i.e. dark colored pans will cook the muffins faster than lighter colored pans.)   Makes about 1 doz.

Chai-Spiced Shortbread Cookies

We went to our cabin for Thanksgiving.  It was so great. Woke up one morning and This was the sunrise that we got to see.  

The river was full of water with all the rain that we received.   

Sausage making 

              

        I made these cookies tonight.  They are awesome.  Everyone that ate them loved them.  They are all gone.  Yum!!!  They were really good broken up on ice cream. 

 

 There  a  change that I made to the recipe.  I added 1/4 c. more sugar.  The critics said that I should put less White chocolate chips, the cookie is so good on its own.  We will see, I liked the chips!!!!    

Chai-Spiced Shortbread Cookies

Photo: Alex Farnum; Styling: Robyn Valarik

Although the flavors here are rich and complex, the recipe is very easy to make.

Outstanding

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Yield: Makes 45

Total: 40 Minutes

Recipe from

Recipe Time

Total: 40 Minutes 

Nutritional Information

Amount per serving

• Calories: 87
• Calories from fat: 55%
• Protein: 0.9g
• Fat: 5.4g
• Saturated fat: 3.3g
• Carbohydrate: 8.9g
• Fiber: 0.3g
• Sodium: 59mg
• Cholesterol: 12mg

 

Ingredient

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour $
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground fennel seeds*
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• Leaves from 1 English Breakfast tea bag
• 1 cup white chocolate chips

Preparation

1. 1. Preheat oven to 350°. Beat butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla in a large bowl with a mixer until smooth. In another bowl, stir together flour, cinnamon, ginger, fennel, cardamom, and tea. Add to butter mixture and beat on low speed until blended. Stir in chocolate chips.
2. 2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set 1-tbsp. balls of dough 1 in. apart on sheets and flatten slightly with a floured glass.
3. 3. Bake until cookies are light golden on undersides, 15 to 18 minutes, switching pan positions halfway through baking. Transfer to racks to cool.
4. *Grind in a clean coffee grinder or in a mortar.
5. Make ahead: Up to 3 days, stored airtight.
6. Note: Nutritional analysis is per cookie.