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.
•