Pumpkin "Pillow" Cookies

It’s that time again. When every store, restaurant, even gas stations, start pushing pumpkin spice. The aroma of the quintessential fall flavors (cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, allspice) evoke images of cozy nights in front of a warming fireplace, wearing our favorite sweater or hoodie. And who am I to argue with this annual phenomenon? Even though it’s currently 73 degrees and sunny, I am ready for fall baking. Instead of the yearly publishing of my all-time favorite pumpkin bread, I opted for something a bit more portable - a cookie! 

The title of this recipe, from the NY Times cooking site, is pumpkin cookies, but it should really be officially re-named pumpkin “pillows.” These are like little clouds of deliciousness, bursting with those requisite autumn flavors. These have a hefty two teaspoons of ground ginger, giving them a nice bite. The recipe calls for a sprinkle of sanding sugar before baking, but I didn’t have any so I used regular granulated sugar, but next time (yes, these are so good there will be a next time) I will use the sanding sugar for added texture.

They are not the prettiest cookies  (reminding me of the Italian cookie, “brutti ma buoni,” which translates to ugly, but good), but when a cookie is this good, who cares what it looks like?! Seriously, make these cookies for all your fall get-togethers.

Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients:

1-1/2 C AP flour

2 t ground ginger

1-1/2 t ground cinnamon

1/2 t ground nutmeg

1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t kosher salt

8 TB unsalted butter, at room temp

1 C packed light or dark brown sugar

1 large egg, at room temp

3/4 C pumpkin puree

1 t vanilla extract

Sanding sugar, for sprinkling (optional)

Preparation:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt.
3. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium, beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg, pumpkin puree, and vanilla extract until blended.
4. Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and beat just until combined.
5. Scoop the batter into 2-tablespoon scoops, at least 1 inch apart, onto the prepared sheets. Sprinkle with sanding sugar. Bake one sheet at a time until the cookies are puffed, set and spring back when gently pressed in the center, about 12 minutes. Repeat with second sheet.
6. Transfer cookies to rack to cool completely.

Because these cookies are moist, it’s best to store them between parchment or wax paper in an airtight container at room temp. You could also freeze them and thaw before serving.

Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

In my culinary calendar, after Italian prune plum season, next up is pumpkin. I love pumpkin as much as the next gal, but (just like Halloween and Christmas), online and brick-and-mortar stores start advertising EVERYTHING pumpkin way too early, so by the time actual fall rolls around, I am sick of it. But that doesn’t deter me from baking at least one pumpkin-y goodie. Because, as you know, I am all about the baked goods!

This recipe is from gimmesomeoven.com & it’s a good one. To begin with, it is chock-full of the de rigueur fall spices — cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, allspice; next, they are soft and chewy (which I love); and finally, they have a luscious cream cheese frosting which, just literally, is the icing on the cake. They keep well in the fridge for about a week, if you have any left over.

Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

Adapted from gimmesomeoven.com 

Yields about 3 dozen cookies

Cookie Ingredients:

2-1/2 C AP flour

1 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

1 TB pumpkin pie spice (see below)

1/2 t salt

1/2 C (1 stick) butter, softened

1 C granulated sugar

1/2 C brown sugar

1-1/4 C canned pumpkin puree

1 egg

1 t vanilla extract

Frosting Ingredients*:

8 oz (1 brick) cream cheese, room temp

3 TB butter, room temp

1 t vanilla extract

1 C confectioners’ sugar (approximately)

Chopped walnuts (optional)

* The original recipe calls for low-fat cream cheese. Also, I reduced the amount of confectioners’ sugar to 1 cup, as I thought 2 cups was too much.

Pumpkin pie spice (gimmesomeoven.com):

1/4 C ground cinnamon

2 TB ground ginger

4 t ground nutmeg

2 t ground allspice

2 t ground cloves

Whisk all spice ingredients together in a small bowl until combined. Transfer to a sealed spice jar, where it will keep for up to 2 years.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt, until combined. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar on medium-high speed for 1 minute until light and fluffy. Add in pumpkin, egg, and vanilla to butter mixture, and beat on medium speed until just combined. Fold in the dry ingredients until just combined.

Drop on cookie sheet by heaping tablespoons, then use your fingers or a spoon to flatten slightly (these cookies tend to poof up slightly rather than flatten during baking, so shape them beforehand however you like. They won’t rise much).

Bake 15-20 minutes, or until baked through and bounce back slightly when you touch them. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool until they reach room temp. Then frost or drizzle with frosting. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts (optional) or a pinch of cinnamon or the pumpkin pie spice. Refrigerate in sealed container.

Frosting:

With electric mixer, beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla together on medium-high speed until smooth. Gradually add in confectioners’ sugar until it is well combined and the frosting is smooth. If it is too thick, add a tablespoon or two of milk (or water) until it reaches your desired consistency. If it is too thin, add a bit more confectioners’ sugar.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

You may or may not know this about me, but I am not a raging chocoholic (shocker, I know!). My tastes run more to oatmeal raisin, anything cinnamon-y, a good old-fashioned coffee cake - you get the gist.

But last week, for some really strange reason, I had a desire for chocolate chip cookies. I had recently run across a recipe from Nigella Lawson that looked terrific. As I do, she likes chocolate chip cookies that are neither too thin/crispy, nor too fat/doughy. She claimed to have perfected the ultimate cookie. And since I was having this totally out of the ordinary (for me) craving, I thought this would be THE recipe to try. 

Her recipe calls for milk chocolate morsels, but when I saw espresso chips in the store, I had to have them. I’m glad I made the swap. The espresso chips give the cookies a much deeper, richer flavor (highly recommend!).

This recipe makes 14 large cookies. Another cookie pet peeve of mine is the  trend toward BIG cookies - I just don’t get it. I made them according to the directions, but I think next time (yes, these were so good there will be a next time), I will make them a tad smaller.

Besides the chips, the only other change I made was to add a 1/2 teaspoon of salt, which I think is essential. 

The cookies have the perfect texture and flavor that I want in a chocolate chip cookie. Whip up a batch and let me know if you agree! All chocolate chip cookie opinions are welcome here.

Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from Nigella Lawson)

Ingredients:

1-1/4 sticks soft, unsalted butter

2/3 C soft light brown sugar

1/2 C superfine sugar (I used regular granulated sugar)

2 t pure vanilla extract

1 egg (fridge-cold)

1 egg yolk (fridge-cold)

2 C all-purpose flour

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1 9 oz bag espresso morsels

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F
2. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment.
3. Melt butter and let it cool a bit. Put the brown and white sugars into a  mixer bowl, pour the slightly cooled, melted butter over them and beat together.
4. Beat in the vanilla, the cold egg, and cold egg yolk until your mixture is light and creamy.
5. Slowly mix in the flour, baking soda, and salt until just blended, then fold in the chips.
6. Scoop the cookie dough into a 1/4 C measure or a quarter-cup round ice cream scoop, and drop onto the prepared baking sheet, plopping the cookies down about 3” apart. You will need to make these in two batches, keeping the bowl of cookie dough in the fridge between batches.
7. Bake for 15-17 minutes in the pre-heated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks.

Make ahead: the cookies can be made up to 3 days ahead and stored in an airtight container. Will keep for a total of 5 days.

Freeze: the baked cookies can be frozen in an airtight container or resealable bag for up to 3 months. Defrost for 2-3 hours at room temp. Unbaked cookie dough can be scooped onto parchment-lined baking sheets and frozen until solid. Transfer frozen dough to resealable bags and freeze up to 3 months. Bake direct from frozen, as directed in the recipe, but adding an extra 2-3 minutes to the baking time. And you could always freeze the spare egg white (bag it, label it, freeze for up to 3 months) for meringues at a later date. Use within 24 hours of defrosting.

Greek Easter Cookies (Koulourakia)

Do you ever want “just” a simple, but delicious, cookie? One that’s easy to make, doesn’t have a zillion ingredients, keeps well, and is perfect for enjoying as a light breakfast, or as an after dinner treat? Well, look no further.

In doing research to bring a traditional dessert to a friend’s home for Greek Easter dinner, I happened upon Koulourakia, a crispy, yet buttery-soft, citrus-scented cookie. At first taste, right after the first tray emerged from the oven, I was not overly impressed. They were nice enough, but not anything special. But after my second tasting (quality control!), they started to grow on me. I loved their adorable little braided shape and the lightness of the dough. My dinner companions loved them (and the highest complement of all, telling me they reminded our hostess of her Greek mother’s version!); and as I continued to enjoy one (or two) after dinner last night, dunking them into my coffee, I proclaimed them a winner! 

I think next time (because there WILL be a next time), I might add a bit more orange flavor, and maybe instead of sesame seeds as a topping, I might opt for some crystallized sugar for a touch more sweetness. Of course, I know this totally changes the original nature of this cookie, but no harm in experimenting, right?

Happy Spring!

Photo courtesy of Pexels.com 

Koulourakia (Greek Easter Cookies) 

Adapted from curiouscuisiniere.com 

Ingredients:

1/2 C unsalted butter, softened

3/4 C sugar

2 eggs

1/4 C milk, warmed to 80°F

1 t pure vanilla extract

1 orange, zested

2 t baking powder

2-1/2 C unbleached all-purpose flour

1 egg beaten with 1 TB of water (for the egg wash)

Sesame seeds (for topping)

Directions:

1. In large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, and beat until lightly colored. Add the milk, vanilla, orange zest, and baking powder (mixing as you add).
2. Add the flour, a little at a time, while mixing, until you have a soft but not sticky dough.
3. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill 30 minutes.
4. While the dough is resting, preheat oven to 350°F.
5. Once the dough has rested, dip your fingers in a little flour and pinch off a 1” ball of dough. Roll the ball into a 6” rope on a lightly floured surface. Fold the rope in half and twist the two strands together to form the cookie. Continue with the remaining dough (see note at bottom of recipe).
6. Place the shaped cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet, 1” apart.
7. Brush each cookie with the egg wash. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes (mine took exactly 15 minutes, so watch carefully), rotating the baking sheets halfway through baking for more even cooking. Cookies are done when lightly golden.
9. Let cool on the baking sheet on a rack for 5 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.
10. Store cooled cookies in airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

Note: this recipe makes alot of cookies (approximately 50-60) so cover remaining dough with plastic wrap while first batch bakes to prevent dryness.

Soft Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies

Just in time for the winter holidays comes this luscious little cookie. If you’re a fan of traditional gingerbread, you’re going to love these. They are basically all the things you love about gingerbread but in cookie form — cinnamon, ginger (duh…), cloves, molasses, brown sugar, all ingredients common to gingerbread.  However, this recipe (from Girl vs Dough) kicks it up a notch by rolling the dough in two kinds of sugar before baking, which lends a bit more sweetness to the gingery bite. The sugar melts into the dough during baking giving the cookies the crinkle effect. 

But what I love most about these cookies is their texture — soft and chewy. I ate one right out of the oven (quality control!) and it was wonderful. Another plus is their size. I am not a fan of oversized cookies so I love that these are two bite gems.

It's an easy and fast recipe to put together, but the dough needs to sit for at least an hour (and up to overnight) before baking so plan ahead. 

Pre-baking

Definitely add these to your holiday baking list.

Coming soon, a recap of our recent trip to Portugal!

Ridiculously Soft Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies

Ingredients:

• 3 C all-purpose flour
• 1 TB cinnamon
• 1 TB ground ginger
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/2 t cloves
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 C (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened and cubed
• 1 egg
• 3/4 C molasses (rich taste or robust, not blackstrap)
• 2 TB milk
• 1/2 C granulated sugar
• 1/2 C powdered sugar

Directions:

• In a large bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, cloves, and salt to combine. In a separate large bowl using electric hand mixer or in bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter and brown sugar on high speed for 2 minutes until smooth and light. On low speed, stir in egg, then molasses, then milk. Mixture will be slightly lumpy, this is OK.
• Slow stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just combined. Cover bowl and refrigerate dough one hour or up to overnight.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Shape dough into 1-inch balls, roll each ball in granulated sugar, then in powdered sugar, until well-coated. Transfer to prepared baking sheet, spacing dough at least 2 inches apart.
• Bake 9-11 minutes until edges of cookie are just set. Cool cookies 5 minutes on baking sheets, then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely. 

Yield: approximately 30-40 cookies

A few tips to take into consideration:

1. Be sure to refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour. When the dough is freshly mixed, it’s very soft, and if you get too hasty and bake it right away, it’s more likely to spread thin in the oven. The refrigeration helps not only with shaping but with dough stability in the oven, so the cookies bake with more height in the centers, ensuring that softness.

2. Don’t overbake the cookies! Take them out of the oven as soon as the edges are set. The centers might be a little underbaked at first, but they’ll continue to bake a bit as the cookies cool on the cookie sheet and the end result will be ridiculously soft, as previously explained.

3. Be liberal with the powdered sugar coating. The more powdered sugar on the cookie dough ball before baking, the more of it will be retained after baking. Unlike traditional crinkle cookies, some of the powdered sugar on these cookies will dissolve during baking, but there’s still enough of it that stays bright white to give them that classic crinkle cookie vibe.

4. Look for “robust” or “rich taste” molasses and use that in this recipe. If you can’t find it, light molasses (sometimes just labeled “molasses”) works, too. I don’t recommend blackstrap molasses for this recipe, as it’s less sweet.

Recipe credit: Girl versus Dough

Eat well, stay warm, be happy!

Seed-studded Anzac Biscuits

The name of these tasty little cookies originates in Australia/New Zealand. In fact, ANZAC stands for “Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.” On April 25th, citizens of AUS & NZ honor the soldiers who died in the conflict at Gallipoli, Turkey. Research tells us that these cookies were shipped to soldiers because they travel well and don’t spoil easily.

I happened upon a recipe from Nigella Lawson for these biscuits (which are really like oatmeal cookies that have been kicked up a notch) and since they have almost all of the flavors I love in a cookie, decided to give them a try. The only thing I left out was the coconut — not because I don’t like coconut, but because I didn’t have any in my pantry and didn’t feel like running to the store. Next time, definitely coconut! And based on a friend’s suggestion, possibly a quick half-dip of melted chocolate. I did throw in a handful of raisins to add another texture. Other than that, these little treats are perfect for so many reasons:

1. easy to make
2. no electric mixer required
3. wonderfully chewy texture
4. as mentioned above, they keep well and travel well (throw them in your backpack for a hike, or ship them to a well-deserving friend)
5. nice lunch bag addition or for the 3pm slump
6. not overly sweet
7. chock full of good things like oatmeal, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds
8. great with a cup of coffee or tea
9. nice historical connection
10. um, do you really need another reason to bake these?!

Enjoy! 

PS: looking for organic raisins for this recipe (or any others)? Check out these Organic Monukka Raisins at Superedibles.com 

Seed-studded Anzac Biscuits 

Adapted from Nigella Lawson

Ingredients:

7 TB soft unsalted butter

1/2 C soft light brown sugar

2 TB golden syrup or light corn syrup (I used light corn syrup)

1/2 t baking soda

2 TB hot water from a recently boiled kettle

3/4 C all-purpose flour

3/4 C shredded unsweetened coconut

1 C sprouted or quick-cooking oats (not instant) (Iused quick cooking oats)

3 TB pumpkin seeds

3 TB sunflower seeds

3 TB sesame seeds

5-6 TB raisins

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a decent-sized saucepan, big enough to hold all of the ingredients, melt the butter, sugar, and syrup (golden or light corn) together, then remove from heat.
3. In a bowl, dissolve the baking soda in the hot water, then add to the butter mixture in the saucepan.
4. Now add the remaining ingredients to the pan and combine well.
5. Scoop rounded tablespoons of the mixture onto the lined baking sheets, leaving about 1" between them to allow for the biscuits to spread as they bake. Then slightly flatten them with the back of a spoon.
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes (or a little longer if you want them crisp) until golden brown, swapping the baking sheets over and rotating them halfway through cooking. When cooked, the biscuits will still feel slightly soft, but will harden to a desirable chewiness once cooled.
7. Remove from the oven and let biscuits stand on their sheets for 5 minutes before using a spatula to transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Additional Information:

Storage: Store in airtight container at cool room temperature for up to 1 week. The crisper version will soften slightly over time.

Freezer note: Put cooked biscuits into a resealable bag, or stack in an airtight container with baking parchment between the layers, and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost individual biscuits on a wire rack for about 1 hour before eating.

Pistachio Cardamom Raspberry Cookies (GF)

While making a batch of my husband’s favorite cookies, I decided to make a variation a bit more to my liking (since I’m not a huge chocolate fanatic). I love the combination of cardamom and pistachios and since I had a bag of shelled pistachios on hand, I thought I’d play around with that idea.

Ready to bake!

Instead of cocoa powder, espresso powder, cinnamon, and coffee syrup used in the original recipe, the new version includes ground and chopped pistachios and ground cardamom. Then I remembered how nice raspberry flavor melds with pistachios and threw that into the mix! As a bonus, almond flour makes them gluten-free (if you’re following a GF diet). The cookies turned out just delicious. See what you think!

Pistachio Cardamom Raspberry Cookies (GF)

Ingredients:

1 C almond flour

3 TB softened butter

3 TB powdered sugar

1/8 t salt

1 t ground cardamom

1/2 C ground pistachios*

1/8 C raspberry preserves

1/8 C finely chopped pistachios*

Directions:

1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2 Mix all ingredients (except finely chopped pistachios) in a bowl until a cohesive dough forms.

3 Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes (it can stay in the fridge a few days before baking).

4 When ready to bake, scoop approximately 1" balls of dough onto prepared baking sheet.

5 With your thumb, make an indentation in each ball and drop about an 1/8 t of raspberry preserves in the center of each cookie.

6 Sprinkle a few of the chopped pistachios on top.

7 Bake 10 minutes.

8 Remove from oven & cool pan on rack for about 10 minutes. Transfer cookies to rack to cool completely. 

Yield: approximately 30 adorable, luscious cookies!

* If your pistachios are roasted & salted, omit the salt in this recipe.

Sicilian Pistachio Cookies (gluten-free)

Greetings, Dear Readers.

I feel a bit out of sorts posting a simple cookie article after yesterday's horrible event in Las Vegas (I wrote it last week). Even though I feel depressed and at a loss to come to terms with the senseless violence, and our government's inability to take serious action about realistic gun control, sometimes it does help to cook or bake to relieve some of the stress and anxiety (I know it helps me). Even better would be to invite friends and/or neighbors for a meal, or "coffee and..." to talk peacefully and calmly, or simply to just be together. I hope you and your loved ones are safe.

--------------------

While summer is my fave season, I do love the Fall - the warm days/chilly nights, country drives, throwing on a cute little jacket, and the luscious flavors of Fall - plums, pumpkins, pistachios, cinnamon, cardamom. 

Last year at this time I was in Sicily (read about my trip here and here). Ahhhhhh. Beautiful, mysterious, complicated, delicious Sicily. How I loved that trip! Feeling a bit “homesick” for my ancestral homeland, I needed to make something to help me get back there virtually. 

Mt Etna's volcanic landscape

The adorable donkeys of Etna Donkey Trekking

That’s when I came across this recipe on Food52 for Sicilian Pistachio Cookies. Pistachios are a huge part of Sicily’s agriculture, especially near Mt Etna, which we visited. We were taken in by the otherworldly volcanic landscape of Etna. The mountain had just erupted a couple of months before we were there and black lava was everywhere.  The trusty, adorable donkeys of Etna Donkey Trekking carried us over craters, through ancient forests, and afforded us panoramic views otherwise impossible. I highly recommend this excursion if you visit the Catania area.

Back to the cookies! These little gems are SO easy to make, and as a bonus to people who need to watch their gluten intake - they are GF! The cookies have it all: crunch, spice, citrus - a trifecta of deliciousness! 

crunch, citrus, spice pre-rolling

What are your favorite Fall recipes? Do they bring back memories of a favorite trip? Leave a note below. And let me know if you bake these cookies!

Enjoy!

Full recipe here!