Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Icing, week 12

I'm so sad.  This is the last week of us all baking new Christmas Cookies and sharing with one another.  I have really been enjoying the excuse to try several new and different varieties that I've had my eye on for a while.  For today's cookie I decided to go once again with pumpkin.  I have never tried a plain pumpkin cookie, whether it be one I've made myself or otherwise, but the idea sounded so appealing that I wanted to give it a shot.  While I was looking for inspiration for a recipe, I flipped through my Baking Illustrated cookbook and came across a recipe for chewy Sugar Cookies. Thinking that this recipe might be a good starting point I decided to whip up a batch as written to see how well it might be converted into a pumpkin cookie.  I was a bit disappointed in the results, the cookie wasn't quite what I had hoped for.  It tasted good (there are none left) but it wasn't going to fit the bill, not even as a base.

(pumpkin puree before cooking)

Looking for new inspiration I decided to do an online search.  It seemed that most of the recipes that were turning up would turn out a soft, pillowy, muffin top of a cookie.  This still wasn't what I was looking for.  Until I came across a recipe on Erin's site.  She describes typical pumpkin cookies as looking "more like an orphaned whoopie pie half" which is very apt.  However, she also stated that an error in forgetting to cream the butter and sugar together corrected this problem in her pumpkin cookies.  Another source, guilty kitchen, used pumpkin butter instead of plain puree to eliminate the fluffiness of her pumpkin cookies.  I decided to combine both of these ideas into a recipe of my own to see how it would turn out.

(pumpkin puree after cooking about 30 minutes)

While I was making the cookies I wondered if they should have an icing or glaze like there was on several of the recipes that my search turned up.  One of them made a browned butter icing and another had a cream cheese icing, since both sounded delicious I combined them into a browned butter cream cheese icing.  The result fell a bit short of my expectations, next time I am just going with the cream cheese icing (reflected in the recipe below, if you want to try it with the browned butter the only change is to brown the butter before adding the cream cheese).  These cookies were not cakey, so I successfully avoided that, but neither were they chewy or crunchy.  They tasted like a cinnamon roll mixed with a slice of pumpkin pie and then injected into a cookie.  While that isn't at all what I was anticipating, I am not about to complain about the mouthwatering little morsels on my plate.  Overall, I am very pleased with how my experimenting turned out.

Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Icing
Ingredients
15 oz. pumpkin puree (alternately, substitute about 1 cup of good pumpkin butter for this and the 1/4 cup of brown sugar)
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 sticks butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp cardamon
1/4 tsp ginger

Instructions
In a small saucepan over low heat, combine pumpkin puree and 1/4 cup of brown sugar.  Keep cooking, stirring often to prevent sticking and burning, until the puree becomes quite thick and has reduced in volume by about 1/2, about 30 minutes.  Allow to cool before proceeding.

Meanwhile, measure into a medium bowl all the dry ingredients (flour through ginger) and stir to mix.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350°F.  When pumpkin puree has cooled, add it to the bowl of your mixer along with the butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla, stirring only to combine.  Add the dry ingredients, mixing until no visible flour remains.

Using a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop, measure out portions of dough on a cookie sheet.  Using your palm which has been moistened with water (or the flat bottom of a glass or measuring cup) press down to flatten each mound of dough.  These cookies will not spread and flatten much on their own so squish them to your desired thickness.

Bake in the preheated oven for around 12 minutes, being sure to switch the pans halfway through for even cooking.  Cool on the pans a few minutes before removing to a wire rack.

Cream Cheese Icing
Ingredients
2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
1-2 tablespoon milk (until desired consistency)

Instructions
In a small bowl, whip together the softened butter and cream cheese.  Stir in the powdered sugar.  Add the milk a little at a time until you have reached your desired consistency. Spread or drizzle on each cookie depending on thickness of icing.

Please be sure to check out everyone's entry for the final week of the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies, Week 4

So far for each of these weeks of Christmas cookies, I have been minding my own business and baking my cookies and then when I go to sit down to write up the recipe it all of a sudden hits me that we only have a few weeks until Christmas! Woohoo!  

 

Sometimes you want a rich, indulgent, full dessert of a cookie and sometimes you don’t.  Sometimes you’d rather just have a mildly sweet treat to snack on without feeling too guilty.  These cookies are good for that second time.  Loaded with healthy goodness from the pumpkin, oats, walnuts and chocolate chips (hey, they have antioxidants!), these cookies lean towards the healthier side of the cookie platter and still satisfy a sweet tooth.  

I like the idea of having a less decadent holiday treat to offer on my cookie platter so that guests (or myself!) who may have ordinarily passed on dessert can enjoy a little something without the guilt.  I also like that I can let Little Man have one without worrying about a sugar buzz keeping him up until dawn. . 

And since they have oatmeal in them, that means that you can have these cookies for breakfast, right? 

Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter softened
1 cup sugar (next time I will use brown sugar)
1 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2 cups rolled oats
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup chocolate chips 

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside

3. In a separate bowl, beat softened butter and sugar until mixture is light and fluffy. Stir in egg and pumpkin.

4. To the creamed butter mixture stir in the flour until just combined. Stir in oats, nuts, and chocolate chips.

5. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. These cookies won't spread much so wet your hand (to prevent the dough from sticking to it) and gently press your palm down on each cookie to flatten. This will help them to cook more evenly.

6. Bake 15-18 minutes or until done. Remove and cool on a wire rack.

Be sure to check out what everyone else is serving up!  
Week 4 Twelve Weeks of Christmas:

Pumpkin...Bread?

I am never entirely convinced that fruit and veggie "breads" are really in the right category.  They are usually to tender, to sweet, and to cake-like for me to feel right in calling them a bread.  This pumpkin bread is no exception, but that is okay because it is absolutely delicious.  I adapted it from Dorie Greenspan's pumpkin muffin recipe from her book Baking: From My Home To Yours. Now there is a clear category, not a cupcake or a biscuit but a muffin.  It tells you exactly what to expect.  But that is besides the point.

I had a large amount of fresh pumpkin puree on my hands and an itch to bake something to fill the house with warmth and spices.  So I turned to Dorie's book, which I had acquired after I stumbled upon the Tuesdays With Dorie group.  There were so many recipes I was interested in that I finally requested a copy of my own.  Unfortunately, I have not used it much since it was given to me for my birthday, but since the recipes I have used from it have all been wonderful it was time to pull it off the shelf.

As is my habit, I started changing things right away.  I hate to wash dishes by hand if I can avoid it (although usually Hey, Babe is the one who does it for me), so muffins were out.  So were the raisins, blarg! which should almost never be cooked as far as I am concerned.  The Storm Sprite was asleep now so waiting for butter to soften was out, sub in some oil instead.  And lastly, since I was using homemade pumpkin puree and it was a bit thinner than the canned stuff, I swapped out the buttermilk (which I didn't have anyway) for some sour cream, reasoning that it was thicker and might help balance the extra moisture from the pumpkin.  (With all the changes I make to every recipe I ever come across, can I really say that I like someone's recipe?  Or do I just like my adaptations of it?  I don't think I'll ever know.)

It was delicious.  Tender, moist, slightly sweet, and with a nice crunch from the walnuts.  The warmth from the spices were just right for fall.  I still have a hard time calling it a bread instead of a cake or something.  It doesn't help that I baked it in a baking dish instead of a bread pan.  I wasn't sure that it would turn out right if there wasn't enough surface area for the moisture to evaporate, so I opted for my 7" x 11" pyrex dish.  It is kind of an odd size, but I got it with a set and I use it more than I thought I would.  If I didn't have it, I would have probably just split the batter between two bread pans.  Next time, to circumvent the whole cake/bread problem, I think I will throw on a streusel topping with some brown sugar and chopped walnuts and just call it a coffee cake, problem solved.

Pumpkin Bread, Cake, Whatever Ingredients 2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg  Pinch of ground allspice 1/2 cup oil 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar 2 large eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup fresh pumpkin puree 1/4 cup sour cream 1/2 cup chopped walnuts Instructions Put oven rack in middle position  and preheat oven to 350°F.  Lightly grease a 7" x 11" baking dish (or two regular sized bread pans).  Set aside. While oven is preheating, mix together all the dry ingredients from the flour through the allspice.  In a separate bowl, combine the two sugars and the oil until well mixed.  Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each.  Stir in the vanilla, pumpkin and sour cream.   Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until they are just combined.  Add the walnuts and stir just until they are evenly distributed.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s) and place in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes (mine took 30) or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Set pan on a rack and cool 5 minutes before loosening the cake/bread from the sides of the pan.  Let finish cooling completely.

Black Bean Pumpkin Soup and Rustic White Bread

 
When the pumpkin was done roasting and being pureed I checked the time and decided that it was a little too early to start the soup.  Since homemade bread alongside homemade soup is a wonderful end to working outside on a chilly, drizzly day, and since I had plenty of time for it to rise before dinner, I decided to make some.  I chose this really easy looking recipe (it only has four ingredients) that I had marked ages ago from Smitten Kitchen's site.

It was as easy as it had looked.  Of course I still made adaptations, which I have a habit of doing.  I always have good intentions when I'm making a recipe for the first time.  When I start out I plan on following the measurements and instructions to the letter, and I nearly always end up modifying it somehow.  It seems that I can't help myself.  For this recipe I changed the method a bit (see Smitten Kitchen's site for the original version).


While the bread dough was rising, I started making the soup.  It was still a bit early but the Storm Sprite was sleeping, and when soup simmers gently on the stove for a while it allows the flavors to mingle even more.  I'm not sure where I originally saw this recipe, I do know that I've had it for a while.  This is another one that I modified as I went (it's a curse! I can't help it!).

When I think of pumpkins I never think of savory things.  My thoughts immediately jump instead to pies and breads and puddings and ice creams.  I am going to have to change this habit now, because this soup was delicious.  We all enjoyed it, even Little Man.  His bowl had frozen corn thrown in to help cool it off, and I may just add corn to the ingredient list next time.  It added visual appeal and I believe it would go nicely with the other elements of the soup.

Black Bean Pumpkin Soup Ingredients 2 15 1/2 ounce cans black beans 1 cup crushed tomatoes 1 1/4 cups chopped onion 4 garlic cloves minced 1 tablespoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter 2 cups beef broth 3 cups pumpkin puree 1/2 pound cooked ham cut into 1/8-inch dice Garnish: sour cream and coarsely chopped lightly toasted pumpkin seeds (optional) InstructionsIn a food processor coarsely puree beans with the tomatoes. In a large pot, cook onion, garlic, cumin, salt, and pepper in butter over medium heat, stirring, until onion is softened and beginning to brown. Stir in bean and tomato puree. Stir in broth and pumpkin.  Simmer uncovered and stirring occasionally for 25 minutes, or until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Just before serving, add ham, stirring until heated through. Season soup with salt and pepper. Serve soup garnished with sour cream and toasted pumpkin seeds. Rustic White Bread Ingredients 2 cups warm tap water about 110 degrees 2 1/2 teaspoons (1 envelope) active dry yeast 5 1/4 to 5 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 3 teaspoons salt 1/3 cup flour for dusting the loaves Cornmeal for the pans  InstructionsTo mix dough place 5 1/4 cups of flour and the salt in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add water and yeast and mix on low speed to form a smooth, elastic and slightly sticky dough, about 5 minutes. Incorporate the remaining flour a tablespoon at time if the dough is too soft. Place dough in an oiled bowl, turning dough over so the top is oiled. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow dough to rise at room temperature until doubled.  To shape loaves, press the dough down to deflate it. Divide the dough in half, shaping one piece at a time. Place half the dough on a well floured surface and press it into a square, then roll it up tightly. Rotate the dough 90° and roll it up again from the short end. Arrange dough seam side down, cover with plastic or a towel and let it rest of 5 minutes. Repeat with remaining piece of dough. Dust pan with cornmeal. Working from the middle of the loaf outward, roll each piece of dough under your palms until it is the desired length.  Place loaves seam side down on cookie sheets and dust each loaf heavily with flour, using about 1/3 cup in all. Cover with plastic or a towel and allow to rise until doubled. Preheat oven to 500° and set racks at the middle and lowest levels. Set a pan on the lowest rack to absorb some of the excess bottom heat and keep the bottom of the loaves from burning. Right before placing the loafs in the oven, use a very sharp knife to make 3 to 4 diagonal slashes in the top of each loaf.  Immediately place loaves in oven and lower temperature 450°. After loaves have baked for 20 minutes lower temperature to 350° and continue baking 20 - 30 minutes longer, or until bread reaches an internal temperature of about 220°. Remove loaves from oven and cool on a rack.

Homemade Pumpkin Puree

My kitchen smelled heavenly today.  When I finally woke up around 10 this morning (waking up not being the same as getting up, which I had to do at around 6) I decided that it was time to do something with the pumpkin Hey, Babe bought at the farmers market last week.  We were scheduled to have Pumpkin Black Bean Soup for dinner and rather than use the puree from a can I decided to make my own.

Pumpkin Puree may just be the simplest make-it-yourself-instead-of-buy-it-prepared item I have ever attempted.  You start by preheating your oven to 350° and washing a pumpkin,

slice it in half,

scoop out the guts and seeds

and turn the two halves over onto a pan with some water and put it all in the oven for about an hour and a half until it is soft.

Yeah, that looks pretty soft, it's starting to pucker and warp a bit.

Scoop out the flesh

and then the last step is to run it through your food processor and you are all set

 

Some recipes have you then strain the pumpkin so that it is the same consistency as the canned stuff, others have you cook it until the liquid is reduced.  For my purposes (soup) I left it as it was.

I have never actually had homemade pumpkin puree before (at least not to my knowledge).  It looked like the baby food I painstaking made for Little Man when he was a baby, to which he without fail turned his nose up.  It smelled delicious and I had been smelling it for over an hour by this point. Not knowing what to expect I went ahead and tasted it.  I really liked it.  I like winter squashes, so I'm not sure why this was such a surprise.  It would be delicious as a side with just a pat of butter and some salt and pepper.  But this puree was destined for other things.  Next up, Pumpkin Black Bean Soup.