Pumpkin Snickerdoodles!

So I like to bake by just throwing things that sound good into the mixer. Yesterday I was thinking cookies, I had made these chocolate chip pumpkin cookies a couple weeks ago and they were a huge hit. This is definitely what I had in mind when I started. Then about half way through dumping things into my mixer I decided not to add any chocolate.  I had also made these amazing baked pumpkin donuts, and just thinking of the cake like texture and the cinnamon sugar coating made me drool a little.

So I decided to take my cookie dough and make tiny little bite size cookies and roll them in cinnamon sugar. They turned out super tasty.

Photo Credit

1 cup butter softened
3/4 cup sugar (beat together)
add 2 eggs (beat until pale)
add 15 oz can of pumpkin puree
add 1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg
add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
gently add in 2 1/2 cups of a/p flour

scoop with your smallest scoop and roll in cinnamon sugar (I used 1 cup sugar and 3 tbs of cinnamon) place onto parchment lined cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes.









I didn't take this photo, my cookies were all eaten up by kids and husband before I got to the camera part of the day. But they turned out really yummy. You could also put all the pumpkin spices into the sugar you roll the cookies in.

These were super easy, the recipe made about 50 bite size cookies. If you make a larger cookie you will want to bake a little longer.

Bites for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is the holiday that I get to host. The grandparents on both sides still insist on having christmas festivities at their house. I get that but I really wish they would decide to all come over bringing their one (i can't get them to agree to this number either) gift per child on one day. Anyway I love hosting thanksgiving, it is so much nicer than toting the kids from one house to another. When we get all the families together it tends to be a pretty big event. I ask everyone to bring one side dish and end up only getting to cook a few basics, I always do the turkey and the pies and usually the potatoes and then I'm done.  I am not exactly complaining, it is really nice not being overly stressed by trying to make the huge spread. But I love to cook and I love to show off new or amazing recipes for anyone other than my kids (who refuse to try anything new).

So this year besides my tried and true basics.  I am going to make some small bites for the coffee table.  They need to be super beautiful, super delicious, and magically fit the dietary restrictions of my sister. She doesn't eat wheat, rice, or oat (it's kind of a pain) she never complains so I am always looking for a few recipes that never had these ingredients to start with. I would like to do about half sweet, and half savory.

Here are some amazing recipes I found, I will make all of them ahead of time, taste each one to make sure they are worth showing off and then store them in the freezer until the day of: Yummy, pretty and easy!

Sweet Stars

Aren't those the cutest? you can find the recipe here.

Cranberry Almond Cookies

  Not gluten free but a recipe many of my family members will love, find the recipe here.

Gingerbread Caramels

I know right. Amazing recipe here.

Fig and Olive Tapenade

Not as pretty as the others but the recipe looks super tasty, I will serve it with some crostinis and maybe some apple slices. Recipe here.

Broccoli Parmesan Fritters

I know amazing! I will definitely sub the a/p flour for some corn flour and of course fry them up just before serving. Find the recipe here.

Cucumber Cups and Salmon Salad

These should be light refreshing and super yummy. Recipe here.

I will let you know how they go over.

Chocolate Hazelnut Goodies!

 
I'm in a Nutella kind of mood today. Doesn't everyone just love this stuff, creamy, chocolaty and delicious! I try not to feed it to my kids on toast very often. Not that its not amazing and just as good a source of protein as peanut butter, but I don't want them to think of sweet chocolatey yumminess as an everyday kind of food. I want it to be a treat. So I had an amazing idea. TRUFFLES. I love truffles. They are an amazing dessert. Do you want a list why I love truffles? I thought so.

Truffles are:
1. Delicious
2. A lovely small pre portioned amount
3. Rich enough that you don't feel the need to eat twenty
4. Super special, bring anyone truffles and they feel happy and special
5. Really easy to execute. These things do not take baking skills, or decorating skills to do a great job on. (they do take high quality ingredients though)

So here is my super simple, delicious every time and totally creative truffle recipe:

1 cup dark chocolate semisweet chips
1 cup heavy cream

Buy the best quality you can, heat the cream over medium on the stove until it is good and hot, (simmering not boiling) take it off the heat. Stir in Chocolate. Stir some more till its melty and amazing. Add the secret ingredients:

1/2 tsp instant coffee granules
1 tsp vanilla extract

Put in a bowl and chill in refrigerator. once totally cold and hard, pull it out, use a spoon and your hands to make small balls. If you do this nice and quick and then roll in your choice of toppings.

If you want more perfect balls, freeze them, then take them out and roll around in your hands for a second to make more round before rolling in a topping.

Photo Credit: http://www.instructables.com/id/Easy-Truffles/

Toppings:

Classic: Cocoa powder (unsweetened) dump in a bowl (feeling courages add a tablespoon of red chile powder for truffles with a kick) roll truffles in powder, shake off excess and place on pretty plate. Roll. Shake. Plate.

Mocha: take your instant coffee granules and blend in the food processor until nice and fine. Roll. Shake. Plate.

Lavender: (these taste amazing) pick up some organic lavender in the salad section of your grocery, process with equal parts lavender and superfine sugar. Roll. Shake. Plate.

Hard Chocolate (These are a little more skilled to make): Freeze your balls, Melt some high quality chocolate in a bowl over simmering water, stir until just melted, remove from heat but leave on top of water, Dip your frozen truffles into the melted chocolate, place on a cooling rack where the excess can drain off or onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. (its easiest to dip truffles into plenty of chocolate so use more than you need)

Nuts: Use any kind of nut you like, Pistachio, walnut, pecan, almond, piñon, etc. Chop finely or food proceess to your liking, they are prettier if they are really fine, but i like the crunch you get with a slightly bigger nut. Roll. Shake. Plate.

Powdered Sugar: Roll. Shake. Plate.

Today I am making Nutella Truffles, and wouldn't you know it, pinterest has done this before. Nutella Sea Salt Truffles. 

Don't you just want to make/eat those? I did. and they were amazing. I am going to take some to my gluten free sister this afternoon. (another amazing thing about truffles, naturally gluten free) and make her feel special for no reason and with unbelievably little effort.

These also make an amazing Christmas present: Some packaging ideas from, you guessed it, Pinterest.

 

        

No Bake Deliciousness

Do you ever have one of those cravings? The I have to have something sweet and there is nothing in the house kind of craving? I get those a lot, yesterday I ran out of milk, which meant I only got one cup of my amazing coffee. I normally drink two or three, yes I know how addicted I am.  I really wanted more but not badly enough to drag my five children to the grocery store. I will not go to the grocery store with the kids unless I have a long list, there is not one thing I ever need badly enough for that hassle.

So instead I channeled my coffee craving into a general sweets craving. I didn't want to spend time baking, and there was definitely not any pre made baked yumminess in the house. So naturally I went to Pinterest and decided to do a search for "no bake". I found a ton of cheesecake recipes that didn't really work with my list of ingredients in the house. I was looking for something with a little more ease and only pantry ingredients.

So i found these Oatgasm: No Bake Pumpkin Oatmeal Bites and these looked really good, but I didn't want to wait for them to chill before eating. So I will be making and raving about these in the future I am sure, But I decided on this peanut butter variation of my mom's Chocolate Haystacks.

This is my mom's chocolate haystack recipe, she always has a batch in the freezer (where my mom keeps all her baked goods) during the holiday season.

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• Dash of salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

     melted on the stovetop
stir in

• 3 cups quick oats
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut

   drop teaspoonfuls onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and chill until firm

Eat the yummy amazingness. My husbands mom has a similar recipe that she calls "moose poop."  Yeah I really don't get that.

Anyway I don't particularly like peanut butter, I eat it maybe once a year, and I tend to abhor the peanut butter ruining delicious chocolate foods. But for some reason unbeknown to me I decided to try this Peanut Butter Oat Ball Recipe I of course changed it to fit my needs. I left out the chia seeds (because I didn't have any) and I doubled the chocolate chips and omitted the honey, figuring it would hold together the same and be a little more chocolatey. I also started eating them before chilling. Anyway I ate one and it was pretty good considering it had peanut butter in it, but then I remembered that I don't really like peanut butter and so i scooped out the rest of them, chilled for fifteen minutes in the freezer and gave them to the kids after dinner.

They were a huge hit, the kids loved getting dessert (which is not a regular after dinner event in our house) and they don't have the peanut butter hang up I have.

" I found it on Pinterest"

So every morning I get up before the crack of dawn (around 5am) with my husband so we can have coffee before he leaves for work at 5:30. This is often the best part of my day, I am not a morning person, I hate getting out of bed, but its quiet and he makes me coffee and we get a few minutes alone together.

So the coffee thing has definitely become a ritual, he puts the Moka Pot on the stove and when its ready adds about an ounce of chocolate syrup and then fills my cup with milk and brings it to me.  This is essentially a homemade Mocha Latte. If you don't have a Moka Pot and love espresso I strongly suggest you get one, it is the easiest, cheapest way to make espresso at home.  We then watch the news and talk about the upcoming day or week for a few minutes. I have noticed that on the days I am too tired to get up (like when I was up all night with the baby) I am significantly grumpier.

Anyway today we ran out of chocolate syrup! He made coffee with sugar in it, and it was fine but all day I was wishing I had the chocolate. We are right in the middle of paydays and I could just run to Costco for a new jar of chocolate but this would inevitably wreak havoc on my budget. And I am trying so hard to stick to a budget.

So I decided to try out one of the bazillion recipes for chocolate syrup that I found on pinterest.
This is the recipe I picked Decadent Chocolate Syrup and I totally picked it because she called it decadent. I think all the recipes are pretty much the same; it's simple syrup with a boatload of cocoa powder in it. I added a good teaspoon of instant coffee just for good measure and threw the pot on the stove.

Doesn't that look delicious? I thought so too, and when i licked the spoon (and burned my tongue) it was totally worth it.  This recipe was totally easy, but I would recommend making it during nap time because when I stepped away for two minutes to change a diaper it totally boiled over. It didn't burn though and it wiped off the stove pretty easily so no harm done. 

I am so looking forward to having my normal coffee tomorrow morning, and I am sure it will be totally delicious. 

Chewy Moist Healthy French Bread.

Today has been a slow day, school, housework, and a little cooking.

I try to make bread more often than buying it because its cheaper and more delicious. I also love to know exactly what is in the things my children are eating. I have tried this amazing Amish White  Bread recipe a ton of times and my family usually eats a whole loaf in one evening. There is nothing especially healthy about this bread but it is home made.

Today I was trying to make a bread with a little more substance and a little healthier. So I found a basic french bread recipe and substituted one third of the flour with whole wheat and used avocado oil instead of cheap vegetable oil.

Here is the recipe:

2 cups warm water

1 tablespoon yeast1 tablespoon avocado oil1 tablespoon agave syrup2 teaspoons salt3 -5 1/2 cups bread flour
2 cups whole wheat flour

Directions:
1 Dissolve yeast in warm water (110 degrees) and agave in large bowl; allow yeast to proof or foam (about 10 minutes).2 Add salt, oil, and 3 cups flour; beat for 2 minutes.3 Stir in 2 cups flour to make a stiff dough. (I always start with the whole wheat)4 Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.5 Place in oiled bowl, turn dough to coat all sides, cover and let rise until doubled.6 Punch down and divide in half.7 Shape dough into two long slender loaves.8 Grease and sprinkle with cornmeal either a french bread pan or large cookie sheet.9 Place loaves in pan and cut diagonal gashes on top of each loaf (I use scissors).10 Cover and let rise until doubled.11 Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes.12 Note: You can sprinkle or spray water on the loaves during baking if you want a really crunchy crust.

adapted from food.com

here is what it turned out like, 

We waited as long as we could, and then slathered a little almond butter onto the warm slices and called it lunch. The crust turned out crunchy and chewy, and the inside was tender and soft, in fact thinking about it makes me want another slice. 

5 Minute Chocolate Overload Cookies

It's been one of those weeks, you know one where its Wednesday and you are already complaining about what a long week you have had. I feel like I have done thirty loads of laundry in the last two days, realistically its been like ten. It is still a huge amount, ah the fun of seven people in one house. Anyway while another load is in the wash (and only like three to go!) I decided to whip up some amazingly delish cookies.

I call them 5 Minute Cookies, because thats about how long they take to mix up and how long they take to disappear.

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees
makes about 2 and 1/2 dozen

2 sticks unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup slivered almonds
1 package (or about 1 1/2 cups) chocolate chips

Throw the butter and sugars into the mixer, and beat on medium till light and fluffy (do not add any more sugar or the cookies will be too sweet to eat) add the eggs, add the vanilla, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. I never sift my dry ingredients together so adding the baking powder and salt before the flour ensures that no one gets a salty bite. Turn the mixer down to low and add the flour, almonds and chocolate chips. Stop the mixer immediately after the chocolate chips are added and mix them gently by hand if needed. Scoop onto parchment lined cookie sheets and bake for about 15 minutes for a soft cookie and 17-19 for a crispier cookie.

Let cool for as long as you can wait (at least till the chocolate doesn't burn your tongue) and enjoy.

I am just hoping they last till my husband gets home from work.