Peanut Butter Jack-o-lanterns

I am in the halloween cookie spirit these days and wanted to try some other cookies, as I had so much fun with the spider web cookies. I wanted some quick cookies, and a friend suggested that I do peanut butter cookies. Peanut butter cookies are a huge hit in out house, so I thought this was a great idea. I grabbed a quick peanut butter cookie recipe that had a decent amount of peanut butter and got cooking.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Cream together the butter and sugars. Then add the peanut butter and egg and beat until well mixed.
2. In a separate bowl mix together the dry ingredients. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar until it is just mixed.
3. Wrap the dough in saran wrap/cling wrap and place in the fridge for three hours.
4. Heat the oven to 375F, and make 1 tbsp balls on the cookie sheet. Flatten the balls with your fingers or the back of a spoon so they are smooth and cook the cookies for 8-9 minutes.
5. Cool the cookies on a rack. Once they are cool melt the semisweet chocolate chips, and put them in a plastic ziploc. Remove a small corner of the bag and pipe the melted chocolate onto the cookies to make faces.

Reviews:
This is a yummy recipe for pb cookies, and have been a big hit with everyone who has tried them. My students and coworkers loved the faces on the cookies, and mix of peanut butter and chocolate is great - who would have guessed??

Halloween Spider Webs

I saw these adorable cookies on Good Things Catered, and had to try them! I followed her recipe and directions and came out with some impressive cookies, I almost don't want to eat them. They are a tasty cookie, but not my or Owen's favorite.

These have been a big hit with coworkers and students.

Mini Apple Pies

I was making a lot of apple pies, and had all the little trimmings of pie crust. Seeing them all sitting there in a big pile made it impossible for me to through them out. I had to do something with them. I didn't want to do anymore pies, and I am not a fan of overworked dough, so I made mini pies!

Ingredients:
Pie crust
1 apple
dash of cinnamon
Sprinkle of brown sugar
dash of flour

Directions:
1. Cut the pie crust into little rounds - this will depend on the size of the mini-muffin tin you have, but a 3" circle worked well for me for the bottom and a 2.5" circle for the top.
2. Mix the apple chunks, cinnamon, flour and sugar together (I just give it a quick taste to see if I like the mix - i find this better than any measurements as all types of apples will need varying amounts of sugar).

3. Assemble pies in a mini-muffin tin, crimp the edges and bake for about 20 minutes at 350F.

Reviews:
Everyone loved these little bite sized pies. They were easy to transport to people, you didn't need to bring along any plates or forks, as they could just pick them up and pop them in your mouth. Some friends have named the "Two bite Apple Pies" as they reminded them of two bite brownies.

Simple Apple Pie - For the Freezer

In the fall when apples are cheap (directly from the orchards) I like to stock up and make apple pies for the winter. It is great for potlucks and chilly nights to come home and just pop a pie in the oven, without the work of slicing apples and making pie dough. This is just a simple pie that I like to have in the freezer for those days. (I am really sorry for the no picture, they are all lost in the freezer)

Ingredients:
Pie crust for a double crust pie (I use the recipe on the tenderflake container for freezer pies, I find it freezers really well)
4 to 5 cups of apples
2 tbsp flour
½ tbsp cinnamon
½ to 1 cup sugar (depending on your taste and the sweetness of apples)
1 tbsp butter

Directions:
1. Roll out the pie shell and line a tin pie plate. Roll the top crust to have ready.
2. Peel, core and slice the apples.
3. Toss the apples with the flour, cinnamon and sugar.
4. Place the apples in the pie shell, and place cubes of butter on top.
5. Top with the top crust, and seal the edges. Cut a vent in the top.
6. Cover the pie with tin(aluminum foil) and place in freezer.
To Bake:
1. Place directly from the freezer into an oven at 450F, and bake for 15 mintues.
2. Turn the oven down to 350F and bake for an additional 45-60 minutes. If the top crust becomes too brown cover with the aluminum foil to finish baking.
Reviews:
Owen loves the fact that he can have apple pie anytime he wants – all he has to do (or I have to do) is put it in the oven. Friends have received frozen pies and have Loved them. The only unfortunate part is that odd shape of a pie takes up freezer space. You can also do this as a filling (like I have done for peach and apricot) and put into a fresh pie shell to conserve freezer space.

I have made about 15 of these this year, and many went to friends. I have gotten rave reviews from everyone who has cooked theirs so far!

Pie Crust for the Freezer

This recipe makes enough crust for 3 double crust pies, and as I am generally making at least that many when I am doing freezer pies, this is what I use. I am pretty sure that this is the recipe that is printed on the boxes of tenderflake. This has never failed for me and always comes out of the freezer with great results.
Ingredients:
5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
l lb Tenderflake lard
1 tbsp vinegar
1 egg, lightly beaten
Water

Directions:
Mix together flour and salt.

Cut in Tenderflake lard with pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles course oatmeal.

In a one cup measure, combine vinegar and egg and add cold water to make one cup. Gradually stir liquid into flour/lard mixture. You may not have to use all the liquid, add a little at a time until the dough clings together. (If it is really dry out, you may have to add an extra tablespoon of water)

Gather into a ball. Divide into six portions and wrap before placing in the fridge. I like to leave them in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before using them, then let them warm for 20 to 30 minutes on the counter. These will keep in the fridge for about a week.

Roll out each portion on lightly floured surface.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

A friend sent me the link to these buns and said they were great when I was looking for a good pumpkin cinnamon bun recipe. I decided to try it, but do to my family's dislike of fruit in their cinnamon buns I made a few alterations. I was pretty confident they would be good, as I have never had a problem with any recipe from King Arthur Flour!


Dough
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup lukewarm water*
1/4 cup soft butter
2 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 3/4 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 cup skim dry milk
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, optional
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons yeast
*Adjust the amount of water by the time of year or your climate. For summer, or in a humid environment, use the lesser amount of water. In winter, or in a dry climate, use the greater amount. It's always best to start with the lesser amount; you can add more as needed.
Filling
1.4 cup butter, melted
¾ cup brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon

Directions
1. Mix all of the dough ingredients together and knead into a soft, smooth dough.
2. Let rise for 1 ½ hours (almost doubled) in a greased, covered bowl.
3. Place the dough an a lightly floured surface and roll it out into a rectangle (about 14” by 22”)
4. Spread the melted butter on the rectangle, leaving one edge free for sealing.
5. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together, and spread over the melted butter.
6. Roll the dough so that it forms a log that is about 22” long.
7. Slice the roll into 12 equal pieces and set each piece swirl up in a greased baking dish.
8. Cover the dish and let the rolls rise in a warm area for about an hour, until the rolls are puffy.
9. Bake the rolls at 350F for 25 to 30 minutes.

Reviews:
These smelled fantastic, and they must have been good, as the all seemed to disappear. The should be stored in an airtight container if you want them to keep very long, as I was told they were a little dry the second day. This could also be easily remedied (and make the buns a little more decadent) by adding some cream cheese icing as well.

Pumpkin Cream cheese Cookies

I like pumpkin, but pumpkin pie just doesn’t do it for me. I don’t know why, I like pumpkin pie, but it isn’t my favorite thing – however I am a fan of pumpkin cheesecake. So when I came across a pumpkin cookie with a cream cheese icing I was sold. It was also great as I needed some snacks to have around the house thanksgiving weekend. I found the recipe when I was checking out the new recipe sight Tasty Kitchen and decided to try it (with a few adaptations).

Ingredients:
For Creme Pies
1 1/2 cups All-purpose Flour
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Sugar
1 cup Pumpkin (15 Oz.)
½ cup Vegetable Oil
1 whole Eggs
½ teaspoon Baking Soda
½ teaspoon Baking Powder
½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
½ Tablespoon Cinnamon
¼ teaspoon Ground Ginger
¼ teaspoons Ground Nutmeg
1/8 teaspoons Ground Cloves

Cream Cheese Filling
½ a brick of cream cheese (softened – room temperature)
¼ cup room temperature butter
2 cups icing sugar (powdered sugar)
½ tsp vanilla
2 dash(es) Cinnamon
Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cookies:
1. Beat together brown sugar, sugar, oil and pumpkin. Add eggs one at time, mixing well after each addition, followed by the vanilla.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, powder, and spices.
3. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined.
4. Using a pastry bag with a round tip, or a big zip top plastic bag with one corner snipped, squeeze out concentric circles of batter, starting from the middle and working outward until the circles are about 2 inches in diameter.

5. Bake until firm - about 11 minutes. Let cool on a rack before assembling.
Cream Cheese Filling:
1. Beat together cream cheese and butter. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and cinnamon.
2. Frost flat side of half the pies and top with another piece.

Enjoy right away, or chill overnight. These keep very nicely in the fridge for at least a few days.

Notes: I used a 96star tip and this made a great thickness of a cookie and nice swirls on the top, however I ended up with some aweful hand cramps from trying to pipe these out. I ended up with about 15 to 20 cookies once assembled.

Reviews:
This cookies were amazingly tasty and started disappearing before I even had them all assembled. They didn’t last long, and it was hard to get your hands on one the next day.
My family is a fan of anything that gives them an excuse to eat cream cheese frosting and they started stealing pre-assembled cookies and heaping on the cinnamon cream cheese frosting.

My father’s creations looked a lot like a heap of icing with a little cookie!