Monday, November 18, 2013

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles - Little Pillows of Heavenly Yumminess!

Soft on the inside, and crispy spicy sweet on the outside, these cookies are a delightful Autumn treat. I found the recipe by accident, online. I did make a couple of slight changes because I wanted to and like a bit different spice combination. I would love to take credit for these, but it goes to The Recipe Girl, okay, except for my changes. Mine turned out a little fluffier than hers did, but hey, these look like the old fashioned fluffy Snickerdoodles I'm used to so I love them. She says her yield is 3 dozen, but I got 6. I hope you give them a try!

PUMPKIN SNICKERDOODLES 
 Yield 6 dozen
COOKIES:
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup pure unsweetened pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon or nutmeg

ROLLING SUGAR:
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon allspice

1. In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add pumpkin puree and beat well. Mix in egg and vanilla, scraping down sides of the bowl to incorporate all of the ingredients.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and ground cinnamon. Stir flour mixture into liquid mixture a little at a time just until incorporated.
3. Cover dough with plastic and chill at least an hour, or until dough becomes slightly firm.
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F.  Mix rolling sugar ingredients in a small bowl.
5. When ready roll about a tablespoon of dough into a ball and roll the balls in the spice sugar and make sure they're coated really well. Place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. If desired, flatten slightly with two fingers.
6. Bake at 350°F. for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Chipotle Cranberry Marmalade

I created some delicious pepper jelly a couple of years ago, no, I was inspired by a recipe I found in Matthew Mead's new holiday publication, well, okay I had some cranberries I needed out of the freezer, and I was craving pepper jelly, and I really wanted to make something delicious with the mandarins we had but couldn't eat before they went bad. So it was all those reasons that I created this new recipe, but couldn't settle on how to start this. There you have it, I have all the reasons in the opening sentence. Lol. This is great on turkey sandwiches, or cream cheese and crackers, there are a lot of ways you could use this.
Here's the recipe:

Chipotle Cranberry Marmalade

10 mandarins  - peel all but three and thinly slice. About 3 cups
2 1/2 cups frozen cranberries
1 1/2 cups minced onion
1 cups cider vinegar
1 1/2 t. canning salt
4 T. instant pectin
3 whole cloves
2 allspice berries
5 cups sugar
7-8 half pint canning jars, sterilized

In a large pot combine fruit, onion, salt and vinegar. Simmer for 10 minutes and then crush with potato masher. You should have about 4 cups pulp and juice combined. Sprinkle the pectin over the pulp in the pan. Add the sugar and bring to a boil. Boil hard stirring constantly, for one minute. Take off of the heat and pour into sterilized jars. Water bath process for 15 minutes. Yield 7-8 half pints