PUMPKIN SNICKERDOODLES

I know I said in my post on Wednesday that I would take a break from pumpkin recipes for a couple of posts and what am I sharing today? Pumpkin Snickerdoodles. They only have a hint of a pumpkin taste so if someone doesn't like pumpkin, just tell him or her that they are Snickerdoodles. Everyone likes Snickerdoodles, don't they? So ... sorry.😥

The recipe says it only makes 18 cookies so I baked a dozen and then recovered the dough and put it back in the refrigerator. Looks like I will get more than 6 more cookies.

When I started making the cookies, I realized I didn't have any pumpkin pie spice so I had to mix up some. I shared that recipe at the end. Works great.

PUMPKIN SNICKERDOODLES

1/2     cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

3/4     cup light brown sugar

1/3     cup pumpkin

1        teaspoon vanilla

1-1/2  cups flour

2        teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1        teaspoon cream of tartar

3/4     teaspoon baking soda

1/2     teaspoon salt

1/4     teaspoon baking powder

Spiced sugar:

3         tablespoons sugar

1-1/2   teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the butter, brown sugar, pumpkin puree, and vanilla until well combined. Set aside.

In another mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients - flour, pumpkin pie spice, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, and baking powder.

Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and stir until all the dry ingredients are well mixed.

Cover the bowl and refrigerate until the dough is firm, at least 4 hours or overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

Mix up the spiced sugar by stirring in a small bowl the sugar and pumpkin pie spice.

(I mixed up a larger amount of the pumpkin pie spice and shook the ingredients in a small plastic storage container. See recipe below.)

Remove dough from the refrigerator and using a cookie scoop,

scoop out dough and

roll in your hand to make a ball. (I used a  one and a half tablespoon scoop.)

Roll each ball in the spiced sugar until well coated and

place at least 2 inches apart. I only cooked 6 at a time, but I could have baked 12.

Bake for 11 to 13 minutes. Cookies should be puffed and set around the edges and beginning to crack on top.

Allow to cool on pan for 5 minutes before

removing them to finish cooling on a wire rack.

I only baked 12 cookies so I recovered the bowl of dough and returned it to the refrigerator to bake the next day.

PUMPKIN PIE SPICE

3     teaspoons ground cinnamon

2     teaspoons ground ginger

1     teaspoon ground nutmeg

1     teaspoon ground allspice (I only used 1/2 teaspoon)

1/2  teaspoon ground cloves (I only used 1/4 teaspoon) 

Combine all spices in and store in an air-tight container. (I reduced the amounts of allspice and cloves because my husband is not fond of them.)

 

CHICKEN & BLACK BEAN CHILI

 With fall here, come cooler temperatures and shorter days, some of the leaves started turning practically overnight, the World Series has started (I remember when it used to be in September.), the heater has been turned on, summer clothes are packed away and winter clothes have been unpacked. Yes, Fall has definitely arrived in northeast Missouri. It also means is I will be making main dishes that we can enjoy for several days.

That usually means soup, but I didn't fix soup on Monday. Instead I made a pot of chili. I don't think I have ever made chili with chicken, but I have now. Since my total cholesterol was up this summer, I am watching my diet by eating red meat only once a week. That only leaves chicken and fish for me to eat at most meals. Most of the time it hasn't been too hard, but it does make me have to work a little harder to find things to cook. I did buy some ground turkey that I used in place of ground beef for a casserole, but it doesn't taste quite as good substituting the turkey.

Friend Anita shared over the weekend some chicken chili that she had made. I asked her for the recipe and she shared it with me. Except for leaving out the green chilies (she said it was too hot and I can't take heat at all), I planned to make her recipe. Before I got around to it though I remembered I had an envelope of chili seasoning so I ended up with my own chicken chili recipe.

Wayne said it was good (and he likes hot dishes) so I felt it was successful.  You can try my recipe or tweak it into your own.

CHICKEN & BLACK BEAN CHILI

2     (15 - oz) cans black beans, undrained

1      (15 - oz) can fresh cut corn, undrained

1      (15 - oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained

1       envelope chili seasoning (I used Watkins, but there are other brands you could use.)

shredded cooked chicken (I cooked 2 chicken breast in water and shredded them)

In a large pot, add all ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and reduce temperature to low and simmer for at least 30 minutes to heat through.

Serve with your favorite corn bread or crackers. Will make enough to reheat for several meals depending on the size of your family.

PUMPKIN HONEY BUN CAKE

 I hope you aren't tired of pumpkin recipes, but this is the last one for a while. Well, maybe for a post or two.  This Pumpkin Honey Bun Cake was the last dessert I made for our pastors for Pastor Appreciation Sunday (month). Pastor Jess ended up with this one. He ended up with it because it and the PUMPKIN CRUNCH were what was left after Lead Pastor Yvi chose the PUMPKIN and SOUR CREAM COFFEE CAKE. He said to let Pastor Choongho's wife Hannah and son Stephen choose which one they wanted and he would take the other one. They chose the Crunch so Jess got the Honey Bun Cake. Stephen couldn't wait to get the Crunch home to eat it. 

Jess thanked me for it the next time I saw him and told me what had happened. He cut the cake in half and left half of it at the church for the office staff. He said they had been enjoying it all week and raving about it. Jess said even though the Honey Bun Cake was called a cake, he thought it was okay to eat it for breakfast and that what he and his family had been doing.

He excused me for not running the knife a little "rougher" through it so the top was disturbed more and looked more like a honey bun. I was disappointed it didn't look more like a bun, but he said it didn't change the taste anyway.

This is another recipe from the Given to Hospitality II, another collection of recipes from the ladies of the Ozark Mennonite Church and School cookbook and was attributed to Melissa Burk.

PUMPKIN HONEY BUN CAKE

Cake:

2-1/4   cup flour

1         cup sugar

1         tablespoon baking powder

3/4      teaspoon salt

3         eggs

1         cup buttermilk

1         cup pumpkin

1/2      teaspoon cloves

1/2      teaspoon ginger

1         teaspoon cinnamon

Crumbs:

1-1/4   cup brown sugar

1/2      cup nuts

4         teaspoons cinnamon

1/2      cup raisins

Glaze:

1         cup powdered sugar

2 - 4    tablespoons milk

1/2      teaspoon vanilla (use clear vanilla if you want the glaze to be white)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

Measure the dry ingredients into a bowl and blend with a whisk.

Add eggs, buttermilk, and pumpkin and stir with a spoon

until smooth.

Pour half of the batter into a 9 x 13 - inch pan or Bundt pan.

Combine all of the crumb ingredients and

sprinkle over the bake batter.

Pour remaining batter over the crumbs

(make sure you use a spatula to get every bit of batter in the bowl.)

Gently swirl with a knife. (That's what I did and so my finished cake was mostly smooth on top after it baked.)

Bake in oven for 35 to 40 minutes. 

Prepare the glaze

and pour over the warm cake. Cool cake in pan on wire rack. There were no instructions for using the Bundt pan, but if you used a Bundt cake pan, I would probably cool the cake for 10 - 15 minutes on a wire rack and then remove it from the pan to drizzle the glaze over it. I would also grease and flour the pan. 

This is the first time I have made three different desserts and taken to the ministers. I really spent all day in my kitchen, but was pleased with how they turned out and all three ministers were surprised and thankful.

APPLE DUMPLING BAKE

 Friends Patricia and Gary were our hosts for the October gathering of our Tasty Bunch Group. After a delicious dinner at Summit Grill, we traveled to their house for further conversation and dessert, delicious Apple Dumpling Bake with ice cream.

They are a delicious, easy dessert to make and sure to be a family favorite. Saturday night neighbors invited us to pot luck dinner and someone brought the same dessert. It may be popular during the fall but doesn't have to be limited to the fall. The very first time I enjoyed them was when Friend Janice and I were having lunch after a morning of going to estate sales. We got the last four (two each) that the restaurant had. I asked the waitress how they made them and then served them myself at a gathering.  

You can use a diet soda and I would also use a sugar substitute like erythritol, stevia, or Splenda for the cup of sugar. 

APPLE DUMPLING BAKE

2     medium Granny Smith or Golden Delicious apples

2     tubes (8 ounces each) refrigerated crescent rolls

1     cup sugar

1/2  cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1/2  teaspoon  ground cinnamon

3/4  cup Mountain Dew soda

Vanilla ice cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Peel, core, and cut each apple into 8 triangles. 

Unroll both tubes of crescent dough; separate each into 8 triangles.

Wrap a triangle around each wedge starting at the widest end. Place in a greased 9 x 13 - in baking dish.

In a bowl, mix sugar, butter, and cinnamon until blended; put a tablespoonful on top of each roll up and press it down.

Slowly pout the Mountain Dew around the rolls (do not stir).

Bake, uncovered, until golden brown and apples are tender, 35 - 40 minutes.

Serve warm with ice cream.

The top cooks a little crispy like a pastry and the bottoms bake custardy.

APPLE CIDER DOUGHNUT CAKE

One thing I love about fall is all of the pumpkin, apple, etc desserts I can make. There really isn't any reason they can't be made all year long, but they just seem to be really prevalent in the fall.

Friend Julie has been the Hospitality Coordinator at our church for several years and decided to resign so she could spend more time with her teenage children. She didn't resign from church so I will still be seeing her, but I will miss working with her. I always said when I retired from teaching I wanted to be a "Walmart Greeter" because I love greeting people. Well, I didn't become one but I did join the hospital team at the church. I could greet the congregation ever Sunday without a problem.

As it turned out Julie had a birthday a few days before her last official Sunday so I decided to make her a cake to celebrate both occasions. At first I couldn't understand why it was called a doughnut cake, but the only thing I could come up with is it might look like a giant cinnamon sugar doughnut. She liked it so much that she told me she gave her daughter Faith one piece and she, Julie, ate the rest. That was a lot of cake!

I made the cake for us first using a SF yellow cake mix, but used a regular yellow cake mix for Julie's. Good either way especially if you are wanting to reduce your sugar intake.

APPLE CIDER DOUGHNUT CAKE

Cake:

1     box yellow cake mix (without the added pudding) (Can use a SF yellow cake mix)

3/4  cup apple cider

1/2  cup butter (1 stick), melted

4     eggs

2     teaspoons ground cinnamon

1     teaspoon ground nutmeg

1     cup coarsely shredded peeled tart apples ( ~1 large or 2 smaller apples)  

Topping:

3     tablespoons butter, melted

1/4  cup sugar

1     teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously spray a fluted cake pan with baking spray with flour or grease and flour. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, add cake mix, apple cider, melted butter, eggs, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Beat on low to moisten the cake mix and then scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula.

Increase speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl again and

stir in the apples til

well distributed.

Pour batter into pan.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted in center.

Remove cake from the oven and let stand for 20 minutes on wire rack.

Run a knife or metal spatula around outer and inside edges of the pan to loosen the cake.

Invert pan onto cooling rack and place cooling rack over waxed paper.

Brush the top and sides of the cake with the melted butter

coating well.

Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl

and press 2 tablespoons of the mixture up the sides and top of the cake with your fingers.

Let stand  20 minutes and then repeat with remaining cinnamon mixture.

Cool completely, about an hour. 

Store loosely covered at room temperature.