Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Fun Food Friday at work tomorrow which means cookie baking for me. So given I'm known as a cookie girl around the office, why would one make one batch of cookies when you can make 2. I of course had to make the classic chocolate chip cookies which I'm known for. But, since its fall and i LOVE pumpkin I was so excited to try a new recipe full of sugar and spice.   Oh so yummy, I'm definitely thinking making these may need to become a part of my yearly fall baking rituals.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

25 min prep, 1 hr set, 10 min cook

Cookie Ingredients:

~2 cups flour

3/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 stick melted butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 large egg

1 teaspoons vanilla extract

Sugar coating:

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Melt butter.  Stir in sugars completely. Whisk in pumpkin, egg, and vanilla, one at a time. Add the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix thoroughly.  If using a mixer be sure to not over mix. Cover the dough, and refrigerate for one hour, until firm.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and spice for the coating. Scoop dough (approximately 2 1/2 tablespoons) and roll into a ball. Roll the dough ball in the sugar mixture, and place on the lined baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie. Take a glass with a flat bottom and use to flatten the balls. Add extra sugar topping to cookies as needed.

Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. Remove when the centers of the cookies have set. Let cool on the baking pan for approximately 5 minutes, and then transfer to wire cooling racks to cool completely.

Adapted from from: http://abitchinkitchen.blogspot.com/2011/10/pumpkin-snickerdoodles.html

Chocolate Chip Recipe is as always inspired by the Nestle Tollhouse on the back of the bag :)

Peach Pie Pleasantries

On a cloudy drizzly day, what better thing to do is there but to bake?  Some yummy comfort food? Peach pie?  Oh so yummy! And this recipe seemed so easy.  All I needed was 3 peaches, well maybe 4 by the time you account for all the snacking my daughters did while mommy cut up the fruit.  Opted not to peel the peaches to preserve some of the additional fiber, plus it helps provide some more structure and color in the final pie.  Actually, after an hour of baking you don't even notice the peel onthe peach, it was so soft I could cut my peaches with my fork.  I used martha stewarts recipe as a basis, but I always cheat and use a store bought crust.  Being a working mom, I can have the girls help me arrange peach slices and sprinkle topping.  Bonding with kids + getting my baking on yields a very happy mommy.

1 pie crust 

5 TBSPs creme fraiche

Filling

3 peaches (pitted and sliced)

4 TBSPs granulated sugar

Prepare the filling by slicing the peaches, stir in the sugar, and let sit for at least 10 minutes.

Streusel

1/4 cup cold butter

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/4 tsp baking powder

dash salt

Prepare the streusel  by mixing the dry ingredients together and creamingin the cold butter until it becomes crumbly.

Heat oven to 375.  Spread 2 TBSPs of creme fraiche on the pie crust, sprinkle with 1/3 of the streusel. Spread the peaches slices evenly over the crust. Spoon the remaining 3TBSPs of creme fraiche between the peach slices. Sprinkle with the rest of the streusel. Bake for 50 minutes or until the streusel is golden.  

Let cool and enjoy.

And just because I'm feeling silly - a poem:
Time flies by, evening is nigh
Where has the day gone?
Baking peach pies, singing lullabyes, and
now time to cuddle with my sweetie pie.
Bye bye.