Whoopie Pies

Christina shared this delicious pumpkin recipe with me...a new fall favorite for sure! The maple cinnamon icing is what makes these cookies oh so heavenly! :) (It's a Martha Stewart Recipe that she got from a blog but I noticed it was in the STL Post Dispatch a couple weeks ago too!)

Pumpkin Cream Pies

FOR THE PUMPKIN WHOOPIE COOKIES:

3 cups all-purpose flour (I did one w/ white/wheat flour)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 tablespoon ground cloves

2 cups firmly packed dark-brown sugar

1 cup oil

3 cups pumpkin puree, chilled

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate chips (I added this part;) you could add nuts too!

FOR THE CREAM-CHEESE FILLING:

3 cups confectioners' sugar

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

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 tablespoons pure maple syrup

Directions:

1. Make the cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves; set aside. In another large bowl, whisk together brown sugar and oil until well combined. Add pumpkin puree and whisk until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and whisk until well combined. (Add chocolate chips.)Sprinkle flour mixture over pumpkin mixture and whisk until fully incorporated.

3. Using a small ice cream scoop with a release mechanism, drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Transfer to oven and bake until cookies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of each cookie comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely on pan.

4. Make the filling: Sift confectioner' sugar into a medium bowl; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth. Add cream cheese and beat until well combined. Add confectioners' sugar and vanilla, beat just until smooth. (Filling can be made up to a day in advance. Cover and refrigerate; let stand at room temperature to soften before using.)

5. Assemble the whoopie pies: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Transfer filling to a disposable pastry bag and snip the end. When cookies have cooled completely, pipe a large dollop of filling on the flat side of half of the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, pressing down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edge of the cookies. (I just used a cookie dough scoop for the icing.) Transfer to prepared baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate cookies at least 30 minutes before serving and up to 3 days.

From The Martha Stewart Show, October 2008

Where's Blaise?

There he is!

Award Winning Crunchy Carmel-Apple Pie

My friend, Alisa, made this amazing apple pie for our church picnic and it's easy to understand why it won first place! The oatmeal, sugar, pecan, and carmel crumb topping is absolutely divine. I know apple season is pretty much over, but I thought it was better late than never to share this killer recipe! Not that you or I have several hours to spend on a pie, but hey, if you're up for it, it's soo worth it! (My mom actually made it over here for me several Wednesday's ago-I had all intentions to help but I ended up cleaning and cooking other food! :) I wish I had a picture to show you how incredible it looks. Mmmm! I think I might make it again in the form of a crisp-with just the topping , filling and apples (it's that good!) The recipe is from Better Homes and Gardens.

Crunchy Carmel Apple Pie

Ingredients:

Pie:

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

6 cups thinly sliced, peeled cooking apples

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping (not melted caramel!)

Crumb Topping:

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup quick-cooking rolled oats

1/2 cup butter

Pastry for a Single Pie Crust:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

salt

1/3 cup shortening

5 tablespoons cold water

Directions:

1. Prepare Pastry for Single-Crust Pie (see below). On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to a 12-inch circle. Transfer pastry to a 9-inch pie plate. Ease pastry into pie plate, being careful not to stretch pastry. Trim; crimp edge as desired.

2. For Crumb Topping, stir together brown sugar, 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, and the oats. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter or margarine until the topping mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl stir together the granulated sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, the cinnamon, and salt. Add apple slices and gently toss until coated. Transfer apple mixture to the pastry-lined pie plate. Sprinkle Crumb Topping over apple mixture.

4. To prevent over browning, cover edge of pie with foil. (My mom used this fancy pie crust shield guard thing;) Bake in a 375 degree F oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes more or until top is golden. Remove from oven; sprinkle pie with pecans (or add pecans ~5-10 min before pie is done) then drizzle with caramel topping. Cool on a wire rack.

5. Pastry for Single-Crust Pie: In a bowl stir together 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in 1/3 cup shortening until pieces are pea-size. Using 4 to 5 tablespoons cold water total, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of water at a time over the flour mixture, tossing with a fork until all of the dough is moistened. Form dough into a ball.

Yea for Apple Picking!

Fall wouldn't be complete without going apple picking! I know most of my friends have taken their little ones too-it's so much fun to share in a young child's excitement! Here are some pics from our excursion to Eckert's out in Grafton a few weeks ago.

Blaise loved all the animals! They had a children's area with goats, chickens, pigs and miniature horses.

Neighing at the horse! (His goat bleating was the best I thought.)

Blaise couldn't believe all the "apples! apples!" everywhere. He loved it!

He got frustrated when he couldn't pick the apple off the tree himself. It was "stuck!" And we had to keep him from picking up all the rotten ones off the ground. As long as he had one in his hands or mouth, it was good.

Mmmm yummy!

He loved the pumpkins too! Yea for Fall!

Healthy Pumpkin Bread

I LOVE all things pumpkin! I was so excited to find a healthier version of pumpkin bread in Simply in Season. Worth the time and energy for sure! Must be eaten warm, with butter....

Nutty Pumpkin Bread

1 ½ c. flour (I used white wheat)

1 ½ c. whole wheat flour

1 c. wheat germ

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 t. baking soda

1 ½ t. salt

2 t. cinnamon

½ t. nutmeg and cloves

Mix together in a large bowl and make a well.

2 ½ c. pumpkin (cooked and pureed

4 eggs (lightly beaten)

½ c. oil

½ c. pecans or other nuts

1 c. raisins or dates (David doesn’t like them so I leave them out of his loaf J )

A handful of Dark Chocolate Chips (optional but oh so tasty! :)

Add into the well and mix just until all the dry ingredients are moistened. Pour batter into two greased 9 by 5 inch loaf pans (I use four mini ones. Of course, you could also make muffins too!) Bake at 350 for about 50 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 min.