Christine and the Big Scary Kitchen

So Thanksgiving has been successfully tackled, hopefully all your dishes are washed by now, and any reminders of that large meal are probably going to make you hurl, but look, remember how you didn’t get enough dessert?  Maybe you were full of wine, turkey, and good company.  Maybe you were like me and already thinking about all the tacos you could eat the next day, but that thin little slice of pumpkin pie was good enough at the time.  Now, looking back on that meal (which according to my friends, Thanksgiving is the one time of the year calories don’t count), there just weren’t enough sweets.

Do yourself a favor, pull out a few bowls and the measuring cups, start up the oven, and grab that extra can of pumpkin puree you have no idea what you were thinking when you picked up because seriously, who has time to bake a pumpkin pie from scratch for when Sara Lee has done it for you?  These are so much more satisfying than a sliver of pumpkin pie and, bonus, travel so very well.

Pumpkin Pie Cookies

(adapted from Joy the Baker)

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (optional)
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola, corn, or vegetable oil
1 cup canned pumpkin puree or pumpkin pie filling
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Makes about 24 cookies, but I can’t keep them on my table worth crap so I’d double the recipe.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  Grease two baking sheets.

In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon) and set aside.  In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until smooth and lightened in color.   Add the oil, pumpkin, and vanilla until blended.  Slowly add the dry mixture.  (If you want, you can add chocolate chips or butterscotch chips at this point.)

Space cookies evenly on a baking sheet using about 1.5 Tablespoons of dough.  I wipe my finger around the outside edges to get a more circular cookie.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until it passes the toothpick test (about 15-20 min depending on size of cookie.)  Cool them on the baking sheet for 5 minutes.  Make sure they are cooled completely.

I drizzle royal icing on the top of the cookies, it adds a really simple touch but also enhances the flavor.  Also, SUGAR!!!

Hi! I know we just met, so I think I should tell you a little bit about myself.

I’m left-handed.

My favorite kind of cookie is either a soft Peanut Butter or Snickerdoodle.

I love the color indigo.

My favorite kind of candy is either Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, Reese’s Pieces, or Peanut Butter M&Ms.

Laughing is my favorite activity.

My family has the “Uncle Don Rule” which, in short, is never share candy. I live by this rule to this day. It’s also why I’m a jerk and don’t give out candy trick-or-treaters.

I like to eat Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream with a spoon of peanut butter.

In short, I love peanut butter. Growing up, we always had a jar for peanut butter/cinnamon sugar toast or any other concoctions three kids could imagine. I’ve always been a big fan of peanut butter, but it was always healthy until recently.

Keyword “WAS” because recently… I discovered this:

Peanut Butter & Co.

The creators of this peanut butter truly love peanut butter and peanut butter lovers. The beautiful, smooth texture is unlike any other peanut butter I’ve ever had. It’s simple, all-natural and relies on the peanuts to give the creaminess and taste rather than additional ingredients. The only way I can describe using this to bake or just eat with ice cream is it sings.

For these cupcakes, I used White Chocolate Wonder for the cupcakes then regular creamy peanut butter for the icing. I’m going to be trying these with other flavors as well.

A couple notes: I happened to have some uneaten Reese’s Pieces on hand for topping. Also, this was the first time we had fun decorating tools, so we were going for more fun than anything. We had some but not a lot of icing. I would suggest just eating the icing all the time though…

Peanut Butter on Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Found on Mommy’s Kitchen

Cupcake Ingredients:

2/3 cup of room temperature butter

1½ cups of granulated sugar

3 eggs

1 cup of peanut butter

¾ cup of milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp baking powder

1¾ cups of flour

Make 21 cupcakes (24 cupcakes if you don’t eat half the batter like I did.)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs and beat well until light and fluffy. Add peanut butter and mix well, making sure the peanut butter is completely blended. Add milk and vanilla extract.

3. In a separate bowl, combine baking powder and flour.

4. Slowly blend the dry mixture with the peanut butter mixture. Adding the dry mix in parts will make it easier to combine and prevent clumps of flour from forming.

5. Once everything is combined, line cupcake pans. Fill the cups evenly (a little less than ¾ full will keep the “muffin tops” from forming, which I prefer.). Put in the oven for around 20-25 minutes (until golden brown/toothpick test)

6. Cool on a wire rack before icing.

Peanut Butter Icing

16oz/1 lb of powdered sugar

½ cup of room temperature butter

½ cup of peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

splash of milk (about 3 tablespoons)

(Ices about 24 cupcakes, I recommend actually cutting this in half, then making more if needed.)

1. Cream powdered sugar and butter together until mixture is light and fluffy. Add peanut butter and vanilla.

2. Blend in milk, you may need more or less depending on the consistency you like.

3. Frost/decorate/eat directly from bowl.