Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

Surprise, surpise, December is going to be all about the cookies.  It’s cookie season people, and I take it very seriously.  I really enjoy mixing it up every year with a combination of traditional and family recipes, and then a few new options to broaded my horizons.  I love the holiday flavors: gingerbread, buttery pecans, chocolate and pepermint!

For this first cookie I’m a little stuck in November because I can’t get enough pumpkin!  I found this recipe through Pinterest I believe, and I must say, after making several pumpkin recipes this fall, this was a great one to end on.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

Yeilds about 40 depending on size, adapted from My Baking Addiction

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter; softened
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup pure pumpkin puree
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup white chocolate chips
  • 1 cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside: flour, spices, oats, salt, and baking soda.
  3. Cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Add pumpkin puree, egg, and vanilla.  Mix until well combined.
  4. Gradually encorporate dry mixture into wet being careful not to over mix.  Fold in chocolate chips and dried cranberries.
  5. Drop cookies onto parchment lined cookie sheet in generous teaspoon size. Bake 12-14 minutes.

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies Round 2

A couple weeks ago I posted a recipe for chewy oatmeal cookies.  Well as we know, I am an oatmeal cookie addict, so I decided to try yet another chewy oatmeal cookie.  This one is from the blog How Sweet It Is, which is a fabulously beautiful food blog, which a great combination of interesting yet do-able recipes.

Her original recipe only calls for chocolate chips, but I decided to add a little more je ne sais quoi.  Which means, instead of chocolate chips, I went with butterscotch chips, M&M’s (autumn colors of course), and chopped pecans.  Basically I look for any excuse to make monster cookies with as many add-ins as possible.

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies with M&M’s, butterscotch, and pecans

Yields about 30-40 cookies, adapted from How Sweet It Is

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 Tbs cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 cups butterscotch chips
  • 1 1/2 cups M&M’s
  • 3/4 cup chopped pecans

Method

  1. Cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
  2. Mix together dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt), set aside.
  3. Beat eggs and vanilla into butter and sugar mixture.
  4. Add dry to wet and beat to combine.  Add oats and other add-ins.  Mix to combine, do not over mix.
  5. Allow dough to chill for 30 minutes and preheat oven to 375.
  6. Bake cookies 9-11 minutes until golden brown.  Allow to cool completely and enjoy!

Back in Business

So I’m back in Virginia in my own cozy apartment.  I really missed my apartment when I was in Connecticut.  I was living with just the bare necessities in Connecticut so I was so happy to see all of my stuff when I got home to VA.

After dumping the contents of my car into the middle of my living room, it took me just over a week to dig myself out of my own mess and clean up my apartment.  In addition to unpacking from the summer I also cleaned out my closet so I could actually fit my clothes back into it.  It felt so good to get rid of five large shopping bags filled to brims with old clothes that I don’t wear anymore.  I hope I do this on a more regular basis in the future.

As I settle back in, I am slowly restocking the ingredients in my kitchen, and I jumped back into baking with a cookie recipe I found while perusing blogs.  It’s definitely a great one for peanut butter lovers.  It’s a twist on a traditional peanut butter cookie with the addition of chocolate chips and peanuts!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yields 2-3 dozen depending of size from Confections of a Foodie Bride

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter room temp
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 cups + 2 Tbsp flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 16 oz semisweet chocolate chips
  • 3/4 cup unsalted peanuts chopped

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 375.
  2. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.
  3. Cream together butter and peanut butter.  Add sugars and beat until fluffy.
  4. Add in eggs one at a time and vanilla extract.
  5. Slowly add in flour mixture.  Mix until just combined, and then fold in chocolate and nuts.  The dough will be kind of crumbly.
  6. Form large balls of cookie dough and allow to chill for 20 minutes.  (I smushed them down before I put them in the oven so they would end up flatter)
  7. Bake at 375 for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown.  Allow to cool and enjoy!