Pumpkin White Chocolate & Pecans Cookies

so come sunday josh and i were reminiscing about how fabulous our thanksgiving dinner was last year - and how we can't wait to be at the end of November (and over with this NYC moving/working hell). and what says thanksgiving more than the disgustedly delicious low country sweet potato casserole!? yeah you know what i'm talking about - with the mini marshmallows and pecans on top. oh my!

so being the visually obsessive person i am; i went ahead and used pantry "leftovers" and concocted this cookie that looks like the infamous dish. i have to say it may not be a casserole, but it definitely screams autumn. the cookie itself is like a mix between a muffin and a cookie - maybe muffin top-ish? well anyways they are delish (josh ate 5 yesterday) and dare i say actually healthier for you than the marshmallow coated, buttered casserole it was modeled after. enjoy your autumn days!

PUMPKIN WHITE CHOCOLATE & PECAN COOKIES

1 1/2c + 2 tbs AP flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp clove

1/4 tsp salt

3oz butter, softened

1/2c sugar

1/2c brown sugar, lightly packed

2/3c pumpkin puree

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2c chopped white chocolate

1/2c toasted chopped pecans

*preheat oven to 350F

*sift together the flour, baking powder, soda, spices and salt

*in separate bowl cream together butter and sugar to light and fluffy

*beat in egg and vanilla to combine

*beat in pumpkin to combine

*add flour mix, beat to just combine

*fold in chocolate and pecans

*drop by heaping tbs full onto sheet, flatten a bit

*cook for 10-12 minutes

Pear Up-Side Down Gingerbread Cake

its full on autumn here in NYC and we had an extremely overdue dinner date with our newly parented friends over in williamsburg. so there is no way in hell i could show up to their place without some kind of sweet treat. no way.

with that credo established - ummm what the ?! i have no kitchen! but i do have a skillet. okey dokey lets do it, lets make a freakin cake in a skillet. i suppose its not that crazy of an idea. its done all the time, i think. my only word of wisdom here is don't use a skillet with a plastic handle - that's all i'll say about that. besides the smell of stressed molten plastic that wafted through the apt; everything was perfect!

i've actually never made an up-side down cake. something about it reminds me of old ladies. right? like a pineapple upside down cake with cherries in the middle - ha! well i got over it and glad i did, i love this cake! make sure you use ripe bosc pears, they need to be able to "melt" into the cake. i'm such a foodie - melt? anyways the dinner and company was great as always with those guys. think josh wants to move to london with them. and katy claimed the cake reminded her of childhood - rock out, i'll take a slice of that!

PEAR UP-SIDE DOWN GINGERBREAD CAKE

For Pears:

2 ripe bosc pears, peeled, cored sliced in 8

2oz butter

3/4c packed light brown sugar

For Cake:

2 1/2c AP flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground clove

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

1c pure cane syrup (or molasses)

1c boiling water

4oz butter

1/2c packed light brown sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla

*preheat oven to 350F

make pears:

*in a large, deep, non-stick skillet heat the butter over medium heat until foam subsides

*lower heat to low & sprinkle evenly the sugar over butter, let cook 3 minutes undisturbed

*place the pear slices around the skillet, cook 2 minutes undisturbed

*take off heat

make cake:

*sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, clove, nutmeg and salt

*in separate bowl combine cane syrup and boiling water, stir to combine

*in separate bowl cream together butter and sugar to light and fluffy

*add in egg and vanilla, beat to combine and fluffy

*in 3 batched alternately add in the dry ingredients then the syrup mixture into the butter mix. end on the dry ingredients and mix to combine

*pour batter evenly over the prepared pears

*place the (melt proof) skillet in the oven and cook 40-50 minutes until toothpick comes out clean

*let cool only about 5minutes then run a knife around the edges of the skillet and invert the onto a plate - enjoy!

Apple Galette

as you know i have no kitchen at the moment. this past month has been somewhere between a nightmare and lovely day dream. the condo purchase fell through, actually it was more like an implosion. but that's cool; i (for the first time in our 3 years together) heeded josh's advice and PRE-PACKED - over a month ago. yeah don't ever do that - unless you enjoy jamming your shins on cardboard edges every morning and trying to cook a dinner without cutting boards. try it, its really fulfilling. keep wine on hand. lots of wine.

ok so i still have my cookie sheets because although i was effected by my overly active husband - i was not fully converted and gave up packing about 2 hours in. so really i am half-packed. like i said i have a cookie sheet. and apples are in season so whadda ya do when that happens? make a pseudo apple pie also known to me as an apple galette. i'm so fancy.

my instructions:

1. check out my recipe for the best apple pie ever here

2. make half the dough

3. instead of chopping the apples, slice them thin

4. roll the dough out, place on cookie sheet

5. lay apple sliced over the dough (make pretty pattern), leaving about 6" from the dough edge

6. fold dough over, drop in butter and brush with egg wash

7. bake as usual, cut the time by about 10 minutes since the apples cook faster.

8. enjoy!

Fall Flowers from my Love

yeah so josh came home with flowers a few nights ago after he came home late. i woke up the next morning and viola! happy fall flowers were atop the cluttered "dining room" table - can i just say i am in love with these flowers. its fall over here - let the festivities begin.

Chocolate Banana Nut Cookies

like usual we can never finish off the last banana in the bunch so it just sits on the counter, taking up space, growing more and more spotted and unappetizing in appearance. perfect - make cookies. these are fun - next time i will switch out the butter with coconut oil and put in additional chocolate chips just to amp them up a bit. but they are a simple little snack as they are.

CHOCOLATE BANANA NUT COOKIES

1/2c semi-sweet chocolate, chopped, melted and cooled for 10 minutes

1/2 sugar

1/4c butter

1 medium banana, mashed

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1c + 2 tbs flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4c chopped walnuts or pecans

*preheat oven to 375F

*cream together the butter and sugar to light and fluffy

*beat in egg, then vanilla and melted chocolate

*in separate bowl sift together the dry ingredients

*stir in the dry ingredients into the egg mixture

*fold in the nuts

*drop heaping tsp of batter onto cookie sheet

*cook 8-10 minutes

Mulberry and Apricot Granola

i loath store bought granola. its loaded with sugar and fat - not to mention that its been sitting in a plastic bag on a shelf for somewhere around 6 - 10 months. since i was sick a few weeks ago i've somehow lost my pancake breakfast abilities. so i am once again stumbling around my breakfast routine try to figure out what the next craze will be. so far i'm looking at yogurt and granola, an oldie but goodie.

again, i am attempting to clear out the pantry so this is what i got. i love mulberries - super high in vitamin C and very low in sugar, but you can add what you wish. i made some for josh and used mini chocolate chips instead of fruit (yeah you have to coat with chocolate to get him to nosh on anything remotely healthy) and it was a definite hit.

MULBERRY APRICOT GRANOLA

2c oatmeal

1/2c sliced almonds

1/2c chopped almonds

1c unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2c wheat (or oat) bran

1/2c agave nectar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1 tbs coconut oil (melted if needed)

1 c dried mulberries

1/2c chopped turkish apricots

*combine oatmeal, almond and coconut - toast in 350F oven for 10-12 minutes.

*remove from oven and transfer to mixing bowl and turn oven down to 300F

*stir in wheat bran

*while still warm add in agave, vanilla, salt and oil. stir to combine

*spread on a shallow edged baking pan

*cook 25-30 minutes

*let cool completely then crush up as needed.

*toss in apricots and mulberries

Pumpkin Apple Nut Loaf

so i'm back - kinda sorta.

got hitched, got swine flu (seriously), attended two after the fact receptions and have the apt packed up and ready to move on out. so like any home purchase - it takes longer than you think. i sadly packed away my kitchen so there hasn't been much baking lately. but i couldn't take another weekend void of fun treats so i trekked downstairs to duane read and got myself a few disposable baking pans in various shapes and sizes - then got to baking.

lesson here: disposable baking pan are worthless. yeah worthless. basically you have to increase cooking time by 50%, don't ask me why. seems to me the pans; basically made from thick foil would cook faster. just untrue. everything comes out all doughy and weird. like i said increase cook time by 50%.

fortunately, after "fixing" the cooking time for my pan's shortcomings, this loaf came out great! below is the correct cooking time if you are using real pans. i am trying to clean out the pantry and i have a ton of canned pumpkin from thanksgiving last year as well as mini packs of pecans my mom mailed me a while back that were getting rancid. throw it all in and happy autumn!

PUMPKIN APPLE NUT LOAF

Topping:

1 1/2 tsp flour

2 tbs brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp oil

Loaf:

1 1/2c flour

1/2 tsp (scant) salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp clove

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp ginger

1c canned pumpkin

1/4c + 2 tbs canola oil

1c sugar

2 eggs

2 egg whites

1 apple, peeled and finely chopped

1/2c chopped pecans or walnuts

* preheat oven to 350F, grease 2lb loaf pan

*mix together all topping ingredients and set aside

*sift together flour, salt, soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, allspice, and ginger

*in separate bowl whisk together the pumpkin, oil, eggs and sugar

*add wet to dry ingredients and stir just to combine

*fold in apples and nuts

*pour batter into prepared pan and sprinkle with topping

*cook for 50 mins - 1 hour until toothpick comes out clean