Pumpkin Cookies with Maple Icing

I had left over pumpkin from the Pie Pockets the other day so I needed to make something to use up the rest. I love how these turned out. I make sour cream cookies that should turn out the same consistency but they never do in the altitude. So now I am going to compare recipes so that I can figure if there is anything I can change in the sour cream cookies to make them more rounded and cakey like the pumpkin.


I got the recipe from Allrecipes.com - but made maple icing instead of the vanilla. These cookies will be great for the autumn or the holidays.

INGREDIENTS
* 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup butter, softened
* 1 1/2 cups white sugar
* 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
* 1 egg
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Maple Icing
* 2 cups confectioners' sugar
* 2 tablespoons half-n-half
* 2 tablespoon melted butter
* 1 1/2 teaspoons maple extract

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly. (I didn't flatten as I don't feel that often works good in higher altitude)

3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork.

4. To Make Glaze: Combine confectioners' sugar, half-n-half, 2 tablespoon melted butter, and maple extract. Add more half-n-half as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency.




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Sprinkles!

Cupcakes have really be trendy the last few years. I like them becuase they are easy to eat and fun to make. So we were craving chocolate and so I made these cupcakes again because they are SO easy! But this time I topped them with cream cheese frosting and sprinkles!



Cream Cheese Frosting
1 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
1 pkg. (16 oz.) powdered sugar (about 4 cups), sifted


BEAT cream cheese, butter and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended.

ADD sugar gradually, beating until well blended after each addition.

I found it on Kraft because that one of the first ones that came up when I did a search for cream cheese frosting.

Adventures in Emergency Cupcakes

So a while back I started reading The Adventures of Superwife and she posted this recipe for Emergency Cupcakes. They looked so good that I bookmarked it to come back to and make someday. Well it had been the first time I read her and it was during one of my insomnia cycles - so what I am saying it was LATE and I forgot about them and her blog. I know shame on me!

One day probably a month or even 2 later on the Food Network (can't even remember which show it was at the moment) the host was making yes....cupcakes. And all of a sudden I had the vague memory of reading a blog with amazing cupcakes that sounded so easy too. So I went to my favorites and looked for the link. Nope not there. So, not remembering the name of the blog or the name of the cupcakes...I started the endless google searches which lead me to another link I have listed....Cupcake Bakeshop (which of course made me bookmark a BUNCH of recipes I wanted to try there too.) But I still couldn't find one I really wanted because you know at this point it was a MISSION! I NEEDED to find the blog again! Really it took a couple weeks of googling on and off and I have no idea what words I put in but one precious evening...The Adventures of Superwife appeared. I rejoiced as any other baker would do...I made the cupcakes RIGHT AWAY!

So Emergency Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting....
















The recipes:
Chocolate Cupcakes
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup Dutch processed cocoa
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup water
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat Oven to 350

Whisk all your dry ingredients in one and all your wet ingredients in another. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Line cupcake tins with paper liners - spray lightly with cooking spray. And then fill liners 3/4 full and bake for 14 to 18 minutes.

Quick Buttercream Frosting
I used Williams-Sonoma's recipe but cut in half and omitting the salt.

3 cups powdered sugar
1 stick butter
2 tblsp milk
2 tsp vanilla extract

Melt butter and then mix together all ingredients until fluffy and creamy but with so it keeps its peaks. If too stiff add a little more milk.