Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip Snickerdoodle Cookies

Yum

Makes about 2 dozen cookies, takes about one hour.

---------------------------------------



This has become a staple in my Fall baking repertoire, for multiple reasons. One, they are delicious. Two, they're bite-sized. Three, Due to how moist they are initially plus the addition of coconut oil, they stay good for weeks in the refrigerator. I love pumpkin but one of the only downsides is that unless a recipe explicitly states you need an exact-size can amount of it for a recipe, you end up with leftovers in an odd amount. In my own recipes, I have that happen with my Pumpkin-Apple Streusel muffins from last week, and with this week I can use up the majority of that leftover with these cookies.

Ingredients

    1/2 cup Coconut Oil (melted)
    1/4 cup Dark Brown Sugar
    1 cup Sugar, divided
    1 teaspoon Vanilla
    6 Tablespoons Pumpkin (puree)   
    1 and 1/2 cups Flour
    1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
    1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
    1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
    2 teaspoons Cinnamon, divided
    1/4 teaspoon ground Nutmeg
    1/4 teaspoon ground Cloves
    1/2 teaspoon Allspice
    1/2 cup (90g) White Chocolate Chips

---------------------------------------

Directions

1. Melt the Coconut Oil. In a medium bowl, whisk the melted Oil, Brown Sugar, and 1/2 cup Sugar together until the brown sugar is fully combined.
2. Whisk in the Vanilla and Pumpkin. Once smooth, set bowl aside.
3. In a large bowl, toss together the Flour,Kosher Salt, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, Nutmeg, Cloves, Allspice and 1 and 1/2 teaspoons Cinnamon.
4.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together with a large spoon or spatula. The dough will be very soft. Fold in white chocolate chips.
5. Cover the dough and leave to set in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
6. Take out your dough and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or baking mats.
7. Roll the dough into balls, about 1 Tablespoon of dough each.
8. Mix together the remaining 1/2 cup of Sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of Cinnamon. Roll each of the dough balls generously in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
9. Slightly flatten the dough balls with a fork, as the cookies don't spread very much.
10. Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes, they will look soft and slightly under-baked.
11. Cool cookies for at least 10 minutes on the baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack and letting cool for a minimum of one hour.
12. Enjoy!

---------------------------------------

Tips/Tricks

As with all Pumpkin and Banana baked goods, these cookies taste better a day or two later, though they are delicious immediately.

If you have Pumpkin Pie spice, you can swap the Nutmeg, Cloves and Allspice for 1 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice instead.

For really longevity, you can store these bad boys in an air-tight container in the fridge. Just pull them out about a half hour before intending to serve so they can come back up to room temp. Because of the Coconut Oil, they harden up under 75 degrees and soften when they are at room temp.

You can store the unbaked dough in an airtight container in the freezer for several months. Sometimes I'll just double the recipe, roll out the dough into all 1 Tablespoon balls and then put half in an airtight container in the freezer and then all I need to do is thaw them in the fridge and roll in cinnamon sugar and bake when I want them...or if I have multiple holiday parties to go to and want to bring some to each.


---------------------------------------

Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins

Makes 2 Dozen Muffins, Takes about 35-40 minutes


  Yum
   This recipe comes from my late grandmother, who by all accounts was a great baker. Her 3x5 index card of this recipe is succinct in instructions so I am going to try and keep this about the same.  In the fall and winter seasons, we are greeted with two predominant produce items that make their way into everything; Pumpkin and Apple. This recipe let's you have the best of both worlds; A pumpkin muffin that has small chunks of apple mixed throughout, relieving you of what I consider to be one of the hardest decisions to make of the season. The batter is thick, but don't be alarmed, this is an easy recipe that will satisfy anyone looking for their seasonal sweet-tooth fix.

---------------------------------------

Ingredients:

Muffin

2 1/2 Cups Flour
2 Cups Sugar
1 Tbl. Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Salt
2 Eggs (lightly beaten)
1 Cup Canned Pumpkin
1/2 Cup Oil
2 Cups Apples (peeled and finely chopped)

Streusel Topping

4 Tbl. Butter (softened)
2 Tbl. Flour
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

---------------------------------------

Directions

1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and while you're waiting, peel and dice your apples.
2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine first 5 ingredients (Flour, Sugar, Pumpkin Pie Spice, Baking Soda, Salt)
3. In a separate bowl, combine Eggs, Pumpkin and Oil.
4. Stir in the contents of the liquid ingredients bowl to the dry ingredients bowl. This is slow going, looking entirely too dry until it finally all comes together into an orange-ish batter.
5. Once the wet and dry ingredients are fully mixed together, add in your finely chopped up apples and stir them into the batter.
6. In a small bowl, add your streusel topping ingredients together and use a fork (or your fingers if you work quickly) to crumble the butter into the mixture. You should have a bowl full of little clumps.
7.Lightly grease your muffin pans and drop the batter in, filling about 3/4ths of the way full. Top with streusel topping.
8. Bake on middle rack of oven for about 35-40 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

---------------------------------------

Tips/Tricks

When baking, there are some things you should always be doing in order to make your bakes the best they can be. One of those things is sifting your flour so that it's lighter, and the second is using eggs and room temperature.

Any solid apple will work in this recipe, though as usual I suggest apples that are known for baking, Granny Smith's Mcintosh, Pink Lady's, Gala, Honeycrisp.

I don't often use a pre-made Pumpkin Pie spice mixture, since I usually have all the individual spices on hand, but that is how this recipe was written. If you don't have a pre-made pumpkin spice mixutre, you can make up a similar blend that is 1/4 teaspoons of Nutmeg, Clove, Allspice and a 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon.

As with all Pumpkin and Banana baked goods, something happens in the baking process that mutes their Pumpkin/Banana flavor that comes back in full force a day or two after baking. This means that should these muffins last longer than 24 hours, they will taste more strongly of pumpkin on days two and three. Ideally, you should bake these one day ahead of when you intend to serve them, for that full pumpkin flavor to really develop.
---------------------------------------