pumpkin pancakes

OK so I didn't re-invent the wheel with these pumpkin pancakes.
But I had to share them because they are DELISH.
Had no idea the Trader Joe's buttermilk pancake mix was so tasty.
So I figured why not share?
You all love when I share what's good and what stinks at Trader Joe's...right?

Plus it's one bowl easy.

No recipe really.
I just added in a half of can of plain pumpkin puree for every 1 & 1/2 cups to 2 cups of pancake batter, PLUS a few dashes of pumpkin pie spices, then fry in melted butter baby!
Frying the pancakes in melted butter makes all the difference to me.
And bacon....bacon makes it.
Why yes, that is Trader Joe's black forest bacon.
It's good and fairly cheap.

friday links

Happy Friday kids!

Been spending as much time as I can at the beach swimming, surfing, etc...
Our weather here on cape cod has been amazing; non-stop sun for weeks on end.
We got very lucky this summer with abundant sunshine.
You need to see the beauty....

Love to see surfboards...I feel at home.

Surfer girls waiting on swells (waves).

Not a great day for surf BUT a perfect day for stand up paddleboard.
I'm saving my money for a new stand up board!
Hopefully next summer I'll have a new board!

Can you see the seal on the left side (middle)?

Ben & Jerry's has a new flavor: pumpkin cheesecake. I don't need to tell you how good it is right?

The pumpkin bread mix from Trader Joe's is REALLY good.

These are ok. What I love is the price, far cheaper than others.

These pumpkin-like blondies weren't that good.
Didn't taste like pumpkin, tasted like a spiced candle.
Strange.

Was asked to create a couple recipes for Kretschmer.
Any suggestions?
Kretschmer is an original superfood

"163 Best Paleo Slow Cooker Recipes". A cookbook for Paleo AND a slowcooker?
Yes please!  Being able to keep the paleo eating going strong through the winter with this wonderful
cookbook. 

"163 Best Paleo Slow Cooker Recipes" is loaded with creative Paleo recipes just for your slow
cooker.

Around the web:

s'mores swirl brownies
croque monsieur sliders!  Must make these!
oatmeal-cherry jam bars
pumpkin beers to try this Fall
15 tips to naturally balance your hormones (good advice, especially #6 and #12)
Do you suffer from IT Band Syndrome? It might be your posture!
gluten free buckeye brownies!
5-minute DIY herb facial.  Who knew it could be this easy?
when bacteria fights back: Q&A on the rising threat of drug-resistant microbes
mini pumpkin pie slice cookies (the best cookie decorating site)
cheeseburgers with mac & cheese buns!
why is my quinoa bitter?
the best anti-aging strategies are free
taste-test: nut milks from Three Trees
forks, knives & beakers: harold mcgee starts off his series at Harvard on cooking & science
tips for using apple cider in your baking
coconut chicken fingers (kicked up but still easy to make)
just in time for winter: turmeric tea
I LOVE butterscotch in pies.
chicken pot pie in whole wheat crust
simple homemade chicken soup: these are the kind of recipes I love
is there a website that reviews candy? YES. The candyblog.net
some of the most creative pumpkin recipes I've seen (thanks Kevin!)
DIY fresh ginger syrup. Perfection!
white chicken chili
now this is my kind of granola: homemade gingerbread granola
apple-cream cheese pie--what's not to love about this?
almond butter rice krispie treats! (bookmarked)

Books I'm swooning over:


I could easily become a master in french eating.
Mastering the art of french eating.


David's new book My Paris Kitchen is coming out soon!

Have a wonderful weekend!

pumpkin butter-cinnamon chip cookies

I got about 4-5 emails asking for more Trader Joe's pumpkin butter recipes after the pumpkin butter crunch bars were such a hit.
Seriously all I need is one email and I'm on it.
I love getting requests. And who knew pumpkin butter could be so much fun to bake with?

So these pumpkin butter cookies do have a slight crunch to them, they are NOT cake-like.I just hate the way that some pumpkin cookies are cake-like; just not into that.
The only cake-like cookies I like are devils' food.
These cookies are fairly easy to make.  If you had to have a hard part?  You have to let them chill
overnight to firm up--that's it.
So I added walnuts and cinnamon chips to this for some extra texture and crunch.
The cinnamon chips are a nice touch.
But be careful using cinnamon chips as too much in the batter and they taste chemically--just use
a little bit and you get that nice "cinnamon" taste in the background.
Sounds like we're talking about wine.....
Can you use pecans, sure.
What about chocolate chips?  I wouldn't, but feel free to experiment!
Are these cookies overwhelmingly pumpkiny?  Nooooooo! (thank goodness)
They have a slight crunch on the outside.
I made my cookies giant (shocker I know), but if you make them smaller they should have even
more of a crunch.
If you make them smaller, watch the baking times!



The cinnamon chips are so tasty in this batter.
Normally I hate cinnamon chips because they are so, well....chemically tasting? Is that a good
description? BUt in this batter they taste good.


Self explanatory baking times guide.

I'm sorry there aren't more photos.
I had planned on taking more photos but I left the cookies alone for five hours and they were gone.
Poor babies.

pumpkin butter & cinnamon chip cookies

print recipe

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter room temp

¾ cup granulated sugar

½ cup packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

5 oversized TB pumpkin butter

3 cups all purpose flour

3/4 ts sea salt

1 and ¼ ts baking powder

1/2 ts baking soda

½ cup mini cinnamon chips (you can add more if you like)

½ - ¾ chopped walnuts

Cook notes: This cookie dough needs to chill.  I tried using it right away and the cookies came out flat.

I love making my cookies giant.  You don’t have too. 

If you make them smaller they might need LESS baking times, so make sure to watch that.

I did not add a lot of cinnamon chips to the batter for fear of being too sweet.  Taste-test batter and see if you would like more.

In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars just until creamy. Don’t overbeat. Add in the eggs, pumpkin butter, and beat just until incorporated.

Stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. When thoroughly mixed, add to batter and stir just until blended. Stir in cinnamon chips and walnuts.

Cover with plastic wrap (really well) and chill overnight.

When ready to bake preheat oven to 365 degrees.

Divide dough into 12-14 big 4 oz lumps. Mold into golfballs; do not press flat! 

Keep them as balls on the cookie sheets.  Bake on ungreased cookies sheets (one sheet at a time). (I chilled my dough balls BEFORE baking)

Bake for about 15-20 minutes. 

Or until edges are golden brown and just crisping up.

Please let these cool and set up before eating; they will fall apart if you try to pick them up.

Makes 13-15 giant cookies.

friday links

Happy Friday!

Recently I was given a couple samples of Not Your Sugar Mamas chocolate bars.
Not truly knowing what they were, I just thought they were another artisanal chocolate bar.
But no, they are all natural, no refined sugar, good for you chocolate bar THAT has really good
taste.  Look for them in Whole Foods or just go to their website and see where you can find them.
It's really good chocolate made with pure cacao, raw foods and all natural seasonings.
My favorite was the Be Fresh.


Have you tried your sweet potato fries this way?  Oh but you must!

Recently I got a chance to sit in (not fly...yet!) a Waco Biplane at Cape Cod Airfield.
You can imagine my excitement!
Next time I will go for a ride.




Cool right?  I wish I had a better camera so I could take a clearer photo of the cockpit.

I was asked to review the candy cookbook Classic Candy by Abigail Gehring.
No special molds needed, easy to follow instructions, and hard to find recipes for such old-fashioned candy favorites like:  licorice twists, chocolate cheesecake bon bons, cinnamon hard candies, pate de fruit, potato candy, sugar plums, gummi bears, and so much more!
If you're into vintage candy making that requires no molds, this book is for you.
Plus it comes with handy candy temperature chart.  


Classic Candy by Abigail Gehring

Around the Web:

literary life: a step back in time with HoJo's (my friend wrote this--had to share)
food combining: do you believe in it or think it's hogwash?
5 crucial exercises to keep you in tip top shape (from surf legend dave kalama)
turmeric: the next superfood?
wreaths! the movie (for all you crafty folks)
roasted pumpkin seed hummus
a lightened up version of pumpkin cream cheese muffins
pumpkin pie bagels! when I eat carbs again--this is first in my mouth!
pumpkin-cheesecake popsicles! 
10 ways to use lemons for beauty
healthy peanut butter cups
homemade peanut butter treats for dogs (really cute)
meet "super dad" aka "bat dad" (hilarious!)
apple breakfast bars (I love easy & tasty recipes)
what do the monopoly properties look like in real life?
how to make spanish tortillas

I will be crafty this winter! I will!

humans crave comfort, but comfort isn't always good for us (ut oh! study from harvard gazette)

japanese manhole covers are beautiful
a conversation with teeny the pie baker
re-charge your iphone by just squeezing it?
no more soggy bottom muffins--try this tip
the cold bruer coffee system
how to make perfect chocolate pudding
3 ways to soften butter quickly
built-in straw cereal bowl
foam roller: what is it, how do you use it & why does it hurt?
wonderful aerial view of cape cod
pumpkin ale muffins!
key lime-white chocolate cookies
streuseled acorn squash muffins
make today, eat any day: how to freeze cookie dough

Have a wonderful weekend!



                                          

pumpkin butter crunch bars

So not being able to find canned pumpkin last week, what's the next best thing?
No, I'm not roasting a whole pumpkin and then pureeing it, as much as that sounds like a fun "little house on the prairie" moment, I will pass.
The next best thing was pumpkin butter!
The pumpkin butter at Trader Joe's is pretty good, a little too sweet for me, but it's ok.
It's MUCH better to bake with----
And it's cheap...let's go with that.

This creation came about after I asked on my Facebook page: pumpkin-chocolate chip cookies yeah or nay. And a lot of you said yeah BUT not cakey.
So off I set to create a "crunch-like" pumpkin cookie.
And one of you said pumpkin powder!  Where can I find pumpkin powder?
Oh yes indeed.
These pumpkin butter crunch bars are based on the VERY popular ginger crunch bars.
Do I even have to tell you how good they are?
No.
Let me put it to you this way: almost everything I create I give away to friends and family.
These were on the list to give to my doctor and his wife, who are total foodies btw (my doc makes
his own pasta BY HAND--no machine!).
When I dropped these bars off everyone in the office huddled around the plate like a buffalo stance, making those sounds of "ohhh and ahhh and whoa...".  Secretly?  I love, and I mean love to hear the resounding voices of people in love with my creations.  It's literally what drives me to create.
There were I think 12-15 bars on the plate?
In five minutes they were all gone.
Five!!

One bowl easy?  Meh, pretty much.

This could also be called pumpkin shortbread, if you doubled up the dough and made it thicker.

A little of this stuff goes a long way....it's strong.

Don't panic when the dough is crumbly, just go ahead and push it the pan!


Icing is strong too, so I only used half (see cook notes).

pumpkin butter crunch bars

from this recipe

print recipe

cookie base

9 TB unsalted butter, room temp

¼  cup granulated sugar

1 ¾ cup flour

1 ts baking powder

 giant pinch of sea salt

3 giant TB of pumpkin butter

icing

4 TB unsalted butter

2 TB golden syrup

1-2 TB pumpkin butter

½ cup powdered sugar

pinch of sea salt

cook notes:

I used an 8-inch tart pan with removable bottom. 

You could use another size tart pan with removable bottom.

For me, the icing makes a lot, I just wanted a little bit of icing, so I only used half and saved the rest of the icing for pumpkin scones!  It keeps perfectly in the fridge, covered, for a week.  I can’t remember how much pumpkin butter I used in the icing; it was either 1 or 2 TB.  So use 1 TB, taste it, and see how you feel and go from there.

I know a lot of you always ask is there a substitute for the golden syrup—no, I haven’t found one yet.  If you can please invest in buying a can of this, it’s really good and one can lasts a long time, plus I have the ginger crunch bars you can make with it!  It’s just such a great ingredient for frostings, icing, etc…

Butter and/or spray up a 8 or 9-inch rectangular tart pan with removable bottom.

You can use a stand mixer—I mixed by hand.  In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the pumpkin butter

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Mix the dry ingredients into the creamed butter mixture until well combined.

The dough will be very crumbly!  This is fine.

Turn the dough out onto the pan and spread it out, making sure to get into all the corners.   Stick the dough in the fridge for at least 15 minutes before baking.

When ready to bake preheat the oven to 375ºF.

Bake the dough for 18-20 minutes, until it’s light golden brown or if you want really crunchy then golden brown --  I did somewhere in between.

When the dough is almost done baking, make the icing by heating the butter and golden syrup over low heat in a small pan; add in the powdered sugar and pumpkin butter.  Keep stirring until it’s all smooth. Do NOT let this boil, take off heat when everything is nice and combined. 

Once the dough is done baking pour the icing over the top (I used about 1/2 of it).  When smoothing out the icing try not to let it get into the edges.  You want the edges to be seen as it gives a nice decorative appeal when it’s all cooled.

Let this sit for at least 30 minutes to let the icing harden up/set up. 

If your kitchen is hot, then pop in the fridge.

Use a sharp knife to slice into bars or squares.