White Chocolate Almond Oat Cookies—12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies

Week Three of 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies.  Okay, so I haven’t totally accepted that Christmas is coming so quickly.  I’m. not. ready.  (Who is?)  That may be why the cookies you see  have fall/Halloween colors.  These cookies can easily be made with just chopped white chocolate or chips, but when I recently found some new M&Ms—White Chocolate Candy Corn M&Ms, I HAD to get some and try them out.

   

These new M&Ms are good.  They ARE white chocolate and not some vanilla wannabe type candy masquerading around in candy corn costumes or something.  I am happy about that.  How could anyone resist if anything just such a cute package with the little dressed up M&M?  These are bigger than plain M&Ms, which I actually think are their only downfall.  You can only eat a few at a time (or is that a good thing?), they are just very sweet.  So I decided they needed to have some sweetness cut by putting them in a cookie, something with good wholesome things like oats and almonds. 

These cookies are great.  They are oaty and nutty with the added sweetness from not only the M&Ms, but some white chocolate chips as well.  If I wasn’t a better girl, I would have tried one, then taken another taste, and another and well, probably four cookies would have disappeared, but since I was a little better than that, it didn’t quite happen that way.  I ate one of each.  What does that mean, you ask?

Well, I did try to play into the Christmas spirit a little and took about 1/4 of the dough before adding the M&Ms and added some dried cranberries.

 

Not sure I could decide between the two which I like better, they are definitely both good in their own right.  You decide. ;)

I found the recipe for these from Tracy at Shutterbean who got the recipe from Dana Treat.

White Chocolate Candy Corn M&M Almond Oat Cookies and/or White Chocolate Cranberry Oat Cookies, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar (200 grams)

1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed (110 grams)

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2  1/2 cups quick oats (200 grams)*

2 cups all purpose flour (240 grams)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups white chocolate chips

1  1/2 cups slivered almonds

3/4 cup Candy Corn White Chocolate M&Ms (added to 3/4 of the dough)

1/3 cup dried cranberries (added to 1/4 of the dough)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cream the butter for a minute.  Add both sugars and beat well.  Scrape sides of bowl.  Add the eggs and vanilla and beat another 2 minutes.

Put the oats in a food processor (*old fashioned would work, too, since you are going to pulse them to a rough ground texture), pulse 10-15 times until the oats are almost like flour, but not quite.  You want a little texture.  In a separate medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add the oats and other dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and beat to just combine everything together.  Put the almonds in the food processor and pulse a few times just to break up the slivers.  Fold in the white chocolate chips and almonds. 

If you want to add M&Ms or cranberries, divide the dough, or add more cranberries and make them all festive!  Chill the dough for 30 minutes if possible.  I did and like they way they turned out.  Scoop out dough with a cookie scoop and place two inches apart on baking sheets.  Bake for 9-10 minutes.  Let sit on baking sheet for a couple minutes.  Remove to wire rack to cool completely.  Makes about 3 dozen.

    

I really like the texture of these cookies with the ground oats and pulsed slivered almonds.   You could easily use other nuts, like macadamia nuts or maybe pistachios.  I was also torn between used the dried cranberries or some dried tart cherries.  Oh the possibilities!  The holidays are comin’…….. ;)

TWD—Basic Biscuits

Does that look like a basic biscuit to you?  Yeah, me either.  Tuesdays With Dorie this week—Basic Biscuits.  So many TWD bloggers seemed to be shocked and almost annoyed that last week when the recipe was my pick, we made something with no chocolate, the Apple Nut Muffin Cake.  I felt so bad to disappoint so many. ;)  Really, it just came down to me 1—thinking of fall and wanting to do something with the season and 2—thinking of Kayte from Grandma's Kitchen Table, our TWD resident chocolate-hater.  I thought I’d be nice and pick something she would enjoy since I think 3 of the 4 recipes for September had chocolate.

Well, no more Mrs. Nice Gal.  (ha)  I joked in an email with Kayte that there would surely be some chocolate involved some way in this week’s recipe post.  Thought that would be hard to do with basic biscuits.  Think again.  Feast your eyes on that photo above---pretty much chocolate heaven.  Perfectly buttery, flaky biscuits slathered with Nutella (chocolate hazelnut heaven in itself), sliced banana, whipped cream and some dark chocolate shavings on top.  Yep—now we’re talking.  Love me some chocolate!  Sorry, Kayte, for YOUR viewing pleasure, check out my last post for some Uber Lemon Ice Cream.  It’s good!

Back to basics—the biscuits were simple, quick and great.  I think I flattened out the dough a little less than half an inch, so they didn’t rise really high, but they were still great.

My mom is here visiting me.  We decided to make breakfast for dinner Monday night.  I made the biscuits and she made a sausage gravy to smother them in.  I don’t eat sausage, but Kevin and the boys all liked it.

After Scott and Parker had seconds of the biscuits and gravy, I believe Scott had thirds eating a total of five biscuits and Parker ate two more—one with butter and one with honey.

I decided to have mine with a little butter and some spiced plum butter I’d made a few weeks ago.  Yum! 

I brushed the biscuits with some cream before baking them and used a 2 1/4 inch cutter and got 16 biscuits.  I used 2% milk since I didn’t have any whole milk. 

Nice recipe—this was chosen by Jennifer  from Cooking For Comfort.  She’ll have the recipe posted on her blog.  You can check out all the other biscuits over at TWD, too.

Want a bite?

Having hosted last week, I know I didn’t make it around to all those that made and posted the recipe for the Apple Nut Muffins Cake and I really feel bad.  With my mom visiting for two weeks and us keeping super busy, I haven’t had much time to breathe.  I will try to make the rounds once things settle down after she leaves me. (I love my mommy and having her visit.  She is so helpful (dejunking and organizing my home) and is a joy to be with!)  Thank you to all who baked along last week and for your comments on my blog!

Uber Lemon Ice Cream—Secret Recipe Club

It’s Secret Recipe Club time again, already.  I don’t even want to talk about how fast time is going by!  So let’s just talk about this month’s recipe and blog I was assigned. 

My secret blog this month is Evelyne’s blog, Cheap Ethnic Eatz.  She is from Montreal, and is a fellow food lover who started a dinner group that now has over 250 members.  There is definitely a lot of ethnicity on her blog!  But as soon as I saw some lemon ice cream she made last year, I knew that was the recipe for me.  Funny, a couple days after I decided that was what I was going to make, out of the blue, my son, Taylor announced to me that for his 8th birthday (this Wednesday, the 12th) he wants lemon ice cream.  OK!  I’m not even sure what made him think of that as we haven’t had lemon ice cream before. 

Evelyne’s Uber Lemon Ice Cream looked just like it would hit the spot.  She mentioned that this was really a “not for the faint of heart” and “could replace a morning coffee in terms of a slap in the face to wake you up”.

Her recipe uses the zest of one lemon and the juice of three lemons with only one cup of cream and one cup of milk.  That does sound uber!  I really just wanted to have more ice cream, so I adjusted the recipe—basically, I doubled the cream and milk, but only used three lemons and the same amount of sugar for the original recipe.  This made some great lemon ice cream.  It’s not uber tart, but I would call it uber because it tastes great!

Uber Lemon Ice Cream, adapted by Katrina, Baking and Boys! from Cheap Ethnic Eatz

zest of 1 lemon

juice of 3 lemons

1 cup granulated sugar

2 cups cold heavy cream

2 cups cold 2% milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

10 drops of yellow food coloring (optional)

Zest one lemon and juice three lemons.  Combine the juice with the sugar and salt in a medium sized heatproof bowl.  Set it over a pan with about one inch of simmering water and whisk until the sugar is dissolved (about 3-5 minutes). In a large bowl, add the warm juice mixture to the cream and milk and whisk to combine.  Pour the contents into the bowl of an ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer’s instructions, 20-25 minutes.  Store the ice cream in an airtight container in the freezer for at least a few hours.  Let sit on counter for 10 minutes before serving.

This ice cream is really good and is surely one I’ll be making again.  Happy to have spent time on Evelyne’s blog and found another to check in on all the creations she’s got going on.  Check out her blog on the links above.

***Having some trouble with my linkz code being right on my blog, so check out all of Group A Secret Recipe Club Reveals on this link.

French Yogurt Cake—Happy Birthday, Paige!

Orange Citrus French Yogurt Cake with Berries, August 2011

I made this cake for a family get-together and it was great, especially with the fresh berries!

Just wanted to wish my friend, Paige, chef extraordinaire, from Kansas, who blogs at A Cooking Life a happy birthday today by finally posting about a wonderful cake I had a couple times in her classes I used to be able to take at the Community Mercantile before we moved to Utah.  Man I sure miss those classes and her!  I learned a lot from her about cooking and baking over the year and a half or so that I was able to take her classes and I’m so happy she started a blog a few months before we moved.

I went back to Kansas this past March to visit friends and had the pleasure of taking another one of Paige’s classes while I was there.  I think seven friends and I attended a class, which was really fun and tasty.  The class was actually one I had taken before, but with a few different dishes.  But Paige made her French Yogurt Cake again that I loved the first time and again this next time as well.  I have lost track of how many times I have made this cake and with how many different variations.  The classic French Yogurt Cake can be made as an all vanilla based simple cake, or with lemon or orange for a nice citrus flavor or as Paige served it, as a chocolate/vanilla marble cake. 

Lemon French Yogurt Cake, March 2011

Lemon French Yogurt Cake with Raspberry Coulis and Whipped Cream, March 2011

Chocolate and Vanilla Marbled French Yogurt Cake, March 2011

After taking Paige’s class in March while I was visiting Kansas, I decided to make two versions of the cake at my friend, Mindy’s house where I was staying.  We were getting together the next night after class with all my “reality sisters” for goodies and friendship and Survivor!  This marbled cake I made was delicious and just like the one Paige served in class.

The lemon French yogurt cake I made that night as well was just as good as the chocolate marble cake. 

But I wondered what it would be like to make a whole cake that was all chocolate, so a few month later, I tried it at home.

Chocolate French Yogurt Cake, April 2011

In June, I made the cake with just vanilla extract and used it for strawberry shortcake.  I sliced the cake in half and put whipped cream and strawberries in the middle as well as more on top.  We had company and I just snapped a few quick photos, but the French yogurt cake worked great as a base for the strawberries and cream!

There are a few other times I’ve made the cake and didn’t snap any photos.  If you are looking for a simple cake with many different flavor variations, this is definitely one to have in your recipe collection!  I’m sure glad to have it and thank Paige for sharing it.  French yogurt cake has been around for years, but Paige has tweaked it to perfection (her cake has one egg less than traditional French yogurt cakes).  Here is Paige’s recipe--

French Yogurt Cake, by Paige Vandegrift

At one time, this simple little cake was taught to every  French schoolgirl.  It is a humble cake made from ingredients that would be on hand in most French households.  In France, plain yogurt is sold in individual portions in 125ml glass pots (about half a cup).  This cake was made by measuring all of the major ingredients out using the pot the yogurt came in.  It has many, many variations.  I have chosen to make a chocolate marbled variation because it is a bit unusual and very tasty.  See below for other variations.

1  1/2 cups all purpose flour (3 pots) 180 grams

1/2 teaspoon salt

1  1/2 teaspoons baking powder

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup granulated sugar (2 pots) 200 grams

1/2 cup vegetable oil (1 pot)

1/2 cup plain whole milk yogurt (I have used nonfat yogurt with success on all cakes—Katrina)

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate (60% to 65%), chopped—melted and cooled

Butter a 9x2 inch round cake pan.  Flour the pan and tap out the excess.

Place the dry ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine.  Set aside.

Place the eggs an vanilla in a large bowl and whisk until smooth.  Gradually whisk in the sugar until the mixture is slightly thickened—this will only take about a minute.  Gradually whisk in the oil and continue to whisk briskly for another minute.  Fold in half of the dry ingredients, followed by the yogurt, followed by the remaining dry ingredients, mixing after each addition just until blended.

Pour a little more than half of the batter into the prepared pan.  Blend the melted chocolate into the remaining vanilla batter and mix until well combined.  Pour the chocolate batter over the vanilla batter and with the tip of a spatula or a table knife, gently draw swirls through the batter to marbleize it.  Don’t over mix or you won’t have a marble affect—two zig-zag passes through the pan should be sufficient.

Transfer the cake to a preheated 350 degree oven and bake until the cake springs back when pressed gently in the center and a toothpick comes out clean—30 to 35 minutes.  Remove the cake from the oven and cool for 10 minutes in the pan.  Run a knife around the sides of the pan and turn the cake out onto a wire rack to cool.  Serve dusted with powdered sugar with some whipped cream alongside, if you like.

Variations:

*Omit the chocolate an prepare a plain vanilla cake (use vanilla sugar if you have it).

*Omit the chocolate.  Rub the zest of 2 small lemons or 1 large lemon into the sugar before whisking the sugar into the eggs.  Make a glaze with the juice of two small (or 1 large) lemons (about 1/4 cup strained juice) and 1/4 cup powdered sugar.  After the cake has cooled, spoon the glaze over the cake.  The glaze will be thin and soak in like a syrup.

*Substitute 1/2 cup almond flour/meal (about 2 oz.) for 1/2 cup of the flour.  This can be done for a chocolate marbled, vanilla or citrus version.

*Make the vanilla or lemon version (omit the soaking syrup if you make the lemon cake) and when cooled, split the cake horizontally with a serrated knife.  Spread lemon curd or a favorite jam in between the 2 layers and frost the cake with whipped cream.

*Use the vanilla or almond version for strawberry shortcake.

*For the all chocolate version, I used 7 ounces of bittersweet chocolate—Katrina.  Paige has never tried this version.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PAIGE!  THANK YOU FOR SO MANY RECIPES, TECHNIQUES, DELICIOUS FOOD AND YOUR FRIENDSHIP OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS!

Chocolate Mudslides—12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies

Have I got some great super-chocolaty, full-of-deep-dark-goodness cookies for you today for the continuation of 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies, which started last week!

I saw these cookies on my friend, Anna’s blog, which she posted a couple days ago and their extreme chocolaty look and description had me hook, line and sinker ready to make them.  I thought that they must be shared with you today and I think they would be a great addition to any holiday occasion.  These are not for the faint of heart when it comes to chocolate.  They are made with some unsweetened chocolate, lots of bittersweet chocolate and that’s just the cookie dough—MORE chocolate is added to that with 10 ounces of chocolate chips!

  Chocolate Mudslides, by Anna, Cookie Madness, adapted slightly by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon cake flour (1  1/4 ounce)

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

2  3/4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used a 60% dark chocolate)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

3-4 large eggs (weigh to make 6 ounces)  Mine took almost 4 eggs

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (8 ounces)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

10 ounces semi sweet or dark chocolate chips

In a small mixing bowl, stir together cake flour, baking powder and salt.

In a microwave safe bowl, combine the unsweetened chocolate, bittersweet chocolate and the butter.  Melt in 30 second intervals, stirring in between until melted, combine and smooth.  Let cool slightly.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs until light.  Beat in the sugar and the vanilla.  Add the melted chocolate and once it is all incorporated, add the flour mixture and fold in with a spatula just until combined.  Fold in the chocolate chips.

Chill the batter/dough for one hour.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line two large baking sheets with parchment.  Scoop mounds of dough onto the baking sheets.  Bake for 12 minutes.  Let cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Makes about 32 cookies. 

I know a certain Dad who will probably love these when he comes to visit next week!  I will freeze a bunch of them and then warm them in the oven for a few minutes to make them their gooey mudslide deliciousness.

Check out all the other holiday goodness down below!

TWD—Apple Nut Muffin Cake

I am lucky enough to get to pick the Tuesdays With Dorie recipe for our group again!  We really are coming down the homestretch with finishing all the recipes in Dorie’s book, Baking From My Home to Yours!  While going through the recipes left to choose from, I had a hard time deciding.  I was torn between a butternut squash pie, brownies or this cake, which obviously I chose the cake.  I decided on a  quick, easy fall recipe.

_______________________________________________________________

From the book:

This is a recipe that gives the lie to the proverb “Haste makes waste.”  I had measured out all the ingredients for apple nut muffins when my brunch guests arrived, but I hadn’t prepped the muffin pan.  I grabbed a nonstick silicone baking pan, scraped the batter into it and hurriedly slid the pan into the oven.  When I pulled it out, I had a great-looking cake, appealingly rough and rustic and homey, and packed with all the goodness of my old-time muffins—oatmeal, raisins, nuts and, for full, true apple flavor, diced apple and apple cider.

Serving: Like muffins, this cake can be served warm or at room temperature, just cut it into squares and stack the squares on a plate or in a napkin-lined basket.  It has enough flavor and more than enough texture to be eaten plain, but like muffins, it’s good with butter, jam, cottage cheese or even thick plain yogurt.

Storing: The cake is best eaten the day it is made, but it can be wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 2 months; warm in a 350 degree F oven before serving.

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 cup apple cider or juice (or another 1/2 cup milk)

1 large egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1  3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar

3/4 cup old-fashioned oats

1 medium apple, peeled, cored and cut into small dice

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1/3 cup moist, plump raisins

Getting ready:  Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Use an 8-inch square silicone pan, or butter an 8-inch square baking pan, dust the inside with flour, and tap out the excess.  Put the pan on a baking sheet.

Whisk together the milk, cider, egg, vanilla and almond extracts and butter.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, cinnamon and salt to combine thoroughly.  Toss in the brown sugar, making sure there aren’t any lumps by running it through your fingers, then add the oats and whisk the dry ingredients a few more times to mix.  Switch to a large rubber spatula and stir in the liquid ingredients, stirring just until everything is moistened—as with muffins, less mixing is better than more.  Gently stir in the apple, nuts and raisins, and scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and a thin knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.  Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for a couple of minutes before running a knife around the sides of the pan and unmolding the cake; invert and cool until warm, or to room temperature.

I made the cake twice.  The first time I made it exactly as the recipe is written except I didn’t add the raisins.  I used apple cider.

I found it hard to photograph a piece of the cake. 

I liked the first cake for how moist it was and it really was okay, but I didn’t like the almond extract in it for some reason.  I usually really like almond extract in things we’ve made with it. 

The second time I made it, I decided to make it with a few more healthy ingredients.  I used skim milk (was out of apple cider).  I also used Bestlife buttery baking sticks for the butter and I used whole wheat pastry flour.  I left out the almond extract and I added half a teaspoon more cinnamon.  I liked the flavor of this one better, but the cake was rather dry and crumbly.  I suppose it didn’t have enough of that good fat I took out of it. ;)  I actually think this would make better muffins, as was intended when Dorie first made them. 

Thanks to all the TWDers who baked along with me this week.  I’m happy to have been able to pick a recipe again and it will be fun to see everyone else’s cakes.   Check out the links here to other TWD blogs.

Pumpkin Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips (Healthy)

 

This is some really good Pumpkin Banana Bread!  It is super moist, flavorful and quite healthy.  I made it with whole wheat pastry flour and it has some oats.  It also doesn’t have very much oil and is low in sugar. All that said, it is probably my favorite banana or pumpkin bread to date.  (I’ve made many different recipes before.) 

I took a number of recipes and adapted them but my main inspiration came from seeing Fallon’s Pumpkin Banana Bread she posted recently on her blog, Fallon’s Cucina.  Hers might be even more healthy as she used some egg whites, Stevia and spelt flour.

I am happy with how good this bread was and even more happy that it is good enough that my seven year old asked me if I’d make it again and it’s not even all gone yet (almost though!).  Of course, I added the chocolate chips just for the kids’ sake. ;)

Pumpkin Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips (Healthy), by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

3/4 cup pureed banana (about 2 medium bananas)

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/4 cup canola oil

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1  3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup quick oats

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (freshly grated is best)

3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9x5x2 inch bread pan with cooking spray.

Puree the bananas in a food processor (my favorite way, but mashing with a fork is fine, too).  Put the bananas, pumpkin, oil, eggs and vanilla in a medium sized bowl and whisk to combine.  In another bowl, combine together all the dry ingredients.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir with a spatula until well mixed.  Fold in the chocolate chips. 

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with jut a few crumbs.  Let the bread cool for 10 minutes in the pan, the run a knife around the edges and turn the bread out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

 The bread was still just every so slightly warm when I first sliced it—couldn’t wait any longer.  It was delicious and still great the next day.  Have you made anything with pumpkin yet?  The time is now. ;)

This post has been added to Jeanette’s Whole Grain Recipe Roundup on her blog Jeanette’s Healthy Living.  Check out all the goodness!

This post has been added to Katherine Martinelli's Friday Shout Out Pumpkin Blog Hop.  Check out all the other pumpkin goodness, too!

Devil’s Food Cake Mix Cookies and Pumpkin Spice Cake Mix Cookies (Low Fat)—12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies AND Cookie Carnival

You might not be ready to hear this, heck, I’m not ready either, but today begins the Twelve Weeks of Christmas Cookies!  Bahhh!  Ready or not, this group is here to help you.  Every Thursday from now until December 15, we’ll share with you another holiday goodie you can make and share with your friends and family during the season—just to make your life that much easier.  Wish we could be there to actually do the baking for you! ;)  This first post just happens to coincide with my post for Cookie Carnival as well.

This year, the group for Twelve Weeks of Christmas Cookies is being lead by Brenda from Meal Planning Magic.  Thanks, Brenda!

For Cookie Carnival this month, we were challenged to make any cookie we wanted that uses a boxed cake mix.  I have had cookies before that just have a cake mix and pumpkin puree and have been aching to break open a can or two of pumpkin puree now that it’s officially fall.   A friend told me that you just use one boxed cake mix and 15 ounces of canned pumpkin, and bake the cookies at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes.  Most often, these cookies are made with spice cake mix---so I did that.

  

For the Pumpkin Spice Cake Mix Cookies, I added some chocolate chips and toasted chopped walnuts.  These cookies are good.

Pumpkin Spice Cake Mix Cookies (Low Fat), by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1 box spice cake mix

15 ounces canned pumpkin puree

1 cup (6 ounces) semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

turbinado sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Put the pumpkin in the bowl of an electric mixer, add half the dry cake mix and let it beat on low speed.  When it starts to combine together, continue adding the rest of the mix and beat until all is combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts.  Scoop onto baking sheets with a cookie scoop or spoon.  Sprinkle each cookie with turbinado sugar.   Bake for 12-15 minutes.  Remove from oven and let sit on baking sheet for a few minutes.  Let cool completely on a wire rack.  Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Since I’d opened a large can (29 oz.) of pumpkin, I decided the only thing to do was use it up making more cookies with another cake mix.  You’re probably wondering how a 29 oz. can of pumpkin can yield two 15 ounce portions for each of these recipes.  Me, too.  All I know is that I weighed them on my kitchen scale both times as I was making the cookies and it was 15 ounces each time.  Go figure.

I can’t ever seem to just leave well enough alone when it comes to chocolate, so the other cookies I chose to make had a devil’s food cake mix, and more added chocolate chips.  And darn it all, THESE are good cookies.  While I just don’t use boxed cake mixes, I like that these cookies are pretty low in fat, instead of adding lots of oil and eggs, it’s just pumpkin, which is quite healthy with the added benefit of fiber.  I sprinkled these with some fall colored sprinkles, but these would definitely be perfect with Christmas colors, or for any occasion you’d like.

Devil’s Food Cake Mix Cookies, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1 box devil’s food cake mix

15 ounces canned pumpkin puree

1  1/2 cups (9 ounces) semi sweet chocolate chips

Colorful Sprinkles for decorating

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Put the pumpkin puree in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Add about half the dry cake mix and start beating together on low until it begins to combine.  Add the rest of the cake mix and beat until all combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips with a spatula, scraping the sides of the bowl as well.  Scoop on to baking sheets with cookie scoop or spoon.   Lightly flatten each cookie with the bottom of a glass sprayed with cooking spray.  Sprinkle with decorations.  Bake for 12-15 minutes.  Let cool on baking sheets for a few minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool completely.  Makes about 3 dozen cookies.  

 

Yes, both these cookies are soft and cakey.  I couldn’t help but think about another certain cakey cookie—whoopie pies.  So while I took most of these cookies to a church activity, I had to give the whoopie pies a fair try.  I melted some marshmallow in the microwave and spooned up a couple scoops of it to fill the whoopie pies.

Guess which cookie I liked better—devil’s food or pumpkin spice?   Hmmm.

Any other cake mix flavors you think would be good with the pumpkin puree?  Gingerbread would be.  Probably not strawberry. ;)  You’ll want to try these!  And check out all the other bakers for this first installment of Twelve Weeks of Christmas Cookies AND Cookie Carnival.  Thanks!  Get your holiday baking on!

 

TWD—Flip-Over Peach Cake

For Tuesdays With Dorie this week, Becky from Project Domestication chose Flip-Over Plum Cake (page 42).  I made this not long after getting the list of recipes for the month.  We had family over for desserts and I decided to make this cake.

I made it with peaches instead of plums because that is what I had at the time.  The peaches are tosses with a little sugar and spice (cinnamon and ginger).  I omitted the coriander and used 2% milk.  This was definitely a different kind of cake with a very different method of pouring the cake batter over melted butter in the baking pan and then laying the fruit over the top.  Thought I was making some kind of soup there for a bit. ;)  But never fear—Dorie has done it again.  The cake turned out really well.  It was different, but surprisingly good.

The peaches sank down into the cake and the butter made nice crispy edges.  I’m not sure how else to explain it, but everyone actually really liked the cake and it was gone in a flash.  It was easy to make and I’d probably make it again for other occasions.

These are literally the few pictures I snapped before the cake was eaten up!

Becky will have the recipe on her blog.  This is a great on to have in your aresnal.  Give it a try for something different and unique.  Of course the cake was perfect served with a dollop of whipped cream on top.

It will be fun to check out other blogger’s Flip-Over Cakes at TWD Headquarters.