while most of the us is sleeping in or traveling to spend the holiday with family, jaisn and i are spending the morning at work, for the second year in a row. partially due to the fact our families are at least a plane ride away and partially due to deadlines. oh well its nice and quiet and no one to bother me while i work away... and blog?
this isnt to say we wont have a thanksgiving at all... we'll make dinner tonight and go away to a cabin with friends for a thanksgiving weekend.
anyway to get into the thanksgiving mood, earlier this week i made pumpkin whoopie pies for the office.
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling
adapted from martha stewart
Pumpkin Whoopie Cookies
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon ground cloves
2 cups firmly packed dark-brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 cups pumpkin puree, chilled
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Filling
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
sprinkle of cinnamon
Make the cookies:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat; set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves; set aside. In another large bowl, whisk together brown sugar and oil until well combined. Add pumpkin puree and whisk until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and whisk until well combined. Sprinkle flour mixture over pumpkin mixture and whisk until fully incorporated.
Using a small ice cream scoop with a release mechanism, drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Transfer to oven and bake until cookies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of each cookie comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely on pan.
Make the filling:
Sift confectioner' sugar into a medium bowl; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth. Add cream cheese and beat until well combined. Add confectioners' sugar, vanilla and cinnamon, beat just until smooth. (Filling can be made up to a day in advance. Cover and refrigerate; let stand at room temperature to soften before using.)
Assemble the whoopie pies:
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Transfer filling to a disposable pastry bag and snip the end. When cookies have cooled completely, pipe a large dollop of filling on the flat side of half of the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, pressing down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edge of the cookies. Transfer to prepared baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate cookies at least 30 minutes before serving and up to 3 days.
fall means soups, mashed potatoes, warm comfort foods, and pumpkiny desserts.tonight i decided to start my pumpkin dessert baking with pumpkin swirl brownies i came across on site.somewhere in the middle of mixing ingredients i neglected to read carefully and mixed up the dry ingredients and straight into it added the wet ingredients... as i was cracking eggs over the dry mix, i thought to myself this is weird, why wouldnt i mix the wet ingredients together first before adding it to the dry stuff. after the last egg was cracked, i realized, i shouldve been mixing them separately first. duh. oh well, i was low on flour so i decided just to keep going and hope it turned out well.the base batter was thick and therefore the chocolate batter was thick... and i spaced out and didnt measure the pumpkin, and just started dumping the can into the bowl, so i ended up with thin pumpkin batter and thick chocolate batter which made layering and swirling difficult...so far after cooling and cutting they look ok
we'll see how they taste....Pumpkin-Swirl Browniesadapted from smitten kitchen Adapted from Martha Stewart Living8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for pan6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped2 cups all-purpose flour1 teaspoon baking powder1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper1/2 teaspoon salt1 1/2 to 3/4 cups sugar (the original recipe calls for the larger amount; I think it could be dialed down a bit)4 large eggs1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract1 1/4 cups solid-pack pumpkin1/4 cup vegetable oil1 teaspoon ground cinnamon1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts or other nuts (optional)Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan or dish. Cut a length of parchment that will cover the bottom and two sides (makes it much easier to remove), and line the pan with it. Butter the lining as well.Melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth.Whisk together flour, baking powder, cayenne, and salt in a large bowl; set aside. Put sugar, eggs, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; beat until fluffy and well combined, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in flour mixture.Pour half of batter (about two cups) into a separate bowl and stir chocolate mixture into it. If you find that it is a little thick (as mine was) add a little more batter (a few tablespoons or so) until it is more pourable. This is important because mine was quite thick, and the pumpkin half was quite thin, so I had trouble swirling the two together.In other bowl, stir in the pumpkin, oil, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Transfer half of chocolate batter to prepared pan smoothing top with a rubber spatula. Top with half of pumpkin batter. Repeat to make one more chocolate layer and one more pumpkin layer. Work quickly so batters don’t set.With a small spatula or a table knife, gently swirl the two batters to create a marbled effect. Sprinkle with nuts, if using.Bake until set, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into 16 squares.
