Pumpkin Bonanza Week

This week we made pumpkin scones with a spiced glaze, and pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies!  The scones were delicious, but the cookies may be my new favorite thing ever.  They were so easy to make, and turned out perfectly.  And how could they not with those ingredients????


Pumpkin Scones
(originally from RecipeGirl)



SCONES:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup canned pure (unsweetened) pumpkin
3 tablespoons half and half cream
1 large egg
6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into cubes

PLAIN GLAZE:
1/2 cup powdered sugar (sifted)
1 tablespoon milk (any kind)

SPICED ICING:
3/4 cup powdered sugar (sifted)
1 to 2 tablespoons milk (any kind)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
pinch of ground ginger
pinch of ground cloves

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray or line with parchment paper. Give it a light dusting of flour on top of that.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (through ginger).

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, half and half and egg.

4. Use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut butter into the dry ingredients. Continue cutting until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. (You may also use a food processor for this step. Pulse until the mixture resembles fine crumbs).

5. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients, then form the dough into a ball. The dough will be wet, but if it seems super sticky... just go ahead and sprinkle a little more flour into the dough until it's easier to handle. Remember, you want it to be somewhat sticky, and that's okay- but you also don't want it to stick to the baking sheet. Pat out dough onto the lightly floured baking sheet and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle that is about 9-inches long and 3-inches wide. Use a large knife or a pizza cutter to slice the dough twice through the width, making three equal squares. Cut through the three squares diagonally so that you have 6 triangular slices of dough. Gently pull the triangles apart, leaving about 1/2-inch space between each one.

6. Bake 14 to 16 minutes on prepared baking sheet. Scones should begin to turn light brown.

7. While scones are cooling, prepare plain glaze by whisking ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix until smooth.

8. When scones are cool, use a knife to cut them apart and then pull them apart so that they are ready for glazing. Use a brush to paint a coating of the glaze over the top of each scone.

9. As the white glaze firms up, prepare spiced icing by whisking the ingredients in another medium bowl until smooth. Drizzle this thicker icing over each scone (or brush it on) and allow the icing to dry before serving.

Amazed we got to make any scones after not being able to resist eating the dough.

What could be better than liquid sugar and spice ?

Answer: sugar and spice with pumpkin.

Moist, yet firm.

And now for the cookies!!!!


Pumpkin oatmeal cookies
(originally from PickyCook.com)

2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/3 cups old fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter - softened
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
combination of cinnamon and sugar for sprinkling on the tops of the dough.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with silpat or parchment paper.

Combine flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a bowl.

Cream butter, honey and sugars in large mixer bowl until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add pumpkin, egg and vanilla - mix well.

Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not over mix. Chill dough for 30 minutes.

With a small scoop - drop cookie dough onto baking sheets. They should be a rounded tablespoon size. Sprinkle tops with cinnamon and sugar.

Bake 14 minutes. Cool on baking sheets for a couple minutes and then transfer to wire cooling rack.  Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Cookie cakes work too, as you can see!