Pumpkin Cookies – A Taste of Autumn

On September 26, 2018 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Recipes6 Comments

One of our favorite treats for this time of year is pumpkin cookies. They are incredibly delicious as well as easy to make. Unlike a lot of cookies that are dense or hard, these are almost cake-like in texture. We haven’t found anything similar during our travels, so we consider this to be very unique to our family. Because we are not big sweet eaters, we generally share these with all of our friends who are extremely appreciative. We typically double this batch in order to use the full can of pumpkin pie mix, but that makes about six dozen cookies instead the usual three dozen that the recipe makes. They are a traditional drop cookie, so the size of the cookie is completely up to you, but we find that about a heaping tablespoon works best.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups Pumpkin Pie Mix (canned or you can make your own)
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
1 cup Granulated Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 cups Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1 cup Butterscotch Chips

INSTRUCTIONS

Mix all of the ingredients together ensuring that the flour is completely incorporated. Using a teaspoon or a small ice cream scoop, spoon out the cookie dough onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake the cookies on a center rack for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let them cool for a couple of minutes before transferring them to a rack to completely cool. Depending upon the size of the cookies you make, the recipe makes about three dozen cookies.

The Gift of a Christmas Cookie

On December 21, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Germany, Recipes2 Comments

Being here in Germany, away from family and friends, we are missing the normal exchanging of gifts that would normally occur. We decided to do something personal for the friends that we have made since arriving and chose to bake some chocolate chip cookies in order to share a little of our memories with our new friends. It is a simple recipe and that is fortunate since we couldn’t find some of the same things that we would have normally used, but even so, the cookies turned out just fine. In fact, we would say that they were quite delicious, although we have learned that cookies or biscuits or not quite as common here as they are in the United States. They certainly love their sweets, but it is more about candy, cakes, and pastries than it is about a plate of cookies to be left by the fireplace for Santa to enjoy. What we enjoyed the most was the faces of our friends as they tasted these tempting treats. Sure, the cookies were good, but sharing something personal was even sweeter. We hope that you enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 (12-ounce) bag semisweet chocolate chips, or chunks
2 1/4 cups all-purpose-flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fine salt

Directions

Preheat an oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Melt the butter in a microwave or on the stove. Whisk the eggs, sugars, butter, and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and then fold into the wet ingredients with a wooden spoon. We didn’t have baking soda, so we left that out and brown sugar here is more like a granulated sugar, but it worked equally as well. We also couldn’t find chocolate chips, but we did find chocolate chunks and even chopping up a block of chocolate would have worked. Place heaping spoonful’s of cookie dough onto the baking sheet, leaving about an inch to two inches between each cookie. Bake for 12 to 16 minutes until the edges are golden brown and the center is still soft. This batch makes about 30 to 36 cookies.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding (Pumpkin Cookie Recipe)

On October 14, 2015 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Recipes3 Comments

We were at one of our favorite restaurants last night and they are participating in restaurant week where restaurants create special menus with discounted prices. The owner is a friend of ours and stopped to talk to us while we enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine. He asked if we’d seen their menu for restaurant week, which we hadn’t, and went on to describe the dishes. He was quite excited about one of the desserts that was on the menu, a pumpkin bread pudding, which their pastry chef had created. A few minutes after our conversation, a waiter arrived with a plate of the bread pudding. It was decadently delicious! We don’t usually treat ourselves to dessert, so it was quite the treat, including the cinnamon ice cream that was served with the pudding. It reminded us of the pumpkin cookies that we bake every autumn, so we decided to share that recipe, which you will fall in love with if you try it. Unfortunately we haven’t made the cookies yet this year, so we don’t have pictures to share of the cookies, so you’ll have to use your imagination 😉

Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Cinnamon Ice Cream

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups Pumpkin Pie Mix (canned or you can make your own)
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
1 cup Granulated Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 cups Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1 cup Butterscotch Chips

Instructions

Mix all of the ingredients together ensuring that the flour is completely incorporated. Using a teaspoon or a small ice cream scoops, spoon out the cookie dough onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes. Depending upon the size of the cookies you make, the recipe makes several dozen cookies.