Whoopie for Thanksgiving!

As we count down the hours to Thanksgiving, I’m sure many of you are already revving your Kitchenaid mixers and rearing to get basting!  Because of my exam schedule this year, Todd and I are missing out on my family’s Thanksgiving feast.  However, we were lucky enough to celebrate Thanksgiving this past Saturday with a few of our close friends.

Because I had to work on Friday, I was forced to do all of my Thanksgiving grocery shopping, cooking, and baking on Saturday.  Lucky for me, I had my awesome friend Grace around, who was willing to trek with me to Whole Foods at 8am.  One large cup of coffee and a few aisles later, we were back home, and I was cooking/baking away.

Grace started the night off with a fabulously bubbly hot crab dip.  The main menu included roasted turkey with a butter-chive rub, diced brussel sprouts sauteed with bacon, cornbread stuffing, pecan streusel-topped sweet potato casserole, and pineapple cheddar casserole.  For dessert, we enjoyed the cinnamon caramel ganache layer cake from my previous post and a chocolate bourbon pecan pie (as modeled by the lovely Allison below).

If you’d like any of the above recipes that don’t have links, send me a quick email at belleofthebakery@gmail.com, and I’ll make sure to get you the recipe.  And now, get a look at these babies:

Just because I’ve already stuffed myself silly at my pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving doesn’t mean that I’m going to leave you hanging.  Never!  I have a great pumpkin cookie recipe for you!

These pumpkin cookies are both chewy and cakey—and wonderfully spicy.  They puff up nicely in the oven.  I bet you can’t eat just one.

Of course, if you’re me, and you want more than just a cookie—you could easily glaze these cookies or turn them into whoopie pies--with any frosting of your choosing.  A cream cheese frosting would taste delicious.  I wanted to try something a bit more complex, so I made a pomegranate-caramel white chocolate filling.  A few months back, the POM Wonderful people were wonderful enough to send me some POM samples.  Not only does POM have major health benefits—talk about some antioxidant power—but it tastes delicious.  For this recipe, I used the POM-Cherry drink.  If you can manage not to chug the entire POM, then use your leftovers to make this filling!  Tart, tangy, and sweet—it’s a wonderful burst of flavor in your mouth.

 

Have a great Thanksgiving!

 

Pumpkin Cookies

by Elyse

3 cups AP flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 TBS corn starch

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp salt

1 stick butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup pumpkin puree

2 large eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Prepare 2 cookie sheets.

(1) Whisk the dry ingredients together, and set aside.  Whisk the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla together.

(2) Cream the butter and the sugars together.  Add the pumpkin puree and cream until completely combined.

(3) Alternately add the flour and egg mixtures—starting and ending with the flour mixture, adding the flour in three additions.  Make sure that each addition is fully incorporated before adding the next.

(4) Spoon heaping teaspoons of batter onto the cookie sheets.  Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the surface of the cookies is “springy.”

(5) Frost of glaze, if desired.

 

Pomegranate-Caramel White Chocolate Filling

1 cup heavy cream

Zest of 1/2 lime

1/2 cup POM Cherry or POM Juice

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup white chocolate

 

(1) Combine heavy cream and lime zest in a small pot.  Heat over medium heat until cream is warmed through and bubbles are beginning to form around the edge of the pot.  Set aside and cover to keep warm.

(2) Combine POM and sugar in heavy saucepan.  Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.  Continue to boil until mixture hits approximately 300 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer—right around the time the mixture turns thick and starts to smoke.  Remove from heat.

(3) Pour the cream mixture over the POM-caramel.  Turn the heat back on low, and whisk until the caramel is fully dissolved.

(4) Place white chocolate in a bowl.  Place a strainer over the bowl.  Pour the caramel-cream mixture through the strainer and onto the chocolate—this will remove the pieces of lime zest, which have already infused into the cream.  Vigorously whisk the white chocolate and POM-caramel cream together until smooth.  Cover with saran wrap and refrigerate until cool—approximately 2 1/2 – 3 hours.  The mixture will only thicken slightly.

(5) When cool, whip the POM-caramel filling on medium-high speed with your paddle attachment, until the mixture becomes thick and creamy.  Use as a filling for your pumpkin whoopie pies.