Pumpkin chocolate fleck sugar cookies.

I meant to make these for Halloween.


Actually.. I've been meaning to make sugar cookies for Halloween for at least the past three years, ever since I bought Halloween cookie-cutters at a post-Halloween sale at Crate and Barrel. Those post-holiday sales are so very dangerous. My cookie cutter and cupcake liner collections are proof.

Anywho, as I had written in my last post, I have been doing a whole lot of pumpkin-hankerin' lately. And I wanted to make jack-o-lantern pumpkin sugar cookies that actually tasted like pumpkin. So here's a tried and true sugar cookie recipe from one of my favorite cookbook authors, Carole Walter, altered a bit with a little pumpkin-chocolate pizazz.

These cookies are sugar cookies with a hint of pumpkin -- not anything like pumpkin drop cookies that have more of a cakey texture. Also, I'm pretty particular about my sugar roll-out cookies. They've got to be firm (though not dry), and they've got to hold their shape -- 'cause cookies that spread out into indistinguishable blobs bug me.


But these.. these make me grin.


Pumpkin Chocolate Fleck Sugar Cookies
Adapted from "Classic Sugar Cookies," Great Cookies, Carole Walter

3 1/4 cups sifted cake flour (plus more if needed)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly firm
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup finely shaved semisweet chocolate
1 large egg white, lightly beaten with 2 teaspoons water

To decorate:
Sparkling white sugar OR
Icing of various colors (made with confectioner's sugar and a bit of milk)

1. Strain together flour, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice in a medium bowl. Set aside.
2. Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter and sugar on medium-low.
3. Beat the egg and vanilla together and mix into the butter-sugar mixture. Add the canned pumpkin. Mix in the dry ingredients in two additions, mixing just until combined.
4. Measure out about 1/4 the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Lightly knead the chocolate into the dough, being careful to not overwork.
5. Empty out the rest of the dough onto the floured surface and lightly knead the all the dough together three or four times to create a marbled effect. Divide into quarters and shape into four disks. Wrap each disk with plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes.


6. Using one disk at a time, roll the dough to a 1/4 inch thickness. Cut using various cookie cutters and transfer the cookies to a cookie sheet lined with parchment. Brush tops lightly with egg wash and sprinkle with sparkling sugar if desired.
7. Bake the cookies in a 350 degree oven for 12-14 minutes or until the edges begin to brown. Remove from oven and wait a few minutes before moving the cookies to a cooling rack. Wait until cookies are completely cool before decorating with icing, if desired.


These were yummy, but I think I'd prefer them just a tad sweeter. I might try adding 1/4 cup brown sugar next time, see what that does.

Summer and fall obsessions.

Hello! I'm slowly resurfacing and it's taken longer than expected. But, here we go. Up and at 'em.

Let's see. I think I still had a few posts left on Japan, but it's friggen' November for Pete's sake. I might do a wrap-up later.

For now: A few summer obsessions that have trickled into fall.

YummyEarth Organic Hot Chili Pops


Particularly, the Chili Mango Mambo pop -- a sweet, fruity sucker with a hot chili kick. And it's organic and natural and made with real, good stuff. Win! I get them at my local Sprouts.

Breyers Rocky Road Ice Cream


I practically lived off this during the hot summer months. I originally thought I liked Breyers ice cream in only strawberry and mint chocolate chip, and that the more traditional, richer ice creams just weren't.. rich enough. But their good ol' rocky road proved me wrong. Maybe it's just 'cause Breyers makes rocky road just the way I like it -- marshmallow swirl instead of whole marshmallows (a pet peeve of mine), chocolate-covered toasted almonds instead of just plain nuts, all in creamy chocolate ice cream. Mmm mm.

Pumpkin and chocolate

Oh, man. I have been craving this combo like mad recently. My boyfriend even offered to stack a brownie on top of a slice of pumpkin pie to help satisfy my craving, and I probably would have eaten it if it weren't for the root canal I had earlier that day.

Terrible experience, by the way, that root canal. I do not recommend it.

Rutabegorz has pretty much saved my life on more than one occasion with its gargantuan iced pumpkin cookie. It is thick and soft, almost cake-like, and my attempts to savor it slowly are always met with utter failure. I only wish chocolate milk was at the ready to wash it down.

The other weekend, I trekked out to Claremont for Some Crust Bakery's pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.


These are perfection -- the texture emulates a chocolate chip cookie over pumpkin cake, and the chips are always warm and gooey. I wanted to buy a hundred of them, but I walked away with only two. Whyyy did I buy only two?

It's ok though, because the following week I made these:

Pumpkin whoopie pies. Here's the recipe on MarthaStewart.com. When making the cookies, drop the batter in little spoonfuls unless you are planning to undertake whoopie pies the size of burgers.

I have been going pumpkin crazy -- expect future pumpkin posts.

Snack bonanza!

Lately, mostly due to lack of time to cook a full meal for myself on weekdays, I've been snacking myself into oblivion. Here are three recent favorites, to satisfy three separate cravings:

Pretzel Crisps (savory):


This buffalo wing-flavored snack might as well be laced with crack. I can't get enough of them. They're as addictive and light as potato chips, but are crunchier, taste way better and are better for you. Look how gloriously thin they are:


I bought the buffalo wing and garlic flavors at my local Sprouts, to justify my passing the sample tray about a dozen times to snatch up more and more of these. They really should not leave those things unattended.

Trader Joe's also has its own version -- and they're everything-flavored. Though, they carry them kind of sporadically, so don't get mad at me if you can't find them.

Isabella's Cookies (sweet):


These were a random impulse buy while waiting to purchase my lunch at Ivy's Cafe in Tustin (simple, healthy, yet somehow super delicious sandwiches/salads). I like these cookies because they (1) taste homemade (which they are) and (2) come in unusual flavors. The above is "The Paddy" -- mint chips and semisweet chocolate chips. And below:


"The Muffy" -- a tribute to a muffin top (undoubtedly adding to my "muffin top"), this cookie is studded with dried blueberries, white chocolate chips, and milk-chocolate covered blueberries. I've also tried "Chocolate Haze," which has whole hazelnuts and dark chocolate chunks. I'm still trying to find "The Shortcake," an homage to strawberry shortcake.

The Pure Bar (healthy):

Although it's not common, I'd imagine, I suppose it's possible to have a healthy craving. The Pure Bar is all-vegan raw food -- organic, nothing cooked, no preservatives, and all that jazz. Now, I am usually not into these super healthy meal-replacement bar dealios. In fact, I find many of them quite awful, especially when I have to think for longer than 15 seconds about how the vegan peanut butter and chocolate bar I'm chewing tastes even remotely like peanut butter and chocolate.

Maybe that's why The Pure Bar is not only tolerable, it's astonishingly delicious: It doesn't really try to emulate any flavor. It just is.

Example: The wild blueberry bar, my favorite, just tastes like dried blueberries, complemented with little bits of walnuts -- enough to satisfy, but rare enough to invoke a fond appreciation for each walnut encounter as I slowly make my way through. Same thing goes for the apple cinnamon.

While I tend to stay away from the ones promoting themselves as chocolate, the chocolate chip trail mix bars offer an interesting alternative: cacao nibs. It's not as indulgent as a good, rich bar of dark chocolate, but it's definitely still "the real thing," and a suitable substitute if you're trying to be healthy.

But like many good things, The Pure Bar does not come cheap, and so far I've only been able to find it at Whole Foods.

As my snack preferences change as often as my cravings do, only time will tell what my tastebuds have yet to discover in the tasty world of munchies!

Walking off cookies.

Loving food means that dieting always begins tomorrow. Or sometimes it means walking a couple miles for exercise only to find yourself in front of a little Mexican bakery down the corner from your house and regaining the calories you'd just burned by consuming various forms of butter, sugar and dairy product.

I haven't decided yet if my walk was productive (because I made a "discovery") or counter-productive. My everlastingly squishy gut is arguing the latter. But who cares about you, gut?! Let's hear what the tastebuds had to say about La Poblana Bakery/Panaderia in Orange:


Ah. Give me any form of Mexican butter cookie and I'm content. Walnuts, cinnamon-sugar, rainbow sprinkles... Especially rainbow sprinkles. Why do I love the rainbow sprinkles so? BECAUSE THEY'RE RAINBOW. And because I'm five years old.


The "seeds" are chocolate chips.

And I also decided to try this thing:


It's something.. perritos! I asked the name for it and forgot. :( Anyway, it's gelatin made with condensed milk and shaped/decorated to resemble a puppy. Cute, but a little too sweet and milky for me.

I'll try the bread items when I've had a chance to walk off more calories. And I'll try the champurrado when the weather's not so sweltering.

* * *
La Poblana Bakery
604 W. Chapman Ave.
Orange 92868
714.771.4465

P.S. Alternate post title: "My gut is telling me no. But my gut is also very hungry." If you know that quote, you are my friend.

Icebox cookies: the hottest thing to hit your fridge this baking season.

First of all, Happy New Year! Please excuse me while I wipe the dust off my blog, and forgive my lack of updating! I know, spending time with family is no excuse. Neither is catching up on sleep.

Ah, sleep. I really do love the holidays.

Ok, enough of that. Now on to very serious business:

In case you haven't heard (and how dare you if you haven't), I must report that icebox cookies are so IN right now. And I wish they were IN my belly right now.

It's true! They are ALL the rage. Just check out today's LA Times, which features three recipes for "sophisticated versions" of what the article calls "chiller cookies": peanut butter and bittersweet chocolate, coffee-walnut and apricot butter.

The article will tell you, but in case you don't know what icebox cookies are (and how dare you if you don't), they are made by preparing the cookie dough ahead of time (a classic recipe is one that is simple with easy, but fabulous, variations), dividing them into equally-shaped logs of joy, rolling them in whatever you please (traditionally little toppings that are sweet and edible, like sprinkles), then letting them chill in the refrigerator -- or "icebox" -- and then taking them out a few hours later to slice and bake them. Unsurprisingly, they are also known as "slice and bake cookies" (please, no Pillsbury), but I like the "icebox" name much better. It gives such a retro charm, don't you think?

Anyway, the beauty of these cookies is that you can make the logs of joy ahead of time and save them in the fridge or freezer for a quick and beautiful treat later. But if you're like me, you don't have the patience and willpower to wait more than a couple hours before enjoying them.

I've indulged in and shared variations of these cookies multiple times over the past month or so (talk about hopping on the bandwagon, LA Times, yeesh), and I'm still looking forward to trying out more recipes.

Particularly, these pistachio cranberry icebox cookies were so deliciously festive at my family's Christmas party.

I find joy and satisfaction in slicing them before sticking them in the oven, too. After each slice, I excitedly proclaimed "GORGEOUS!" and showed them off proudly.


But they are gorgeous! If you look closely, you can see the flecks of cinnamon and orange zest, too. (Also, I must recognize Cha for being my lovely hand model. You are lovely. And your hand is lovely.)

I also made Carole Walter's icebox cookies, published in Great Cookies, my go-to cookbook for cookie recipes, including the marbled chocolate and cinnamon nut variations. You'll find that the "master recipe" is delicious in all its simplistic glory.

Finally, I stumbled across a recipe for Mexican chocolate icebox cookies. I'm trying these next.

Mexican Chocolate Icebox Cookies, Maida Heatter, Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup quality Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa
3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoons cayenne
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg
12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Whisk the flour, cocoa, cinnamon, cayenne, salt, and pepper together in a medium bowl and set aside. Put sugar, vanilla, and egg into a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on high speed until thick and pale, about three minutes. Add butter and continue to beat on high speed until smooth, about three minutes more. Using your fingers, work flour mixture into butter mixture until dough is just combined. Divide dough in half and roll each half into a 9-inch log. Wrap each log in parchment paper, twisting ends tightly to make a uniform cylinder. Chill dough logs for at least eight hours and as long as overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Unwrap dough and slice each log into rounds 1/3-inch thick. Place rounds one inch apart on parchment paper-lined cookie sheets. Bake cookies until slightly puffed and tiny cracks appear on surface, about eight minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to let cool. Makes about four dozen cookies.

Happy iceboxing!

Pumpkin "butter" on fresh scones; pumpkin cookies. AKA I love Thanksgiving.

The period between Halloween and Thanksgiving is what I have (just) decided to call "Pumpkin Mania!" It's the time of the year when I indulge in pumpkin goodies and love them so much that say to myself, "Hey, I should make this anytime during the year!" But of course, that never happens. I just forget about it until next Halloween.

So, I better take full advantage of the 2007 Thanksgiving season. Here are a couple pumpkin yummies to start:

Trader Joe's recently introduced Pumpkin Butter to their stock. The label's suggestions for uses include "pastry filling, poultry glaze, ice cream topping, on toast or mixed with fat free cream cheese."

They're also perfect to spread on warm plain scones. A store-bought mix by Sticky Fingers Bakeries will do, but making them from scratch is so easy!

Boxing Day Scones, Sara Perry and Leigh Beisch, Holiday Baking
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoons salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup buttermilk
Strawberry jam (in this case, pumpkin butter), for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease it lightly and set aside.
2. Into a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt, then lightly whisk. Use a pastry blender, two knives, or your fingers to cut or work the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles fine crumbs.
3. Make a well in the center of the flour-butter mixture, and add the buttermilk all at once. Stir the mixture until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Using lightly floured hands, gather the dough into a soft ball and turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide into 4 parts and pat each one into a 3/4 inch thick circle. Cut each circle into 4 or 6 wedges.
4. Transfer the wedges to the prepared baking sheet, and bake in the center of the oven until the scones rise and turn golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove and cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a rack. Serve warm, split and spread with pumpkin butter.

These are best eaten freshly baked of course, but if you store them in an airtight container and pop them in a 325-degree oven later for about 5 minutes, they're almost as good as new!


Ah yes, it's now time for the pumpkin cookie. There are basically two kinds: iced/frosted and chunky. I used to fancy the chunky kind, chock full of dried cranberries and pecans or walnuts. There was a recipe I used to have back in seventh and eighth grade -- as a library aide for my middle school, I had a ton of spare time on my hands and explored the stash in the storage area and found a kids' holiday cookbook with a recipe for the best pumpkin cookies I've ever tasted -- perfectly spiced, with a balanced pumpkin flavor and great texture, more cookie instead of cakey.

I wish I could share that recipe, but unfortunately, I lost it and can't remember what the book was to find it again. Even today I haven't been able to find a suitable replacement for chunky pumpkin cookies, but I was recently recommended a killer recipe for the kind slathered in frosting -- browned butter frosting, to be exact. Courtesy good ol' Betty Crocker.


Perhaps later this month: pumpkin cheesecake..?