Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

All I can say is, "Wow!"

2 cups brown sugar, packed
1 cup vegetable oil
1 ½ cups solid pack pumpkin puree
2 eggs
3 cups flour (I use slightly heaping cups in MA)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ½ Tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice (or ½ T. ground ginger, ½ T. ground cloves)

Preheat oven to 350º. Lightly grease baking sheets. Combine the oil and brown sugar. Mix in pumpkin and eggs, beating well. Add the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, 1 tsp. vanilla, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice. Mix well.

Drop by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets (I fit 12 on an industrial cookie sheet). Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cookies will spread quite a bit, but if they seem really thin, you may need to add a bit more flour. Let cookies cool completely; then make sandwiches from two cookies filled with Cream Cheese Whoopie Pie Filling. It’s usually best to let them sit for a few hours after putting the sandwiches together so the filling can set a little bit. On the other hand, no one is going to complain about having to lick cream cheese filling off their fingers!

For filling: Beat 3 egg whites until white, fluffy, and thick. Add 8 oz. cream cheese, softened. Mix until smooth. Add 2 tsp. vanilla, then 4 cups powdered sugar; mix well. Add 4-6 more cups of powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached (total of 8-10 cups). I like the filling to be somewhat thick, so it doesn’t slide out of the cookies when put together.

Yield: 18 pies.

Recipe modified from allrecipes.com.

Razzmatazz Bars

Razzmatazz Bars

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

24 oz. (4 cups) white chocolate chips (morsels), divided

4 large eggs

1 cup sugar

2 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. almond extract

1 cup seedless raspberry jam

Preheat oven to 325º. Grease and sugar bottom and sides of 9x13 baking pan. Melt butter in medium, microwave-safe bowl on high power for 1 minute; stir. Add 1 cup morsels; let stand. Do not stir. Beat eggs in large mixing bowl until foamy. Add sugar; beat until light lemon-colored, about 5 minutes. Stir in morsel-butter mixture. Add flour, salt, and almond extract; mix at low speed until combined. Spread 2/3 of batter into prepared pan. Bake 15-20 minutes or until light golden brown around edges. Remove from oven to wire rack. Heat jam in microwave for 45 seconds; stir. Spread jam over warm crust. Reserve 1 cup of morsels. Stir remaining morsels into remaining batter. Drop spoonfuls of batter over jam. Bake 25-30 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool completely. Melt reserved 1 cup of morsels in microwave with ½ T. shortening (microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring between each interval). Transfer to Ziploc bag and cut off a small corner of the bag. Drizzle over bars in a criss-cross diagonal pattern.

Chocolate Chippers

This is the tried and true recipe that I use for my all-time favorite white chocolate chip cookies. My dad used to make them (weekly) with semisweet chocolate chips, and many called them the best chocolate chip cookies in the world. Don't tell my dad, but I think I may have even improved the recipe slightly over the past 6 years. It's all about the right amount of flour, a little extra vanilla, and the perfect baking time. Here is the famous recipe:

Chocolate Chippers

2 cups (Crisco brand) shortening

2 cups sugar

1 cup brown sugar, packed

4 large eggs

4 tsp. pure vanilla extract (plus a little to grow on :)

4+ cups flour, heaping

3 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking soda

1 bag chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, M&M’s, or whatever inspires you

Mix shortening and sugars until well blended. Stir in eggs and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix. Add extra flour if needed until dough is just barely manageable with hands. Don't add too much flour, but you should be able to easily handle and drop dough by hand without having too much stick to your hands (If cookies come out too flat, add more flour; if they are too puffy, use less flour. Cookies will flatten some as they cool). Stir in chocolate chips. Using hands, drop in one-inch balls (or slightly bigger) on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350º for 8-10 minutes or until lightly golden on top. Cookies will be much softer if you do not over-bake them. When cooled, store in an airtight container. If I'm not using them within 1-2 days, I freeze them to keep them soft and fresh. Just remove them from the freezer 30-60 minutes before serving and set them on a plate.

Chocolate Cherry Cookies

YIELD: 3-4 dozen cookies

2 1/4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

8 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped (be sure to use a high-quality chocolate with more than 60% cacao)

1 cup dried cherries (about 6 ounces), coarsely chopped

1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together into a bowl.

In the bowl of an electric mixer (or in a bowl using a handmixer), beat the butter with the sugars until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. Beat in the vanilla. On low speed, add the flour mixture. With a wooden spoon, fold in the chocolate, cherries and pecans (if you’re using them).

Scoop by the heaping tablespoonful onto two nonstick or greased cookie sheets. Bake until golden and chewy, about 12 minutes, rotating the sheets after six minutes. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool and repeat the process with the remaining dough.

Chewy Soft Oatmeal Cookies

You can go straight up chocolate chips, since cookies are mostly a vehicle for chocolate in my opinion. However, if you wanna get a little crazy and do some craisins with white chocolate chips, I will tell ya, those are really good too. I've done both.

1 cup rm temp butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs rm temp
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp bk soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3 cups quick oats
chips of some sort.

oven 350
beat butter and sugar, add ingredients in the order they appear in the recipe.
eat dough.
c'mon, eat a little more.
bake 10 minutes tops. watch those suckers, too long in the oven means no longer chewy.

repeat.