Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I feel like a stranger here, it's been so long since I've been able to post! Hubby has been enjoying doing most of the cooking lately while I get our little one ready for bed, and I am not allowed to use any of his dishes for blog posts (because they are 'not good enough' despite my enthusiastic enjoyment and praise, though I secretly believe he just doesn't remember everything he puts in them...) so even after returning from vacation and getting used to the additional mobility of our son, I just haven't had the material for new posts. Well, now I've finally taken advantage of a longer afternoon nap and whipped up a batch of cookies to satisfy both my baking withdrawal and my need to blog!

I use my mom's recipe for these pumpkin cookies, with just a few tweaks - I've decreased the sugar and oil in them as well as switched out the all-purpose flour for white whole wheat. The result - a healthier cookie with the taste and texture so similar to the original you wouldn't know if I didn't tell you; in fact I shared these with our neighbors and neither they nor my husband could tell, even after I told them. 

Start by whisking together the pumpkin, sugar, egg, and oil in a large bowl. Stir together the baking soda and (rice)milk in a small dish and whisk that in as well. In a separate bowl, sift together your flour, baking powder, and cinnamon. You can use either fresh roasted and pureed pumpkin or canned pumpkin, I've done both and the cookies turn out very similar either way, so I prefer to save my fresh pumpkin for pie because I really do notice a difference there. Now I can't wait for pumpkin season....

Stir the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture in a few batches so it is easier to incorporate. Use a spatula for this process, a whisk will quickly become a hindrance (I absentmindedly attempted this with a whisk once, and quickly realized my mistake...)

Then stir in your vanilla extract and chocolate chips. I love mini chips - especially since I make little bite-size cookies, but you can use your favorite chips. I bet these would be good with cinnamon chips too if anyone either doesn't like or can't eat chocolate... or wants to combine the two... Please let me know how it turns out if you try it!

Preheat your oven to 375* and drop dough by cookie-scoop or spoonfuls onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, leaving space between cookies for growth during baking. Don't bother getting out a ruler to place them, just leave about as much space as the height of your scoops - this is a fairly thick cookie dough, so they are very unlikely to spread enough to connect unless you place them practically touching.

Bake cookies for 8-15 minutes, depending on size. A toothpick inserted into the center of one should come out clean. As I mentioned, I like to make little bite-size cookies with my smallest cookie scoop, so they cook in 8 minutes; the larger the cookie, the longer the baking time. You can see that they puff and spread a little during baking, but they hold very much of the shape in which they are dropped. Transfer to a rack to cool.

This recipe also works well as a cake - the whole batch will make one 9x13 cake (bake for 20-30 minutes) or you can make mini cakes or even muffins which will take about 15-20 minutes. I used the last of the dough for one mini heart cake so I wouldn't have a partially filled cookie sheet.

And here's the recipe:

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 15-oz can pumpkin (or 2 cups fresh)

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 cups oil

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp (rice)milk

4 cups flour (all-purpose or white whole wheat, or a combination)

4 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp vanilla extract

10-12 oz chocolate chips

Whisk together pumpkin, sugar, egg, and oil in a large bowl. Stir together baking soda and (rice)milk in a small dish and whisk that in as well. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and cinnamon. Stir the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture in a few batches, then stir in vanilla extract and chocolate chips. 

Preheat oven to 375* and drop dough by cookie-scoop or spoonfuls onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, leaving space between cookies for growth during baking. Bake for 8-15 minutes, depending on cookie size. Alternately, bake a 9x13 cake for 20-30 minutes or mini cakes or muffins for 15-20 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of a cookie/cake/muffin should come out clean. Transfer to a rack to cool. 

Enjoy!                                            

Sue

Chinese Chop Suey

Now that my husband and toddler and I have completed our move to the new place and my kitchen is put back together, and we FINALLY have internet again after almost 3 weeks without it.....I can finally start cooking and blogging again. You know, it's nice to eat out occasionally and not have to clean your kitchen up after cooking, but when you have to eat out because your kitchen is packed and you can't find the boxes with the pots and pans or dishes and silverware a midst all the other boxes...and when you do find them, the cabinet locks haven't been installed yet so your VERY quick toddler pulls everything out of the cabinet as soon as you put it in......it gets REALLY old. So I am very happy to say that the cabinets and drawers are secured and everything is in it's place and I can cook again!! Woot woot! 

This is one of those recipes our Grandmother made, and subsequently our Mother makes. I'm honestly not sure where this recipe came from originally.  I have altered the recipe a little from the way our Grandmother made it. She used canned bean sprouts and the liquid from the cans, where as I prefer fresh bean sprouts and beef stock. I also decreased the amount of onions she used and add in some bok choy, which is what our Mother does as well. Our Grandmother usually served this over mashed potato, which I actually do like even though it sounds a little odd....but hey, who doesn't eat some odd combinations now and then, right? I made Jasmine Rice to go with it this time. One of our cousins told me a few nights ago that her Dad likes to eat it on white toast. So you can serve this over whatever you want really. If you want it with pasta I'm sure that would work too.  Ok, on to the recipe.

In a large saute pan or sauce pan, heat a little olive oil over med heat. Add the onion, celery and bok choy with a pinch of salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. Cook until they begin to soften.

Meanwhile, in a separate pan cook the ground beef until it's done. 

Add the cooked ground beef, bean sprouts, soy sauce and beef stock (and mushrooms if you're using them-I didn't this time as my husband does not like mushrooms).

And cook for a few min until the veggies soften. Stir in the cornstarch water mixture and cook a few min until the sauce thickens. If you want it thicker, add a little more cornstarch and water until you get the consistency you're looking for. 

I served it over rice, but you can serve it over mashed potato (the way our Grandmother did), or toast (the way one of our Uncle's likes it) or even pasta if you wish. I didn't have any crispy chow mein noodles (found in the Asian isle in most grocery stores) at the time but you can top it off with a handful of them for a little crunch. 

Chinese Chop Suey

1 lg onion, sliced

4 lg stalks celery, chopped

6 bok choy stalks, chopped

1 12 oz bag fresh bean sprouts

1 lb ground beef

1/2 C  soy sauce

about 2 C beef stock

8-12 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced or 2-3 4 oz cans sliced mushrooms, optional

salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

2-3 t rounded cornstarch stirred into 1/2 C water

In a large skillet or saucepan cook onions, celery, and bok choy with a pinch of salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste in a little olive oil until they begin to soften. In the meantime cook ground beef in a separate skillet with a little salt pepper and garlic powder if you wish until done. Add ground beef, bean sprouts, soy sauce and mushrooms if using to vegetable mixture. Stir in beef stock. Cook a few min until veggies soften. Stir together about 2-3 rounded teaspoons of cornstarch into 1/2 C water and stir into chop suey. Cook a few min until it thickens. Serve over rice. Gramma usually served this over mashed potato.Top with warmed chow mein noodles for a little crunch of you like.

Enjoy!                                            

Sandi 

Hello? Is anyone here?

It occurred to me that both of us sisters have been quiet for a while, and some of you may be wondering where we have gone. Well, I just wanted to assure you all that we are still here, and we'll be back to blogging very soon!
Just to give you an idea of what else is happening in our lives: One of us just completed a move to a new home, and is still settling in with the help of an energetic toddler. The other of us had a little vacation away from it all, and is adjusting to the new mobility level of an 8-month-old and all the fun of continued baby-proofing. So blogging has been pushed a little to the back burner so to speak for both of us for a little while.
Things are starting to settle out a bit more for both of us, so I promise you'll hear more from us soon! Thanks for reading!
Sue