Whole Grain Spelt Pumpkin-Pecan Cookies with Cinnamon-Sugar Frosting

I am really growing to like pumpkin. When I was looking at recipes for cookie ideas, I also had a local pumpkin roasting in the oven, so when I came across a few pumpkin cookie recipes, it seemed like a good thing to try.

(A side note about pumpkins (and winter squash in general): I am glad they are so forgiving. I got this pumpkin from The Root Cellar a few weeks ago and just got around to roasting it, I'm lucky they are longer keepers!)

This is one of the more difficult recipes I've tried. I am no good at glazing, icing, or decorating things, so I tend to skip recipes that call for any of the above. But I am trying to improve my skill and shirking off a challenge seems to be antithetical to my goal. I must admit though, I made a mess because I didn't really think the process through. It didn't occur me to put parchment paper under the wire rack while glazing the cookies until after I had made a mess, followed by my moving the cookies to a (parchment lined) surface, and cleaning up a big mess of glaze off the table and floor. And I have a college degree, in a "scientific" area no less... ;-)

Messes aside, these were really good cookies. They were mild, and yet another excellent cookie to pair with tea. I think these would make a great breakfast too - though I would prefer it without the glaze for that purpose. I don't like anything too sweet in the morning.

Recipe modified from here.















The local booty legend (aka revealing my sources):
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = local produce from The Root Cellar
++ = The Peace Nook (will denote whether product is local or just from the Nook)
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms

Whole Grain Spelt Pumpkin-Pecan Cookies with Cinnamon-Sugar Glaze
Makes 18 cookies

Cookies:
1/2 + 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup Earth Balance
1/4 cup safflower oil
1/2 cup pumpkin puree +
1 egg or egg replacer ++
1 cup + 8 tbsp whole grain spelt flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350.

Bean sugar, Earth Balance, oil, egg (or replacer), and pumpkin with an electric mixer. Slowly add all the dry ingredients (except the pecans).

Stir in the pecans.

Drop by rounded tablespoons a few inches apart on a cookie sheet.

Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Let cool 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and let cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp Earth Balance, melted
1/4 tsp cinnamon
4 tbsp plain rice milk

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Use a fork if needed to work out the clumps of sugar.

Using a regular spoon, drizzle over cooled cookies and let sit for about an hour before storing in an air tight container.

These made our apartment smell really good. Oh and they taste pretty awesome too. :-)

'Til next time.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chocolate Cherry Pecan Cookies

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I did a lot of baking over the weekend for a project that I am working on. I've gotten a few spiced bread recipes down (nothing special, just basic pumpkin and zucchini bread recipes, I just used whole grain spelt flour), have worked on brownies and blondies (they need a little work before I blog about them), so over the weekend, I focused on cookies. And who doesn't like cookies?

These are really good - but really, really rich. I was only able to eat one and I was more than satisfied. I love dark chocolate and this is a great way to highlight an excellent, high quality bar of the dark stuff. I took some of these, and the other cookies I will be posting about over the coming days, to my coworkers. They seem to be enjoying them so far!

This recipe was modified from here. I made the recipe dairy free and whole grain - oh, and I halved it because I was making tons of other cookies too.















The local booty legend (aka revealing my sources):
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = local produce from The Root Cellar
++ = The Peace Nook (will denote whether product is local or just from the Nook)
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chocolate Cherry Pecan Cookies

Makes about 12 large cookies

6 tbsp Earth Balance
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 packed brown sugar
1/2 cup organic raw sugar
1 egg or egg replacer ++
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp whole wheat pastry flour
6 tbsp dutch processed cocoa powder
1/4 +1/8 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 ounces 71% cacao fair trade organic chocolate (I used 3/4 of a 3.5 oz bar), chopped
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 375.

Combine Earth Balance, vanilla, sugar, and egg (or replacer) with an electric mixer.

Slowly add the remaining ingredients except the chocolate, cherries, and pecans.

Once dough well blended, stir in chocolate, cherries, and pecans.

Drop by rounded tablespoons a few inches apart on a cookie sheet.

Bake for 12-14 minutes.

Brett also had a great idea on how to "up" these cookies' visual appeal. He thought it would be neat to make the cookies a lot smaller, and rather than mixing the cherries in the batter, putting one in the center of each cookie like a thumbprint cookie. I think we might have to try that.

I will leave you with this...

J's Playlist of the Day (the best songs I heard from our music collection today)
"Out of Love" Aberfeldy
"One with the Freaks" The Notwist
"Original Spies" Karate
"Drenched" Calexico
"How We Breathe" Pinback
"Back on the Chain Gang" The Pretenders
"Blackbird" The Beatles
"Subdivisions" Rush
"Don't Ask Me Why" Billy Joel
"Green River" Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR)
"Sultans of Swing" Dire Straits
"Goin' Mobile" The Who
"Strange Brew" Cream

'Til next time.

"Everything" Granola Bars (Vegetarian)

My first attempt at making granola bars was a few weeks ago. It went so-so - hence why I never blogged about it. The granola turned out and tasted fantastic, but it didn't really work as "bars". I pressed them, let them set, and then removed them from the pan to cut them, at which point, it all fell apart. I was a little disappointed, but it was tasty homemade granola, so I enjoyed it as is, and decided I would try again...sometime...

Time got away from me a little bit, I had other endeavors I wanted to try and honestly, I kind of forgot about them, and got into the habit of buying Herbal Oats granola bars from the farmer's market or The Root Cellar to have for work. Then last week, I picked up a granola bar from the local Uprise Bakery (where we usually get our beloved ciabatta from), and it was the best granola bar I had ever had - seriously - so good. So I saved the label with the ingredients listed on it so I could try again, this time using Uprise's combination of seeds, nuts, and other goodies.

I am happy to say that they not only set and held together, they taste almost just like the granola bars from Uprise. These are a lot cheaper than the $2.50 a pop Uprise granola bars, and I was able to use some local ingredients to make them. And we all know that local ingredients make everything better, right? :-)

I have been enjoying these for my breakfasts at work and Brett has been enjoying them at home - though it seems he is also eating them as snacks too. And Brett isn't a huge nut/seed fan, so his eating them for snacks says a lot about how good they are. I think I might start making my own granola bars for work breakfasts - at least until some California clementines become available. Between the months of November and February, Brett and I almost turn into clementines. I kid you not when I say I was bringing 6-10 to work with me a day and eating them all last year at this time. Now I know clementines are small, but that is a lot of fruit! No wonder I didn't get sick very often last winter!

There I go, off on a tangent again. You would figure I talk people's ears off - Brett yes - but pretty much everyone else gets a fairly mute Jennifer. I guess when I am typing my long-winded nature really shows through. If I wasn't so shy and didn't have such "out there" opinions, I would likely talk it up more, but alas, that is not the case, so you all get to deal with my long-winded typing.

















The local booty legend:
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = The Root Cellar
++ = The Peace Nook
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms

"Everything" Granola Bars

1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup chopped pecans *
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 ground flax seeds
1/2 cup regular rolled oats
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup honey *
1 cup smooth natural peanut butter +
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400.

Layer all the nuts and oats except the sesame seeds on a baking sheet.

Toast for 5 minutes. Shake pan and add sesame seeds.

Toast another 3-5 minutes, keep an eye on them so they don't burn.

Meanwhile, combine honey, peanut butter, vanilla, and salt over low heat in a small sauce pan.

In a large bowl, combine the dry and wet mixtures.

Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper.

Spread mixture in pan and press down firmly to get the granola to stick together.

Cool completely and cut into squares (ours made about 12).

Store in an air tight container for 3-5 days.

These rocked and have made excellent breakfasts. Yum!

'Til next time.