Bready or Not: Pumpkin Cookies with Penuche Frosting
October is here, and that means pumpkin recipes! Let’s kick things off right with Pumpkin Cookies with Penuche Frosting!
What is penuche, you ask? It’s a fudge-like candy made from brown sugar, butter, and milk. It has a very caramel-like vibe going on.
That makes it the perfect complement for these incredible cookies. The pumpkin-filled base is soft and cakey, with fragrant fall spices.
These are really, really good. Pumpkin, spices, penuche. Oh yeah.
The recipe makes about 60 cookies if you use a teaspoon scoop, and they hold up best if eaten in one day. They get softer after that, but are still good.
Recipe modified from Taste of Home magazine.
Bready or Not: Pumpkin Cookies with Penuche Frosting
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks, softened
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup pecans chopped
Frosting
- 1/4 cup brown sugar packed
- 3 Tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup milk or half & half
- 2 1/2 - 3 cups confectioners' sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars together until they are light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, pumpkin, and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet. Fold in the pecans.
- Spread parchment paper on two large baking sheets. Drop dough by rounded teaspoon scoops spaced out to allow for a small amount of spreading. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes. Move cookies to wire racks to cool, which won't take long.
- Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring the brown sugar and butter to a boil. Keep on medium heat for 1 minute, continuing to stir, then remove from heat. Cool for 10 minutes. Transfer to a larger bowl and beat in the milk. Slowly add in enough confectioners' sugar to reach a spreadable consistency. Immediately frost cookies. Let set for an hour or so before packing up.
- Makes about 60 cookies. Best eaten within 1 day; they will still taste okay after that, but will soften more. Store cookies between wax paper layers in sealed containers.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars
Pumpkin and chocolate make for the perfect pairing in these Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars!
I modified the original recipe to incorporate bread flour, creating bars that are fabulously dense and chewy.
This is essentially pumpkin spice cake with freckles of chocolate chips.
Unlike a standard frosted cake, these travel very well. The bars are nice and cohesive.
I like to place waxed paper between layers to prevent sticking and melting chocolate (because in Arizona, well, it’s still hot at this time of year).
On the subject of chocolate chips, be sure to toss the majority of your chips in with the flour. This will prevent them from sinking to the bottom as it bakes!
Modified from What’s Gabby Cooking.
Bready or Not: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup bread flour
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon cloves
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups chocolate chips divided
- 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks, softened
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Line a 13x9 pan with aluminum foil and apply nonstick spray or butter.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flours, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, baking soda, and salt. Stir in most of the chocolate chips; coating them with flour will keep them from sinking as they bake. Set bowl aside.
- In a big mixing bowl, combine the butter and two sugars until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the egg, vanilla extract, and pumpkin puree. Once that's mixed, slowly blend in the dry ingredients until just combined.
- Pour the batter into the ready pan and smooth out. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips over the top.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until it passes the toothpick test in the middle. Cool completely. Lift up by the foil and place on a cutting board to cut bars. Store in a sealed container at room temperature or chilled.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Pumpkin Poppers
I first featured these Pumpkin Poppers on my LiveJournal four years ago. It’s time to revisit them, because these things are SO GOOD.
My husband’s co-workers like to snicker and call them “pumpkin balls.”
You could also call them “pumpkin donut holes.” That’s what they are, really. You can make them in a donut hole or a mini muffin pan–I use the latter.
This makes 24 of these tender balls of joy. Once they are baked, set up an assembly line with bowls of melted butter, and cinnamon and sugar. Slather those balls with butter, and roll’em in the sweet stuff!
Hey, I never claimed this was health food.
The end result is an orange puff that is light and fluffy, and pretty much melts in your mouth.
Make these to share, or they might prove dangerous.
Bready or Not: Pumpkin Poppers
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup milk almond milk works
Coating
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 stick or more as needed, melted
- 2/3 cup white sugar more as needed
- 2 Tablespoons cinnamon more as needed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Use nonstick spray on a mini muffin or donut hole pan.
- Combine the dry ingredients. In another bowl, mix together the oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin, and milk.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until just combined. Fill the pan cavities about 2/3 full; the dough will poof up a lot in the oven.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. In the meantime, melt the butter in a bowl. In a separate small bowl, combine the topping sugar and cinnamon.
- Remove poppers from oven. Give them a few minutes to cool, then start the assembly line. Use a spoon to roll them in the melted butter, then roll them in the cinnamon sugar. (Note: topping bowls may run low near the end, but it's easy to melt an extra tablespoon of butter or mix up some more sugar and cinnamon.)
- Store in a sealed container at room temperature. The cinnamon-sugar mix will absorb into the balls over time and make them darker, but they taste great for several days.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Pumpkin Roll
The Great British Bake Off inspired me to finally try making a cake roll of my own, and this is the result: a delicious, successful Pumpkin Roll.
No lie, these things have intimidated me for a decade. I was certain I’d try to roll it up, and it’d crack and be a total disaster.
In reality, I ended up with only a few minor cracks, and the roll maintained its shape without any issue.
But let’s talk about the taste. Cream cheese and pumpkin make for the perfect pairing. Both are mild and complement each other, and the amounts here are perfect. The filling doesn’t gush all over the place like some of the disastrous results on Bake Off.
The most time-consuming part of all of this was beating the whites to stiff peaks… which wasn’t helped by the fact that my hand mixer was dying and could barely beat at all. I like to think it met a noble end in the making of this recipe.
RIP hand mixer, a well-used wedding gift from the year 2000.
This cake is super-easy to store in the fridge because it’s small and narrow. The original recipe said it could be frozen, too, though I didn’t try that myself.
Be bold and crazy. Conquer your fear. Make a Pumpkin Roll. And salute the work of your noble hand mixer.
Bready or Not: Pumpkin Roll
Ingredients
Sponge
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs with separated yolks and whites
- 1 cup white sugar divided in half
- 2/3 cup pumpkin puree
Filling
- 8 ounces cream cheese 1 box, softened
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar sifted, plus more
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 375-degrees.
- Cut parchment paper to fit inside a 15x10-inch pan. Grease and flour the pan and the top of the paper.
- In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks until they are thick. Slowly add 1/2 cup white sugar and the pumpkin puree. Beat until the sugar is completely blended in.
- In another small bowl, use a hand mixer to beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually pour in the remaining white sugar, and continue beating until stiff peak stage. Fold the egg whites into the pumpkin mixture, then fold in the dry ingredients; be gentle and do not overmix.
- Pour the sponge batter into the pan and use an uneven spatula to spread it to the edges.
- Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, or until the cake springs back when touched. Lay a cotton kitchen towel out on the counter and sprinkle it all over with confectioners' sugar. After the cake has cooled for 5 minutes, turn it out onto the prepared towel. Peel away the parchment paper. Roll the cake up by the short side. Leave it rolled up and cool it completely on the towel.
- To make the filling, in a small bowl beat together the cream cheese, butter, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla, until smooth.
- Unroll the cake on the towel again. Spread the filling. Roll it up again.
- Wrap the cake in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours. When ready to serve, cut thin slices off both ends of the cake to make for a pretty presentation. Dust confectioners' sugar all over the top.
- OM NOM NOM!
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Bready or Not: Pumpkin Pucks
I continue to revisit old favorite pumpkin recipes to incorporate more experience and better photography. This week’s recipe is for Pumpkin Pucks.
These happen to be gluten-free and paleo, if you follow those diets. More to my needs, they are high-protein, avoid processed flours, and are DELICIOUS.
They are rather like mini pumpkin pie custards with a slightly nutty taste. Do note that this can be made with whole wheat and/or all-purpose flour, if you don’t care about it being gluten-free… but I by far prefer the taste with almond flour.
I have also used different nut butters. Almond butter tastes the strongest–in a very good way–though cashew butter was fantastic, too.
Once, I only had 3/4 cup of pumpkin, so I made up for the difference with applesauce. I found no major difference in taste or texture.
I find that two of these make for a delicious breakfast. The size makes them very kid-friendly. I have kept them in the fridge for upwards of a week. Also, these are fantastic to freeze. Just be sure to remove the muffin cup liners and use waxed paper between layers.
You can alter the flavor with different toppings, too. Mini chocolate chips are my favorite! Pepitas and dried cranberries work well, too; note that the cranberries are tart but mellow after time in the fridge.
Enjoy this healthy recipe, and be warned that next week takes a decidedly sugary turn with a recipe for Pumpkin Roll!
Modified from Paleo Parents.
Bready or Not: Pumpkin Pucks
Ingredients
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 cup almond butter or other nut butter
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1/3 cup almond flour or wheat or all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp salt
Topping choice: 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips, OR chopped nuts or pepitas, or dried cranberries
Instructions
- Place muffin cup liners in pan, then spray the insides with nonstick spray. Preheat oven at 350-degrees.
- If your almond butter is very stiff, measure it out, place in a microwave-safe bowl, then zap it for 15 seconds or so to soften it. Mix pumpkin puree and the almond butter together.
- Add honey and maple syrup. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add the dry ingredients until everything is just combined.
- Fill the muffin cups to 3/4 full; a tablespoon scoop makes this easy, as it's almost exactly 2 tablespoons to fill the cups. Top with mini chocolate chips or nuts or cranberries, if desired.
- Bake at 350-degrees for about 20 minutes. Pumpkin pucks will not rise much. The tops of some may start to crack. Remove them from pan and allow to cool, then store in fridge.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
It’s pumpkin time! That’s right, the annual traditional continues. Through November 1st, each Wednesday will feature a new pumpkin recipe! This week: Pumpkin Snickerdoodles.
Not all of these recipes will be totally new, though. I revisited several of my old favorite pumpkin recipes that I first shared on Live Journal.
I had to start out with Pumpkin Snickerdoodles because, well, SNICKERDOODLES. Snickerdoodles are a year-round theme on here!
These cookies are snickerdoodles foremost, too. The pumpkin flavor is pretty mild, but its presence is undeniable, as these cookies are vivid orange.
Pumpkin goes so perfectly well with cinnamon and sugar. Quite simply, these cookies embody autumn in appearance, flavor, and smell.
Be sure to return next week when I share one of my personal favorite seasonal breakfast recipes: Pumpkin Pucks! They are gluten-free, sugar-free, and amazing.
Bready or Not: Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks, softened
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
Topping
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375-degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice; set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter and the 1 1/2 cups white sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, then the pumpkin puree. Add the dry ingredients last, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Combine the two topping ingredients in a small bowl. Using a tablespoon, form dough into a ball and roll in the sugar and cinnamon. Space out the dough balls on the cookie sheet so that they have room to spread.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until edges are set; since the cookies are tinted orange, it will be harder to judge doneness, but Snickerdoodles always finish cooking outside of the oven. Cool the cookies on baking sheet about 10 to 15 minutes before moving to rack.
- OM NOM NOM!
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