Five

Pumpkin Spice Sugar Cookies

Pumpkin Spice Sugar Cookies
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 large egg

In a mixing bowl, add flour and baking soda; stir gently to mix; set aside. In another mixing bowl, blend butter and powdered sugar together. Add in pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, and egg; stir to combine. Mix in the flour mixture; blend well. Cover dough and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface; cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters.

Bake in a 350° oven on ungreased cookie sheets for about 8 minutes or until golden.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Four

Today is a good day. Rising early to make Pumpkin Spice Muffins because yesterday was the first day of Autumn. I'll post the recipe, although I did tweak it a bit to give my own little spin on it.

Pumpkin Spice Muffins with
Maple Cream Cheese Spread

Pumpkin Spice Muffins
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped walnut halves
2 eggs
3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla

Here's what I switched up a bit: Instead of a 1/2 cup of chopped walnut halves I threw in about a handful of de-shelled pumpkin seeds. I also added 1/4 tsp. of Pumpkin Pie Spice to emphasize the pumpkin some more.

In large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, ginger, cloves and nutmeg.
In separate bowl, whisk together eggs, pumpkin puree, oil and vanilla; pour over dry ingred. Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.
Spoon into prepared muffin cups. Bake in centre of 375 degree oven until golden and tops are firm to the touch, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool in pan on rack for 5 minutes. Transfer to rack; let cool.

Maple Cream Cheese Spread
Half pkg. (8 oz./250g pkg) regular or light cream cheese, softened
1 tbsp. icing sugar
1 tbsp. maple syrup
1/4 tsp. vanilla

In bowl, beat cream cheese until light; beat in icing sugar, maple syrup and vanilla, until well blended. (Make ahead. Cover and refrigerate) I sprinkled a pinch of cinnamon onto each muffins spread then added caramelized pumpkin seeds.

I had some left over pumpkin seeds that I didn't include in the muffin batter, so I caramelized them. I boiled about 1 cup of water with 10-12 tbsp. of sugar then poured in the remaining pumpkin seeds. Stirred on medium heat for about 15 minutes. Then spread them evenly onto a tray and baked them at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Let them cool then top the Maple Cream Cheese Spread with them for an added pumpkin crunch!

Enjoy and happy autumn!