Author: jennifer

Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Sugar Frosting

All Things Pumpkin, Desserts

A friend of mine shared this cookie recipe with me several years ago (thanks, Marci!) and it’s still my favorite.


The cookies are always light and moist.  In fact, they’re delicious without any frosting at all  but the brown sugar frosting provides a nice change from the traditional pumpkin cookie with chocolate chips in it.

For the cookies:

2 cups flour 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp. baking soda 1/4 tsp. ground allspice 1 cup butter, softened 1 cup sugar 1 egg 1 cup canned pumpkin *you can also add 1 cup chopped, toasted pecans to this recipe, but I generally skip them.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and allspice.  Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds.  Add sugar and beat until combined.  Add egg and beat until incorporated.  Stir in pumpkin.  Add flour mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon.  Add nuts, if desired.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoons 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes (I usually bake for 10 minutes so they don’t dry out at all) or until bottoms are lightly browned.  Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool.


Now for the frosting!

Brown Sugar Frosting 6 Tb. butter 1/3 cup packed brown sugar 2 cups sifted powdered sugar 1 tsp. vanilla 2-3 tsp. hot water In a medium saucepan, heat and stir butter and brown sugar until butter melts.  Remove from heat and stir in powdered sugar and vanilla.  Stir in enough hot water to make a smooth, spreadable frosting.  Frost cookies immediately.  If frosting becomes grainy and hard to spread, add a few more drops of hot water and stir until smooth.

Store in airtight container for up to 3 days.  Yield:  about 40 cookies.


Enjoy!
And just because I’m curious…  what’s YOUR favorite pumpkin recipe?


Hopeful Homemaker

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Ice Cream Cone Party Favor

Entertaining



We made a cute party favor for my daughter’s baptism last week.   I received a favor like this at one of my favorite local shops recently, and decided to personalize it for our special day.


First we made the little flags.  This was a group effort, which made it a special memory.  My Dad cut the wood dowels to the right size for us while we cut the flags from an old dictionary.  My daughter and sister did much of the cutting.  The baptism girl stamped all of the purple “A” initials on each flag.  (We chose to make the type on the pages upside down so there wouldn’t be any stress on the eye to decipher it.)  Next we hot-glued the paper to dowels, then added some crepe paper that we had cut slits in.  A pearl bead topped it off.


Ice cream cones served as our containers.  I feel like ice cream cones are often wobbly, so we dipped them in some vanilla candy coating and put them in miniature muffin papers to help them stand up straight without tipping over.  It did the trick, and none of them were wobbly.


On the day of the baptism we simply placed a flag in each cup and filled it with m&m’s in two shades of purple (her favorite color) and white (to celebrate the baptism).


They were a fun way to add some visual flair to an ultra-simple luncheon.  Their grab-and-go style also made them easy to enjoy.  I just set them out on the counter and our guests enjoyed them as they wished.  It was also a simple way to make my daughter feel special and loved.  I think it worked.


Inexpensive and whimsical, this would be a fun idea to use at a baby shower or birthday party.  You could also use it for the 4th of July with American flags in each ice cream cup.  You can fill the cups with any kind of candy:  jelly beans, m&m’s or any other treat whose colors enhance your gathering.

One last tip:  it was a lot of fun to make these flags using old dictionary pages.  I found one at the thrift store that had really small type and pages that were thin and lightweight.  The paper is really fun to work with and I intend to use it with many future projects.  I’m pretty sure that every girl should have an old dictionary like this to be creative with.  Keep your eye out for one!  It’s worth the $2.00.

Have a great day!

Jennifer

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Pumpkin Inspiration

All Things Pumpkin





No proper celebration of the pumpkin would be complete without a glance at the many beautiful ways pumpkins are used to decorate during the harvest season.  I rounded up a few of my favorites to share…


Can you believe this beautiful shot?  It makes me want to be a farmer… can I please live there?  You can find the image here .

And while we’re at it, I’d like this front porch:


The pumpkins, planters, flowers, leaves and brick are all so similar in color that the overall composition of this porch is almost a two-tone effect.  I love the contrast of the warm oranges against the stark white.  Image from Martha Stewart via Holidash .

While we’re outside, we might as well go for it.  For years I’ve been dreaming of having a pumpkin carnival in my yard.  I’d be thrilled if it looked something like this.


Simple and classic.  I love that picture frame! (Image found here .)


I love the whimsy in this decorated pumpkin ( above ).  What a fun creative experience it would be to try something like it.


A white pumpkin sitting atop silver brings this fall squash to a new level of sophistication and beauty.  It would be fun to create a table setting based on this lovely centerpiece (image here ).

And finally, who would like to join me for lunch right here?


I’ve been in love with Heather Bullard’s photography for a while now.  Hers was one of the first blogs I ever read.  For more pretty shots, read her entire post on the arrival of autumn and enjoy the rest of her site as well.

Two of these images call to my heart.  Any guesses which?  Which is your favorite?

Jennifer

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