thanksgiving

The Very Last Pumpkin….Pumpkin Cheesecake

November 21, 2012 by Wendy Cohen Leave a Comment

This is the last pumpkin recipe of the year….so grab it now!

This is an old favorite that I do every year because it is MY favorite!!! This is a pumpkin cheesecake recipe that I pulled out of a magazine which was actually an add for Philadelphia cream cheese. It is one of my favorite recipes for the season and I can’t wait to make it every year.

I posed the full recipe on this cheesecake last year and you can see it here.

For today, a few pics and a few hints to this recipe. Here are the cookies that I use for the crust. The reality is that these are the only ginger cookies that I can find in my local chain grocery store anymore. These work perfect and are really the key to the recipe. The ginger cookie crust gives the cheesecake an extra kick because of the spices and is oh so good. I grind these up in my food processor and it takes about two packages to yield just slightly more than the 2 cups called for.

Then, you mix with the melted butter and spread into the springform pan.

Here is a quick look at the consistency of the cheesecake portion of the filling. Remember to only add part of the sugar to this…the other part of the sugar goes into the pumpkin filling. Read the entire recipe ahead of time!

After you make the pumpkin filling, you start layering in the springform pan. I start first with the pumpkin filling on the bottom, then a few dollops of the cream cheese filling. Then, another layer of the pumpkin filling and more dollops of cream cheese. This is what it will look like…don’t be scared!!

Then, I take a butter knife and run through all the layers back and forth to get a swirling effect. Don’t worry…it doesn’t have to be perfect. It will come out great.

Here is what it looks like right out of the oven…just before the center cracks open slightly from cooling. I bake it for about ten minutes after the top sets up to ensure that the center is cooked through. Then, remove from the oven, cool thoroughly and place in refrigerator for at least four hours before serving. I leave mine in the springform pan until it is ready to serve.

This yummy cheesecake is all packed up int he motorhome and ready for Thanksgiving out at the desert! Here’s to the end of pumpkin season!!

Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

Filed Under: baking, entertaining, Pies, pumpkins Tagged With: Baking, cheesecake, crust, ginger cookies, ginger snaps, philadelphia cream cheese, Pumpkin, Pumpkin Cheesecake, springform, Springform pan, thanksgiving

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Pumpkin Snickerdoodles….Say It Ain’t So

November 19, 2012 by Wendy Cohen Leave a Comment

Yes, another pumpkin recipe!

I pinned this pumpkin snickerdoodle recipe from here a long time ago. The blog is called Pennies on a Platter and she got the recipe who got it from someone else.

Isn’t that how we all come across recipes. Is anything really new or just new to me?

Regardless, I love snickerdoodles and you all know how I love pumpkin; add a little orange to anything and I am happy! I have copied her recipe here, added my own comments and photos.

For the cookies:

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 3/4 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the pumpkin puree, then beat in the egg and vanilla.
In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir until fully incorporated. Cover and chill the dough for at least an hour.

Here is the cookie batter all made up and ready to chill in the refrigerator for an hour. Barely even looks like there is pumpkin, right?

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liner. Mix the coating ingredients in a small bowl.

For the coating:

1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Dash of allspice

Scoop equal dough balls and roll into the sugar mixture.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Set on cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Dip the bottom of a flat drinking glass into water, then into the sugar mixture and use to slightly flatten the dough balls. Recoat the bottom of the glass in the sugar-spice mixture as needed.

Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, or until baked through. Let cool on the baking sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough. Here they are right out of the oven….do not over bake! You want these to be nice and chewy on the inside, right???

This is the first time I have made snickerdoodles that they haven’t flattened out…it could be that I refrigerated the dough for the full hour, used the parchment paper??

The other thing I wanted to share with you is an easy way to store cookies that I stumbled upon today in the grocery store. I purchased these throwaway lasagna tins / pans. They are the perfect depth and have a clear dome top to protect your cookies. Happy Baking!

Original Source of Recipe: Annie’s Eats, originally from Dlyn

Filed Under: baking, cookies, entertaining, fall, pumpkins Tagged With: cookies, fall, Halloween, Pumpkin, pumpkin snickerdoodles, snickerdoodles, thanksgiving

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Pumpkin Bread….Being Martha

November 19, 2012 by Wendy Cohen 1 Comment

What would Thanksgiving be without pumpkin? Really?

And, there just so happens to be a pumpkin bread recipe in the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook. You can see the full recipe on page 49 of the book.

I cannot locate the recipe on line so I will list the ingredients here:

3 cups all-purpose flour

2tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

2 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp salt

2 cups canned pureed pumpkin

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup dark brown sugar

4 large eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 2/3 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 and coat two 9×5 loaf pans with butter or baking spray.

In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients with the exception of the sugars.

Combine pumpkin and two sugars in the mixer and mix on medium speed until well combined (about 3 minutes).

Add the eggs and oil; mix until incorporated.

Then, with the mixer on low, add part flour mixture, then part buttermilk and then the remaining flour.

Place the batter in the pans, smooth with an offset spatula. Place them on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 55 to 60 minutes.

Baking tip…I start my baking at 350 degrees. After about 20 minutes and when the loaf starts to brown on the outside, I turn my oven down to 325 and then down to 300 in the last 15 minutes. This adds about 15 to 20 minutes of cooking time to the time above. But, I end up with a uniformly baked loaf. I have tested this several times and this seems to be the best way for me with my gas oven.

When you pull them out of the oven, let them sit cool on a wire rack for 10 to 15 minutes. After that, remove the bread from the pan and let them cool all the way before wrapping up or storing. Of course, if you want a slice when it is nice and warm, now is the time! :)

This is a fairly quick and easy recipe that tastes pretty good. I would add more of the spices if I were to make again as I couldn’t taste them coming through.

You might remember that I already made pumpkin bread earlier in the year. You can see that post here. This was a different recipe that didn’t require buttermilk. It is also a good recipe especially if you don’t have buttermilk handy.

Happy Baking!