Tag Archives: autumn

Pumpkin Pie Spice Cookies

Posted on November 15, 2014 by Ruthanne

These cute little pumpkin cutout cookies are chock-full of pumpkin spices and capture the tastes of fall in every bite!

I really dislike pumpkin pie. This time of year it is found everywhere! I’ve discovered that it is truly the pumpkin I dislike though- not the spices. These cookies offer all the yummy spices of pumpkin pie without a hint of actual pumpkin… plus they are cute as can be! These cookies can be cut into any shape you like and decorated accordingly. I had a hard time not eating them all up before I decorated them- so use frosting…or don’t…. maybe just cut them in circles and add a few sugar sprinkles to make them really easy!

Here’s how we made the cookies- and how we decorated them. (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter (softened)
1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 teaspoon of butter flavoring
3 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 Tablespoons of pumpkin spice seasoning

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth.
Add eggs, vanilla and butter flavoring and mix well.
Add all dry ingredients and mix until able to knead into a firm ball of dough (add additional flour if necessary).
Roll out on a floured counter with a flour coated rolling pin to desired thickness.
Cut using a large (I used a 6″) round cookie cutter
Use a knife or pizza cutter to divide circle into even triangle “pie” pieces.
Place cookies on ungreased cookie sheets and bake at 350F degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.
Slide baked cookies onto parchment paper to cool completely.
To decorate, use royal icing (so it will harden into a firm shell) my recipe for that is here.
Use thicker icing to outline the shape of the cookie and then flood the inside of the outline with thinner icing.

Allow icing to harden up and then make the “crust” by using royal icing colored to match the cookies and swirling a loose “m” pattern across the end of each cookie.
Use a star tip to add a little white icing as “whipped cream”

Note: I wanted to add some cute factor to these yummy cookies and saw sugar cookies done as slices of pie on a REALLY fun blog called sweetsugarbelle.com. She does a GREAT job of showing the decorating process step-by-step, and I highly recommend you visit her site if you decide to make these cookies in slice form. The hardest part is the crust. I’m NOT a cake decorator and I really had to practice to get the crust to look acceptable. Her pictures and instruction were a big help! Plus the rest of this site is so addictive. Beautiful creations! Love it!

My thoughts: YUM. Seriously yummy cookies. If you are up for a challenge make them into pie slices, but if you just want some simply delicious and EASY cookies just cut these into fun fall or Christmas shapes and sprinkle with a little colored sugar. Don’t omit that butter flavoring- you can find it with other flavors and extracts at the grocery- it adds such a yummy flavor! Hope you get a chance to try these!!! Enjoy! ~r

Other fun Thanksgiving recipe ideas~ click on a photo to see the recipe:

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Posted in Cookies and tagged autumn, cutout cookies, dessert, fall, pie, pie slice cookies, pumpkin, pumpkin pie, pumpkin pie cookies, pumpkin spices, recipe, royal icing, sugar cookies, thanksgiving, whipped cream. Bookmark the permalink.

Tepee Cupcakes!

Posted on November 7, 2014 by Ruthanne

These adorable little tepees are filled with yummy chocolate cake and are sure to make everyone smile at YOUR Thanksgiving feast!

Since I spent 8 months on the Navajo Nation and learned to love their culture and traditions, I thought I’d skip the Pilgrim themes and go straight for the Indians this Thanksgiving. My first trip out to the reservation I wondered if Tepees were even used by the Navajo. They are- but only for special ceremonies. The Navajo traditionally lived in round or multi-sided structures called hogans.

Here is a picture of a ceremonial tepee and of my friend Rod by his family’s hogan.

I had quite a time making these cute little desserts, but I hope that my experimenting will help you make this perfectly the 1st time! They really aren’t difficult once you figure out what the best system is! I will give you my recipe 1st (that’s what you’re here for, right??) But after the recipe I will share my trials and tribulations in the process!

Here’s how to make these cute little treats: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

24 pointed ice cream cones
One boxed cake mix in chocolate (or any flavor you like!), plus water, oil and eggs to make according to box.
One bag (12 oz) of Wilton Candy Melts in dark chocolate.
Leaf sprinkles (at least one to two cups of them)
Straight pretzel sticks
DIRECTIONS:
Cover the entire top of a large springform pan with aluminum foil, wrapping it around several times.
Use a small knife or scissors to make a tiny slit in the center.
Push the pointed tip of one ice cream cone through the slit until the tip rests on the inside bottom of the pan.
Repeat this with the rest of the cones (depending on the size of your pan you may need to bake these in two batches).

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
Make cake mix according to box, and spoon or pipe into cones, filling them about 2/3 full.
Bake at 350F degrees for about 15-20 minutes.
Allow them to cool before removing.

Use a knife to cut the points off of each cone. I scored around the edge with the knife and then just snapped the tip off with my fingers.
Trim off tops of cupcakes to make a flat “bottom”
Melt candy melts in microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until melted and smooth.
Dip the flat end of the cone into the chocolate, coating it completely.
Dip chocolate into a bowl filled with leaf sprinkles.
Set coated cone on parchment paper to harden up.
Place remaining chocolate into a small zip-top bag and clip a corner.
Pipe a bit of chocolate on the top of each tepee and then stick 3 pretzel sticks into the top.
After chocolate has hardened up, serve and enjoy!!!

The story behind the cupcakes:

These are the result of much experimenting. I saw a picture of tepee cupcakes on Pinterest and was intrigued by this idea, but I couldn’t imagine how you would bake cake batter into a pointed cup…? So I googled the idea and discovered that nobody really has any very good ideas for this…? I wondered if I could maybe cut the top point off 1st, stick the bottom into something like cookie dough and pipe batter in to bake upside down? I tried this with the following result:

These really made the most beautiful exploding volcano-type effect in the oven. It was very entertaining, although not what I was hoping for!

Many sites recommended poking the cones into disposable tin foil pans, but they all said to watch them closely because they tip…and to be careful of the hot cake batter when righting them. Oh my. Not my sort of recipe. Sounds like one big mess in my oven!

Eventually I tried the foil and springform pan idea and it was not only easy but very sturdy. Nothing tipped even a tiny bit!

My thoughts: YUM! These are just delicious and fairly easy to make once you know how to get those cupcakes baked. My only advice: make sure you cut enough off the top that all three of those pretzels fit into the opening. A few of mine were too tight, and I had to use the chocolate melts to cement them in place. I hope you have fun making these! I certainly did! Enjoy!! ~r

Other fun fall recipes here on Easybaked (click on a photo to see the recipe):

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Posted in Cakes, Cupcakes and tagged autumn, chocolate, creative, cupcake, cupcakes, dessert, fall, holiday recipe, holiday recipe for kids, ice cream cone, ice cream cones, indian, pretzel, recipe, teepee cupcakes, tepee cupcakes, thanksgiving dessert. Bookmark the permalink.

Turtle Cookie Cups

Posted on November 1, 2014 by Ruthanne

Chocolate cookie cups full of creamy caramel, chocolate and pecans. So many fun fall flavors in one little dessert!

There’s something about November that makes me think caramel and pecans. Comfort food, maybe? Thanksgiving? I’m not sure, but these yummy little treats hit the spot! They are fun to make, and a pretty mini dessert for all those November and December get-togethers.

Here’s how they are made: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

Cookies:

2 sticks (one cup) butter (softened)
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder

Toppings:

1 bag of Wilton’s candy melts in milk chocolate
2 cups of chopped pecans and about 60 whole pecans
32 Kraft caramels (unwrapped)
1 can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

DIRECTIONS:

Cookies:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Add butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla together in a large mixing bowl
Blend on medium speed with a mixer until smooth
Gradually add dry ingredients and mix until smooth (use clean hands at the end, and knead into a soft ball of dough
Use a small cookie scoop (I used one that holds ½ tablespoon of batter) to portion your dough into mini muffin tins that have been sprayed with non-stick spray
Use a tart shaper, or a wooden spoon to press the dough into a cup shape.

Bake at 350F degrees for 7-8 minutes and remove from oven.
Press centers in a second time and allow cups to cool for just a couple of minutes.
Use a small paring knife to pop each cup out and allow them to cool on the counter.

Toppings:

Place caramels, sweetened condensed milk and butter into a medium saucepan and heat on medium over the stove until all of the caramels are melted.
Heat milk chocolate candy melts in the microwave in 30 second increments until melted and smooth.
Place chopped pecans into a small bowl.
To assemble, dip top edge of cup in candy melts and then in chopped nuts.

Place caramel sauce into a sturdy zip top bag and clip a corner.
Pipe caramel into each cup until filled completely and top with a whole almond.
Allow caramel and chocolate to firm up.
Store in an airtight container for 2-3 days.
Enjoy!

My thoughts: These are a little time-consuming to make, but sooooo yummy. They are a perfect mini-dessert for any of the upcoming holidays, and they got RAVE reviews in my little world! That caramel….!!!! Enjoy! ~r

Other fun mini desserts here at Easybaked (click on a photo to see the recipe)

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Posted in Candy, Cookie Cups, Cookies and tagged autumn, best, best fall desserts, candy, caramel, caramel sauce, chocolate, chocolate cookie, chopped pecans, christmas, cookie cups, cookies, creamy caramel, dessert, fall, holiday cookies, holiday desserts, milk chocolate, pecan, recipe, thanksgiving, treats, turtles. Bookmark the permalink.

Fall Acorn Cupcakes

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Ruthanne

A rich vegan cupcake recipe topped with vanilla buttercream and a cute little candy acorn.

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 24 cupcakes)

3 cups of flour
2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup of cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 tablespoons of vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cups oil
2 c. water

For acorns:

24 Nabisco Nutter Butter Cookie Bites
24 Hershey kisses
24 butterscotch or peanut butter chips
1/4 c. Wiltons milk chocolate candy melts.

DIRECTIONS:

Add dry cupcake ingredients together and mix to remove lumps.
Add liquids and mix until smooth
Divide equally into cupcake liners in muffin tins.
Bake at 350F degrees for 20-25 minutes.
Allow cupcakes to cool completely and frost with your favorite buttercream recipe (click here for mine) tinted with fall food coloring.
Make acorns by melting candy melts in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between. Dip unwrapped hershey kiss in chocolate and attach to bottom of cookie. Dip butterscotch/peanut butter chip in chocolate and attach to top of cookie. (Click HERE for more details on making these)
When hardened, gently place one acorn on the top of each cupcake.

My thoughts: Ever since I posted these cute little acorns last fall I’ve wanted to put them on cupcakes!! This was that day. The vegan cupcake recipe is SO yummy. The buttercream frosting isn’t vegan, but you can drizzle your cupcakes with a bit of powdered sugar glaze to keep them a treat for your vegan friends. You can use the cupcake recipe to make a yummy bundt cake too– and that is PERFECT with a light sugar glaze on top. I use this cake/cupcake recipe all the time- it is very moist and flavorful. Enjoy!!!~r