You NEED These in Your Life!

 

I’ve been holding off from making and posting pumpkin recipes this year. I don’t know why, just being rebellious I guess! Also, I knew that as soon as I started I wouldn’t be able to stop. Partially because I’m extremely fond of pumpkin and partially because you can never use up that darn can of pumpkin! You make something and have 2/3 of a cup left, so you make something else and have to open another can so you’ll have a full cup of pumpkin. And so on and so on and so on. Someday I’ll find the perfect combination of recipes that together use exactly ONE can. Until then I’ll continue to suffer through running the gauntlet of pumpkiny treats every fall!

I don’t remember where I got this recipe. I’ve been making it since I was sixteen and have adapted it several times. It makes the most delicious, slightly cakey, spicy little confections! The macadamia nuts in here are almost orgasmic, I kid you not. Yuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmmmyyyyyyyyyyy!

Pumpkin Cookies with Macadamia Nuts and White Chocolate

Whisk together 2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves.

All whisked up!

Combine 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of brown sugar with a fork.

Cream the butter and sugars together until nice and fluffy.

Like so.

Add an egg, one cup pumpkin puree, and 2 teaspoons vanilla.

Mix well, then sloooooooowly add the flour mixture.

Roughly chop 2/3 cup macadamia nuts. Now, I say roughly chop, but really, I’m quartering these buggers. It takes a minute, but if you just have at them with a knife you’ll end up with these tiny little scrapings of nut. And then you’ll miss out on biting into a big, soft-but-still-crunchy, orgasmic nuts in the cookie. Also, I’ve used roasted, salted and roasted, and not roasted nuts in this. They’re all good, but I do like the salted and roasted ones. Yum!

 

Add the nuts and 2 cups of white chocolate chips.

Scrape down the bowl and mix well.

Dollop onto a cookie sheet. Don’t be an idiot like me and forget the parchment paper. All the bits and pieces of the cookies on this tray stuck and someone had to eat them.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. You want them to be set, but not brown. Leave them on the sheet for 5ish minutes and then remove to a cookie cooler. That’s the secret, don’t brown them. Like the third one on the top row. And the third one in the second row, and the fourth one in the second row. Someone had to eat those ones too.  

         

Woops, those two are getting busy. Someone had to eat them too. Can’t leave them sitting around setting a bad example!

 

Pumpkin Cookies with Macadamia Nuts

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, at room temperature

½ cup sugar

½ cup packed brown sugar

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 large egg, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups white chocolate chips

2/3 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts

 

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and clove in small bowl.

Beat butter and sugars in mixer until creamy.

Mix in pumpkin, egg and vanilla.

Gradually beat in flour mixture.

Stir in white chocolate chips and nuts.

Drop by rounded teaspoon onto greased baking sheets.

Bake for 10 minutes or until centers are set.

Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes, then remove to wire racks.

 

Oh, funny story. . . I was putting the cookies onto the cookie cooler when Reese came up to see what I was doing. A nut from one of the cookies had stuck to the tray and left a hole in the cookie. Reese saw that poor cookie and said, ‘Ooops. This one has a hole, I’d better eat it.’ That’s my boy!!!!

Also, quick update on the mouse. I TOTALLY got Marie with the mouse in the ham salad! HA! Since then I got both Jay and Marie with it stuffed into the open end of a loaf of ciabatta, and the mouse made an appearance on the black keyboard of my father-in-law’s computer. Hee hee hee, it’s fun seeing where it pops up next!