Little Pumpkin

I've made lots of what I call "baby face" cookies over the past several years....


In the back of my mind, I've always wanted to make a "little pumpkin" version. (As a matter of fact, I just tried to talk someone into them a few weeks ago for a fall baby shower.) :)

Well, my sister was kind enough to oblige me by having a baby on Wednesday!!! Isn't that nice?

Want to see him?

His name is Tony and he is the sweetest! He IS a little pumpkin!




I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Ours was filled with new baby, family, lots of food and football. I am thankful to have a sweet new nephew and thankful for all of YOU. Thank you so much for joining me here on the blog!

Brown Sugar and Spice Cut-out Cookies

I don't mess with my cookie recipe much. Sometimes, I change up the extracts or add vanilla bean paste, but usually I stick with what works.

Fall spices were calling to me, though, and I thought I'd try to use them in a cut-out cookie. It worked!!! These cookies are lightly spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and allspice. I replaced half with sugar with light brown sugar. The cookies ended up slightly softer, but still sturdy enough for decorating.


If you're making cookies for Thanksgiving, these are perfect!

Brown Sugar and Spice Cookies

3 c unbleached, all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp nutmeg (freshly grated, if possible)
1/8 tsp allspice
1/2 c granulated sugar (I use sugar that I've stored vanilla beans in)
1/2 c light brown sugar (packed)
2 sticks butter
1 egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350.

Whisk the flour, baking powder and spices, set aside.

Cream the sugar and butter. Add the egg and extracts and mix until well-blended.

Gradually add the flour mixture and beat just until combined, scraping down the bowl, especially the bottom. (The dough will be quite thick...you may need to knead in stray bits of flour from the bottom of the bowl by hand.)

Roll on a floured surface and cut into shapes. Place on parchment lined baking sheets and bake for 9-12 minutes, depending on the size of your cutter. Let sit a few minutes on the sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack.

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To decorate these cookies, I used pale green, ivory and light orange for the pumpkins. After being outlined and filled, they dried completely overnight.


For the sparkly accents, mix a small amount of meringue powder with water. With a child's paintbrush, paint the area you would like to be sparkle-d (that's a word, right?).


Then, shake on sanding sugar all over the cookie. Turn the cookie upside down and shake off the excess. (I do this over a basket coffee filter and use that to funnel the extra back into the container.)

These are waiting in the freezer to be donated on Thanksgiving for Drop In & Decorate. Are you making some, too? If so, I'd love to have pictures and details of where and how many cookies you donated by December 10th. Thank you!

OH...and did you guess? I have 221 cookie cutters. :)

Related posts:

• Finally, fall
• Yellow Rose Sugar Cookies
• Fall Church Bake Sale
  

Finally, fall

It's is finally feeling like fall around here. As I type, it is 48 degrees outside and the high is expected to only reach 55!!! This is what I love....bring on the sweaters, jackets and boots! To go with our fall-like weather, we have some fall cookies! I made two versions of acorns and leaves...dotty and with GOLD sparkling sugar. I was in desperate need to update my acorns. You can see here...years ago, the first and only time I made them (with apples)...blah. I think my cookies turn out better if I try not to be so literal with them. Know what I mean? The dots make them fun...to me at least. Here's more info on applying dots. This gold sparkling sugar is so pretty. I found it online at sugarcraft.com. It comes in silver, too. I bought it for Christmas cookies, but couldn't wait to dig into it. I think these would be pretty with a monogram on the leaves for a fall wedding.Our dining room table was half covered in cookies (I have a hard time making one batch of cookies). A box went to our contest winner, a box to my nephew, 4 boxes with my husband for customers and one to the volunteers at the food pantry where my son & I work every Thursday. Someday, I'd like to do this. Lydia at The Perfect Pantry is the woman behind this wonderful idea!

Happy fall, everyone! I'm off to enjoy this weather while it lasts!